A Field Trip Day to San Francisco with Public Transportations

On Tuesday, April 19, 2022, I had a field trip to San Francisco with public transportations. Why? Continue reading this blog.

I started with my Senior Clipper VTA card with $10.00 in it.  

I had to start the day early to make sure that I would not be late for the passport application appointment in San Francisco.

San Francisco Passport Agency

450 Golden Gate Ave.

3rd Floor

Suite #3-2501

San Francisco, CA 94102

6:30am 

It took 15 minutes from Campbell home to Caltrain Lawrence station.  Jeanet took me there and this is the weakest link in the trip. Other segments are more or less reliable and there is no need for private cars.

7:09am - 8:07am 

Caltrain to Millbrae transfer to BART $1.85, face covering required.

8:20am - 8:48am

Red BART from Millbrae to SF Civic Center $2.30

9:15am - 9:40am

Checked in at the SF passport agency - 9:40 done with my application review. I was asked to pick up at 3:30pm in the afternoon.

Now, I had this time to kill in the city.  There is a nearby Asian Art museum, which would be great to visit.  Unfortunately I was told at the door that the museum is closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I had to come back next time.

I saw a double decker tour bus. I asked about its length, time 2 hours and 20 minutes if I don't get out of the bus and it would cost $59.

I decided to visit San Francisco City Hall instead.  It is a great place for the newlyweds to take photos there.  I saw 3 or 4 couples in that one hour.

11:09am - 11:45am 

At Market & 8th street bus stop, I took street car F to Pier 39 ($1.25) for lunch and some crowd and sunshine.

I had lunch at the original Boudin soup and sandwich restaurant for $15.98.

12:38pm - 1:13pm 

I took the street car F back from Stockton & Beach to Market & 8th ($0.00 may be I am still in that original fare's time window)

I hung out at the second floor cafeteria in that federal building until 3:15pm. It was a pleasant place to stay.

3:15pm - 3:35pm

There are five "will call" windows at the agency, and I guess that there are at least 100 pickups at the passport agency.

3:53pm - 4:59pm

I took Green BART from Civic Center to Milpitas for $2.95.

5:22pm - 5:37pm 

I transferred to the VTA light rail orange line (Mountain View bound) to Champion.

5:43pm - 6:32pm 

I transferred again to Green Line at Champion to Winchester for a total of $1.00. This is a long la la ride through San Jose downtown.

At Winchester light rail station, I was picked up by Jeanet to Campbell home.  This is about 3 miles and it is also a weak link in the whole trip.

I ended with my Senior Clipper VTA card with $0.65 left in it.  Maybe the regular fare will be twice that.

What a different and productive day!  Believe it or not, one day turnaround for your US passport.  It was possible for me.

[Brain Teaser Game]

These days we all need some puzzle of sorts for the readers.  Here is one for my readers who consider themselves familiar with Bay Area geography.  Please order the stations from Lawrence to Millbrae.  Leave the ones out you are not sure first, and then take a guess.  The answer can be found in the reference #2.  How did you do? Let me know.

Stations: Belmont, Burlingame, California Ave., Hayward Park, Hillsdale, Sunnyvale, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Redwood City, San Antonio, San Carlos, and San Mateo.

References:

1. VTA https://www.vta.org/
2. Caltrain system map https://www.caltrain.com/stations/systemmap.html
3. BART system map https://www.bart.gov/system-map 
4. VTA Light Rail System map https://www.vta.org/sites/default/files/2020-01/LR-Map-2020.pdf

My first Caltrain rides - Sunnyvale to San Francisco

I went to the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) 2010 at Masconi Center in San Francisco. I have attended the IDF in Taipei and Beijing in the past. But, this was my first time attending the Forum in San Francisco. The conference had a different feel to it, because the crowd and culture are different. I did not want to drive to the city and have to worry about parking and traffic congestion. I decided to take Caltrain. In part, I wanted to have the first-hand experience of riding public transportation from the South Bay to San Francisco. Here is a photo of the ticket booth for Caltrain.










From Sunnyvale to San Francisco, the one-way fare is $6, which is not bad compared to how much I would have had to spend for the gasoline if I had made the one-hour drive. The daily parking cost me $3 at the Sunnyvale station.

The next photo is the Sunnyvale station on that early September morning.









The train is quite sleek and nice. This is one of them on that early morning.









Inside this double decker, the construction is sturdy, functional, comfortable, and quite pleasant to look at. From the photo, you can see that the train is not too crowded at all. That's a big problem in the US. Mass transportation is not popular because it is not convenient enough. This is a chicken-and-egg problem. Our society and various levels of government should address this in a serious way. We could not be competitive at all in the future world that mandates an energy-efficient society.






There is a car for people to transport the bicycles. It is quite neat, isn't it?


















When I arrived in the city, I took a photo of the San Francisco station. The walk to the Mascone Center took me only 15 minutes with ease. What a pleasure to do this!