Bay Area residents looking to leave the region for the holiday season will get a little assistance from BART with their travel plans.
The regional transit agency is nearly doubling the number of its long-term parking spaces near the Oakland and San Francisco airports in anticipation of the heavy travel crowds.

An additional 540 spaces have been added at BART’s long-term parking lots, which include all the East Bay stations, excluding West Oakland and the Coliseum, and the Colma, San Bruno, and Millbrae stations in the Peninsula. There are now a total of 1435 long-term parking spots available. BART will return to their normal parking levels on January 4.

Travelers can park their cars in the East Bay for $5 a day, and in the Peninsula for $6 a day. Permits for the long-term parking spots are available now, but only online at www.bart.gov/parking. The permits are not currently being sold at any BART stations.