West Oakland BART Parking
Starting in about a month I will need to take BART every weekday from W. Oakland to SF. I'd love to hear your parking tips and/or parking to avoid. What time does the lot fill up? Private options? I am on the BART permit waiting list but I understand that could take years. Thanks!
May 30, 2019
Parent Replies
Hello Caroline. The West Oakland BART lot normally fills up between 6:30 and 7 am. There are a number of private lots in the area. I normally use the Impark lot at 1357 5th Street. It is $12 a day. I arrive around 8:30 am and there is plenty of parking at that time. There has still been parking when I have arrived closer to 10 am as well. Hope that helps.
You can buy day-use permits at Bart's Select-A-Spot for $13.50/day, up to 10 permits at a time. Day use permits do sell out, and they require physical permits that you have to print out and remember, but if you are organized and can plan ahead, they may be a good option. With a day-use permit, there are parking spots you can use until 10:10 am. Without a day-use permit, I use the lot at 533 Kirkham; there is also an entrance from Mandela. It's $12.35/day using their payment app, no advance reservation necessary, all very convenient. There are spots there until 9/9:30. You can also park in the BART lot without an advanced reservation and pay with your Clipper Card inside the station ($10.50; you have to get an EZ Rider account and hangtag), but spots are only available before ~6 am, or after 10:00, when a new zone opens up for un-reserved parking. At 10:00, however, you have about ten minutes to nab those spaces; there aren't many of them and people wait to grab them at 10 (including people without day-use permits who got stuck when their familiar private parking options filled at 9:30!).
If you don't have anything that needs to stay in the car (such as a car seat), you could consider using Gig Carshare. They have dedicated parking spots at West Oakland station, and if those are all taken, you can park in any on-street spot that permits 2 hours or more. The main downsides: there might not always be a car close to you when you want to leave, and there night not be one close to the station when you get back. Still might be worth looking into. (Since you want to leave from W. Oakland, I'm assuming you live in or near the Gig "home zone"; if not, this won't help you).
https://gigcarshare.com/parking/
Might be worse now. You'll need to arrive before 6 am Oakland tickets, so if you park on the street read the signs. Or you can pay the $15 - $20 parking fee every day for a private lot parking.