BART or Caltrain? (San Bruno, Millbrae: transfer to, live, costs)

[rumsbeard]

I live near the Millbrae station. Does it make more sense to take BART directly to the Embarcadero station, or Caltrain + another mode of public transportation to Embarcadero station?

[Palmer Eldritch]

Originally Posted by rumsbeard

I live near the Millbrae station. Does it make more sense to take BART directly to the Embarcadero station, or Caltrain + another mode of public transportation to Embarcadero station?

Hi. I am new at this board. I have a question for the regulars. Do you get a lot of troll posts here?

In regards to the question posed.. I would think that the BART alternative would be the obvious choice as it stops at the EMB. You don't want to be messing with the Jitney buses...God forbid.

[sonarrat]

Samtrans has an MX express bus which will take you straight to the Transbay Terminal at Mission & First for less than either of them, and it would split the difference between Caltrain being slower and BART being faster. If you're going at odd times, though, BART is the way to go.

[cardinal2007]

If you catch the Baby Bullet, and everything goes right you can transfer to the N, and taking the One 24 minutes after the hour you will get to Embarcadero in 29 minutes, and will have paid $6.50 for the privilege. The other baby bullet + N takes 33 minutes, but you get 5 minutes to transfer, instead of 1, which is almost impossible to make.

You can take BART for $4.00 it takes 34 minutes, no transfers. The latter might get you there more slowly, but is only a few minutes, and it costs less. When BART went through the airport it was damn slow, and if you were driving to Millbrae I would've suggested taking the Caltrain, or driving to San Bruno BART instead. Either way the peninsula service will be slow because it has to go through 4 stations in SF before getting to Market Street. BART is faster from the East Bay.

[rumsbeard]

Thanks Cardinal. I really appreciate your response. I was concerned that Caltrain would be difficult because of that transfer in the city. I can't wait until the Transbay Terminal is rebuilt.

[oskarv]

Originally Posted by rumsbeard

Thanks Cardinal. I really appreciate your response. I was concerned that Caltrain would be difficult because of that transfer in the city. I can't wait until the Transbay Terminal is rebuilt.

the transfer really isn't so difficult to catch. there are TWO lines you can catch to getcha there - the N or the T. they both stop at the Caltrain station and take you to Embarcadero. Invariably when you get off the Caltrain either the N or the T will be coming within 5 minutes. I used to commute via Caltrain before I moved up to the city, and now that there are TWO metro muni lines at the Caltrain station, it's usually a very very short wait.

Caltrain offers monthly passes, BART does not. i reckon a monthly pass from Caltrian + a MUNI pass will end up costing less than paying $4.00 on BART every day, but I don't have the time to calculate that right now. look into the Caltrain monthly pass.