Alameda to south San Francisco daily commute (home, transfer)

[USABoundPerhaps]

Hi all again

We are still really smitten with alameda and I would like some info/opinion on commuting daily from alameda to south San Francisco daily. My office is just off the 101 (its near downtown SSF itself - sorry don't know the name of the area exactly).

So saying I have to be in work 9 to 5 daily would an hour commute be the average? I can handle an hour commute with the occasional traffic issues. I will probably telecommute one day a week after the first few months are over.

Is it doable driving daily from alameda to SSF?

I know this sort of question is asked a hundred times but I can't find any definitive information on this specific route.

[felinius]

How close is your employer to the SSF Ferry terminal? If your employer is nearby, you could just take the ferry.

[USABoundPerhaps]

Originally Posted by felinius

How close is your employer to the SSF Ferry terminal? If your employer is nearby, you could just take the ferry.

I don't think its anywhere near the ferry terminal. It's near downtown south San Francisco

[comingbacktocali]

Originally Posted by USABoundPerhaps

I don't think its anywhere near the ferry terminal. It's near downtown south San Francisco

there is a ferry from alameda to oyster point.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Hey, you could take the ferry from Alameda to ATT Park. Very cool.

Terminals | San Francisco Bay Ferry

This link shows a map of the area around each ferry terminal.

[neutrino78x]

So I pulled up a map of Alameda on Google Maps, and I randomly selected a building, 1202 Union Street, Alameda, CA 94501. I don't know if this is anywhere near where OP lives.

I put that as the start address and the San Francisco Caltrain station (which is downtown) as a destination, and Google maps said that would take about an hour on public transit.

One thing the OP could do is plug their employer's address into this web site, https://www.bart.gov/stations/closest , which tells you the closest BART station to a given address. I don't know if the OP would feel comfortable sharing the results, but what they could do is use the result of that web site as their destination address, and their home address and the starting address, and have Google Maps give them a transit plan.

I plugged my randomly chosen Alameda address into the above site, and it returned Fruitvale as the closest station. Using the BART Quickplanner (left hand side at Bay Area Rapid Transit | bart.gov), a trip from Fruitvale to Embarcadero is 17 minutes. The actual station closest to OP may take less than 17 minutes to get to Embarcadero.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by neutrino78x

So I pulled up a map of Alameda on Google Maps, and I randomly selected a building, 1202 Union Street, Alameda, CA 94501. I don't know if this is anywhere near where OP lives.

I put that as the start address and the San Francisco Caltrain station (which is downtown) as a destination, and Google maps said that would take about an hour on public transit.

One thing the OP could do is plug their employer's address into this web site, https://www.bart.gov/stations/closest , which tells you the closest BART station to a given address. I don't know if the OP would feel comfortable sharing the results, but what they could do is use the result of that web site as their destination address, and their home address and the starting address, and have Google Maps give them a transit plan.

I plugged my randomly chosen Alameda address into the above site, and it returned Fruitvale as the closest station. Using the BART Quickplanner (left hand side at Bay Area Rapid Transit | bart.gov), a trip from Fruitvale to Embarcadero is 17 minutes. The actual station closest to OP may take less than 17 minutes to get to Embarcadero.

BART and Caltrain are about 1.5 miles apart give or take. Not particularly helpful. It isn't really downtown at all.

OP, transit.511.org is the best site to figure out your transit commute. The drive would not be pleasant. Honestly that is a horrible combo. No easy way to get between the two places without congestion or transfers.

And the ferry in Alameda is way in Timbuktu and the parking lot fills up fast. There is limited bus service if any.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

This might be helpful. It's the City of Alameda's website on transit options, including an express bus to SF and a shuttle to BART, etc.:

Transportation | City of Alameda

[neutrino78x]

Originally Posted by jade408

BART and Caltrain are about 1.5 miles apart give or take. Not particularly helpful. It isn't really downtown at all.

What's your definition of downtown San Francisco, then? How about Embarcadero BART, that's in the financial district. The BART ride from Fruitvale BART is still less than 20 minutes. It would be quicker than going to Powell Street BART which is the closest to Caltrain.

Anyway like I said Google maps said this trip would be about one hour on transit. So that's a pretty normal commute on transit. There's no stress like there is with driving.

Oh well unless the OP can go to that site I referenced before, find the nearest bart station (click here), and tell us the closest BART station to where they work, it is hard to give good transit advice.

imho Google Maps is superior to 511.org. It's more flexible.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by neutrino78x

What's your definition of downtown San Francisco, then? How about Embarcadero BART, that's in the financial district. The BART ride from Fruitvale BART is still less than 20 minutes. It would be quicker than going to Powell Street BART which is the closest to Caltrain.

Anyway like I said Google maps said this trip would be about one hour on transit. So that's a pretty normal commute on transit. There's no stress like there is with driving.

Oh well unless the OP can go to that site I referenced before, find the nearest bart station (click here), and tell us the closest BART station to where they work, it is hard to give good transit advice.

imho Google Maps is superior to 511.org. It's more flexible.

Caltrain is at 4th and King, a 15 minute muni ride from Embarcadero. It is technically in SOMA, not downtown. If you get off BART at Powell it is a 20-30 minute walk.

Bus to BART To Muni to Caltrain is way too many connections. And the cost would be about $10-12 one way. Since Caltrain isn't particularly frequent, it could take way longer if you miss one of your 3 connections. An hour feels. Little optimistic in the best case scenario.

BART to SSF is better than connecting to Caltrain, but it doesn't seem like the OPs office is especially close to BART.

Google maps is OK, but transit 511 is better if you need to set agency preferences. You don't have a cheapest option on google. And it gives you crazy directions if you need to switch modes. For example, if I want to bike to somewhere in SF, it always routes me to the Ferry, instead of BART, I can't force it to use BART instead.