JADSJBD

Hi all,
We will be staying in the Marina District and leaving from Emeryville Amtrak supposedly at 8:20 am on a Friday. How much time should we expect the trip to take by Uber or taxi on a work morning? If traffic is a bear, should we just stay the night before in Emeryville? Thanks for any and all suggestions!

tomfuller

The 6011 connector bus leaves the Transbay temp terminal at 7:45AM and goes to Oakland to connect with the southbound Coast Starlight at 8:50AM. No need to pay big bucks to Uber when the Amtrak bus will take you from one of several locations in San Francisco. The bus is scheduled to take 40 minutes from Transbay to OAKLAND. Sometimes the Coast Starlight is late other times I have arrived in Sacramento up to 45 minutes early.
Buy your ticket on the Amtrak website from whichever bus stop you want to leave from. The bus will take you to meet the Coast Starlight before 8:50AM in Oakland.

sf7307

Without traffic, a half hour to 40 minutes (crossing SF from the Marina to the Bay Bridge can take a half hour in traffic). If you leave yourself an hour and 15 minutes, you'll have plenty of time.

janisj

Why taxi/uber? Your Amtrak ticket should include the trans-bay bus to Emeryville. Since you say 'supposedly' have you booked already? If not book the ticket from San Francisco, not Emeryville.

>>should we just stay the night before in Emeryville?

sf7307

But do note that getting from the Marina to the Transbay Terminal during the morning commute can still take half an hour.

janisj

Depending on the specific schedule, buses also leave from the Hyatt Embarcadero, Pier 39, Market at the foot of Powell. etc Getting from the Marina to Pier 39 wouldn't be bad at all.

MmePerdu

[QUOTE=janisj;16657993] ... >>should we just stay the night before in Emeryville?

Dayenu

Call Amtrak to see if it's not too late to get tickets for connecting bus from San Francisco. You cannot buy separate tickets just for the bus, but maybe you can add them. There are several pick-up points in the city, some of them just poles, no place to sit and wait.

Another way - you don't have to board in Emeryville. You can take BART to Richmond, just walk over to Amtrak, very easy.

Don't know how long by Uber or Lyft, the bus takes 20-30 minutes. No need to stay in Emeryville.

janisj

Not sure what 'tone' was there -- maybe I should have included a or

For a bit of explanation -- the Emeryville Ikea was the first one in Northern CA and for a good 7 years it actually was a tourist attraction with people taking special trips to see it . . .

JADSJBD

Thanks everyone for the replies. I said “supposedly” because Amtrak isn’t known for being right on time, and may even be quite late. However, I am one of those people who worries about the things that can go wrong, and would hate to arrive too late because of clogged traffic, or oversleeping a bit. If we did go to Emeryville the night before, it would be just to sleep, since SF is what we are going for, aside from the trip down the coast. As much as I’d love an extra night in San Francisco, I also don’t want to be too tired from getting up super early to enjoy the train trip.

tomfuller

Did you already buy the tickets from Amtrak from Emeryville? The bus from 5 locations downtown (one with checked baggage service) is a guaranteed connection. The train will not leave until all passengers from the bus have boarded.
The bus takes you to Oakland Jack London station with a scheduled 8:50AM departure. There are good hotels in Oakland within walking distance of Jack London station if you want to get out of San Francisco.
Several days ago both the northbound and southbound Coast Starlights were many hours late because a Union Pacific freight train broke down in one of the tunnels in the Cascades between Oakridge and Chemult Oregon.
If you need to know if a train is running late you can always call Julie at 1 800 USA RAIL. Know your train number (14?)

sf7307

Your comment about getting up super early leads me to ask this question - you do understand that the Emeryville Amtrak station is only 12 miles from the Marina (using the intersection of Chesrnut and Steiner as the starting point)?

JADSJBD

I have already purchased tickets leaving from Emeryville, so the Oakland station is out, I’m afraid.

I do know that Emeryville is only 12 miles away, but during rush hour traffic, that twelve miles can take much longer than it should.

travelgourmet

A couple thoughts:

1) I agree with your trepidation about traffic when you have a train to catch. The Bay Bridge is problematic, though I will note it is better going that way than coming into SF.

2) If you do decide that you want the peace of mind (and extra shut eye) of staying in Emeryville, why not make lemonade out of lemons and have dinner in Oakland or Berkeley and see a bit of that side of the bay? There is more to that side of the bridge than IKEA.

janisj

Before you do anything -- contact Amtrak and see if they can modify your booking to start from SF. IME it costs about the same whether you book Emeryville or SF. I just took the train last month (Coast Starlight to Emeryville/SF and Capitol Corridor back). Their bus will take you to the Emeryville station.

IF they can't/won't allow the change - then decide whether you want to taxi across or move to Emeryville for the night.

JADSJBD

I think we have decided to stay in Emeryville, possibly having dinner in SF before going, but I’m sure as Travelgourmet wrote, there is more to the area than IKEA, so we may explore there instead. Any suggestions for good restaurants/pubs/must sees?

StuDudley

Things to do in San Francisco:
https://www.fodors.com/community/uni...ations-356478/

In the Marina area, we like Isa restaurant
Isa Restaurant : San Francisco Marina Cal French Restaurant

And Rosa's cafe for breakfast or lunch (it's on Union St).
Rose's Cafe | 2298 Union Street, San Fransico

We don't call them "pubs" here - but there must be a dozen in the Marina & Cow hollow. There are perhaps 20-40 restaurants in the Marina/Cow Hollow area also.

Stu Dudley

sf7307

<there is more to the area than IKEA, so we may explore there instead.>

Not in Emeryville itself, but Berkeley is the next town over. There is NOTHING in Emeryville but shops, hotels, restaurants and warehouses.

JADSJBD

sf7307....ouch! I was hoping there was something to redeem Emeryville belides proximity to the Amtrak station!