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Transit puzzle
Apr. 20th, 2025 10:46 amEvents on the homefront kept me from attending Corflu last year and even attending online this year, but hope springs eternal. Next year's site is in Santa Rosa, on the northern edge of the greater San Francisco area, meaning an overnight trip on Amtrak's Coast Starlight can get me most of the way there.
Amtrak even has a bus connection to Santa Rosa, but it means getting off the train in Martinez a little before 8am and then waiting two and a half hours for the bus. Surely there are local transit options that can do better!
That was sarcasm. I grew up in the Bay Area and know that transit there is a fragmented nightmare. There are somewhere around 30 different transit agencies (the number varies depending on where exactly you draw the line around "Bay Area") and minimal cooperation between them. I am moderately shocked that most of them have managed to agree on a common fare card.
After poking around various agency sites, this looks like a possible option:
1. Amtrak to Emeryville
2. AC Transit up to the transit center at the El Cerrito del Norte BART station (a couple of options for exact route, depending on how far I feel like walking)
3. Golden Gate Transit route 580 over to San Rafael
4. SMART train to Santa Rosa Downtown station, which is within walking distance of the hotel
It feels odd that I can't work BART into this, but the only Amtrak station with a direct transfer to BART is Richmond, which the Coast Starlight doesn't stop at.
Amtrak even has a bus connection to Santa Rosa, but it means getting off the train in Martinez a little before 8am and then waiting two and a half hours for the bus. Surely there are local transit options that can do better!
That was sarcasm. I grew up in the Bay Area and know that transit there is a fragmented nightmare. There are somewhere around 30 different transit agencies (the number varies depending on where exactly you draw the line around "Bay Area") and minimal cooperation between them. I am moderately shocked that most of them have managed to agree on a common fare card.
After poking around various agency sites, this looks like a possible option:
1. Amtrak to Emeryville
2. AC Transit up to the transit center at the El Cerrito del Norte BART station (a couple of options for exact route, depending on how far I feel like walking)
3. Golden Gate Transit route 580 over to San Rafael
4. SMART train to Santa Rosa Downtown station, which is within walking distance of the hotel
It feels odd that I can't work BART into this, but the only Amtrak station with a direct transfer to BART is Richmond, which the Coast Starlight doesn't stop at.
