Millbrae BART Station

Address:
200 North Rollins Road
Millbrae, CA 94030

Description

"Millbrae Station is the largest intermodal terminal in the United States west of the Mississippi in terms of station facilities and acreage." - from Official BART Station Guide

The station is the terminal station for BART on the San Francisco Peninsula with service by the BART Richmond – Millbrae Line on weekdays and the BART Dublin/Pleasanton - Millbrae Line during weeknights and on weekends. There is currently no direct connection provided to the airport, except during the first and last hours of BART service each day. A timed transfer to an airport-bound Pittsburg/Bay Point – SFO Line BART train, however, is provided at the San Bruno Station north of Millbrae.

The station consists of three at-grade main tracks for BART and two for Caltrain. An island platform provides a cross-platform connection between the two systems (for traveling northward to San Francisco). An elevated concourse mezzanine is located above the platforms. It is also a regional bus transit hub with multiple bus bays served by several SamTrans lines.

The station offers extensive daily Caltrain commuter rail service that operates along the north/south line between San Jose and San Francisco on an approximately half-hourly basis each weekday (including express trains). Service is more frequent during commute hours and for special events (such as San Francisco Giants home games) and is less-frequent at night and on weekends and holidays.

Millbrae's name derives from "Mills" (former landowner Ogden Mills) and the Scottish word "brae" or "rolling hills." This is one of the best stations on the BART system in terms of convenience, safety and parking.

Convenience: 10
This station provides convenient connection to Caltrain, provide spacious parking options (5 level parking structure and several acre lot), including free daily parking and long term airport parking. It is located near the Milbrae exit on 101. This intermodal station connects w/CalTrain, BART and SamTrans, and is the best station to find parking on the BART system. From south bay, you can take Caltrain to this station, then transfer to BART to get to a location in the city that is near a BART station. Caltrain/Muni is a slower ride, but cheaper. You can leave your car here while you explore the city, or catch a flight out from SFO or Oakland.

Safety: 9
"The station is well lighted, and feels safe after dark. For the most part, when I experienced it in the p.m. hours, it was well-lit and I've felt safe".
- from Yelp Review of Millbrae BART

Parking: 10
Millbrae Station has approximately 3,000 parking spaces, including a five-story parking garage and surrounding surface parking. Except for the marked Reserved Parking areas, most parking is currently free of charge during weekdays for up to 24 hours at a time, and all parking (including the weekday reserved) is free without time restrictions on Saturday, Sunday, and holidays that fall on Friday or Monday. Additionally, the Reserved Parking areas become free parking after 10:00 a.m. on weekdays.

"The parking area is pretty safe. In the structure, you have to get as close to the 4th floor as possible (because that's the floor that connects to the station), so you can park either on the 3rd floor and walk up one flight of stairs or you can park in the ramp between the 3rd and 4th floor. You can only park on the 4th floor itself if you have one of those paid passes. Those with reserved parking permits have until 10a.m. to claim their parking spots closest to the station itself; usually there are many spaces left after 10am." - - from Yelp Review of Millbrae BART

Restroom:
There is a restroom inside the gates of the BART station, as well in the mall and gas station across the street. The Panera Bread cafe across the street has very clean restroom, and also is a good waiting area if you have a long wait for a train. Panera opens at 7am , we waited in the cafe for a couple of hours while waiting to catch a BART train to the airport mid-morning. L & L Hawaiian Barbecue is now open off Rollins Rd. just across the way! (right beside In-n-Out & Panera).