Patch fanned a Facebook fracas Tuesday with an inquiry about late morning park at Walnut Creek BART.
It seems that's a sore point with many readers. We asked Facebook readers this: "Today, Patch editor David Mills drove to Walnut Creek BART to catch an 11:20 a.m. train to San Francisco. However, the parking lots were all full and that 11:20 a.m. went whizzing by, so Dave ended up driving into The City. Has anyone else experienced this -- the BART lots filling up, even after 10 a.m.?"
The answer is clearly yes. A sampling of Facebook commenters:
- Most certainly. Attempting to park at 9:30AM on a Tuesday, nothing at PH, WC, or Laf! Nothing!
- Why would it be emptier later? People get there before 830am and leave their cars there all day and bart into sf. PH fills up very early.
- That's why I drop my husband off and pick him up every day, out of necessity not convenience. There needs to be more Park n Ride options....
- I have better luck (late morning) at Lafayette. You have to park very far away, but I still find spaces.
- certainly have. Next step is a drive to Lafayette, if that's full as well, drive to the city. There are some pay garages around bart in WC, but I have not explored those. And don't park at Target, they do mark cars and you might find a ticket - or no car (towed) when getting back.
- This is one big reason more people don't use public transportation, wasn't built to handle the quantity of "public" we have in the bay area. And don't tell me to use a bus to get to BART, that's definitely not a solution for most of us. We should have taken a lesson from New York before building BART.
- I totally agree. It turns Bart into a commuter train only since if anyone wants to go into city in week to shop, etc then its impossible to park and then all trains after 9am are empty cause nobody gets on :) Bart is weird. It also needs to run later on Friday and Saturdays otherwise it forces people to drink and drive. Bart needs to listen to what peopel want, not what makes it's life easier.
So tell us in the comments below what your secret is for finding the elusive BART parking spot.
