SFIO to Redwood City?

May 16, 2008 8:15 AM

How can I get from the San Francisco Airport to my housing in Redwood City on Saturday night?

I've never been to SF before, and am working in Redwood City for the summer for an internship. The provided housing is this place: http://www.goodnite.com/redwood-city/ and the address is 485 Veterans Boulevard. Because I'm going to be there for 12 weeks, I'm going to have a decent amount of luggage- one pretty large suitcase on wheels, a bookbag/carry on, and my purse.

My contact at my job said a while back there might be a possibility that someone from the office could pick me up either at the airport itself or at the caltrain station in Redwood City, but I haven't heard back from him about it since I followed up on that yesterday. I'm getting into the SF airport around 8:30, so I probably won't be leaving until ~9:15

If I can't get a ride, should I take public transit anyway? Since there are multiple transit systems, how should I even try to get there?

posted by version control to travel & transportation (10 comments total)

On public transit, you'd take the SFO Air Tran --> BART --> the San Bruno Station, then get off and transfer to the BART going to Millbrae --> Caltrain. At that time of night Caltrain runs infrequently, so you might find a lengthy wait when you get there. Millbrae to Redwood City on Caltrain would be about 10-15 minutes.

I'd vote get someone to pick you up at the airport or take a cab or an airport shuttle.
posted by handful of rain at 8:20 AM on May 16, 2008

The airport shuttles (SuperShuttle, Lori's, Quake City, etc.) are probably your best bet, especially with the luggage. They are a lot cheaper than a cab (and take a bit longer) but will drop you off at the door. Probably $15-20, although that's a guess for a Redwood City location.
posted by gingerbeer at 8:22 AM on May 16, 2008

Ah, here's the Caltrain schedule: http://www.caltrain.com/timetable.html#weekend-southbound

You can see there's a train leaving Millbrae at 10:24 or else not until 12:25 (last train of the night). BART trains would probably be running every 20-30 minutes at that point (late Saturday night). So, it's doable to get to Redwood City on public transit that time of night, but I'd be pretty inclined to take a cab unless money is really tight.
posted by handful of rain at 8:26 AM on May 16, 2008

Agree take a super shuttle. Caltrans will still leave you with a cab ride from the station and it will take forever. RC isn't that far south it really shouldn't be that expensive taking a shuttle.

BART doesn't go south enough. The buses would be a nightmare.
posted by bitdamaged at 8:26 AM on May 16, 2008

Welcome to what passes for public transit in the Bay Area. It's doable, but it will take a long time and the multiple connections will make it confusing if you've never negotiated BART or Caltrain. When you'll arrive you'll be tired and weighed down with luggage. Make it easy on yourself: call Supershuttle, and deduct it as a business expense.
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 8:32 AM on May 16, 2008

I'll third the shuttle. After you get your luggage just follow the signs that point where to exit the airport for the shuttles. You'll see lines of vans right out there. Tell them you are going to RWC, they'll put your luggage on a shuttle. You may have to wait for a couple of more customers heading in the same direction to fill up the van. Then they'll drive you right to your door.

I lived in Redwood City for a while; feel free to email me with any questions.
posted by mikepop at 8:34 AM on May 16, 2008

Another vote for an airport shuttle. We've used SuperShuttle in those cases where public transit hasn't worked out, and they're fine. I agree that it will probably run $15-20.

Redwood City isn't that far from the airport, but it's hard to get to with public transportation. You can figure out public transportation schedules on the 511.org trip planner. For the starting location, enter SFO as the landmark, and San Francisco as the city. Even with 511.org's help, though, Redwood City on a Saturday night just isn't well served.

Samtrans runs a bus from SFO directly into Redwood City (the Kx line) that will come within a half mile of your housing, but the last direct bus of the night departs SFO at 9:23pm. That's probably cutting it too close. The next bus-based option requires a transfer, and the buses run infrequently down there -- that route will get you to a point a half mile away from your house at 10:54pm. Yuck.

handful of rain's suggestion of BART to Caltrain is accurate, but it'll be a pain. It's kind of annoying to get from SFO to Millbrae on BART these days since they no longer run a line directly from the airport to Millbrae (hence the stop in San Bruno), and you'll probably need to wait for the 10:24 train, which will get you into Redwood City just at around the same time as those late night buses (10:52pm). Not only that, but when you get to the Caltrain station, you have to figure out how to get to your housing from there, and you'll probably need to get a cab from there anyway.
posted by eschatfische at 8:51 AM on May 16, 2008

If they're going to the trouble of providing housing for you, I'm sure they would reimburse you for the cost of a cab.
posted by PercussivePaul at 9:32 AM on May 16, 2008

Thanks for the help everyone! They actually changed the housing on me so the address is different (closer to caltrain actually) and told me they're reimburse my travel as well. I'll take a shuttle if I can't get a ride.
posted by version control at 10:40 AM on May 16, 2008

If they're reimbursing your travel, take a cab, get a receipt, and expense it. Really.

The difference between a $20 shuttle and a $45 cab is essentially a rounding error when considered as part of your 12 week assignment.
posted by toxic at 12:23 PM on May 16, 2008