AC Transit Bus from SF to Emeryville (Oakland, Berkeley: condos, home)

[Wufflez]

Hey Community!

Needing help on planning my work commute while staying in Emeryville (I commute to the Financial District).

I plan on living around 65th street on the east side of the trains.

Is the ac transbay bus from the temporary transbay terminal reliable and safe? Also, would it be okay to walk around Emeryville late at night around 9-11 PM? Are there any monthly passes that would save me the most money? Or any other transportation ideas that one would think is more safe and reliable?

Thanks!

[jade408]

Originally Posted by Wufflez

Hey Community!

Needing help on planning my work commute while staying in Emeryville (I commute to the Financial District).

I plan on living around 65th street on the east side of the trains.

Is the ac transbay bus from the temporary transbay terminal reliable and safe? Also, would it be okay to walk around Emeryville late at night around 9-11 PM? Are there any monthly passes that would save me the most money? Or any other transportation ideas that one would think is more safe and reliable?

Thanks!

The bus is safe and reliable but I haven't taken it after 8ish. I also haven't taken the Eville routes the F or J. I hear these are kinda crowded, but less crowded than BART. It is usually pretty close to the timetable unless there is some sort of huge incident on the bridge. When I commuted via bus regularly, it was rarely off by more than a couple of minutes on either end. I think I can recall 2x when it was more than 10 minutes. One of those times was when someone blocked the whole bridge with a shooting attempt.

You'll want to check the schedules for after 8 or so. Transbay service is pretty limited in terms of lines and frequencies. Also it is a bit of a hike to the Transbay terminal and it is a dead zone after dark. Not much commercial or bus traffic besides munis bus to treasure Island. I don't like walking over there, particularly alone, to late in the evening. Not much foot traffic.

Emeryville isn't very walkable in my eyes, particularly after dark, many streets are not well lit. I have almost hit several pedestrians walking in the shoulder, at night, in dark clothing. Emeryville isn't all that well connected by sidewalks. You will want to check your route closely. Not that I have paid a ton of attention, but isn't it sort or quiet over there in 65th in terms of foot traffic? I don't like to walk where there are few pedestrians, particularly at night,

There is a monthly AC Transit pass that included Transbay buses, but the math only works if you take it 20x a month. Also what are your hours? If you follow the standard am commute, it is cheaper to take casual carpool as you only need to chip in $1.


On an autocorrecting iDevice.

[Wufflez]

Thanks for the reply. My commute would be from 9 AM to 9/10 PM.

My work is about 5 minutes from the temporary transbay terminal so we'll see how that works.

I might consider taking a SF BART to Macarthur BART and then taking the emery-go-round, do you know anything about route?

The area around 65th is pretty dead, I did use google maps to route the direction and it starts in a commercial area on a busy road and stays on a main road with all sidewalks, but nonetheless, very little foot traffic.

Thanks for letting me know about the pass, I will probably buy it since i'll be going to SF more than 20x a month.

[jade408]

The emery go round is fine, I forget when the last one runs and the frequency of it in the evenings.

If you think you will take Bart for any of your pm commutes, skip the monthly pass. Will you ride the bus for more than commuting?

I found I could never make the monthly pass work as I took casual carpool or Bart too often. It ended up being cheaper to stick with the cash fare, because i tended to drive to other places. But if the bus is your primary transit, you can possibly make the math work.


I am on my phone, please forgive the typos.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Wufflez

Thanks for the reply. My commute would be from 9 AM to 9/10 PM.

My work is about 5 minutes from the temporary transbay terminal so we'll see how that works.

I might consider taking a SF BART to Macarthur BART and then taking the emery-go-round, do you know anything about route?

The area around 65th is pretty dead, I did use google maps to route the direction and it starts in a commercial area on a busy road and stays on a main road with all sidewalks, but nonetheless, very little foot traffic.

Thanks for letting me know about the pass, I will probably buy it since i'll be going to SF more than 20x a month.

Personally this is what I would do. the transbay buses are at the mercy of Bay Bridge traffic and even when that's not too bad, it's never as fast as BART. The transbay terminal is also slightly south of the main part of the Financial District where as BART goes right down the middle of it.

Having said that, yes I recommend Emery-Go-Round to BART but at the very least, learn which buses you will take because who knows when BART will have another issue.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

Personally this is what I would do. the transbay buses are at the mercy of Bay Bridge traffic and even when that's not too bad, it's never as fast as BART. The transbay terminal is also slightly south of the main part of the Financial District where as BART goes right down the middle of it.



Having said that, yes I recommend Emery-Go-Round to BART but at the very least, learn which buses you will take because who knows when BART will have another issue.

Here is where I disagree. Depending on your exact location, the Transbay bus can be faster when you factor in the transfers. (OP you said your office is only a block from the terminal so no need to worry too much about distance from work. You have like a 2 block radius).

Personally my Transbay ride is 20 minutes or less. Bart from MacArthur is about 18 minutes. So as long as you aren't at a stop that had a bunch of stops before the freeway, the bus could easily be faster than 10 minutes on the Emerygoround and 20 minutes on Bart. The AC transit timetables did a good job accounting for expected typical traffic and they are usually pretty spot on. There were some days when I felt like there was so much traffic and the bus was so slow. But by the time i got off it was only 1-3 minutes off. :P


I am on my phone, please forgive the typos.

[davdaven]

From Emeryville to the Transbay Terminal, an AC Transit Transbay bus is most definitely faster than taking Emery Go-Round to BART...assuming there isn't an accident on the Bay Bridge. If you don't mind spending 30 seconds each morning checking the traffic report, you'll be good.

A friend of mine commuted from 40th & San Pablo to SF until she moved to San Leandro a year ago, and she usually ended up taking the bus in the morning (Routes C and F in her case) and BART in the afternoon. The one nice thing in particular about the bus is that you should be able to get a seat in the morning, unlike BART. Your return trip is late enough that it doesn't matter either way.

I suggest against the AC Transit bus pass. Because of your work hours, I could see you taking Casual Carpool in the morning and BART in the evening. The last trip of the night on Route J is around 7 PM. The last Emery Go-Round bus leaves MacArthur BART sometime after 10 PM. Emery Go-Round is pretty reliable because the routes are short.

If you are out exceptionally late, you can take BART to 19th Street and catch AC Transit Routes 72 and 72M to San Pablo & 65th. I would not do this unless you missed the last bus of the night, as this is slower and more expensive than the other options.

Do you like to bicycle? One great option that I would probably pick if I could is to take the low cost ($1ish) Caltrans (not to be confused with Caltrain) bike shuttle from MacArthur BART to the Transbay Terminal (stop is within a block). This would work perfectly for your AM commute. In the evening, you could take Route F to 40th Street, or BART to MacArthur BART, and bike home from there.

The area around Hollis & 65th is not that dead. There is a Subway, Starbucks, and Mexican restaurant at the corners, plus an excellent bar nearby (Prizefighter at Hollis & 67th), as well as a couple great coffee shops (Farley's on 65th between Hollis and San Pablo, and Actual Cafe at San Pablo & Alcatraz). While foot traffic here is not as busy as Uptown Oakland, downtown Berkeley, or one of several neighborhoods in SF, I still see pedestrians out at night. Most of the condos in the area are occupied after all.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by davdaven

The area around Hollis & 65th is not that dead. There is a Subway, Starbucks, and Mexican restaurant at the corners, plus an excellent bar nearby (Prizefighter at Hollis & 67th), as well as a couple great coffee shops (Farley's on 65th between Hollis and San Pablo, and Actual Cafe at San Pablo & Alcatraz). While foot traffic here is not as busy as Uptown Oakland, downtown Berkeley, or one of several neighborhoods in SF, I still see pedestrians out at night. Most of the condos in the area are occupied after all.

I know the Farley's closes early. Actual is open reasonably late. Does that Starbuck close early? I am only over there in the day time occasionally, and it felt pretty quiet in terms of people walking..but who knows night could be busier with Prizefighter. HAven't been yet.

I just think that most people in E-ville use a car as their primary form of transit, particularly for social activities since it is such a pain to walk in. You might have an easy route if you work in E-ville. But walking to the major commercial centers sucks.

Don't get me started on the nonsense that is trying not to drive to Honor Bar. You have to go like 5 blocks out of the way.

[davdaven]

The Starbucks and Subway close relatively early. Most night foot traffic is associated with the Mexican restaurant and Prizefighter besides the condos (walking dogs, etc.). It's no Oakland or Berkeley in terms of hustle and bustle, but it's not as bad as the 'burbs.

[Wufflez]

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for the replies! So very helpful. I guess when it comes down to it, I will try all 3 options in the morning: casual carpool, AC transit and emery-go-round to BART. I do not ride a bile.

Does anyone know if casual carpool is very active in Emeryville? How reliable is emery-go-round at night? I am reading reviews on Yelp and some reviews stating it's very sporadic.

For night, since I do not want to walk around at night, I'll probably end up taking BART to Macarthur and then going emery-go-round.

Thanks for all the advice!