New Dublin-Pleasanton BART Parking Garage: Here's When Construction Could Begin

TRI-VALLEY, CA — Construction on a second parking garage at the Dublin-Pleasanton BART station may finally begin sometime early next year — three years after a ceremonial groundbreaking in 2018.

Located on property owned by Alameda County immediately adjacent to the existing BART garage, the five-story structure was expected to have been completed last year. The coronavirus pandemic interfered, delaying the bidding process to select a contractor.

That process resumed last month and proposals from pre-qualified contractors are now due Nov. 15 with a contract award anticipated by month’s end.

Once completed, the new garage will add some 570 parking spaces to supplement the 1,484 spaces already available in the existing BART-owned garage on the north side of the station.

Currently there are about 2,969 parking spaces available at the Dublin-Pleasanton station, not counting disabled or motorcycle stalls. Neighboring West Dublin-Pleasanton station has about 1,048 parking spaces in two garage structures.

Funding for the estimated $34 million project is being provided by several Bay Area transportation agencies, although a final price tag won’t be known until bids are opened due to escalation in construction costs during the pandemic.

As project sponsor, the Livermore-Amador Valley Transit Authority (LAVTA) will provide the bulk of the funding with a $20 million grant from the California Transportation Commission provided under California’s Transit and Intercity Rail program administered by Caltrans. That grant includes $10.9 million in Public Transportation Fund money derived from vehicle registration fees and fuel taxes and $9.1 million from the state's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

The remaining $14 million is being provided by the Metropolitan and Alameda transportation commissions, with each committing $7 million.

Headquartered in Livermore, LAVTA operates Tri-Valley Wheels transit services in Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore and unincorporated areas of Alameda County. LAVTA buses connect to BART, Contra Costa's County Connection routes and Altamont Commuter Express trains.

While state funding required the award of a construction contract by last April 9, in March the Transportation Commission approved a one-year extension for selecting a contractor.

The new garage was viewed as a welcome solution to the chronic overflow problem at BART’s existing facility, where parking spaces were almost impossible to find after 7:30 a.m.

However, with BART now struggling to regain ridership after the coronavirus lockdown in March 2020 virtually emptied its trains when commuters either lost their jobs or were forced to work remotely, the regional transit agency will be happy to see the 36 garages it operates overflowing again because parking fees have been a substantial source of revenue.

During the 2019 fiscal year, BART's gross parking revenues systemwide totaled $37.5 million with $2.4 million collected at Dublin-Pleasanton. With operations curtailed for one-third of the 2020 Fiscal Year, system-wide revenues dropped nearly 25 percent to $28.2 million and plummeted to $7.2 million in fiscal year 2021, which ended July 31.

At Dublin-Pleasanton, parking revenue fell to $1.86 million in 2020 and dropped to $818,000 in 2021. Collections from parking violations at the station, totaling $249,000 in 2020, plunged to just under $30,000 in fiscal year 2021.

A second project slated to get underway next year is the six-story Westin Hotel by Marriott slated for construction on property just east of BART’s garage on property purchased by Pleasanton developer Charles Patel in 2018 for about $11 million.

Patel told Patch last week he expects construction will begin sometime next summer.