People Mover to Link BART and Airport

Oakland International Airport will link directly with a nearby BART station through a driver-less people mover, according to a decision made recently by BART directors.

1 minute read

December 11, 2009, 2:00 PM PST

By Nate Berg


The people mover could come online as soon as 2013.

"The BART board voted 7-1, with Director Tom Radulovich opposed and Lynette Sweet absent, to award $440 million in contracts for the construction, operation and maintenance of the 3.2-mile Oakland Airport Connector. Construction of the automated, driverless train system that would whisk passengers to the airport in 14 1/2 minutes is scheduled to start next summer and take 3 1/2 years.

BART's board and regional transportation officials have longed to build a rail connection to the Bay Area's second-busiest airport for nearly 40 years but there was never enough money. The faltering economy gave the people mover the boost it needed earlier this year: $70 million in federal stimulus funds to complete the funding package."

Friday, December 11, 2009 in San Francisco Chronicle

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