Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area

The Bay Bridge connects San Francisco with Oakland and the East Bay.

Interstate 80 is a major urban freeway in the Bay Area (seen here in Berkeley, California as the Eastshore Freeway). This section of freeway is among the busiest in the region, carrying a peak average of roughly 300,000 cars per day.

The following is a list of transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Airports [edit]

The following airports are served by commercial airlines. In addition there are many general aviation airports in the region.

San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

The largest and oldest airport in the region, and a major international hub airport in California second only to LAX (Los Angeles). Hub to United Airlines and Virgin America.
Oakland International Airport (OAK)

The second largest airport in the region and a hub for mostly low-cost domestic flights. Oakland International is a base airport for Southwest Airlines.
Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC)

A minor focus for Southwest Airlines. Construction on a new concourse has just been completed.
Charles M. Schulz - Sonoma County Airport (STS)

A minor airport in Santa Rosa, it is served by one commercial airline, Horizon Air.

Public transportation [edit]

Bay Area Light Rail and Regional Rail Services.

Mass transit [edit]

The Bay Area is served by a number of mass transit systems:

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) - A subway/commuter rail service that serves parts of the Bay Area, including San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Fremont, and Walnut Creek. It has a direct connection to San Francisco International Airport while a direct connection to Oakland International Airport is currently under construction.^[1]
Caltrain - A commuter rail service that connects San Jose and cities along the Peninsula with San Francisco, and with the BART system by way of the Millbrae Station.
Amtrak - There are several Amtrak stations throughout the Bay Area. Major stations in Martinez and Emeryville feature Coast Starlight and California Zephyr service. The Starlight also serves Oakland and San Jose. The Capitol Corridor connects Bay Area cities to Sacramento and Auburn, California, and features BART transfer stations at Richmond and the Oakland Coliseum. The San Joaquin serves Sacramento, California, and Oakland California with trains to Bakersfield, California.
ACE - Altamont Commuter Express; a rail service that mainly serves commuters to and from the Central Valley to the Silicon Valley. It travels from Stockton through Pleasanton, Fremont, Santa Clara, and ends at San Jose. It operates only during commute hours on weekdays.

Light rail [edit]

In San Francisco, Muni operates Muni Metro, a light rail system that runs mostly on converted streetcar lines. It also has a tunnel under Market Street that it shares with BART.

In Santa Clara County, VTA operates its own light rail network, serving southern, central and eastern San Jose, along with northern Santa Clara, northern Sunnyvale, Campbell and Mountain View.

Bus [edit]

Numerous and often overlapping bus transit agencies service the area. The table below lists most of the Bay Area's bus agencies, along with their mass transit (train) connections.

Legend for Mass Transit Connections:

Color Code	Definition
Santa Rosa CityBus	Does not provide connections to any mass transit agency
SolTrans	Serves one mass transit agency
Wheels	Serves two mass transit agencies
AC Transit	Serves three or more mass transit agencies

Note: this list does not include school day-only routes or routes operated on special events.

Agency Name	Bus Example	Coverage Area	Number of Routes					Mass Transit Connections
Agency Name	Bus Example	Coverage Area	Local/ Basic	Rapid/ Limited	Express/ Commuter	Shuttle	All-Nighter	Mass Transit Connections
AC Transit*		Inner East Bay (western Alameda County and western Contra Costa County), with limited service to San Francisco (Transbay Terminal only), parts of San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties	68	4	29	None	6	Connects to multiple Amtrak and BART stations, plus three Caltrain stations and one VTA Light Rail station
AirBART		Oakland	1	None	None	None	None	Provides connections between Oakland Coliseum BART/Amtrak Station and Oakland International Airport
County Connection		Central Contra Costa County (Concord, Martinez, Orinda, San Ramon, Walnut Creek), southeastern Alameda County (Dublin/Pleasanton BART)	35	None	7	2	None	Connects to four BART stations and the Martinez Amtrak Station
Dumbarton Express*		Southern Alameda County (Fremont, Newark, Union City BART), Santa Clara County (Palo Alto)	None	None	3	None	None	Connects to Union City BART Station and Palo Alto Caltrain Station
Emery Go Round		Emeryville, MacArthur BART	6	None	None	None	None	Connects to MacArthur BART Station and Emeryville Amtrak Station
Fairfield and Suisun Transit		Parts of Contra Costa and Yolo Counties, most of Solano County, Sacramento	10	None	4	None	None	Connects to Suisun City/Fairfield Amtrak Station and two BART stations
Golden Gate Transit**		Parts of Contra Costa County (El Cerrito, Richmond), Marin County, San Francisco, Sonoma County (up to Santa Rosa)	20†	1	20	None	None	Connects to Del Norte BART, Richmond Amtrak/BART, and several BART and Muni Metro stations in San Francisco
Healdsburg Transit		Healdsburg	1	None	None	1	None
Marin Transit		Marin County	14†	None	None	7	None
Petaluma Transit		Petaluma	5	None	None	None	None
SamTrans*		San Francisco, San Mateo County, part of Santa Clara County (Palo Alto)	30‡	None	1	None	2	Provides connections to multiple BART and Caltrain stations; Muni Metro connections along Market Street are just one block from Mission Street
San Benito County Transit		San Benito County and parts of Santa Clara County (Gilroy)	6***	2	None	None	None	Connects to Gilroy Caltrain
San Francisco MUNI		San Francisco, parts of Marin County (Marin Headlands) and San Mateo County (Brisbane, Daly City)	42	5	16#	None	10	Provides connections to multiple BART, Caltrain, and Muni Metro stations
Santa Cruz Metro		Santa Cruz County, part of Santa Clara County (San Jose)	30	5	1	None	None	Connects Santa Cruz County cities with San Jose via Highway 17 Express route to Amtrak/VTA light rail/Caltrain/ACE Diridon Station
Santa Rosa CityBus		Santa Rosa	18	None	None	None	None
SolTrans		Parts of Contra Costa and Solano Counties and San Francisco	11	None	6	None	None	Provides connections to several BART stations (Del Norte BART, Pleasant Hill BART, Walnut Creek BART)
Sonoma County Transit		Part of Marin County (San Rafael), Sonoma County	20††	None	6	None	None
Tri Delta Transit		Southeastern Alameda County (Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station), central and eastern Contra Costa County (Antioch, Brentwood, Concord, Martinez, Pittsburg), western San Joaquin County (Mountain House)	13***	None	7	1	None	Provides connections to several BART stations and Martinez Amtrak Station
Union City Transit*		Union City	5	None	None	None	None	Provides connections to Union City BART
Vacaville City Coach		Vacaville	4	None	None	None	None
VINE		Napa County, parts of Solano County (Vallejo) and Sonoma County (Santa Rosa)	12##	None	2	4	None	Provides connections to the Vallejo Ferry Terminal and Del Norte BART
VTA*		Santa Clara County, parts of Alameda County (Fremont) and San Mateo County (Menlo Park)	54#	5	12	12	1	Connects to multiple Caltrain and VTA light rail stations, plus one BART station (Fremont BART)
WestCAT		Western and Central Contra Costa County, San Francisco	10	None	4	None	None	Provides connections to Del Norte BART and Martinez Amtrak statons
WHEELS		Central and southern Contra Costa County (San Ramon, Walnut Creek), southeastern Alameda County (Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton)	20**	None	3	4	None	Provides connections to several BART and ACE
Note	Some routes that operate as one route type may also be listed as another type (e.g. select daytime Muni services also operate as All-Nighter routes)

Symbols Legend:

* - operates as a part of a consortium for Dumbarton Express
** - includes "variable" or "deviated" routes
† - Golden Gate Transit's local routes are operated under contract with Marin Transit. Also, Golden Gate Transit's local routes include the Basic regional routes (Routes 10, 42, 70, 80, 101)
†† - Sonoma County Transit's local routes include some commute-only services that also act as local trips.

Other Agencies:

LINKS (connects parts of San Leandro to San Leandro BART station)
Kaiser Permanente Bus Shuttles provide free service between many BART stations and medical centers throughout the Bay Area.

Ferries [edit]

Public ferry services cross the bay to serve both commuters and leisure travelers. Operators include Golden Gate Transit, Blue and Gold Fleet, and Red & White Fleet. Hornblower Cruises provides service to Alcatraz Island.

Car Sharing [edit]

San Francisco was an early adopter of carsharing in America. The non profit City Carshare opened in 2001. Zipcar closely followed.

Airport shuttle service [edit]

Airport shuttles (mostly buses and vans) provide services from the three major San Francisco Bay Area airports, namely San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Oakland International Airport (OAK), and San Jose International Airport (SJC).

BayPorter Express Airport Shuttle - Airport Shuttle service serving Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco Counties to and from SFO and OAK.
Marin Airporter - Airport Shuttle service serving Marin County to and from SFO.
Marin County Airport Shuttle - Airport Shuttle service serving Marin County to and from SFO, OAK, and SJC.
Monterey Airport Shuttle - Airport Shuttle service serving Monterey County to and from SFO, OAK, and SJC.
Non Stop Airport Shuttle - Private shuttle service to and from SFO, OAK, and SJC.
Sonoma County Airport Express - Airport Shuttle service serving Sonoma County (Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Petaluma) and Marin County (San Rafael) to and from SFO and OAK.
SuperShuttle - Airport door-to-door van service serving San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties to and from SFO, OAK (reservations only), and SJC (reservations only).

Clipper card [edit]

Main article: Clipper Card

The Clipper Card is the universal electronic fare system used in the Bay Area. Fare payments using this reloadable contactless smart card is accepted on various systems such as AC Transit, BART, CalTrain, Golden Gate Transit, Muni, SamTrans, and VTA. Not all Bay Area transit agencies accept Clipper, however.

Freeways and highways [edit]

The Bay Area possesses an extensive freeway and highway system.

Trans-bay crossings [edit]

	Interstate 80 San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge	The western terminus of I-80 is located in San Francisco as James Lick Skyway (Bayshore Freeway), just west of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge. The interstate continues to the east over the bridge, connecting to Oakland and the north coast of the East Bay as the Eastshore Freeway, and then on to Sacramento, Reno, and New Jersey.
	Interstate 580 Richmond - San Rafael Bridge	This spur route's western terminus is in Marin County. The Interstate crosses the San Pablo Bay over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, goes through Richmond as the John T. Knox Freeway, passes through Oakland as the MacArthur Freeway, then continues to Livermore, through the Altamont Pass to Tracy, where it intersects with Interstate 5, thus providing a link with Southern California.
	Route 92 San Mateo - Hayward Bridge	SR 92's western terminus is in Half Moon Bay. The two-lane highway crosses the Santa Cruz Mountains, connecting to Interstate 280 and U.S. Route 101 as the J. Arthur Younger Freeway, becoming a freeway as it passes through San Mateo before crossing the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge to Hayward as Jackson Street.
	Route 84 Dumbarton Bridge	SR 84 begins at Route 1 (at the Pacific Coast) near San Gregorio State Beach, and crosses the Santa Cruz Mountains on a scenic route between La Honda and Woodside as Woodside Road. It then crosses the Bay over the Dumbarton Bridge from Redwood City to Newark. The route then passes through Fremont as Thornton Avenue and Peralta Boulevard, continuing as Niles Canyon Road to Sunol and Livermore as Vallecitos Road and Isabel Avenue, terminating at Interstate 580 as Airway Boulevard.

The Peninsula to the South Bay [edit]

	Interstate 280 Southern, Junipero Serra, & Sinclair Freeways Highway 101 Bayshore Freeway	Eight-lane and, in some parts, 10-lane freeways connecting San Francisco to San Jose through the Peninsula. Highway 101 continues south to Gilroy and Salinas, California, before continuing to Los Angeles. For most of its route I-280 runs along the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and is very scenic, while 101 is highly urban and is locally known as "the world's longest parking lot."
	Route 1 Cabrillo Highway Route 35 Skyline Boulevard	Two-lane highways also traveling down the Peninsula, SR 1 along the Pacific coast, and SR 35 near the ridge of the Santa Cruz Mountains. SR 1 as Cabrillo Highway connects to Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, and Monterey, before continuing to Los Angeles.
	Route 9 Route 17 Santa Cruz Freeway	Highways through the Santa Cruz Mountains, connecting the South Bay to Santa Cruz. Part of SR 17 in San Jose is an 8 lane freeway.
	Route 85 West Valley Freeway Route 237 Southbay Freeway	Six-lane freeways connecting the west Santa Clara Valley to the east Santa Clara Valley, bypassing Downtown San Jose.
	Route 87 Guadalupe Freeway	North-south six-lane freeway entirely in San Jose, connecting San Jose International Airport, Downtown to the Almaden Valley. (formerly the Guadalupe Parkway)
	Route 152	Two-lane highway from Watsonville, crosses the Santa Cruz Mountains to Gilroy, then crosses the Diablo Range through Pacheco Pass to I-5 near Los Banos.
	Route 156	Two-lane highway connecting the Monterey Peninsula from Castroville to northern San Benito County and Route 152.
	Route 82 El Camino Real	Highway running from San Jose to Interstate 280 in San Francisco. It is designated a State Route, although it is more similar to an inner-city boulevard, and contains either 2, 4, or 6 lanes. It runs from Daly City in the north through the Peninsula and beyond.

The freeway system in Santa Clara county is augmented by its expressway system of county routes.

North Bay [edit]

	Highway 101 Redwood Highway Route 1 Shoreline Highway	Continue north of San Francisco, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and connecting San Francisco to Marin and Sonoma counties, and eventually to Oregon. They are concurrent between the Golden Gate Bridge and Marin City
	Route 29	Four-lane expressway connecting Interstate 80 in Vallejo in Solano County as Sonoma Boulevard to the towns of American Canyon and Napa. North of Napa, SR 29 is a two-lane rural highway through the towns of the Napa Valley, California's Wine Country, to Clear Lake.
	Route 37	Four- and two-lane expressway connecting US 101 in Novato with Interstate 80 in Vallejo, along the northern shore of San Pablo Bay.
	Route 12 Sonoma Highway	A highway connecting Santa Rosa with suburbs to the west and Interstate 80 through Sonoma and Napa to the east.

East Bay [edit]

	Interstates 680 Sinclair Freeway Interstate 880 Nimitz Freeway	Two interstate highways that travel up the East Bay from San Jose, 880 close to the bay to Oakland and 680 inland from San Jose north through Fremont, Pleasanton and Concord; then crosses the Benicia-Martinez Bridge and ends at Interstate 80 in Fairfield.
	Interstates 980 Grove Shafter Freeway	A freeway entirely in Downtown Oakland and begins at Interstate 880 and travels north to become Route 24 at Interstate 580.
	Route 13 Warren Freeway	A highway entirely in the Oakland Hills and travels north from Interstate 580 to Route 24, where the freeway portion ends. Beyond SR 24, SR 13 is Berkeley's Ashby Avenue.
	Route 24 Grover Shafter Freeway	A state highway that begins at Interstate 580 in Oakland and travels east through the Caldecott Tunnel to Interstate 680 in Walnut Creek.
	Interstate 238 Route 238 Mission Boulevard	An arterial from Fremont to Hayward, along the base of the hills, then becomes a freeway near Oakland.
	Route 4 John Muir Parkway California Delta Highway	Western terminus at Interstate 80 in Hercules, travels east through Martinez, Pittsburg, and Antioch, where the freeway portion ends. The highway continues to Brentwood and east to Stockton.