Daly City station

Daly City station
Company type	Rapid transit station
Industry	Public transportation
Founded	November 5, 1973; 53 years ago
Headquarters	Daly City, California, United States
Area served	San Mateo County, California
Products	Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) services; bus transit connections

Daly City station is an elevated Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) facility situated in Daly City, California, just beyond the southern boundary of San Francisco. Positioned next to Interstate 280 and California Route 1, it serves as a vital park-and-ride location. The station accommodates the Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue lines, functioning as the western endpoint for both the Green and Blue lines.

Station layout

This station includes three tracks, featuring an island platform situated between the two eastern tracks and a side platform alongside the western track. The side platform is mainly designated for southbound trains continuing along the Peninsula, whereas the island platform handles northbound trains on the eastern track and southbound trains terminating at Daly City on the central track.

Daly City station acts as a central transfer point for several SamTrans and Muni bus lines. Most routes utilize the Niantic Avenue busway located on the station’s eastern side; meanwhile, Muni route 54 and shuttle services stop on the western side.

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Moreover, San Francisco State University provides a complimentary Daly City BART Express Shuttle along with a limited Campus Loop shuttle that serves this station. Free shuttle connections are also available from Seton Medical Center and Skyline College.

History

Following San Mateo County’s withdrawal from BART planning in 1961, Daly City remained a critical station due to its anticipated revenue generation. Funded by taxes collected from other counties, BART officially approved the "Daly City" designation in 1965. Although early 1962 designs proposed an elevated station, budget limitations led to relocating a rail yard to Hayward while preserving the elevated station concept.

The segment between Daly City and Montgomery stations on the San Francisco line commenced operations on November 5, 1973, with Transbay service beginning in 1974. On September 30, 1975, construction started on a $3.3 million parking garage that doubled parking availability from 800 spaces. Until the extension to Colma station in 1996, Daly City served as BART’s southern terminus on the San Francisco Peninsula, uniquely positioned outside its three core counties (City & County of San Francisco, Alameda County, and Contra Costa County). It continues to be the southern endpoint for the Green and Blue lines, which do not extend further into San Mateo County.

A pedestrian underpass beneath John Daly Boulevard linking additional parking areas was opened during the 1990s. Between 2008 and 2010, both the station and parking garage underwent seismic retrofitting. As of 2024, BART has identified considerable market and local challenges that hinder transit-oriented development on Daly City’s surface parking lots; such developments are unlikely before the mid-2030s.

Bus service

Serving as BART’s terminus on the peninsula, Daly City station became a focal point for connecting bus services. Initially, local routes were managed by Northgate Transit, a private operator. Western Greyhound Lines, which served San Mateo County commuters traveling to San Francisco, opted not to include a Daly City stop on its Pacifica-San Francisco route. Another private company, ServiCar, briefly operated two commuter routes between Peninsula locations and Daly City in early 1974. Beginning in April 1975, Muni started service to Daly City with route 91, later adding routes such as the 28 in 1982 and the 14L (now ) in 2012.

Established in 1976, SamTrans consolidated most private bus operators within San Mateo County. It introduced a Daly City–San Bruno–San Francisco International Airport route in July 1976 and assumed control of Northgate’s local routes by early 1977. On July 2, 1977, SamTrans acquired Greyhound commuter routes, reducing Pacifica buses to terminate at Daly City during BART operating hours and rerouting several local lines to end at this station. Starting June 1981, Golden Gate Transit briefly operated a connection from Daly City to the Golden Gate Bridge toll plaza.

A canopy covering the bus platform was constructed between September 1983 and April 1984. Further alterations to the busway took place during 1996–1997, including reversing traffic direction. Between 2017 and 2018, this canopy was replaced with modern shelters while adding a bus layover zone in the upper (east) parking area.

External links

Official BART page for Daly City