Millbrae is working on plans to develop its transit station — which currently allows passengers to connect to Caltrain and BART rides, with future intentions for a future high-speed rail stop — into a true multimodal connective experience, staff told councilmembers.
“Whether it’s [traveling] in the neighborhood, downtown Millbrae, SFO, the world, we want to make this a seamless, connected transit hub — make it the best we can, be a world-class station,” Community Development Director Andrew Mogensen said during the City Council meeting Nov. 25.
Millbrae reached a settlement agreement with the California High-Speed Rail Authority in April that will allow the city to develop land west of the Millbrae BART station and keep plans for high-speed rail tracks intact.
The settlement will ostensibly allow for high-speed rail to share aboveground station space with Caltrain and BART — though the agency is still currently working on developments between Bakersfield and Merced — and for Millbrae to develop mixed-use housing on the western portion of the land parcel.
It’s paramount that the agency selected to design the multimodal station, Perkins Eastman, keeps the needs of transit riders in mind and doesn’t allow any one transit agency to take over, said Gina Papan, member of the Metropolitan Transit Commission and former Millbrae mayor.
Papan cited BART’s development of the station as an example of what not to do.
“I’m very excited for the potential of this project,” she said. “BART was delinquent and really destroyed access to the station — we’re hoping you, as a consultant here, can really imagine incorporating all these operators in such a way that it is seamless, not up and down and all around.”
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It’s integral that the transit station is an accessible asset for Millbrae residents first and foremost, Mayor Anders Fung said, stressing that the consultant should begin community outreach as soon as possible.
“[Making] sure everyone gets to participate in this discussion is very helpful, so nobody gets blindsided over it,” he said. “The transit station is, and should be, and must be an asset to Millbrae. It should not be a detriment to us.”
The plan for a future multimodal station should be developed in draft form by the end of December 2026 and approved early 2027, Vaughan Davies, a representative from Perkins Eastman, said. It’s being funded via a $600,000 Metropolitan Transportation Commission matching grant with the city of Millbrae.
If it’s done right, the station could be a true example of bringing different transportation modes together, Papan said, highlighting the importance of including parking for those driving to the transit stop.
“I’m hoping the city of Millbrae imagines the huge potential of really making intermodal work,” she said.
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