The new OAK Airport Platform for the 3.2 mile long Doppelmayr cable-drawn automated people mover system to the Oakland Airport opened for regular service on November 22, 2014. The new ‘Platform 3' is higher and extremely elevated on a concrete guideway built across San Leandro Street from the station. The station is parallel to the northside of Hegenberger Road that the OAK Airport connector almost entirely runs above the median off on its guideway to the airport. This guideway has with a translucent white framework. The station has a single trackway for the people mover, switching and becoming two tracks just beyond the platform on the northside of the short platform. The new single cars are clearly visible from the BART platform below. The people mover has full platform screen doors but unlike most airport peoplemover stations isn't fully enclosed with the platform completely covered by a canopy but the doors and other walls ending before this ceiling that is held up by white columns (that also cover the track area) The platform is surrounded by frosted glass windscreens with some of the glass circles of A- Round Oakland by Gordon Huether along the platform. This same platform wall has a series of 8 BART TVMs for buying tickets to all BART destinations.
To leave the station, beyond the end of the people mover platform (enclosed by more glass windscreens) is a bank of faregates. Here passengers pay to enter or leave the BART system (the Oakland Airport Station has no fare gates) with a $6 additional surcharge to pay for the OAK connector deducted from their fare cards on top of their regular distance-based fare. A passenger just wanting to ride the OAK Connector (such as connecting from Capital Corridor Trains) must buy a $6 farecard at the OAK faregates, walk through the station and down the BART platform to the street level exit and have $6 deducted when they leave BART's fare control area at the same station!
From these faregates a short enclosed pedestrian bridge with mesh walls leads across San Lendro Street and the southbound BART track before leading to a landing with a staircase followed by a set of two escalators with a staircase in between down to the extreme southern end of the BART platform (there are fences before the platform starts), as soon as this arrives on the platform passengers are completely exposed to the elements and the building of the BART to OAK line didn't improve the platform with the same original fixtures and about three car lengths of walking to reach more shelter inclement weather.
Photos 1-23: 18 January, 2015; 24-43: 19 January, 2015
