Berryessa/North San José station

This article is about the BART station. For the VTA light rail station, see Berryessa station (VTA).

Berryessa/North San José station^[3] (also known as Berryessa station and Berryessa Transit Center^[4]) is an intermodal transit center located in the Berryessa district of San Jose, California. The station is served by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) buses. The transit center opened for bus service on December 28, 2019,^[5] and subsequently for BART service on June 13, 2020.^[6] The station is the southern terminus of the Orange and Green lines.

Berryessa North San José
The station on the first day of service in June 2020
General information
Other names	Berryessa Transit Center, Berryessa
Location	925 Berryessa Station Way^[1] San Jose, California
Coordinates	37°22′06″N 121°52′29″W / 37.3683606°N 121.8746546°W / 37.3683606; -121.8746546
Owned by	Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
Line(s)	BART S-Line
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	VTA Bus: 61, 70, 77, Rapid 500
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Parking	1,527 spaces
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	December 28, 2019 (bus service) June 13, 2020 (BART)
Passengers
2024	1,321 (weekday average)^[2]
Services
Preceding station Bay Area Rapid Transit Following station Milpitas toward Daly City Green Line Terminus Milpitas toward Richmond Orange Line
Future service (2036) Preceding station Bay Area Rapid Transit Following station Milpitas toward Daly City Green Line Silicon Valley extension 28th Street/​Little Portugal toward Santa Clara Milpitas toward Richmond Orange Line Silicon Valley extension
Location

The station was built and is owned by VTA, while BART operates train service with funding from VTA.^[7] The bus bays and parking garages are operated by VTA.^[7] It is the first BART station ever built in San Jose, and service will terminate here until the completion of the downtown San Jose subway (the last phase of the Silicon Valley BART extension).^[8]

Station layout

 

VTA route 523 bus at Berryessa

Berryessa/North San José station has a 30-by-700-foot (9.1 m × 213.4 m) elevated island platform, with a fare lobby under the center of the platform.^[9] An adjacent seven-story garage and surface lot have a combined 1,527 parking spaces, while a bike station is located under the north end of the platform.^[10][11] The site is adjacent to the San Jose Flea Market.^[11]

The Berryessa Transit Center, a two-lane bus transfer facility, is located adjacent to the north end of the station. It is served by VTA Bus routes 61, 70, 77, and Rapid 500. Rapid 500 provides limited-stop connections to Downtown San Jose and also serves San Jose Diridon station.^[11]

The station features a 15-foot-tall (4.6 m) cast bronze sculpture by Larry Kirkland, titled LIFE!, outside the main BART entrance. The sculpture depicts a wheel made of various items from daily life being rolled by a human figurine.^[12]

History

 

The station's ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 12, 2020

This station is the southern of the two stations built as part of an extension from Warm Springs/South Fremont. The extension, known as Phase I of the Silicon Valley BART extension, broke ground in 2012 with completion initially expected in 2016 but delayed several times.^[13] VTA received a $900 million grant for federal funding for the $2.3-billion Silicon Valley Extension in 2012.^[14] Additional funding was provided by Measure B, a half-cent sales tax passed by Santa Clara County voters in 2016;^[15] the Road Repair and Accountability Act, passed by the California Legislature in 2017;^[16] and $125 million from the Federal Transit Administration in 2019 under a fast-track funding program.^[17]

In 2017, at the request of the San Jose City Council, the station was renamed from Berryessa to "Berryessa/​North San José" to "alert riders – commuters and tourists alike – that they have arrived in the Capital of the Silicon Valley".^[18][19]

On June 11, 2020, a group of Silicon Valley politicians proposed to have the station officially renamed as the "Ron Gonzales Berryessa Station" after Ron Gonzales, former mayor of San Jose, who began advocating for a Silicon Valley BART extension in 1989 while serving as a Santa Clara County Supervisor. BART station naming guidelines would likely discourage such a renaming.^[20]

An official ribbon cutting for the BART station was held on June 12, 2020.^[21] Berryessa/North San José and Milpitas stations opened for revenue service on June 13, 2020.^[22]

References

1. "BART service to Milpitas and Berryessa stations starts Saturday, June 13". Bay Area Rapid Transit. May 19, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
2. "Monthly Ridership Reports". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. February 2024.
3. "BART unveils system map for future Milpitas and Berryessa service". Bay Area Rapid Transit. May 8, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2020. Wright, Bart (May 10, 2020). BART System Map (Map). Bay Area Rapid Transit. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
4. "Berryessa Transit Center & Berryessa/North San José BART Station". Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. April 14, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
5. Childress, Brandi (November 20, 2019). "Ready for Launch! VTA's All New Service December 28, 2019". Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
6. "BART opens Milpitas and Berryessa stations for passenger service | bart.gov". www.bart.gov. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
7. "Who owns the BART stations in Berryessa/North San José and Milpitas? Who operates the different services?". Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
8. "BART Silicon Valley extension: Berryessa station". 2017.
9. Silicon Valley Rapid Transit Corridor Draft EIS/EIR. Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. March 2004. p. 3.4–23 – via Google Books.
10. Mohammed, Aliyah (August 10, 2017). "BART stations in Milpitas and Berryessa won't open early after all". Mercury News. from the original on December 4, 2021.
11. Childress, Brandi (June 12, 2020). "VTA and BART Celebrate Rapid Rail Service to Milpitas and San José" (Press release). Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. from the original on June 8, 2023.
12. "Public Art at BART Silicon Valley Phase I Stations". Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. from the original on October 6, 2022.
13. Richards, Gary (March 12, 2012). . The Mercury News. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Construction begins this spring, with 2016 completion date... Source: VTA
14. (Press release). Silicon Valley Leadership Group. March 12, 2012. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
15. Cabanatuan, Michael (January 23, 2019). "State Supreme Court OKs Santa Clara County transportation sales tax". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
16. "New gas tax to pay for road repair, BART projects". San Francisco Chronicle. November 1, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
17. "BART San Jose Extension to Receive $125M in Fast-Track Funding". NBC Bay Area. August 28, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
18. "VTA Board Action: VTA's BART Extension Station Names". Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. August 3, 2017.
19. "Board of Directors Meeting, August 3, 2017, Minutes" (PDF). Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. September 8, 2017. p. 7.
20. "Leaders push to name new BART station after ex-San Jose mayor". San Jose Spotlight. June 11, 2020.
21. Meacham, Jody (June 12, 2020). "Subdued ceremonies mark BART's station openings in Santa Clara County". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
22. "BART service to Milpitas and Berryessa stations starts Saturday". KTVU Fox 2. June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Berryessa/North San José station.

• Berryessa/North San José Station – BART
• Get familiar with VTA's Berryessa Transit Center
• VTA project site
• VTA's BART Silicon Valley Berryessa Extension Opening Ceremony on YouTube

•  San Francisco Bay Area portal