scchang

I missed that post. Thanks for your reply!

char777

I hate to resurrect this thread, but it was actually the top result when I searched on Google.

I'm new-ish to the area and am heading home from SFO to Denver next Thursday until Sunday afternoon. Since I have a car, I figure I have two reasonable options:

1) Drive myself to SFO from Lamorinda and parking at SFO. The upside is I guess having safe parking, but the downside is that parking there is $33/day according to SFO's website, and this would also require battling the three hellholes that are the Caldecott Tunnel, the Bay Bridge, and the 101 during the Thursday morning commute.

2) Parking at Orinda BART and taking BART into SFO. It's only $5 a day, and I'd rather take BART than drive. The only thing is, will my car be safe at BART? And do I need my airport permit to cover all four days ($20 total), or can I get by with just buying one for one day and then depending on weekend parking through Sunday?

Ted S

$33 / day would be fairly rough for SFO parking given that the long term lot is perfectly nice, has a regular shuttle and is open 24x7 for $14 with offsite lots even cheaper. Still, the drive is a pain, faces lots of traffic as you pointed out and ends up costing a lot more. I take BART to SFO from the east bay all the time and while it's going to be hard to get a seat heading into the city during peak rush hour, it's a lot easier to deal with.

Permits to park for the airport are different than just daily parking. BART closes nightly so it's very easy for them to enforce no overnight parking and they do. So long as you are fully adhering to the permit during the weekdays I can't see the weekend being an issue from the policy... but it's worth asking a station agent before you catch the train.

As far as safety, Orinda is one of the nicest stations in a nice city IMO. Still, the station is removed from street view and obviously has people coming in and out frequently. I've never had an issue day parking there but certainly the usual rules regarding keeping valuables out of sight [or really of the car] and making sure your vehicle is not a target really apply.

Ocn Vw 1K

While weekend parking at BART Peninsula stations will remain free, weekday parking at Millbrae, San Bruno and So. S.F. will rise on Aug. 1 from $1 to $2.
http://www.bart.gov/news/articles/20...s20110705.aspx

I saw no increase listed for the long-term airport parking option at Millbrae, so assume that it's still $6/day.

tom911

The few times I have done weekend trips with BART (pretty much stopped now due to the $20RT BART fare for me and park off airport instead), I always parked at Walnut Creek. To me, even when I worked for BART in the 80s, it seemed to be the safest station on that line and had very little crime. I'd be worried about parking overnight at Orinda, or even Lafayette, as there just isn't a lot of vehicle traffic by those stations late at night to ward off potential crooks and they have obscure lots that can't be seen from the street.

I have no idea, though, where the "airport spaces" are at Walnut Creek. I always parked at street level on the west side of the station and not in the adjoining parking structure.

docbert

Yes, as long as you either start or end on a weekend (or a Friday, and pay the daily fee) you can get by without paying for the weekends.

I regularly park at Millbrae on Friday afternoon and get back Monday morning - total cost is 2x$4 for BART, and $6 for the "airport" BART parking on Monday, for a total of $14 - of less than $5/day!

(Even though I'm not staying overnight on Monday they technically start enforcement at 4am - so even with a 9-10am arrival the one day is required)

char777

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I parked at Lafayette BART and had no issues.

Sykes

While it's probably not kosher, I've gotten away with not paying for weekends even when I don't arrive or depart on a weekend day. I just buy two passes book-ending the weekend, and display both on my dashboard.

RichardInSF

It's totally kosher and perfectly valid.

aau

I usually park at DC BART for weekend trips, but this weekend I am scheduled to arrive back in SFO just after midnight on Sept 6th. So I will miss the last northbound train. I've never parked at Millbrae BART before, since there should still be Millbrae bound trains running, I was thinking about parking here. If I arrive on Saturday and leave Tuesday early morning it should be free? Will I have trouble finding an open spot Labor Day weekend if arriving Sat. evening? TIA

RichardInSF

Too late to help you, but parking will be free on Labor Day night until 4a.m. on Tuesday. And the Millbrae BART station lot has zillions of spaces available on weekends and holidays.

I am pretty sure I saw a sign in the lot saying that parking is now free at Millbrae from the first train on Friday, which is 4:12am. Note that the monthly reserved spaces still remain reserved until 10am Friday if you take advantage of this. Maybe someone can confirm this that I saw it right? If it's true, it suggests that if you park in a place that is not a monthly reserved space, you could now park free from 4pm Thursday through 4am Monday.

aau

Turned out fine, I parked in an outdoor spot Saturday night, running late, otherwise I would have parked in the garage. Plenty of open spaces. Got back to my car around 12:30am Tuesday, drove home. A strange thing happened at the SFO BART station. When I arrived from the airtrain after midnight at the station, the ticket vending machines were closed up behind barricades. The station itself had metal gates deployed at the entrance, except for one opening on the side. I walked in and went to the agent booth, which was still manned. I asked, "Isn't there still a train going to Millbrae?". Agent responded in the affirmative, and gave me and another guy who was there, a free O/W ticket to Millbrae! Saved $4.00.

Ocn Vw 1K

I parked this past weekend at Millbrae BART and parking charges are not waived until 3 p.m. on Friday. Sadly, the Sat. eve. trip from SFO to Millbrae took almost an hour from arrival at the SFO BART station to Millbrae, and involved an unexpected round trip to/from San Bruno, as someone decided to spend part of Sat. night walking the tracks from San Bruno to SFO.

aau

I'll be flying to Hawaii this weekend, leaving this Friday (Veteran's Day), and returning early Mon. morning around 8am. If I park at Millbrae BART, am I right in thinking I could get away with paying only $2 for the Monday daily parking fee?

Ocn Vw 1K

Veterans Day is recognized by BART as a parking holiday; but how will you arrange to pay in advance the $2 Monday fee? When I've done similar, I paid $6 for one day (Monday) of "airport parking" at BART. That allows a printed parking pass to be displayed showing that it is for Monday.

OTOH, If the holiday were on Monday, rather than Friday, you could pay $2 for Friday and not need to pay in advance for later days.