The Multimodal Access Design Guidelines (MADG) are focused on passenger experience, with the goal of making station areas contribute to the community fabric and encourage BART ridership, while prioritizing non-driving and high-occupancy modes. By prioritizing human activity, the MADG ensures that all modes can access stations with little to no conflict with other modes, access routes are direct and place people where they want to be, stations are easy to navigate via the built environment, and humans feel safe and secure when traveling to, from, or waiting at the station. In addition to a “pedestrians first” approach, the guidelines emphasize compact design and regional connections that reduce travel time and distance. The effort also supports BART’s system-wide goals, including increased efficiency and productivity, through cost-effective access improvements that allay costly efforts to expand parking.
The MADG will provide easy-to-use guidance for planning the access to and around BART’s stations for BART staff, future developers, and local municipalities, so that customers enjoy a high quality experience throughout their entire trip, from the moment they enter one station area to moment they leave at the end of their train ride.