BART From SFO?

[Suefranss]

We will be flying in to SFO and staying in the city a couple of days before our cruise. Is it safe to travel on BART from SFO into downtown during the day with luggage, etc.?

[CruznMooses]

I am not sure how practical that would be.... My wife and I will be doing the exact same thing in 2 months and we are using Super shuttle to take us from SFO to our hotel in downtown.... it will only run us about $40 including the tip.

[Kamloops50]

Depending on where hotel is , it might be cheaper just to take of the van Shuttles to your hotel. We are going in Jan 2015 , the shuttle is $20/person.

[CruiserBruce]

Is it safe? Yes. Only 400K people ride BART every day.

 

As others have mentioned, I would look hard at where your hotel is relative to BART stations. A shuttle or taxi might be far more convenient.

[caa]

Sure. My in-laws live in the city, and we often take BART from the airport to Montgomery St and the 30 Stockton bus from there. Luggage is no problem at all on BART, and everybody at the airport station has some. Luggage is much more of a problem on crowded sidewalks, buses and streetcars, and anything bigger than an airplane carry-on is pretty hard to handle during mid-day. I usually take a duffel bag that has a shoulder strap rather than a roll aboard.

 

Go visit Google Maps and get directions for public transit from the airport to your hotel at the time of day you'll be landing. That'll give you info about the transit options and how far it is to walk.

[eandj]

We used BART from the airport to a hotel right by Union Sq. a couple years ago. Easy 2-3 block walk to hotel. But as stated, depends on the amount of luggage too. I only had wheeled carry on size. DH had a shoulder carry bag.

Cost of course was much less...I think we paid about $8.00 for the BART ride each. A shuttle would easily run double that per person. But if we had more or bigger bags, I'd had gone with a shuttle. Your choice.

Edited March 9, 2014 by eandj

[oilsand]

I have taken the bart to SFO to downtown (union Sq ) many times. No problems encountered and was safe easy and convenient. The only question is the distance from the bart station to your hotel. If it is close , go for it.

[Ronnie1a]

It is also the cheapest way to get downtown from the airport. BART trains are inside the international terminal on the upper level. Each train has one or more cars with an area for bicycles and you can sit close and put luggage there. If you ride during the rush hour the hastle will be the crowds in downtown SF getting on and off while you fight the suitcases. Mid day will normally be ok.

 

There are esculators to the street from the downtown stations. All the downtown stations are on Market St. Powell St. is the busiest area (where the cable cars turn around ) and you will be fighting crowds if you get off there.

 

The cruise ship pier is very close to the Fisherman's Wharf area. Not close to a BART station.