SFO Airport to Downtown San Francisco ?

Hi,

My parents are travelling to San Fran in a few weeks. I have heard that getting a taxi from SFO airport to downtown can be very expensive.

Does anyone know if the public transport from the airport goes to downtown ? Does it take long ? Is it safe ? Is there a website that I can check out times and distinations of the public transport system ?

Any help would be appreciated !

Thanks !!!

SFO Airport to Downtown San Francisco ?

Rome,

Try www.511.org (then use the ';trip planner'; on that page) for more details, but a short answer is: use BART. People on this forum have ghighly recommended it, although I have never used it from SFO myself.

Hopefully you%26#39;ll get more response from the fprum, and if you want any more help with 511, just let me know. They also have schedules for all the transit systems, and I THINK that BART has fixed its scheduling problems around the airport recently (growing pains).

H%26amp;S

SFO Airport to Downtown San Francisco ?

BART runs right from the airport to downtown SF. Safe, convenient and relatively cheap (around $5). Gets crowded during the afternoon rush hour, but not so much at other times.

www.transitinfo.org lists all the Bay Area public transit options.

Yup, BART is definitely the way to go. They have the schedule and ticket prices on their website:

www.bart.org

A ride from SFO to downtown SF should take about 30 minutes. BART is relatively safe so they should have no problems.

The sites, bart.org or bart.gov (both get you there) are good for schedules, particularly if your parents arrive on a weekend because service is different. BART recently cut back on its peninsula service after posting disappointing ridership levels.

Here%26#39;s the drill: Bart doesn%26#39;t go directly into the airport the way, say, MARTA does in Atlanta. You take a rail shuttle to get to BART first. Look for signs in the baggage claim or arrival area for that link to BART.

When you get to the BART station, you have to buy a ticket. You have to figure out the fare from the signage and buy the tickets from the machine. Your parents need to know what station is they want to exit at to determine the fare. For Union Square, it is ';Powell'; (as in Street). The other possible locations would be ';Montgomery'; (as in Street) and ';Embarcadero'; (as in The). You can%26#39;t make a bad mistake with those three. Any cab you pick up from there would get you to your hotel without too much stress on the wallet. Many of the Union Square hotels will not require a cab ride. The Powell Street station is three blocks from Union Square proper. If you get a map, the Powell Street station is in the same location as the Powell Street cable car turnaround.

Then you get on the BART train when it arrives. You want the one that is going to SF/Pittsburg Baypoint or something like that (NOT MILLBRAE). It will usually have the name SF in it for clarity. Don%26#39;t stay on the BART past the Embarcadero or you will end up in West Oakland. (If that happens, get off, go to the opposite platform and wait for a train headed back to SF; you won%26#39;t have to pay any extra as long as you don%26#39;t exit the turnstiles).

HI,

I have used both the BART and a shuttle service, and although the shuttle is around 28.00 per person round trip, it was a lot easier than BART. If your folks have luggage, consider using a shuttle company. Try Lorries Shuttle Service or Super Shuttle. The BART is excellent, but it may be easier and more convenient..