How do you measure BART's impact?
Local businesses and residents benefit when they’re located near a transit station.
With the BART’s Impact series, we’re looking at one BART station at a time to understand how a single station can transform the economy, social fabric, and culture of a city. If one station alone can impact an area so profoundly, imagine all fifty BART stations taken together.
BART stations are not simply destinations – stops on a line to get you from A to B. BART stations create destinations and with that, a livable and thriving Bay Area for all.
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Millbrae Station is a crucial gateway to the Peninsula and the point of convergence for BART, Caltrain, and SamTrans.
Millbrae rail service began in 1864 with the historic 17 Mile House station. Nearly 140 years later, Millbrae Station opened for business. Now thousands of passengers pass through the station each day on their way to work, activities, and experiences.
The area around the station has transformed significantly since the transit center opened in 2003. In 2023, BART’s Millbrae Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) project – the Gateway at Millbrae Station – opened for business, transforming what was once a BART parking lot into a mixed-use space beside the station. In addition to increasing much-needed housing stock in the area, the development has added jobs, increased city revenue, and created a walkable and inviting public space with art, restaurants, and events.
BART spoke to some of the businesses around Millbrae Station, asking the same question: Why is BART essential to your bottom line and your city's prosperity?
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Our first stop on this storytelling journey: Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre Station.
This station sits at the convergence of Highway 680, the Iron Horse pedestrian and bicycle trail, multiple hotels and office buildings, and a vibrant mixed-use transit village with restaurants, gyms, bars, a dance school, 600-plus apartment complex, the list goes on.
“Locating by a BART station is a great move for businesses,” said BART Director Matt Rinn, whose district includes Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre Station. “You have in-built customers, who are coming and going from the station, you can increase capacity by not needing a parking lot, and your employees can get to work affordably.”