BART opened the $484 million AirBART people-mover train from the Coliseum BART station to the Oakland Airport on Saturday. The glorified, elevated cable-car took four years to build and will replace the current bus shuttle.

So far, anecdotal reviews are good from the free riders on Saturday, but people are complaining about the high fares.  I blogged a while back about why BART probably should have gone with a much cheaper and faster bus-only lane system to the airport. This new train will cost $6 per person each way, compared to $3 with the now-defunct bus shuttle. And it will top out at a measly 23 miles per hour, with a 20-second break in the middle to switch cables.

At that price and travel time, a taxi looks competitive, certainly for anyone not traveling solo.  But all is not lost (from your pocketbook): if you still need a cheap option to get to the airport from BART, there’s always AC Transit bus service.