jlaughs

I'm hoping that there are some SF and/or Sonoma residents out there who can help me with this question.

I just dropped my son off at Sonoma State University last weekend. I found an inexpensive way for him to come home once in awhile (he wants to see his girlfriend - not us, of course), but he has to get to San Francisco and he doesn't have a car while at school. I know that there is the airport shuttle at $28 each way, but he needs to get to SF CalTrain-4th St Station, which I don't believe is anywhere near the airport. I've been trying to figure out the bus systems (maybe route 80?), but they go from one district to another and I can't seem to figure out the entire route.

Anyone?

Btw, if anyone is interested in a very inexpensive (although certainly more time consuming that flying) way to get to/from different cities in the, check out megabus.com.

THANKS!!

Betsy

Where's home?

My son, who graduated from Sonoma State a few years ago, didn't have a car his first year there. He was always able to find a ride (and helped with gas) among students in his dorm. If the driver's route wasn't close to our house, either his dad or I would meet them in some convenient spot.

If home is south of SF, maybe a willing driver could drop him off at a CalTrain Station south of the city such as San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame.

Betsy

Is he taking Megabus? Just checked their map. They also pick up at Diridon Station in San Jose, so it looks like he has SJ as another option if a Sonoma student could drop him off there.

janisj

Megabus also serves Oakland. My guess is that any given weekend he won't have much trouble finding other students driving down to San Francisco, Oakland or San Jose.

dmlove

jlaughs, where's his destination (that he needs to get to on Cal-Train)?

jlaughs

He'd be coming back to Union Station, Los Angeles.

I don't know if San Francisco would be the best starting point for him to come home, but if he leaves from SF, he'd want to be there by 11:30p on Thursday night since he doesn't have any classes on Friday. My guess is that it might be harder for him to find a ride on Thursday night since I would imagine that more students would be willing to go to SF on the weekend rather than Thursday night. I'm sure that eventually he'll meet enough people that he could find someone with a car to take him to SF, but right now he knows one person from his high school and she doesn't have a car either. So, we're trying to find out if there's a way that he can do this on his own.

Since I'm not really all that familiar with Northern CA, would it be better for him to leave from Oakland rather than SF? What about San Jose? How far is that?

Betsy, thanks for the thought about taking CalTrain from another area to SF. I'll do some research on this possibility. How far is San Bruno, Millbrae and Burlingame from SSU?

jlaughs

Btw, Fodorites are the best! Can't believe I got so many responses so quickly.

Thanks for the help!!

kleroux

There is the airport bus that he could easily catch...it has a stop in Rohnert Park where SSU is located, there are busses for either SF or Oakland. BTW he can also fly from Santa Rosa airport directly to LA via Horizon air. Its not cheap, but its very convenient. Nice for you when you come to visit him and get to know N. Calif. Maybe booking far in advance gives him a better price. Usually we fly in and out of Oakland..its easier. I'm sure Greyhound bus would also stop near campus, as would the Amtrack connection. Once he's on campus he'll have lots of people who can help him get home.

jlaughs

kleroux, we already know about the shuttle from Rohnert Park to the airport, however, I'm trying to find a way for my son to get to the CalTrain-4th St Station to catch the bus. Would it make sense to take the shuttle to the airport and then take a taxi to the bus location? Also, you mention that there are buses to SF and/or Oakland. Could you tell me more about these buses? I've read references to bus route 70 and route 80, which seem like they go from around SSU to San Francisco, but I can't seem to find details such as the actual route and schedule.

Btw, I looked up both Amtrak and Greyhound as possible options. I don't remember specifics anymore since it was a few days ago, but they either didn't have very good schedules or were almost as expensive as flying.

Thanks again for everyone's help!

OH! Another question -- my son is flying to San Diego this Friday morning. His flight leaves at 9a, so he'd have to be at the airport by 8a, which means that he'd have to catch the shuttle at 5:45a (with a warning that there may be possible delays due to commute traffic). He didn't want to ask anyone to take him to the shuttle pick-up location that early in the morning, so he decided to go to the airport Thursday night instead (arriving around midnight) and just sleep at the airport overnight. The shuttle pick-up location is about 3 miles away from school. Does anyone have an idea how much it might cost him to take a taxi there in the morning?

Thanks!!

dmlove

I'm sorry, but I am totally confused. For what reason does your son have to get to the 4th St. Cal-Train station? Does this have something to do with the airport, or are those separate issues?

janisj

This latest post confuses me too. Please clarify what you need.

Also, w/ a 0900 flight, he would need to be at the airport quite a bit earlier than 0800. But if he intends to sleep at the airport I guess that's covered. But have you verified that he can sleep over night at SFO?

It just seems you two are planning very complicated travel - both this coming weekend and later on.

FainaAgain

I tried to look up the Megabus, but all I see is it goes from SF/Oakland to LA. I don't see Sonoma on it's route, what am I doing wrong?

Betsy

FA, you're AOK. Mom is trying to get her son to the 4th Street Cal Train Station so he can pick up the bus there. He has no convenient way to travel from SSU to SF.

Mom is also working on a trip for this coming weekend. Son needs to travel from SSU to SFO to get his plane to SD. As well as I can determine, he has no way to get from SSU to the bus pick up in Rohnert Park, which may or may not still be at the Doubletree Hotel.

Betsy

Here's a scenario that DH and I discussed over dinner: For his SSU to LA trip, he could take the Airporter from Rohnert Park to SFO. At SFO, he could pick up CalTrain and take it to Diridon Station in San Jose where he could pick up the Megabus to LA.
All the schedules and routes are on line.

razzledazzle

For his Friday trip to catch the Sonoma County Airport Express
www.aiportexpressinc.com
at the Doubletree in Rohnert Park, as Betsy knows -
a taxi will cost hime 15-$17.

R5

Diamantina

Have your son call Golden Gate Transit. Yes, the #80 will take him from Rohnert Park to San Francisco, where he will get off on Mission Street (i think it is 3rd and Mission) and then catch the #30 MUNI bus to the CAL Trains station. During commuter (rush hour) mornings he can get to San Francisco faster on the #72 which goes directly to SF from Rohnert Park. So your son should call Golden Gate Transit in Sonoma and then MUNI in San Francisco. The schedules are also online.

jlaughs

Betsy - thank you for clarifying my situations for everyone. You have them EXACTLY correct.

Betsy and Diamantina - thank you both so much for your suggestions and information. I'm going to look into them. His first trip back to LA is supposed to be the weekend of Oct 12, so we have a little time, but I don't want to buy his Megabus ticket if we can't find a way for him to catch the bus.

razzledazzle - thanks for the info about taxi cost to the pick-up location (yes, it's still at the Doubletree) from SSU. I'll give him this info as an option to consider.

janisj - didn't even consider that he couldn't just stay overnight at the airport. Guess I've seen too many episodes of 'Amazing Race' where they slept on airport floors in front of ticket counters.

Thanks again everyone!!

janisj

I'm not saying he can't sleep at SFO - I don't know for sure so you might want to check. I do know that some airports don't allow it. But maybe SFO does . . . . . .

jlaughs

janisj - Oops. Meant to say that I was going to check into it, but I got distracted. Darn work!

Thanks again.

Betsy

Glad it's coming together. Here's info (a bit outdated) from sleepinginairports.com that might be helpful:

http://www.sleepinginairports.net/usa

How does your son like SSU so far?