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Occasionally I have to get between the city and the South Bay / Peninsula area for work or to visit a friend. However, I don't have a car (and traffic can be pretty infuriating anyway). What buses, trains, etc. can I take to get to suburbs like San Mateo and Palo Alto? |
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Without a doubt, one of the easiest and most convenient ways to get between San Francisco and the South Bay is Caltrain. Caltrain runs from SF to Gilroy (seriously), with convenient station locations in just about every town along the peninsula. The two major SF stations are 22d street and 4th St. The train more or less follows El Camino Real once it gets on the Peninsula. Pricing is by zone, so you pick your start and end destinations to determine cost for your fare. There are also monthly passes, day passes, etc. Beyond Caltrain, there is always SamTrans, the bus. While not as convenient or easy to use as Caltrain, SamTrans can be a real help in getting from the train station to another location off of El Camino that might be too far to walk. However, you should know that CalTrain allows bikes, so bring yours and you can go anywhere! A word of caution, however: CalTrain does get crowded sometimes. Commuter hours, holidays, and game days are things to be aware of. You'll always be able to grab standing room, but if you have a bike you might get bumped off the train if things are too busy. Sucks, but it happens. |
