BART to SFO More Than 95% Complete.

News Editors

MILLBRAE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 24, 2002

Work on the BART extension to San Francisco International Airport and Millbrae is more than 95 percent complete, it was announced today by BART Board President Joel Keller in ceremonies at which U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta announced BART's receipt of $74.9 million, the latest installment of the $750 million the federal government pledged in the Full Funding Grant Agreement it issued in 1997 for construction of the extension.

Workers are currently laying the last of the track, installing the electronics and train control equipment along the line, and finishing up the stations

Construction of the 8.7-mile, four-station extension began in 1998. It is scheduled to open in late fall of this year.

"Like much of the rest of BART, this extension will be a milestone in engineering," BART General Manager Thomas E. Margro said, "admired and emulated for generations to come." Margro, himself, is an engineer.

The extension will expand BART commuter service to three additional cities in San Mateo County -- South San Francisco, San Bruno and Millbrae -- and link BART with CalTrain "in creating a major intermodal link that will greatly benefit the Bay Area and the state," Keller said.

"This extension will bring BART to the 'front door' of one of the Nation's busiest airports As the gateway to the economies of the Pacific Rim, San Francisco International Airport is a national as well as regional resource," he added, noting that "Hi-tech business and tourism are the area's leading industries."

The $1.5 billion project is a partnership among BART, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the San Mateo County Transportation Authority (SamTrans), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), the California Transportation Commission (CTC) and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC).