Make Friends! Ask For Directions! and other San Francisco, CA Transportation Tips

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: If there is one thing San Franciscans love to do, it's talk about San Francisco. They love to talk about the history and the old haunts and what their favorite restaurants are and how to get around. And they will be happy... no THRILLED... to answer any questions you have about virtually anything to do with the City.

Sometimes it can be a little disconcerting... an open map is considered by San Franciscans to be an open invitation to jump in and give their opinions! Let them, and you'll make friends!

However, AND THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, there is one group of folks whom you should NEVER ask for directions... and that is bus drivers! They are notoriously short with tourists, often give wrong directions (either unintentionally or on purpose), and sometimes speak such poor English that they can be impossible to understand.

Now, if I was a bus driver - and THANK GOD I'm not - I'd get pretty fed up, too. I remember one driver on the F-Market line who put a huge sign over the fare box that said "THIS BUS GOES TO FISHERMAN'S WHARF!!!" Guess what nearly every tourist asked when they got on the train?

Bus drivers have enough to deal with - with fare evaders, crazy drivers and cyclists and pedestrians, and the insane who ride the bus and insist on talking to them. Usually it's just at the moment when they get a little peace that some tourist asks them "How do we get to Market St.?" Honestly, you'd think some people had never ridden a bus before...

So, ask the person sitting next to you. You'll make a new friend.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: S.F. can be a hard city to negotiate by car, especially if you're not used to big city driving. Unlike most cities, San Francisco has a major shortage of turnpikes and throughfares... you can thank the 1989 earthquake for that. Most of the old double-decker freeways were torn down and really nothing has been built to replace them. Even if you're just passing through, driving through SF requires using city streets.

Here's a few freeway driving tips...

1) Hwy 101 & 280 are the two major north/south roads going to and from downtown. 280 is ALWAYS faster than 101. Hwy 101 is especially bad right where it goes onto the Bay Bridge (Hospital Curve); this area is congested at all hours of the day. Definitely try to avoid the city streets around 2nd and Mission during the afternoon rush hour - it is usually gridlock.

The fastest way through the city from north to south is to take Hwy 1 along 19th Ave. This bypasses the more densely populated areas of the city.

2) Hwy 380 connects hwy 280 with the airport, allowing you to bypass 101. Most of the time, this is the quickest and easiest option.

3) Hwy 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) is very beautiful, but is usually only 2 lanes, is very twisty, and can be very slow. However, the drive down the coast from SF to Monterey is breathtaking, and, if you have a car, you should definitely do it. The drive north through Marin County is equally gorgeous, but even more twisty.

4) Going around SF can be done by driving through the East Bay, but often these roads will be jammed up as well - especially during rush hour. If you REALLY want to avoid the traffic of the Bay Area, you'll have to go all the way over to Interstate 5.

5) Watch out for "Fastrak Only" lanes at the bridge tollbooths.

Listen to KCBS 740 AM or KGO 810 AM for traffic reports - usually every 10 minutes.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: As is the case with most megalopolises (megalopoli?), what is referred to as "rush hour" lasts much longer. In addition, since Oakland and San Jose are both major employment hubs, there is no real "reverse commute" - traffic tends to be bad in all directions at once. Still, the conventional commute (to the city in the AM and from the city in the PM) is the heaviest.

The afternoon rush hour starts at about 3 PM and gets progressively heavier. It starts to die down about 6 or 6:30. Friday is, of course, the worst - it starts earlier and lasts longer. If you're going to pick a day to avoid driving, make it Friday.

Weekend evenings going into the City from the Bay Bridge can be very heavy at times.

For some reason, the morning commute is much more typical than the evening. Going against the grain in the AM is usually pretty smooth sailing - though in the afternoon, it isn't. Go figure.

I'm not suggesting that you skip seeing what you came to see just to avoid the traffic. Just remember that the Bay Area is the 4th largest urban area in the USA - with nearly 7 million people - most of whom go to and get off work at about the same time!

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'Mode': TO
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: BART is a godsend to us in the Bay Area. But it is important to realize that BART is primarily designed for commuters - it is a great way to get TO San Francisco, but of only limited use in getting AROUND it. As you'll see by looking at your map, BART doesn't serve anywhere north of Market Street - where virtually all of SF's tourist attractions are.

The only way to get to the Golden Gate Bridge is by bus. Fisherman's Wharf and North Beach are accessable by Cable Car, but the bus is faster, cheaper and less confusing. Chinatown and Union Square can be reached with a short walk from a BART station.

As as alternative (or, more likely, supplement) to BART, check out MUNI's metro system, which is a much better way to get around the city. You can reach the Haight/Ashbury, Golden Gate Park, the Castro, and the beach using the metro. Unfortunately, the Mission Street area is not directly served by MUNI light rail, but it is by BART.

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Website: www.bart.gov

'Mode': TO
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: Though San Franciscans love to complain about it, MUNI is generally an excellent way to get around. MUNI is in charge of the buses, metro, and cable cars (which charge separately). BART is a separate entity.

Buy a MUNI map! It's about $3.00 and is probably the best single map of the city - containing most tourist sites and how to get to them.

Fares for buses/metro are $1.50 (exact change only), which includes an unlimited transfer that is good for at least 90 min. There are a variety of 1-7 day passes, and some multi-attraction cards let you ride the bus for free. If you want to take a cable car ride make sure it's included (some passes aren't good on cable cars - some will only get you a discount). Try metro stations and the visitors' center - don't ask the drivers!

Food and drink are not allowed but EVERYONE brings coffee on the bus. Smoking is punishable by death.

Muni's metro system is only one line - going from Embarcadero down to Van Ness along Market, and then branching off like a hydra to take commuters to outlying areas. Since most tourist places are north - and uphill - from Market Street, the Metro is of only limited use. If you're staying in the Union Square area and hitting the main tourist destinations, it's unlikely you'll ride the Metro at all.

Getting around SF means you'll be taking the bus. Sorry.

Some routes have limited stops to speed up the ride - they always have green placards and the letter 'L' after the number. They generally run during commute hours. It's always a good idea to ask the driver how close the bus stops to your destination.

It's common for the bus to speed away from your stop without opening the back door to let everyone off. Simply yell "back door" and they'll let you out.

As with all bus systems, the riff-raff sit in the back... try to sit in the front. Crazy people talking to themselves are common and generally won't bother you. If a person is genuinely threatening, move to the front, tell the driver (so that they can call the police), and DO NOT GET OFF THE BUS!

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Website: http:www.sfmuni.org

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: A few years ago, MUNI thought it would be fun to pull out some of its' vintage trolley cars to run up and down Market Street on holiday weekends. It proved to be so popular that they made it permanent, and the vintage trolleys run the F line everyday. They operate from Castro & Market, all the way down Market to the Ferry Building, and then turn up the Embarcadero, passing Pier 39 on the way to Fisherman's Wharf.

Note that these are NOT Cable Cars - they are electrified trains. But many if them are from the 40s and 50s (and before) and they will have plaques on them stating their city of origin.

They are a really cool bit of history, and, while I wouldn't suggest you go out of your way to ride one, if you're going this way anyway you might as well take the classy route. They're no more expensive than the bus, and tend to have fewer bums riding them (for some reason).

My favorites are the orange ones from Milan (see photo). They are some of the oldest - dating back to 1895. They have gorgeous wood interiors and signs and advertisements in Italian.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I wouldn't recommend taking the F trolleys - especially to Fisherman's Wharf - if you are at all pressed for time. The cars are slow anyway, but add to that hordes of tourists asking the driver directions and trying to come up with exact change, and your trip can slow to a snail's pace.

NEWS FLASH: The Market Street Railway - which maintains the classic streetcars - has just opened its own museum! It's free, fun, and right down by the Ferry Building. Read about it here!

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Website: http://www.streetcar.org

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: San Francisco's AAA office is a great resource for your SF trip. They have oodles of free maps and books, of course, and are very helpful, particularly with scenic drives and day trips to places like Monterey. They can even help you with accomodations - I don't remember if they actually do the booking for you, but they have a bona fide travel office, so I think they would. They also have excellent maps for locating campgrounds.

You have to be a member, which costs $49.00/year. I get at least my membership dues back just in free maps!

AAA is at 150 Hayes Street - At Hayes and Van Ness. It's a block south of City Hall and a block and a half north of the major intersection of Market and Van Ness. It's a big GREEN building - you can't miss it! They have a limited amount of free parking if you approach from the east on Hayes.

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Phone: 415-565-2141
Website: www.aaa.com

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: Taking your bike on BART is one of the great ways to see the more wild and beautiful parts of the Bay Area. However, bikes are not so much "welcomed" on BART as they are "grudgingly tolerated." Only intense public demand finally got BART to relent on its' anti-bike policies.

Up until fairly recently, you had to have a freakin' permit to bring your bike on... effectively denying tourists access to the system. This, thankfully, has changed - anyone can bring a bike on BART - but there are still a huge list of rules and regulations that must be followed. The most annoying of these is that bikes are not allowed on trains during rush hour. This generally applies to all downtown SF stations between 7 & 9 AM and 4& 6 PM, but it applies to some other stations as well.

Bringing a bike on BART is a great thing to do, even if you have to jump through hoops to do it. Most BART stations have a brochure detailing the bike rules (although it will not include a schedule of off-limits trains). If you plan on riding BART with a bike, read their web page first!

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Website: http://www.bart.gov

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: This is just a piddling little tip, but it could save you some headaches.

BART tickets have magnetic strips on the back that the turnstyle reads when you go throught them. They are notoriously easy to de-magnetize; even keeping a ticket next to a cell phone can render your ticket invalid. You can exchange bad tickets at some downtown stations - UNLESS you pay with a credit card, in which case they can only be processed BY MAIL, which can take weeks.

Buy your tickets in cash from machines, or, if you have travelers' checks, get them at the stores inside the major stations.

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Website: http://www.bart.gov

'Mode': TO
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: If you're planning on seeing more of the Bay Area than just the City by public transportation, then the only thing you need to know is this - 511.org. This is your one-stop shop for the meriad of transportation systems that operate in the area. It contains info, schedules, and links to every transit system in the region.

Particularly useful is the page where you input your location and destination, and it tells you which bus/train/ boat to take, when to take it, and how much it'll cost. This is a lifesaver if you're going to be travelling at odd times (like Sunday morning, when BART schedules are spotty).

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Website: http://www.511.org