Millbrae requests BART station remain open 

Previously, BART delineated 10 stations that could close as early as next January, including Peninsula stations like South San Francisco and San Bruno, with the Millbrae and Colma stations potentially closing later, in July 2027. 

Now, the agency is keeping plans to increase fares, run fewer trains and lay off over 1,000 employees if the regional ballot measure doesn’t pass and other funding sources are not identified, but will hold off on any station closures until July 2027 and is not naming which stations could close, Nagales said. This plan will formally go to the BART Board of Directors on Thursday. 

Still, the Millbrae station’s importance as the only connector between Caltrain and BART, as well as a connection between Peninsula residents and the nearby San Francisco International Airport, cannot be overstated, Councilmember Anders Fung said. 

“Thousands of riders between Santa Clara County and San Mateo County rely on the Millbrae station to transfer and the interoperability between Caltrain and BART,” Fung said. 

Fung said he was hopeful that an emergency $590 million loan for Bay Area transit agencies from the California governor’s office could help alleviate some of the planned cuts, though Nagales said BART would only be receiving $90 million of that funding. 

Multiple councilmembers, including Mayor Reuben Holober, emphasized the significant amount of work Millbrae has undergone to develop transit-oriented mixed-use buildings around the station. 

“Millbrae really is a critical location on the BART system,” Holober said. “Maybe it doesn’t have the highest ridership, but it is the only link right now with Caltrain. It is the site of a transit-oriented development. The city worked with BART to develop a really high-quality mixed-used project on BART property.” 

Councilmember Stephen Rainaldi inquired if BART planned to honor prior commitments to equitable closures across the jurisdictions it covers, echoing comments from the  City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County that the previously planned cuts have an outsized impact on San Mateo County. In the agency’s original plan, Daly City and the San Francisco International Airport would be the only remaining BART stops on the Peninsula. 

“I’d hate to see this whole area lose access to BART, and other areas within BART’s jurisdiction in other counties it operates in maybe not have to have that same fate,” he said. “If we’re going to be doing these closures, it should be spread out evenly amidst the jurisdictions.” 

Ultimately, Millbrae’s recent success in growth and development is predicated on it being a transit hub, Fung said. 

“I just cannot imagine that after all this, all these developments all these investments, all these efforts, all these commitments to making transit work for the entire Bay Area making transit an asset to all of us and becoming successful at these immense and tremendous opportunities, that one day we just shut the lights off,” he said.