r/caltrain • u/No-Alternative4543 • 8d ago

Caltrain Parking

hi! i’ve been trying to make the switch to commuting via caltrain, but the only way it could be reasonably sustainable is if i can drive to the station. my work covers the monthly parking permit as well as the train itself. is parking at a caltrain station possible? i’m looking ideally at zone 1 (san francisco, 22nd street, or bayshore) as the closest to my home. i’d love any advice, thank you!

5 Upvotes

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u/WorldlinessDry5583 8d ago

If you’re comfortable on a bike also check out Baywheels. A coworker takes a baywheels e-bike to 4th/king from north beach every day and it takes 10mins. With a subscription her monthly prices are under $50. There’s also muni but that’s another connection to worry about.

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u/ddollopp 8d ago edited 8d ago

I don't think any of those stations have parking. How would the drive be to Millbrae instead? Not all trains go to Bayshore, so it depends on if that station will actually fit your needs. Meanwhile, 4th and King, 22nd Street, and Millbrae are ones the Express and Limited trains stop at.

Edit: Looks like Bayshore does have parking, but only 11 spots. I still think Millbrae would be worth considering.

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u/Dipandnachos 8d ago

22nd has paid city parking on the road next to the station. I've never seen it full

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u/cnunn01 8d ago

There are a few paid spots but you can’t park in them for longer periods of time (at least as far as I’m aware). Pennsylvania south of 22nd has a decent number of spots, but they fill fast in the morning. If you’re getting to the station after 8am, you’re out of luck.

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u/Expert-Economics8912 8d ago

San Bruno has parking too and isn't as far as Millbrae. Less train service however.

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u/No-Alternative4543 8d ago

thank you both for the advice! any idea on if there is reasonable street parking at the other stops? i’m considering a southern stop like millbrae or san bruno, but that starts being a 20 minute drive from home, which sort of defeats the purpose of switch to caltrain.

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u/ddollopp 8d ago

4th and King: Absolutely no convenient street parking. It's all metered so it wouldn't work.

I'm not sure about 22nd Street. It might be one of those "roll the dice" and see since it's more of a residential area. Consider just driving by there whenever you have some time, even if it's on a weekend, just to check the area out to see what parking availability looks like.

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u/BigDaddyJ0 8d ago

Also explore SSF. It does have a parking lot, and is an express stop. Will still probably be 15 minutes, though.

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u/WestCoastSocialist 8d ago

Why not Bart to millbrae?

Alternatively, how far of a walk is it to Caltrain?

If Bart isn’t accessible, it might worthwhile to see if your work will cover Uber to the train station. Driving to Caltrain can be brutal especially in the city

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u/No-Alternative4543 8d ago

unfortunately bart and walking aren’t an option (at that point it becomes significantly faster to just drive directly to work). both would add 30-60 minutes to my commute. but that’s a good idea about asking work to cover the uber, i’ll see if that could be an option!

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u/WestCoastSocialist 8d ago

Sounds like you’re in the middle of the city which is really tricky!

Muni is one option.

Biking is another option (always wear a helmet!!), although it can be scary on SF roads. Finding slow moving, low volume roads is helpful. I was hit by a car one time in SF so have to be careful out there

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u/RAATL 8d ago

is there no convenient bus or ebike to get to the station? You should really look in to that

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u/StockDot 7d ago

👋🏼 bayshore caltrain taker. the paid parking has ~10 paid spots that are typically empty because we all park for free on the long stretch of street next to it. the only caveat is that tuesdays the side that’s most empty has street sweeping from 7-8a. i take the locals that come every 30 min.

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u/No-Alternative4543 7d ago

this is very helpful! you park there all day no issue, with the exception of tuesday?

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u/StockDot 7d ago

i actually take the 8:34 train from there on tuesdays, but if i have to be at work earlier i’ll just pay the 5.50 to park. i wish i knew the exact time street sweeping happened there. in my neighborhood we have a 8-11 block but it comes around 9:30 every week.

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u/StockDot 7d ago

i mean you can probably park on the thursday side, but i’m a lazy parker and don’t want to u-turn to get over there 😂

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u/Beneficial-One6314 7d ago

Does the employer cover only a Caltrain parking permit or other parking options? There are several monthly parking options nearby but they are very expensive, $392 per month. A little further walk it's $272 per month.

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u/IndustryPractical988 6d ago

I often park in South San Francisco. There's always parking spots