=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/chronicle/archive/2003/06= /15/TR255684.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, June 15, 2003 (SF Chronicle) BART ready to run from Pittsburg to Paris John Flinn "Next stop," crackled the voice on the BART intercom, "San Francisco International Airport." How many years -- or decades -- have we been waiting to hear those words? The wait is finally over next Sunday, , when BART's $1.5 billion extension to the airport opens to the public. This will usher in a new era in the way we travel, giving us some of the convenience people in Paris and Zurich have long taken for granted. For many, it will mean an end to airport parking bills, long shuttle rides or expensive cab rides. "Until now, we've been a Third World country when it comes to public transportation," said San Mateo County Supervisor Mike Nevin. "This should change that." I got a sneak preview of the new service Wednesday and can report that it's sleek and well-designed -- but not without some minor pitfalls for travelers. More on those later. Particularly for those holding tickets on international flights, the convenience is going to be hard to beat. The new BART service will deposit you right in the International Terminal. From the turnstiles to the check-in counters is a walk of only 100 feet. The elevated tracks go right past parked jumbo jets, giving a giddying close-up view. You can get a free preview on Saturday. Buy a $4 BART ticket and board a Colma-bound train. You'll pass through the new South San Francisco, Millbrae and SFO stations (but you won't be able to get off). As long as you return to your original station without exiting the BART system, you'll get your $4 back. Once the system officially opens, when you arrive in the International Terminal, you can take an escalator up one level to the new elevated AirTrain that circles the airport and stops at all terminals and on-site parking lots. The ride is free, and it's fun -- it reminded me of the monorail at Disneyland. One of the AirTrain's two lines also takes arriving passengers to the airport's rental-car complex. The SFO station is getting all the attention, but the pavilion-style Millbrae "intermodal" station might be the most important and far-reaching part of the project. There, northbound passengers on Caltrain will be able to walk across the platform and step directly onto BART trains. (Southbound passengers cross a bridge.) With the two transit systems at last connected, travelers arriving at the airport will be able ride the rails all the way to Gilroy. Beginning June 23, Caltrain is adjusting its schedules to coincide with BART's trains. (Because of construction for the "Baby Bullet" express service, Caltrain is not running on weekends until the spring of 2004.) There's a cost for this new service, of course, and at least some of it will be borne by commuters who park at the Daly City, Colma, South San Francisco, San Bruno and Millbrae stations. As of Sunday, they'll have to pay $2 a day for parking, including carpoolers and disabled drivers. (Parking at Daly City will be free on weekends.) A few other points to consider: How long will it take? From Daly City, it's a 16-minute ride. From San Francisco's Civic Center station, it's 28 minutes; from San Leandro, 57 minutes and from Dublin 77 minutes. These times are all on the Dublin/Pleasanton line, the only direct line into SFO. On the other lines (see below), plan on an extra five to 20 minutes for a transfer. Fares: You'll pay $4.30 from Daly City, $4.65 from the 16th Street Missi= on station, $4.70 from Montgomery Street, $5 from Oakland's MacArthur station, $5. 10 from Rockridge, $5.15 from Berkeley and $6.40 from Concord. The highest fare is $6.90 from Pittsburg/Bay Point. Direct trains: Trains from Dublin-Pleasanton will roll directly into SFO. Trains from Pittsburg-Bay Point will terminate at Millbrae, where passengers will transfer to a special BART train that runs back and forth to SFO, leaving every 20 minutes. There's an additional $1.50 fare for this. Riders on the Richmond and Fremont lines will have to transfer to the Dublin-Pleasanton line somewhere along the way. Luggage: You'll quickly discover that BART was designed for commuters with, at most, a briefcase, not travelers schlepping a couple of armfuls of suitcases. Negotiating the turnstiles with anything more than a carry-on can be diabolical, and there are no luggage racks on the trains. There are open areas near the door where you could leave your luggage, but the common-sense rules here are the same as on the London Underground: It's easy for a thief to grab your bag and step off the train just as the doors close. You'll probably feel safer, if considerably less comfortable, with your luggage on your lap. Yet another reason to pack light. Any trip to SFO on BART will require going up and down several escalators and stairways (or elevators), so keep this in mind while packing. Things pick up considerably on the luggage front once you reach the airport. If you need to transfer to the AirTrain -- which you will if you're head= ed anywhere other than the International Terminal -- you'll discover that the AirTrain cars are designed to accommodate luggage carts. The carts have even been outfitted with hand brakes to prevent them from becoming lethal projectiles during sudden stops. Long-term parking: You were probably thinking what I was thinking: Inste= ad of paying $8.50 or more a day at an off-site airport parking lot, you can just leave your car in a BART lot for free (or, for those on the west side of the bay, for $2 a day.) Alas, the transit system is way ahead of us. "We're not in the parking business," spokeswoman Molly McArthur told me. Security officers will be patrolling the lots, enforcing the 24-hour limit. However, BART will be trying out a long-term parking program at the Bay Fair, Walnut Creek and El Cerrito del Norte stations. Travelers will be able to park their cars there for $7 a day. If it's successful, the program could spread to other BART stations. One thing to keep in mind: BART says a private firm, Parking Concepts Inc., "will provide 24-hour surveillance of vehicles parked in designated long-term parking spaces," but most off-site airport lots have something BART lots don't: fences topped with barbed wire. Some might find this extra security worth the additional $1.50 or more a day. Hours: BART operates from 4 a.m. to midnight weekdays, 6 a.m. to midnight Saturdays and 8 a.m. to midnight Sundays. There are no plans to run trains after midnight for late-arriving flights. "If you get on BART by 10 to midnight you can go anywhere on the system," said Paul Oversier, BART's assistant general manager for operations. "But we already operate longer hours than the systems in Paris, London and Washington, D.C. Right now there's no talk of going later." Keep this in mind when scheduling your flights, and give yourself a generous cushion. Don't make the mistake I did a couple of years ago, when I arrived at Oakland International Airport at 10 p.m., intending to catch a BART train home. The flights got in on time, but for some reason my luggage took nearly two hours to tumble out onto the carousel. By then, I'd missed the last BART train and was faced with an expensive cab ride home to the Peninsula. Among the lessons I'll apply to BART trips to SFO: Traveling with carry-on luggage can save critical time if midnight is looming. E-mail John Flinn at travel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 SF Chronicle