Public transport to Airports

BCL · Nov 16, 2024

Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, we’ve got public transit to the major airports. SFO has direct service via BART although there’s a pretty stiff surcharge.

https://www.bart.gov/stations/sfia

OAK sort of has BART service now through a cable driven shuttle from a main line BART station. The fare is integrated into BART’s structure.

https://www.bart.gov/stations/oakl

If I’m not in a hurry I’ll take the AC Transit 73 bus, which is less than the $6 to use that BART connector.

https://www.actransit.org/bus-lines-schedules/73

SJC has a free VTA shuttle that makes a loop that connects to VTA light rail as well as the Santa Clara Caltrain/Amtrak/ACE station. OK, had. Found it was absorbed into a regular route.

https://www.vta.org/go/routes/60

Strangely enough, Las Vegas has halfway decent bus connections to the airport. I was on a business trip and had plenty of time. My hotel was also close to RTC 108. There is some criticism that the Las Vegas Monorail didn’t reach the airport.

https://www.rtcsnv.com/ways-to-travel/transit-services/airport-transit-routes/

I took the subway to JFK when visiting New York City. As much grief as it gets, JFK has excellent public transit connections.

joelkfla · Nov 17, 2024

JamesWhitcombRiley said:
Back to the airport, the Airtrain endpoints are the Amtrak/NJT station and Terminal A. Someone on Google Maps reviews complained they wanted to use it as a train station, but couldn't. No street level access. They'd pay an extra $8.50 for the privilege anyway, unless they paid cash on board NJT, and then might pay the $5 cash surcharge.

There's a project approved to add local access, by extending the pedestrian bridge to a new public access area west of the tracks. They're targeting 2026 for completion.
https://www.panynj.gov/port-authori...plans-to-improve-access-to-newark-libert.html

railiner · Nov 17, 2024

BCL said:
Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, we’ve got public transit to the major airports. SFO has direct service via BART although there’s a pretty stiff surcharge.

Or…use this…

https://www.samtrans.com/media/21651

saxman · Nov 18, 2024

west point said:
Q-10 no longer goes to JFK?

The Q-10 goes as far as Lefferts Blvd Station on the Air Train. They’ve pretty much had all the buses serving JFK to go there instead and make everyone transfer to the Air Train. It’s still a free station though, and a good way to save the Air Train fee and still get to JFK. I still take the Q10 when I’m feeling cheap and have a little extra time.

west point · Nov 19, 2024

saxman said:
The Q-10 goes as far as Lefferts Blvd Station on the Air Train.

That might for workers when going to JFK for work depending on if it stops at some hangers. Trying to go from a terminal to hanger might be a problem/ When I had work there certainly a consideration.

railiner · Nov 19, 2024

saxman said:
The Q-10 goes as far as Lefferts Blvd Station on the Air Train. They’ve pretty much had all the buses serving JFK to go there instead and make everyone transfer to the Air Train. It’s still a free station though, and a good way to save the Air Train fee and still get to JFK. I still take the Q10 when I’m feeling cheap and have a little extra time.

The local route, Q3, on its long route from Jamaica to JFK, after stopping at the Lefferts Blvd. Airtrain station, continues all the way to Terminal 8 (AA).

I used to sometimes take the Q17 from my former home, and connect to the Q3 to reach JFK. It was a long ride, but cheap…

BCL · Nov 21, 2024

railiner said:
Or…use this…

https://www.samtrans.com/media/21651

There used to be a free shuttle bus from Millbrae Caltrain to SFO. I took it maybe once. I've seen a few Caltrain riders saying they were going to SFO, but where they'd be paying the $6 or so to ride BART.

There's a fairly small airport in Santa Rosa, but it has scheduled passenger service. Sonoma County Transit 62 only has 7 buses per day.

https://sctransit.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Rt.62_Aug24.pdf

Strangely enough Mendocino Transit Authority has a bus from Ukiah. Only two buses per day to the airport though on route 65 and one per day on route 95. $23 fare from Fort Bragg to Sonoma County Airport.

https://mendocinotransit.org/routes/route-65/
https://mendocinotransit.org/routes/route-95/

BCL · Nov 28, 2024

MARC Rider said:
I'm sure there are others, but the only direct express bus service in the US to an airport (designed for air travelers, not local airport workers) that I know of are the Flyaway buses at LAX. There's even one that connects LAX with LAUS. Unfortunately, the last time I was at LAX, they hadn't yet started the Flyaway Bus service to Long Beach, so I was stuck using a SuperShuttle, which is a converted 12-passenger van that stops at each rider's destination, thus making the trip much longer than it needs to be, but it was a nice tour of various LA suburbs that I never knew existed.

LAX isn’t too bad with regular public transit connections. 5 different public transit agencies have service at the LAX City Bus Center. I was a bit angry when I saw the bus I planned on taking at the waiting area, but it took off without going to the passenger bay and without taking on any passengers. The route was 3 times per hour so a bunch of us waited. Then there’s the connection to light rail. Back during the Southwest meltdown around Christmas Day 2022, I had to change plans going to Santa Monica the first day. My plan was to take BBB route 3 (regular or rapid) on Christmas Day but had to improvise by taking Amtrak (bus and train) on the day after from LAUS. Took over an hour, but I already bought a 7 day LA Metro pass. Light rail isn’t too bad, especially if it’s not crowded. There are spots that are amenable to luggage, such as the normal spots for bikes.

FlyAway is a service operated by the airport authority, so it’s not a private operator or anything. There are some private operators, although I think the Disneyland Express (operated by Coach USA) stopped service years ago.

https://www.latimes.com/travel/stor...-bus-stops-lax-and-john-wayne-airport-service

Cal · Nov 28, 2024

How's the orange line connection to Midway? Planning to take it after getting off a redeye next month.

Bob Dylan · Nov 29, 2024

Cal said:
How's the orange line connection to Midway? Planning to take it after getting off a redeye next month.

You do have to walk outside from the terminal @ Midway to catch the Orange Line, so if the weather is bad ( Chicago is known for this in the Winter), being prepared is a good idea.

But still a good way to get downtown!

Stevenz · Nov 29, 2024

Has anyone had experience at O’Hare getting to the transit centre where the Coach USA buses depart? I have to do that next month and won’t have a lot of time to make a connection to the last bus to Milwaukee. Thanks.

Cal · Nov 29, 2024

Stevenz said:
Has anyone had experience at O’Hare getting to the transit centre where the Coach USA buses depart? I have to do that next month and won’t have a lot of time to make a connection to the last bus to Milwaukee. Thanks.

If you're talking about the Multi-model transit facility, then you can take the airtrain to it. It stops at terminal 1, 2, 3, and 5 outside. When I took it from terminal one there was a pedestrian bridge from the check-in area to the platform, which I assume is the same for all of the stations. It comes every 10 minutes I think, and is pretty quick.

Stevenz · Nov 29, 2024

Yes, that’s what I was thinking of. My flight is scheduled to arrive at 7:45 pm and the last bus is 9:30, so I was wondering if I should worry.

Thank you.

Cal · Nov 29, 2024

Stevenz said:
Yes, that’s what I was thinking of. My flight is scheduled to arrive at 7:45 pm and the last bus is 9:30, so I was wondering if I should worry.
Thank you.

In august my flight landed at 5:07 and I reached the Metra station exactly an hour later. Didn’t get off the plane till 5:30 (was in the very back of a 757), and got on the Airtrain at 5:50. We weren’t in a rush.

joelkfla · Nov 30, 2024

Bob Dylan said:
You do have to walk outside from the terminal @ Midway to catch the Orange Line, so if the weather is bad ( Chicago is known for this in the Winter), being prepared is a good idea.

But still a good way to get downtown!

Although the platform itself is open-air, this YouTube shows the walkway enclosed all the way. I don't know whether it's all climate-controlled, though.

Cal · Nov 30, 2024

joelkfla said:
Although the platform itself is open-air, this YouTube shows the walkway enclosed all the way. I don't know whether it's all climate-controlled, though.

This is awesome, thank you!

gregg_vw · Nov 30, 2024

Stevenz said:
Has anyone had experience at O’Hare getting to the transit centre where the Coach USA buses depart? I have to do that next month and won’t have a lot of time to make a connection to the last bus to Milwaukee. Thanks.

Done it several times. The airtrain is a pretty quick ride to the transit center.

jis · Dec 4, 2024

Brightline has doubled the frequency of shuttle connecting to MIA and FLL from the corresponding Brightline stations

https://www.thenextmiami.com/brightline-doubles-shuttle-service-to-mia-fll-airports/

George Harris · Dec 5, 2024

Some 35 years ago I was a regular Houston downtown to IAH bus rider. I checked. It is still there! And is cheap.
Route 102, $1.25 fare, Now called the 102 Bush IAH Express Described as "a METRO bus route running between Bush Intercontinental Airport and downtown Houston along I-45 and Beltway 8."

Mon-Fri: Runs every 15 min. *
Sat-Sun: Runs every 30 min. *

* For most operating hours. Exact times may vary.

Tlcooper44 · Thursday at 1:47 AM

CityNerd's video is definitely relevant here.

como · Thursday at 9:37 AM

Tlcooper44 said:
CityNerd's video is definitely relevant here.

St. Louis gets no love from anyone, including people in Missouri. However Metrolink has very good service between downtown and Lambert St. Louis Airport. Using CityNerd's criteria:

Service from 8th and Pine starts at 4:13 a.m. everyday with trains every 20 minutes. The ride is a little long at 40 minutes, with the last train leaving downtown at 12:13 a.m. The trips from the airport downtown start at 4:56 a.m. and end at 12:56 a.m. The fare is $2.50.

Tlcooper44 · Thursday at 10:12 AM

como said:
St. Louis gets no love from anyone, including people in Missouri. However Metrolink has very good service between downtown and Lambert St. Louis Airport. Using CityNerd's criteria:

Service from 8th and Pine starts at 4:13 a.m. everyday with trains every 20 minutes. The ride is a little long at 40 minutes, with the last train leaving downtown at 12:13 a.m. The trips from the airport downtown start at 4:56 a.m. and end at 12:56 a.m. The fare is $2.50.

My guess would be that STL just falls too low on the list of busy airports (doesn’t even make top 40 for 2024) by pax.

The timings and price, as you listed, definitely rank nicely in my book. But it’s hard to justify the usefulness of a service with an airport that’s only lightly traveled - despite the surprising Lufthansa flight.

Devil's Advocate · Thursday at 1:00 PM

BCL said:
Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, we’ve got public transit to the major airports.

This video is not brand new but recent enough to be relevant (hopefully)...

como said:
St. Louis gets no love from anyone, including people in Missouri.

Why is that?

Tlcooper44 said:
But it’s hard to justify the usefulness of a service with an airport that’s only lightly traveled - despite the surprising Lufthansa flight.

Eight million pax* is significantly more traveled than most of the US airports I frequent. When I have a choice I prefer middle-sized US airports over the large international gateways that get most of the attention but seem poorly planned, severely understaffed, and perpetually behind the usage curve.

* (roughly, before the pandemic, etc.)

railiner · Thursday at 2:50 PM

Tlcooper44 said:
My guess would be that STL just falls too low on the list of busy airports (doesn’t even make top 40 for 2024) by pax.

The timings and price, as you listed, definitely rank nicely in my book. But it’s hard to justify the usefulness of a service with an airport that’s only lightly traveled - despite the surprising Lufthansa flight.

A consequence of AA acquiring TWA, and closing STL as a hub…

Bob Dylan · Thursday at 2:58 PM

como said:
St. Louis gets no love from anyone, including people in Missouri. However Metrolink has very good service between downtown and Lambert St. Louis Airport. Using CityNerd's criteria:

Service from 8th and Pine starts at 4:13 a.m. everyday with trains every 20 minutes. The ride is a little long at 40 minutes, with the last train leaving downtown at 12:13 a.m. The trips from the airport downtown start at 4:56 a.m. and end at 12:56 a.m. The fare is $2.50.

Anytime you can not drive yourself anywhere in Houston is a Plus!

Austin has a Similar Airporter Bus that runs between the UT Campus, Downtown and the Airport for $1.50/ Seniors .75 cents.

However Cap Metro has stupidly decided not to extend the New Light Rail Lines being built to the Airport due to "Cost", stopping 3 miles short on Riverside Dr.

Public transport to Airports

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