Daly City BART station ready for makeover

DALY CITY

The 32-year-old Daly City BART station pales in comparison to its Peninsula neighbors.

Trash. Dirty bathrooms. Unsafe pedestrian walkways. Poor signage, lack of auto access and transit connections. One of the most used of BART's 43-station line, it has a weekday average of 7,275 riders, more than double the number of riders at the Richmond or Colma stations, for examples.

The station opened in late 1973 and has had few upgrades since, but BART officials plan to bring the Daly City station up to par with the five other Peninsula stations, which opened in 2003, when the transit agency finished an extension to San Francisco International Airport.

With a $100,000 Caltrans grant, transit officials will study the future of the Daly City station and ways to improve its standing in the community, BART spokesman Linton Johnson said Sunday. Riders and neighbors will have a chance to weigh in at two public workshops on Oct. 29 and Nov. 5.

For some riders, the Daly City station, at the least, needs a good cleaning.

Foster City resident James Baquero uses the newer Millbrae station often but was at the older Daly City stop Sunday.

"Comparing the two stations is like comparing caviar to McDonald's cheeseburgers," Baquero said. He said Daly City needs more security and cleaner bathrooms -- "They smell like they haven't been cleaned in four to five days."

Daly City Councilmember Judith Christensen, who lives near the station, cited additional problems with the station's design and traffic flow. Within the station, signs are unclear for passengers where to catch buses or how to access nearby Mission Street and surrounding neighborhoods. Few people use the pedestrian walkway under John Daly Boulevard, Christensen said, for safety reasons being underground.

"The station is old. It's showing its wear. Newer stations have their artistic flair. Ours is concrete, totally functional," Christensen said.

Johnson said the two workshops would study accessibility, beautification, safety and improving transit connections. The first session would review the station's existing conditions, tour the station and determine what issues in particular to study further. The second session is a hands-on design workshop.