San Bruno B.A.R.T.

  As BART's extension to San Francisco International Airport nears a 2002 opening date, a lesser-known stop along the rail system's Peninsula route promises to ease the daily commutes of tens of thousands.

  BART's Millbrae station -- the last stop on the airport extension -- will for the first time bring BART and Caltrain tracks side by side, making for near-seamless trips from University Avenue in Palo Alto to Market Street in downtown San Francisco, among dozens of other destination combos.

  Millbrae's BART station may not have the marquee appeal of San Francisco's proposed Transbay Terminal and does not connote the big-fix-to-public-transportation associated with extending BART to San Jose.

  But for the next decade or so, while those other big projects are being debated and built, the convergence of BART and Caltrain in Millbrae will make the town, previously known as a bedroom suburb of San Francisco, a major new crossroads in the Bay Area.

  ``It's hard to communicate how big this project is and the effect it may have on Millbrae and public transportation throughout the Peninsula,'' said Molly McArthur, a BART spokeswoman. ``We're getting close enough to finishing that people are starting to ask, `What can it do for me?' and the answer is, `A lot.' ''

  By 2003, the Millbrae station is expected to draw more daily passengers on its BART tracks alone than the city's entire population of 21,000, according to BART projections. By 2010, that number will jump to 33,000 daily, equaling the number of commuters who enter and exit BART's Embarcadero station in downtown San Francisco.

  Of those, BART officials predict, more than 25,000 are expected to use the Millbrae station each day to hop between Caltrain and BART.

  Developers sold on Millbrae's future as a transportation hub are betting an estimated $600 million that the new station -- which will also house a major bus terminal and possibly a future Amtrak stop along a San Francisco-to-Los Angeles run -- will become a business magnet.

  Next month, developers plan to demolish the Kings Bowl, a bowling alley near Millbrae's aging downtown, to make way for a ``transit village'' alongside the new train station. Altogether, Millbrae is planning for two new hotels, 500 apartments and condominiums and 1 million square feet of office space.

  ``When you can't get there by car, but you can still get to Millbrae and bring in your workforce from both directions, it's got to make those offices pretty attractive,'' said Ralph Petty, the city's community development director, referring to the way workers could avoid traffic to Millbrae either by riding BART south from San Francisco or Caltrain north from the Peninsula.

  Millbrae's station isn't the only one drawing attention along the 8.7-mile, $1.5 billion airport extension. Planners along the extension's three other stops -- South San Francisco, San Bruno and San Francisco Airport -- are all forecasting major development.

  When the BART extension opens in late 2002, San Francisco Airport Director John Martin has said he plans to give up his car and ride BART to work. Transit officials hope many more of the airport's 35,000 employees also decide to take the train, cutting down on highway congestion and freeing up airport parking spaces. The airport is building a light-rail system that will hook into the airport's BART station and whisk airline passengers to flight terminals and airport workers to offices and airline maintenance areas.

  To the north of the airport in San Bruno, where the BART station will link up with the Tanforan shopping center, a mall anchored by Sears and Target, city officials are getting ready to take a $300 million development project to voters in June that calls for adding hotels, apartments, office space and a parking garage near the new station.

  ``Almost all of our city's growth is connected to BART,'' said George Foscardo, San Bruno's community development director. An entertainment complex, including a 12-screen movie house, may also be built near the city's new BART station.

  In South San Francisco, city consultants are planning 300 to 500 apartments and condominiums along El Camino Real within a few minutes' walk of the city's new BART station.

  Still, the BART airport extension will probably have the most dramatic effect on Millbrae.

  Development around the train station could bring in businesses, thousands of new residents and millions in tax dollars, city officials predict. Millbrae, which is built up primarily with houses and has no substantial open space, has grown by only 660 people in the past 20 years, according to the latest census data. ``Millbrae has one shot at serious development, and this is it,'' said Petty, the city planner.

  If the trains do turn Millbrae into a popular destination, the economic boon to the city could total $7 million in yearly revenue from property, hotel-occupancy and other taxes, Petty said. Currently, Millbrae's annual budget is $13 million.

  With that much cash on the line, Petty said, it's not too hard to figure out why Millbrae officials would rather San Jose never move any further along on its plan to extend BART to the South Bay. Petty hopes that by the time BART does get to San Jose -- which will probably take a decade or more -- Millbrae will have cashed in on its BART connection.

  ``For now, I just think everyone is waiting here for the train,'' said Chris Teotico, a sales associate at an AT&T Wireless store a block from the Millbrae station construction site.

  ``That's why this store was built. It's pretty slow now, but I've got a feeling we're going to see a lot of people.''