The reason why things aren't practical in today's world is that people take the easy way out.

What is incredible to me, is that these people want to take public transportation and are probably quite aware of the time constraints, yet when they ask for help the answer is a fall back of "rent a car."
She's already said, she doesn't want to rent a car. Maybe the few more hours reading a good book on a train or bus is worth it to them, rather then stressing out driving in unfamiliar territory.

One can belong to every green group and give half their income to them as well, but nothing is going to change until there is a demand for green living.

Truth be told, I rarely take public transportation but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t help someone who wants to use it. And actually not because of my environmentalist leanings. It’s a fun puzzle and I could see immediately that the reason the OP was having a difficult time was not because they were lazy about googling but b/c there are certain factors that someone who has not lived in this state all their lives would have to know.

Or perhaps they just didn't know how remote Ft. Bragg is and how difficult public transportation to remote places is in California.

Even if it's a remote location, people still get there by public transportation. After all, isn't Ft Bragg still an active military base? I believe so, although I haven't been there in a few years.

If Fort Bragg is still an active military base, how are the soldiers getting there? By public transportation?

I fail to see what Fort Bragg being a military base has to do with public transportation.

It's one thing to be green, it's another thing to advice visitors to take practically non-existent public transportation.

LSky-I am one who always recommends rent a car in California unless you are staying in SF. One of the reasons I do this is what easytraveler mentioned, that in many places it's almost non-existent. I hate to see people using their precious vacation time sitting on a Greyhound Bus that could take hours to go a short distance.

Will I help give them the information they want? Yes I will and of course it's their decision. But I think many people are afraid of driving in CA and it's one of the easiest places to get around in especially in this day and age of GPS.

Since I said I would help with the info, here's a way to get from San Diego to Hemet. Take the Greyhound from San Diego to Temecula. Considering it only stops once in Escondido and is an hour and 25 minute drive, that's not bad. The Greyhound station in Temecula is in Old Town which is actually a cute place to walk around. You can then use riversidetransit as LSky mentioned. Looks like line 79 which takes around 1 hr 10 minutes to Hemet depending on where you get on and off. But as I pointed out just the ride time alone is 2 hours and 35 minutes and that doesn't include getting to the Greyhound station, waiting time for the local bus, etc. So I would imagine it could take 3 to 3.5 hours to use public transporation to get from San Diego to Hemet. You can drive this in 1.5 hours. This is why I don't recommend public transporation.

OH, My Goodness!?!

"Ft Bragg still an active military base? I believe so, although I haven't been there in a few years."

Uh - nope -- and never was (well not in the last 150+ years). Even back in the 1850's it was only a very small outpost and I VERY much doubt you were there. The Ft Bragg that is a military base is in North Carolina.

OR could you mean Ft Ord? That was a military base - closed long ago and anyway it is down near Monterey, hundreds of miles from Ft Bragg.

I think a map is in order.

Janis--Why would a poster bother with facts when they are chastising people. LOL

The thing about the car rental suggestion, is we are NOT suggesting you drive within big cities (like San Francisco or San Diego) but rather to use the car to get between these fairly remoate towns you are wanting to get yourself too.

If someone wants to take public transportation why not just give them what they need?

I love to drive but some people don't like the stress of driving. Maybe they're poor drivers. The 3.5 hours that it might take to get to Hemet on public transportation might be worth the extra 1.5 spent in stress. The OP might get some work done on the bus or get some reading in.

Maybe she would be spending 4 hours straightening out a fender bender because she's not a good driver. I don't know, neither do any of us.

I drive quite a bit and I'd like the people who don't like to drive to get off the freeways. I'm tired of them going 50 miles an hour in the fast lane THEN remembering that the exit they need is next, so they slow down and try to cross 3 lanes of moving traffic.

The last time I went to Ft. Bragg it was a two lane road, can't imagine that it's change. I don't want to follow someone who hates to drive while she toodles along at 15-20 mph down a two lane road. She doesn't want someone on her butt all the way down the road.

Give the woman some credit for knowing what she wants!

LSky: "Give the woman some credit for knowing what she wants!"

I knows what I want too - I want some green cheese from the moon.

LSky: the OP has gotten the best and most sincere advice from long-time posters (I'm not including myself). The advice is trustworthy. If these posters could give the OP what she wants, they would have done so long ago.

How often does that San Diego-Temecula bus run? What if she misses the bus she wants and has to sit in the Greyhound station for 2 or 3 hours waiting for the next bus? Hope she's taking along "War and Peace" as reading material.

Driving around California (not the big cities) is a pleasure compared to driving around the nutty streets of Chicago and its suburbs and there are vast stretches of two-lane roads in the midwest where we usually have freeways.

Anyhoos, this has been an interesting discussion. I'll await the OP's return to tell us how much of a phobia she has about driving.

easytraveler-I think the San Diego bus to Temecula only runs twice a day in the afternoon. So you'd definitely have to do some planning.

LSky-I agree with you about people on the freeways who don't want to drive. I am a Sales Rep with a territory that goes from San Diego to SLO and I live in San Diego County. Many days I spend 3 or more hours on the freeway. But I still think that visitors to CA, especially those who are first timers or those who don't visit often, really don't understand the scope of how big CA is. Yes you can look on a map but they still don't understand getting from Point A to Point B in such a huge state.

Personally I think a car makes visiting easier even in San Diego or Los Angeles. But if someone is dead set against renting a car in LA or San Diego, they can manage to get around. But to go to Hemet, Ft. Bragg or other remote locations, using public transportation is harder than most visitors would imagine. The OP in this thread must have had some idea about that, or she probably wouldn't have started this topic.

Paula: you're absolutely correct. Taking public transportation in California will certainly take a lot of good planning.

Well, I wish the OP a fine journey, whatever her decision.

Has anyone here ever taken public transportation to these places?

No (So if the OP wants to be the first, she now has all the information she needs)

LSky: Give it up - I have been to Ft Bragg (the non-miltary one BTW) many times. Yes you can get there by public transport. But not in ANY practical sense.

Say from SFO? One would have to go into central SF (taxi or BART) and hang around the greyhound depot waiting for the one departure a day to Willits (2:45PM)

Then you ride to Willits and get off (I kid you not) at the McDonalds at 6:15PM.

There is no bus to Ft Bragg that late so you over night at a motel in Willits and take a bus to Ft Bragg the next day.

What would be a 3.5 hour (easy) drive mostly up 101 becomes a nearly 24 hour slog via Greyhound/local buses.

Or they might stay overnight in San Francisco, take the 8.45 am bus and arrive Willits on Amtrak at 1.20. Still a long haul!

Wow getting to Ft. Bragg via public transporation makes San Diego to Hemet a piece of cake.

I have a sister who lives in Hemet and it is possible to get there using public transport but I wouldn't want to rely on it. I don't know of any trains that stop anywhere close.
So for the So Cal leg, I would consider flying from San Francisco into ONT, driving to Hemet and then to San Diego, then using public transport and flying out of San Diego.
If you really don't want to rent a car, I would use Paula's advice and go to San Diego (best chance of a train San Francisco to San Diego - http://www.dot.ca.gov/rail/go/amtrak/index.cfm Pacific Surfliner/Coast starlight) and then take a bus to Temecula, then to Hemet. Banning is farther and around a mountain so I wouldn't choose that city. If you do go to Banning or if you fly into Ontario Airport and want transport to Hemet, check http://www.riversidetransit.com/home/index.htm - Riverside Transit Agency - for times and routes. When I looked, the routes from Ontario Airport to Hemet ranged from 3 hours to 6 hours and were not very direct. Hemet and Temecula are both in Riverside County so that site should be able to help with routes from both cities. Regretably, any public transport route in So Cal will be difficult and taxis would be expensive. So for at least this leg, I would consider flying from San Francisco into ONT, driving to Hemet and then to San Diego, then using public transport and flying out of San Diego.

"LSky: Give it up - I have been to Ft Bragg (the non-miltary one BTW) many times. Yes you can get there by public transport. But not in ANY practical sense."

okay then, janisj. And since it seems to be important to you, I was wrong about Ft Bragg and you are right.

Paula