PublicTransit
The San Francisco Bay Area (which includes Oakland) has very good public transit over several transit agencies.
Transit Basics
Greater Bay Area, including San Francisco and Oakland downtown, OAK and SFO airports: BART
- Regional trains
Cost: Variable based on distance, calculate fair here: here
Oakland: AC Transit
- Buses
Cost: Basic $2.10 local, more here
San Francisco: MUNI
- Buses, subway, streetcars and cable cars
- Cost:
- Buses, subway, streetcars: Flat rate of $2 for 90 minutes (free transfers within this time)
- Cable cars: $6 one way
Payment
For buses, street cars and cable cars, you'll want exact change in cash.
For subways and regional lines you need to purchase a ticket at a kiosk at the station, cash or credit OK.
If you wish to transfer between BART, MUNI and AC Transit using a single card, you may purchase a Clipper Card, see here for all transit agencies supported.
- If you live in the US, you can order one now for free to be shipped to you if you connect your credit card to it
- SFO airport has information booths where you can buy them and add cash to them (still need to check on OAK)
Information Booth near baggage claim at SFO, staffed until 10:30PM (11:30PM in terminal 1)
Getting in from the airport on public transit
You may take the high-quality, easy, safe public transit option via the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train system from both the Oakland (OAK) and San Francisco (SFO) airports.
From OAK, you take an AirBART bus from the airport to the Coliseum station then BART to 12th St./Oakland City Center for $4.75. Depending on traffic, you are on the bus for about 10 minutes and then the BART train for about 10 minutes.
From SFO you can take BART directly from the BART train stop at the airport to 12th St./Oakland City Center for $8.40. This takes 42 minutes and is typically faster than taking a taxi due to traffic through San Francisco and over the Bay Bridge to Oakland. Last train leaves at 11:40PM.