Commute San Fran to Alameda? (San Francisco, Oakland: home, living in, bus)

[bostonteddy]

Hi, I am applying for a job in Alameda and if I get it, I will likely move out there. Being young and hoping to explore the city, I would rather live in SF than Alameda. So I am wondering, how is the commute over the bridge? This would be a reverse commute, since I assume most will be coming into the city in the morning while I leave. Also, any other public transportation suggestions welcome!!!

Thanks a ton!

[sonarrat]

Depends on the part of San Francisco you're living in. If you're too far from a freeway it might add an extra 20 minutes onto the commute. Once you get onto I-80 it shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes to get to Alameda. As far as public transit, BART doesn't stop in Alameda but there IS a reverse-commute express bus provided by AC Transit. It's the O line. AC Transit | Rider Info | Maps and Schedules

[gizmo980]

Yeah, that's totally true - if you live near I-80/101 (east side of SF), the commute should be an easy 20-30 minutes even at rush-hour. I live near a 101 entrance and commute to the East Bay, and it is fairly predictable from day to day. If I leave before 9:30am it's about 10-15 minutes to the Bay Bridge, and another 10 minutes to get across... after 9:30 (which I do more often, thank goodness) it only takes about 12 minutes from my door to Oakland.

Coming home is a different story, however, and traffic can get almost as bad in that direction. If I leave exactly at 5pm it typically doesn't take more than 35 minutes from Richmond-SF... if I leave between 5:15-6:30 it can easily take an hour, whereas it only takes 20-25 minutes after 6:45-7. The traffic patterns are very constant, stop-and-go from Gilman St./Berkeley to Powell/Emeryville. Then the bridge is either clear until the very end, or you get stopped at the toll plaza for up to 15 minutes (then it's clear for a while). You would avoid the Berkeley traffic coming from Alameda, but might get stuck in The Maze, so you should look into alternate routes like a frontage road - which I often do through Berkeley.

One piece of advice is to get a FasTrak transponder, which will save you a lot of time, and $1 on the Golden Gate Bridge: http://www.bayareafastrak.org/
Also study the traffic maps here, to get a better picture of what I've said: 511.org - Your Bay Area travel guide

[gizmo980]

Oh, and as for public transit, unfortunately BART doesn't go to Alameda... but you could take it to Fruitvale (Oakland) and probably catch a bus from there. So if you want to avoid driving, try to find a place in SF near BART - otherwise you may as well drive, which is the problem I have being so far from a station. By the time I drive to 24th & Mission and look for non-2-hour street parking, I could have been there already by car!

[94501westender]

Originally Posted by bostonteddy

Hi, I am applying for a job in Alameda and if I get it, I will likely move out there. Being young and hoping to explore the city, I would rather live in SF than Alameda. So I am wondering, how is the commute over the bridge? This would be a reverse commute, since I assume most will be coming into the city in the morning while I leave. Also, any other public transportation suggestions welcome!!!

Thanks a ton!

to the AC transbay O, OX & W (depending where U R on Alameda theres also the option of taking the AC local 50, 51 & 63 to BART and heading into the city that way. Again depending on where u are.

There are also informal car pool staging areas around the island where you can carpool to and from SF. The one that stands out the most for me is located on the corner of Webster and Santa Clara.

Some people mentioned the ferry service which runs from the west end and from bay island. These are both served by the AC 63 and 50 lines. They also have ample bicycle parking too.

i moved from so. cal and have lived here for about 7 years. Theres alot to do and besto f all its a bike/bus ride or walk away...

[bigdave01]

There is also a ferry from San Francisco to Alameda. That would be an awesome way to commute.

East Bay Ferries