Milpitas station, also known as Milpitas Transit Center, is an
intermodal transit
Intermodal passenger transport, also called mixed-mode commuting, involves using two or more modes of transportation in a journey. Mixed-mode commuting is often used to combine the strengths (and offset the weaknesses) of various transportati ...
station located near the intersection of East Capitol Avenue and
Montague Expressway
There are 21 routes assigned to the "G" zone of the California Route Marker Program, which designates county routes in California. The "G" zone includes county highways in Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz cou ...
in
Milpitas, California
Milpitas (Spanish for "little milpas") is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in Silicon Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 80,273. The city's origins lie in Rancho Milpitas, granted to Californio ranchero José Marà ...
. The station is served by the
Berryessa/North San José–Richmond and
Berryessa/North San José–Daly City Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes on of rapid transit lines, including a spur line in eastern Contra Costa County which uses ...
(BART) lines, the
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail Orange Line,
VTA buses, and
AC Transit
AC Transit (Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District) is an Oakland-based public transit agency serving the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. AC Transit also operates "Transbay" ro ...
buses.
The elevated Montague light rail station opened in June 2004. It was renamed Milpitas in December 2019 when the bus plaza and connecting footbridge were opened. The below-grade BART station, constructed as part of the
Silicon Valley BART extension
The Silicon Valley BART extension is an ongoing effort to expand service by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) into Santa Clara County via the East Bay from its former terminus at the Fremont station in Alameda County. Planned since at least 1981, th ...
, opened in June 2020 along with a parking garage.
History
The VTA Light Rail station opened as ''Montague'' station on June 24, 2004, as part of the Tasman East expansion, originally without any parking spaces.
The BART station is the northern of two stations constructed as part of the $2.3 billion phase I of the
Silicon Valley BART extension
The Silicon Valley BART extension is an ongoing effort to expand service by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) into Santa Clara County via the East Bay from its former terminus at the Fremont station in Alameda County. Planned since at least 1981, th ...
, which broke ground in 2012. The complex was built by and is owned by the
VTA.
Opening was delayed repeatedly from its 2016 completion date.
In December 2019, the VTA and
AC Transit
AC Transit (Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District) is an Oakland-based public transit agency serving the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. AC Transit also operates "Transbay" ro ...
bus station opened, while the light rail station was officially renamed from ''Montague'' to ''Milpitas''.
An official ribbon cutting for the BART station was held on June 12, 2020, with service beginning the next day on June 13, 2020.
A -long footbridge crosses Montague Expressway on the north side of the station. Construction of the $19.33 million bridge, which connects to the second level of the garage, began in 2019; it opened in July 2021.
Station layout
The Milpitas station complex is located near the intersection of East Capitol Avenue and the
Montague Expressway
There are 21 routes assigned to the "G" zone of the California Route Marker Program, which designates county routes in California. The "G" zone includes county highways in Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz cou ...
, near the south border of Milpitas. The BART tracks run roughly north–south in a trench below street level, with two -long
side platforms
A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...
. The station building is approximately , with an undulating roofline and three large circular
skylight
A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes.
History
Open ...
s. Entrances are on the east and west sides of the station building, near its southern end, leading to a central corridor. Fare control areas are on opposite sides of the corridor; both have stairs and escalators to the platform, with elevators in the north fare control area.
The BART station features
stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
windows by BJ Katz and Chris Klein, titled ''Ethos of Imagination'', above the main entrance. Twenty support columns along the platforms are encased in ceramic tiles by Amy Trachtenberg, titled ''Ecstatic Voyaging'', patterned after the ''
ikat
''Ikat'' (in Indonesian languages means "bind") is a dyeing technique originating from Indonesia used to pattern textiles that employs resist dyeing on the yarns prior to dyeing and weaving the fabric.
In ''ikat'', the resist is formed by bi ...
'' dyeing technique.
The light rail tracks are elevated above East Capitol Avenue, running approximately northwest–southeast. A mezzanine is located under the single
island platform
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
, with stairs and an elevator to the median of East Capitol Avenue at South Milpitas Boulevard. A pedestrian bridge leads from the west side of the BART building (with escalators and an elevator) southwest to the light rail mezzanine.
The bus plaza is located west of the BART station building. It is served by nine VTA bus routes (, , , , , , , and ) and one
AC Transit
AC Transit (Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District) is an Oakland-based public transit agency serving the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. AC Transit also operates "Transbay" ro ...
route (
217
Year 217 (Roman numerals, CCXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Praesens and Extricatus (or, less frequently, yea ...
); it serves as a transfer point between the two bus systems.
It is the only BART station served by both VTA and AC Transit, and the only VTA light rail station served by AC Transit. The six-story, 1,631 space paid parking garage is located east of the BART building.
A paid 185-space indoor bike parking structure is located underneath the footbridge; free bike racks are dispersed around the station.
File:Milpitas BART entrance.jpg, BART faregates
File:Milpitas BART Station Platform.jpg, BART station platform
File:Milpitas bus plaza from light rail station, June 2020.JPG, Bus plaza and BART station
File:Montague station from ground level, March 2018.JPG, Light rail station from below
File:VTA Light Rail train at Milpitas station.jpg, Light rail platform
References
External links
*
*
Milpitas Transit Center Meet the StationMilpitas Transit Center & BART Stationproject website
{{Milpitas, California
Railway stations in the United States opened in 2020
Stations on the Berryessa/North San José–Richmond line
Stations on the Berryessa/North San José–Daly City line
Bay Area Rapid Transit stations in Santa Clara County, California
Buildings and structures in Milpitas, California
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light rail stations
Bay Area Rapid Transit stations located underground
Railway stations in the United States opened in 2004
2004 establishments in California
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority bus stations
2020 establishments in California