Ubuntu Wiki

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 fare 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

• Bay Area Peninsula, including Mountain View and San Jose: Caltrain

  • Trains

  • Cost Variable based on distance, see fare chart here

More information about getting around can be found at http://transit.511.org/

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.

Clipper Card

If you wish to transfer between BART, AC Transit, MUNI and Caltrain 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
• OAK airport passengers will probably have to pay cash for AirBART, and Clipper is handled by the My Transit Plus vendor in the Coliseum station station but they may have very limited hours
• SFO airport has information booths where you can pick Clipper cards up and add cash to them

Information Booth near baggage claim at SFO, staffed until 10:30PM (11:30PM in terminal 1)

There are several convenient retail locations in downtown Oakland that distribute (and refill) Clipper cards, including:

DeLauer's Super News Stand
1310 Broadway (between 13th and 14th St.)
Open 24 hrs.

Walgreens Pharmacy #13595
1333 Broadway (corner of 14th St.)
Open until 8 p.m. weekdays / 6 p.m. weekends.

Clipper cards themselves are currently free. To obtain a new, unregistered "adult" Clipper card, it must be initially loaded with $5 or more of e-cash, or any "transit product" (such as a pass or ride book). This requirement is waived for cards distributed via promotional giveaways. Youth and Senior Clipper cards have no minimum purchase requirement. E-cash is good forever; the cards expire after 20 years, but any residual value can be rolled over to a new card.

There are some inter-system discounts (e.g. BART to Muni) that are only available when using Clipper.

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.

From a practical perspective, it's really OK if someone lands at SFO, heads directly to the BART station, and purchases a blue ticket for $8.40 (which won't be returned on exit; for a souvenir, put $8.45 on it). The information desks mentioned above are useful if anyone in the party is aged 5-12 or 65+, because red and green tickets aren't sold by vending machines.