To help alleviate traffic and provide improved public transit access to Silicon Valley’s growing population, the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system is extending its rapid transit service into the region for the first time with its opening of Milpitas Station. Nestled between San José to the south and Fremont to the north, the station is expected to serve about 20,000 travelers a day by 2030. As part of the Milpitas Transit Center campus, the station connects BART users to its other lines, VTA’s Orange Line (light rail service connecting North San José, Sunnyvale, and Mountain View),  nine VTA bus routes including  AC Transit’s Route 217 , and Silicon Valley company shuttles. The station also brings riders to the Great Mall, the largest mall in the Bay Area, and connects to the BART Daly City Green and Richmond Orange lines, which lets users head north to the San Francisco area.

STV provided architectural design and construction consultation services on the $250 million station, and advised on construction assembly, materials, light fixture placement, fire life safety and passenger security. Due to the station’s unique location, situated alongside an elevated light rail line with an expressway to the north, STV’s designs placed the Milpitas Station’s boarding platforms under the concourse access building. But instead of leaving passengers in the dark, large skylights in the concourse’s arched roof allow for natural light to stream in and reach the platform level, reducing the need for artificial lighting.