San Francisco Transportation Tips by zChris

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: San Francisco prides itself on its density, a fact that has also given rise to congestion problems on its relativly narrow, hilly streets. Like the great European cities it emulates in physical character, however, San Francisco has developed an efficient and extensive public transportation network utilising rail, buses, trolleybuses (buses using overhead electric wires), streetcars, ferries, and, of course, the famous cable cars. The main agency of concern is the San Francisco Municipal Railway, known locally as MUNI, operating the cable cars, buses, and trolleybuses within the city of San Francisco. It also runs several light rail lines (distinguised by letter) on surface routes radiating from the Duboce Triangle area, where they merge into a tunnel under Market Street. These light rail lines are known as MUNI Metro. One Metro line emerges from the foot of Market Street near the Ferry Building and serves the southern portion of Embarcadero, the waterfront boulevard, past the new PacBell Ballpark to the CalTrain station. MUNI Metro is primarily useful for visiting areas away from th central (northeastern) portion of the city, specifically to the south and west. Apart from MUNI Metro, the F Market line runs historic streetcars purchased from around the world on a surface line along Market Street between the Castro District and the Ferry Building, and then along the northern portion of The Embarcadero to Fisherman's Wharf. Use of any portion of the MUNI system to any location cost $1 (excluding cable cars) and you will recieve a transfer ticket good for a certain number of hours that day. Note the ticket does not apply to cable cars. For more information on the cable cars, see the cable car section above. Because of the traffic and parking situation in San Francisco and the unfamiliarity with the hilly and sometimes dangerous trrain, I recommend that for one's own safety and lack of frustration, the traveller to San Francisco thoroughlly utilise the public transportation options available to him or her.

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Website: http://www.transitinfo.org

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: Transbay heavy rail service is provided by Bay Area Rapid Transit, or BART. BART operates several heavy rail lines, all but one of which converge on San Francisco and run underground through the city toward the airport to which an extension is being built. BART serves San Francisco and the East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley, and their surrounding regions) exclusively, and is generally regarded as cleaner, faster, and more efficient than MUNI. Use of BART is only recommended if travelling across the bay, otherwise MUNI is sufficient. Cost varies depending on the length of the trip taken.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: CalTrain is a commuter rail line running down the western shore of San Francisco Bay from the CalTrain station in San Francisco's South of Market District. Use it to access San Mateo County towns, San Jose and the Silicon Calley area, and into the southern portions of the Central Valley. Cost is higher than that of MUNI or BART.

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'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: You'll most likely arrive at San Francisco International Airport. The airport has four terminals: North, South, Central (which is currently closed for renovations) and International. The airport is constantly undergoing reconstruction, and soon it will be linked to the region via BART (see above) and have its own intrairport rail service. The landing at SFO, as the airport is locally known, is spectacular, setting passengers down just as they think they'll plunge into the bay below. Of course, leaving the airport is always the primary concern. There are several ways to leave the airport. One is the SamTrans bus, which is incredibly cheap and offers dirct service to downtown San Francisco, but also may take several hours over congested local roads. The other option is taking a shuttle bus to the BART or CalTrain stations nearby and then taking rail into the city. This may either take a prohibitively long period of time or wind up costing quite a bit. The two options recommended are shuttle van or taxi. Shuttle van is optimal if staying in a hotel near Union Square, where most of the van routes terminate, or if one is travelling alone, in which case th fare is relatively cheap. If travelling with more than three people, however, it is actually cheaper to hail a taxi downtown, even in rush hour traffic. If for some reason you'd like to dodge SFO, which is actually quite pleasant and free of congestion, there are other international airports available in Oakland and San Jose. The Oakland airport is closest to San Francisco, and offers BART service, while the San Jose airport is much farther from San Francisco and more difficult to arrive in the city from.

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Website: http://www.flysfo.com

'Mode': TO
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: Arriving in San Francisco by rail has always been difficult given the nature of its geography: in the past trains would be ferried from Oakland to the foot of Market Street, which served as the de facto train station for the city. Today, the trains stop completely at the Oakland Amtrak Station, and either BART or a ferry will have to be taken to arrive in San Francisco.

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