Mountain View to Mission via Millbrae with CalTrain and BART

On my commute back home from downtown Mountain View to the mission district in San Francisco, I did something new today! I took CalTrain from Mountain View as usual, but then transfered to the BART in Millbrae. I got off BART on 24th street, and then walked the last bit to 22nd and Guerrero.

Public transport routes from Mountain view to 22nd and Guerrero in San Francisco

It’s a bit hard to see in the image above, but there’s a transfer happening there at Millbrae from CalTrain to (the Red line of) BART. Here’s what the planning for that transfer looks like:

Transfer schedule

Right, you can probably see why I don’t usually take BART home - the transfer in Millbrae takes 29 minutes while it’s only a 4 minute walk from the CalTrain platform to the BART platform.

Actually, it was even less of a walk than that - as this sign sent me right to the opposite track of where I got off the train.

BART signage on Millbrae CalTrain platform

There I just had to wait for 20 minutes or so, and believe me: the Millbrae platforms don’t have that much of an interesting view.

I really wish they’d make these schedules line up better.

Also note that little wiggle just north of Millbrae, right there:

SFO wiggle

This BART goes from Millbrae to SFO (San Francisco International Airport) where it turns around, which adds a few minutes to the trip. Oh, and it also does a big swerve to the left/west further up north to get around the San Bruno Mountain.

Why this route is interesting then? Well, it drops me off at 24th street and Mission, which means it’s a lot closer to home than the 22nd street CalTrain station.

13 minute walk

That said, I’ve walked from the 24th BART station so often by now, that I much prefer figuring out ways to get back from the CalTrain station on 22nd street back home. :)

PS: hmmm… did I see that correctly in the first image? Can I also take a route around the east bay? 🤔 How long would that take?

Also see my other commuter stories:

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