Will I be able to reliably find parking at Fremont BART in the evenings?

December 6, 2007 6:31 PM

Hello internet. Is it hard to park my car at or near the Fremont BART stop on weekday evenings?

I want to commute by BART from SF, and drive in to work in Milpitas from the Fremont stop, so I would be leaving my car there overnight at around 5:30-7PM depending on when I'm done at work, and picking it up in the mornings.

How can the parking be done?

I'm #214 in line for monthly reserved parking, anyone know how long the line might take? Also, if I get it one month, will I be able to continue buying it every month after that?

Is it usually still really hard to find parking there if I get there around 5:30-7PM?

If parking at the lot will sometimes or usually be impossible at those times, are there any good places nearby to park?

Thanks!

posted by I like to eat meat to travel & transportation (6 comments total)

I work a ten minute walk away from said BART stop. The monthly parking is the best bet, and I don't think #214 is such a bad spot. You might have to wait a month or two, but once you've got it you can keep parking as long as you keep paying.

Street parking's no good. There's limits all over and the courthouse is right there so there's enforcement agents everywhere too. If you're the gambling sort, try ensconcing your car in one of the myriad office park lots. As long as it's not very crowded (there's plenty around there that aren't) it's unlikely that anyone will think to call a tow truck in. But that's a gamble.

But I wonder...what time would you be picking this car up in the morning? If you drop the car on the street after 6, and you pick it up 12 hours later, you should be in the clear. So maybe I was too hasty in saying street parking was no good. If you pick your car back up before 8, then you'll miss the enforcement window completely and all will be well. Street parking is ample around there, as it's almost all business, so finding a spot won't be the hard part. Just make sure you don't get down to Fremont one day and find no transportation for the rest of your commute.
posted by Doublewhiskeycokenoice at 10:08 PM on December 6, 2007

You'll be fine. Parking is only usually horrible in the mornings. Around 4pm and onwards people start coming back from SF and the lot starts thinning out.

Just remember not to park your car in the reserved parking lots (the ones closest to the station), and that you'll need pay a dollar for parking inside the station (there's a parking fee from 4am - 3pm). On weekends, however, I'm not too sure what's up with their 24hr limit:

There is a 24-hour weekday time limit on parking in all BART lots... Vehicles left in BART parking facilities for more than 24 hours on weekdays will be subject to a $100.00 fine. All stations offer Extended Weekend parking which allows BART riders to park their vehicle from the start of train service on Friday to 2:00 am Monday. BART riders at stations where there is a daily fee requirement must pay the daily fee for Friday.

I'm guessing that the Fremont station agent would have the answer to that.
posted by hobbes at 3:29 AM on December 7, 2007

^ addendum.. I mean I don't know what you can do, given their Monday 2am weekend policy.
posted by hobbes at 3:34 AM on December 7, 2007

I work at BART and spoke to our parking manager about this. Here are his answers:
1. You shouldn't have a problem parking in the evenings.
2. If you pick your car up before 8 am, you won't need to pay. If you think you will be later, go ahead and pay the $1 fee, it is good for 24 hours.
3. Change spots each day so the patrolling officers don't think you've violated the 24 hour rule.
4. He will be opening up some more Monthly Reserved spaces after the Holidays, but only about 50 so you may be in for along wait.
5. Thank you for riding BART!
posted by agatha_magatha at 8:54 AM on December 7, 2007

I used to live in SF and work in Milpitas, so I left my car overnight at Fremont every day for three months. It was never a problem, but I did have to pay for the weekend parking, which was expensive and annoying. This was in 2005.
posted by jewzilla at 9:29 AM on December 7, 2007

Wow, you guys are unbelievably awesome. Thank you all so much for the answer, especially agatha, a Real Live BART Employee! Further evidence Ask Metafilter rules.
posted by I like to eat meat at 9:33 AM on December 7, 2007