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Trains are stopping today at the $106-million West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station that was officially dedicated Friday with a bevy of speeches and patriotic ceremonies inside the spacious second level waiting area.
The agency’s 44th station opening was celebrated by military color guards, the “Pledge of Allegiance,” the National Anthem sung by Katelyn West and bagpipe music by the Prince Charles Caledonian Band. Then came the speeches–15 of them–by local, regional, transportation and BART representatives.
Service started Saturday with trains operating on a holiday schedule today. The first crunch of passengers to board trains that are often filled at the East Dublin/Pleasanton station, which is located 1.6 miles east of the new facility, will come Tuesday morning. The new station includes a parking garage with 468 spaces on Stoneridge Mall Road on the Pleasanton side and another garage with 721 spaces on the Dublin side.
Commuters can walk from the garages directly to the second level of the station to process their tickets, and then down a flight of stairs to the I-580 freeway level to board trains.
John McPartland, vice president of the BART board of directors, said the new station is expected to serve 4,300 riders daily on weekdays, with the trip to BART’s four downtown San Francisco stations costing $5.50 one way.
Commuter counts in the coming weeks will determine how many of the 7,500 daily passengers who use the existing station will use the new station instead where parking may be more abundant and more weather-friendly. As it is, parking at the Dublin/Pleasanton station can be scarce early in the morning rush hour even with nearly 3,000 spaces on both sides of the freeway.
The East BART station was opened May 10, 1997 and quickly became a major transit hub for buses and cabs, serving the Tri-Valley. Cabs, Wheels and AC Transit buses and a number of shuttle buses to various Tri-Valley corporations and business parks congregate at the station, which is BART’s end-of-the-line station. Transit service is available to San Joaquin County and cities as far east as Modesto, over 55 miles away.
Although some transit service is expected to serve the new West BART station, its location near more congested Stoneridge Mall Road and Dublin Boulevard may keep most of the services at the station farther east.
But with easier access from I-680, the new station and its garages may also attract new riders to BART from among commuters from San Ramon and Danville on the north and even from Fremont on the south as a quicker way of reaching Oakland, San Francisco and Peninsula destinations.
McPartland led the grand opening celebration Friday, a cold, rainy day with about 200 filling the unheated upper level assembly area. In the audience were BART representatives, employees, state and county leaders, council members from Dublin, Pleasanton and San Ramon, firefighters, police, school board members and scores of residents who said they’ve been waiting for this new station to open.
With skywalks connecting both sides of the freeway, pedestrians and bicyclists can now walk, jog and cycle between Pleasanton and Dublin without having to use the Foothill Road/San Ramon Boulevard overpass.
“This station’s been nine years in the making,” McPartland said, “and today’s the day. It’s another step in BART’s commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of a crowded freeway. It also represents the success of a public-private partnership in building a transit center.”
Quentin Kopp, a retired San Mateo Superior Court judge who worked tirelessly as a State Senator to campaign for the Bay Area Rapid Transit System and its service extensions, including to San Francisco International Airport, praised BART for adding the new West Dublin/Pleasanton station. He told those assembled Friday that it was to the credit of voters and taxpayers in San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties who voted to fund a $792 million bond issue that enabled BART to be established, with the first section of rail placed in 1973.
“Think about what the Bay Area would be like today if these voters had not agreed to pay for BART?” Kopp asked. “Forever the shame of San Mateo County for not going along.”
Pete Snyder, the first mayor of Dublin and a former BART board member, recalled the early days of Dublin when part of the acreage on which the new West BART station and parking garages occupy was undeveloped, although eyed for retail and other businesses when BART acquired it in 1982.
He worked with BART, the city of Dublin and investment firms Jones Lang LaSalle and Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors to create the public-private partnership that enabled BART to pay for the new station.
“This was first major public-private partnership in transportation in this area,” Snyder said.
Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty called the new BART station opening “a great day for the economic future of this area.”
“When you see a station alike this, you know BART is alive and well,” he added. “Of course, I wish this celebration was at a new BART station in Livermore, but that will come.”
Dublin Mayor Tim Sbranti said the station is a catalyst for his city’s downtown development plan. Plans call for construction of a transit village on the Dublin side of the station that could include a 150-room hotel, a 210-unit apartment complex and retail/office space. He also talked about how the BART station fits into Dublin’s effort to curb greenhouse gases.
“We are one of only a few cities in the Bay Area that has actually adopted a climate action plan,” Sbranti said. “We’re concerned about greenhouse gas emissions in the East Bay and one of the key elements in our plan talks about increasing BART’s capacity here in the city of Dublin.”
Pleasanton’s Vice-Mayor Cheryl Cook-Kallio said the new station fits into her city’s plan for more transit oriented developments (TODs) that can also help the environment. She said Pleasanton just approved an 850-unit TOD in the Hacienda Business Park and plans call for a 350-unit apartment complex adjacent to the new station.
Other speakers included Bob Franklin, president of the BART board of directors, from District 3; Thomas Blalock, BART Director from District 6; Bijan Sartipi, Director, District 4 of the California Department of Transportation; Arthur Dao, executive director of the Alameda County Transportation Commission; Jim Gallagher, vice president of Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers; Robert Russell, senior vice president of Jones Lang LaSalle; Karl Schroeder, president, Northern California division of Safeway, Inc., and Dorothy Dugger, BART General Manager.
Because the House of Representatives was in session Friday debating budget issues, Congressmen Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton) and John Garamendi (D-Walnut Creek) were unable to attend the opening day ceremonies although their local staff representatives were there.
The long morning celebration ended at noon Friday with the ceremonial ribbon-cutting at the entry gates that took about two minutes.
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Here it comes–one of the first trains to stop at the new West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. Photo by Jeb Bing. -
It’s already a busy day as service begins Saturday at the new West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. Photo by Jeb Bing. -
BART board vice president John McPartland salutes as the Camp Parks Honor Guard posts colors at the start of dedication ceremonies Friday for the the new West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. Photo by Jeb Bing. -
Pleasanton Vice Mayor Cheryl Cook-Kallio praises the new West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station as another center for transit oriented development, which Pleasanton is planning. Photo by Jeb Bing. -
Crowds fill the waiting area of the new West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station at dedication ceremonies Friday. Photo by Jeb Bing. -
Calling it “a great day for the economic future of this area,” Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty speaks at dedication ceremonies for the new West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. Photo by Jeb Bing. -
Pleasanton City Councilman, coffee in hand, takes his seat at ceremony dedicating the new West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. Photo by Jeb Bing. -
Not often seen in a station’s information booth is BART board vice president John McPartland, who found a quiet, glassed-in office to work on a list of introductions he made a few minutes later at dedication ceremonies opening the new West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. Photo by Jeb Bing. -
BART board vice president John McPartland welcomes several hundred guests to ceremony dedicating the new West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. Photo by Jeb Bing. -
Katelyn West sings the National Anthem at colorful ceremonies marking the dedication of the new West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. Photo by Jeb Bing. -
Longtime BART advocate and former State Senator and Superior Court Judge Quentin Kopp (right) talks to Pete Snyder, Dublin’s first mayor and a former BART director, at ceremony dedicating the new West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. Photo by Jeb Bing. -
BART board vice president John McPartland joins Dublin’s first mayor and former BART director Pete Snyder in cutting the ribbon, officially dedicating the new West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. Photo by Jeb Bing. -
BART board vice president John McPartland introduces speakers at ceremony dedicating the new West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. Photo by Jeb Bing.
Brace for an exponential increase in crime in and around Stoneridge Mall.
Great–let’s build a bunch of low-income and cheap appartments around BART to scare honest hard-working people into driving their cars to work instead. And let’s chase all of the upscale shoppers out of Stoneridge! All it takes is one time getting your car broken into or getting mugged for your shopping bags, and you’ll be a believer. Too bad not one of our local politicians has the guts to stand up to all this global-warming/low-income BS. Get ready for the urban ghettonization of Pleasanton; you better buy your rims and your globck now if you want to fit in to the upcoming “diverse” culture.
The crime rate around the station will be representative of the crime rate in Dublin or Pleasanton. It is not going to increase or decrease. There is data to prove it from other new BART stations. So stop spewing nonsense about increased crime rate due to BART.
BARTisGood, could you link to the data, please? Thanks…
Hurrahs for this $106 million dollar boondoggle paid for by taxpayers in a state that’s BROKE.
It’s 1.6 miles from the East Dublin station.
What a joke. Waste of money, $20+ million in cost overruns (gee, didn’t hear Quentin Kopp or any of the other politicos apologizing for WASTING over $20 million there), encouraging more urban sprawl and development, making it incredibly easier for would-be thieves to ply their trade at Stoneridge Mall, and providing an unnecessary station, when the money should have been spent on extending the line to Livermore, if it had to be spent at all.
Gee, $106 million that could’ve helped the schools out.
These local and state politicians will be long gone when the damage this station creates comes to fruition. Hope they enjoy patting themselves on the back. I’d like to kick ’em all in the behind.
Shame on you, Mr. Kopp, et al. Good luck with your multi-billion dollar high-speed rail boondoggle. More waste, more indebtedness for the state of California. Brilliant.
Our dysfunctional government at work. Why don’t you all try to balance the state budget (and the federal one, for that matter)?
“As it is, parking at the Dublin/Pleasanton station can be scarce early in the morning rush hour even with nearly 3,000 spaces on both sides of the freeway.” What the story doesn’t tell you is that BARTD has already sold the ground parking in Dublin to a developer who helped build the smaller ugly Parking Structure, and is just using the ground parking (and charging us for it!) until even more is built. So parking will get worse.
This is the same BARTD that also tried to sell off the land bought for the Livermore Station and parking lot near the freeway that was promised, paid for, but never built.
They took the taxes from Livermore for over 40 years, now claim they need to a build “development based” station where it will make a huge mess to “qualify” for federal money- what happened to the money and the original plans?
“We The People” Voted the fools into office…”We The People” are the blame.
Until we wake up and do not return the fools back into office it will continue, spend, spend and spend more of our money.
Comment by No Thanks is correct…they will be long gone etc. etc.
We are a sad bunch of weak people…We allow the minority group to control the majority. We are the blame not them… We are not interested enough own and our family’s well being. We are lazy…
Thanks. Julia from Alamo
The BART station by Bayfair Mall in San Leandro has the highest incidence of auto-theft of all BART stations; though San Leandro as a community has less auto theft than Oakland and other communities that have a BART station. So with all due respect, I question BARTisgood’s facts.
The monies used for this station were primarily raised by the special BART tax and could not be used for non BART costs. The State or County could not touch these funds for schools or other needs.
As someone who toiled at a fairly senior level on this endeavor for the past several years I offer the following comments with respect to the politicians who describe this project as being a public/private “partnership” that could be used to build other BART facilities. The grand concept was that by involving private developers, who are more keenly tuned to pressures of time and money, the project could be delivered more efficiently. Years behind schedule, and tens of millions over budget, the reality of the “partnership” became glaringly apparent. BART almost immediately became entrenched in their standard “public works” behavior with respect to the project. They repeatedly overruled recommendations made by the private development team. Unnecessary “requirements” were imposed arbitrarily and without justification. Time critical decisions were made at a glacial pace. Mountains of needless reports and paperwork piled up that no one needed or ever bothered to read. Eventually the project was completed, but it ended up as far over budget and schedule as any project managed by a gaggle of disengaged bureaucrats. Until BART goes to a completely outsourced delivery process, expect more waste of this sort to continue.
I’ve been using the new station and have been very happy with it. Closer to home (can even walk, if weather permits), plenty of parking if needed, and the wait on the platform is much nicer than at the East Dublin/Pleasanton station because it’s at highway level and not elevated, and is shielded from the rain and wind.
Reading this site makes me ashamed to be an American. I honestly can’t believe the bull that is written about the BART Station and it increasing the crime rate.
I didn’t realize so many rednecks are living in this area. Do you want to build a fence around your community or better yet live inside a bubble for your entire life.
I honestly love the new BART Station in West Dublin, which will help the community as a whole. I have used the BART Station several times since it has opened and find it very beneficial.
To all that are unhappy with the station…I shall suggest you find yourself find another city to live in.
It is absolutely unbelievable that this station even exists. Why did we need a BART station 1.6 miles from the previous station? That money should have been used to extend the much need BART line into Livermore to help reduce traffic on 580. Obviously, there is no common sense left anymore.
Due to the high volume of people using the Pleasanton station, I’d think that there _was_ a need for another station… Besides, I don’t think Livermore is going to happen any time soon–how long has the San Jose extension been stalled?
What doesn’t make sense to me is the correlation certain folks are drawing to a supposedly higher crime rate. Where exactly would they be coming from to cause this increase? The mall? Dublin?…
Pleasanton Resident said:
“That money should have been used to extend the much need BART line into Livermore to help reduce traffic on 580. Obviously, there is no common sense left anymore.”
I fully agree that Livermore needs and deserves a station, after paying the BART surcharge tax for 40+ years. However, this new station was in the plans for many, many years and according to documents, the physical foundations and infrastructure for the station were already in place when the older Dublin/Pleasanton station opened. According to Wikipedia: “The station was originally planned to enter into service as part of the original extension to Dublin/Pleasanton, which entered service in 1997. As a result, the station’s foundation, along with some communication and train control facilities, already existed on-site.
Again, I’ve been very pleased with the new station, and I’ve heard other commuters expressing the same sentiment. I think perhaps those who rely on BART for their everyday commute and means of getting to their jobs are in favor of this station, and perhaps those who believe that the new station will be the downfall of Pleasanton either don’t work or don’t use BART for their work commutes. (BTW, it’s not that I don’t own a perfectly nice functional car; it’s more that the drive to my job is slow and frustrating and parking nearby my office is expensive and difficult to find.)
One concern that I do have, after exiting the BART station the last few evenings: shoppers coming from the mall on foot have no easy, safe way to cross the street to the station unless they walk to the traffic light across from the upper Nordstrom lot, and that’s a long way away from the station. I’ve witnessed folks making a mad dash in the dark across the four-lane road from the lower Nordstrom/JC Penney lot. It’s only time before an accident happens, and that worries me. It seems that part of the pedestrian puzzle should have been taken into account by the city and the BART planners.
Now that the new station is open, has the area been hit with a crime wave yet? Hardly.
I’ve used the new station and guess what? The people using it (including myself) either work or live in the area. The new station should also help lower the business vacancy rate in the area and bring in more revenue for both Dublin and Pleasanton.
Of course the Chicken Littles will never admit this. If ANYTHING bad happens in the area, the station will be blamed as if there was never any crime around the shopping center before it opened. All you have to do though is watch the people coming and going from the station and it is obvious that the feared invasion of mass transit riding hoodlums was nothing more than fear mongering.
Pleasanton Resident,
Time will tell. I won’t hold may breath – the troublemakers from OakHayLeandro will soon arrive… I’ll hang on to my wallet and car keys and shop elsewhere, thank you very much.
“For the Birds” is the title of a fantastic album by the Irish group, The Frames, fronted by Glen Hansard, the winner of the Best Song Grammy in 2008.