Shuttle options at Emeryville

[3rd cook]

Traveling on the CZ from Chi to EMY in May . Meeting friends at the San Fran Airport to rent car for a few days in Sonoma Valley . What are my options for getting to the airport ? BART? CALTRAINS ? BUS?

What is the estimate for a cab ?

 

[TransitGeek]

If you can, book the bus across the bay to the SF Ferry building- it's relatively cheap. (It was all of $1 for my spring break trip on the San Joaquins.) From the ferry building, walk across the Embarcadero and into the Embarcadero BART station. Take the BART Pittsburgh-Bay Point line (or, if during the week before 7pm, the Richmond-SFO line) straight to SFO.

If you can't book the bus across the bay, take AC Transit. During the day, you can take the AC Transit F Transbay directly to San Francisco's Transbay Terminal, a few blocks from Market Street where you can catch BART. It picks up at Powell & Shellmound, two blocks southeast from the station. Between midnight and 6am, walk 8 blocks east and 1 block south to San Pablo & Stanford, where you can catch the 802 All-Nighter. Connect with the 800 in Oakland for a quick ride to Market Street. Fare for either trip is $4, paid on the first bus. Late night, ask for a transfer.

 

[Rail Freak]

I took a cab from EMY to OKJ, never again. Compared to my area, the cabs were very expensive!!!

RF

 

[PRR 60]

If you do not have checked luggage, you can get off the Zephyr at Richmond (added as a stop in November) and direct transfer there to BART. You will have to transfer to an SFO Airport train at MacArthur in Oakland.

The BART from Richmond option will cost you $1.15 more than taking the bus to SF and then BART, but it will get you from Richmond to the airport in a little over an hour, including the transfer.

 

[sechs]

Practically speaking, it might be easier for your friends to pick you up in Emeryville on the way to Sonoma. The Emeryville station is very close to the Bay Bridge.

 

[Tracktwentynine]

I can vouch for the BART from Richmond option. I've done it a few times, although only once from the Starlight. And that time wasn't technically from the Starlight. I didn't know about the Amtrak bus to the Ferry Building, so I booked my trip from Portland to Richmond. At the time, that required me to transfer from the Starlight to the Capitol Corridor at Sacramento. Now that the Starlight stops there, it's even easier.

 

[pebbleworm]

The amtrak bus to SF is painless and free- just book your ticket to SFF San Francisco FInancial District and get off at the first stop (the Marriott hotel?) Lots of cabs and a short walk to BART.

 

[the_traveler]

Are there numerous Thruways?

It seems the first stop would be the Ferry Building!

(I've never taken them from EMY.)

 

[gregoryla]

Are there numerous Thruways?

It seems the first stop would be the Ferry Building!

(I've never taken them from EMY.)

There is a single bus that makes 3 or 4 stops -- Ferry Building is first, then Fisherman's Wharf, then Market Street up around Union Square. (There might be another sotp that I've forgotten.)

Transferring to the bus from the train is easy as can be -- just walk thru the station and the bus is waiting right there. The only problem I have ever had with the bus is that the CZ arrives in Emeryville at rush hour and the Bay Bridge (both east and west bound) can be an absolute parking lot on weekedays. (The traffic on weekends isn't too bad.) I'm planning a CZ trip from Denver to San Francisco in June and I don't think I will risk taking the bus into San Francisco because of the traffic delays -- I'll either take a taxi from the EMY Amtrak station to the nearest Bart station, or get off in Richmond and take Bart from there.

 

[TransitGeek]

I didn't realize the CZ stopped at Richmond. That's always my transfer point from the San Joaquins. Walk downstairs, through the faregates, back upstairs and you're on BART. The transfer to an SFO train is a painless and usually-timed cross-platform transfer at MacArthur. Highly recommended to avoid the traffic, plus more train time!

 

[sechs]

Are there numerous Thruways? It seems the first stop would be the Ferry Building!

(I've never taken them from EMY.)

There is a single bus that makes 3 or 4 stops

In my recent experience, there are sometimes two or three buses that don't make all of the stops.
The bus I caught at the Caltrain station didn't make a number of the stops, most particularly the Ferry Building.

 

[tp49]

Sometimes there's one bus, sometimes two and maybe more. It depends on the time of day. Usually though when I take the bus over from EMY the Financial District is the first stop not the Ferry Building.

 

[LA Resident]

Are there numerous Thruways?

It seems the first stop would be the Ferry Building!

(I've never taken them from EMY.)

There is a single bus that makes 3 or 4 stops -- Ferry Building is first, then Fisherman's Wharf, then Market Street up around Union Square. (There might be another sotp that I've forgotten.)

Transferring to the bus from the train is easy as can be -- just walk thru the station and the bus is waiting right there. The only problem I have ever had with the bus is that the CZ arrives in Emeryville at rush hour and the Bay Bridge (both east and west bound) can be an absolute parking lot on weekedays. (The traffic on weekends isn't too bad.) I'm planning a CZ trip from Denver to San Francisco in June and I don't think I will risk taking the bus into San Francisco because of the traffic delays -- I'll either take a taxi from the EMY Amtrak station to the nearest Bart station, or get off in Richmond and take Bart from there.

There's a shuttle bus that runs from the station to the nearest BART Station (Ashby, I think). The stop is across the street. The service is run by AC Transit, I believe.

Nevertheless, I think transferring at Richmond makes more sense. I did it on from the CZ in November, when the engineer had to bed reminded by the conductor to stop because it was the first week for Richmond! If the sleepers hadn't been in the rear, I fear the cars would have overshot the station, the engineer had to stop so quickly!

 

[battalion51]

The downside to getting off at Richmond is that there's no checked baggage service available there or an agent. However, that being said I had an issue when I did the CZ with my bag not making it across the bay with me coming back to SFB. I ended up having to wait about an hour for it, and the agent definitely made it seem like it was not an unusual occurrence. I did get a $25 voucher for my inconvenience, but if you're in a rush it may or may not be the best option to check a bag through to the Ferry Building.

 

[tp49]

Are there numerous Thruways?

It seems the first stop would be the Ferry Building!

(I've never taken them from EMY.)

There is a single bus that makes 3 or 4 stops -- Ferry Building is first, then Fisherman's Wharf, then Market Street up around Union Square. (There might be another sotp that I've forgotten.)

Transferring to the bus from the train is easy as can be -- just walk thru the station and the bus is waiting right there. The only problem I have ever had with the bus is that the CZ arrives in Emeryville at rush hour and the Bay Bridge (both east and west bound) can be an absolute parking lot on weekedays. (The traffic on weekends isn't too bad.) I'm planning a CZ trip from Denver to San Francisco in June and I don't think I will risk taking the bus into San Francisco because of the traffic delays -- I'll either take a taxi from the EMY Amtrak station to the nearest Bart station, or get off in Richmond and take Bart from there.

There's a shuttle bus that runs from the station to the nearest BART Station (Ashby, I think). The stop is across the street. The service is run by AC Transit, I believe.

Nevertheless, I think transferring at Richmond makes more sense. I did it on from the CZ in November, when the engineer had to bed reminded by the conductor to stop because it was the first week for Richmond! If the sleepers hadn't been in the rear, I fear the cars would have overshot the station, the engineer had to stop so quickly!

Even during rush hours going in either direction the Ambus has never had much of an issues as it rides in the carpool lanes on the approach to the Bay Bridge and on the bridge itself so the traffic isn't nearly as bad as it would be without being able to roll in the carpool lane.