Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area

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

Airports

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).
*Oakland International Airport (OAK)
*:The second largest airport in the region and a hub for mostly low-cost domestic flights. Oakland International is the base airport for the rapidly growing Southwest Airlines.
*Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC)
*:A minor hub for American and Southwest Airlines. Construction is currently ongoing for a new concourse.
*Charles M. Schulz - Sonoma County Airport (STS)
*:A minor airport in Santa Rosa, it is served by one commercial airline, Horizon Air.

Public transportation

Mass transit

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's airport while a direct connection to Oakland's airport is in the planning stages.
*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 services Oakland and San Jose. The Capitol Corridor connects Bay Area cities to Sacramento, and features BART transfer stations at Richmond and the Oakland Coliseum.
*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

*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 operates its own light rail network, serving mostly San Jose, and northern Santa Clara.

Bus

Numerous and often overlapping bus transit agencies service the area. The following is a partial list:
*AC Transit
*AirBART
*County Connection
*Dumbarton Express
*Emery Go Round
*FLEX Shuttle (San Leandro's main bus service)
*Golden Gate Transit
*LINKS (another San Leandro bus service)
*Petaluma Transit
*SamTrans
*San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni)
*Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)
*Sonoma County Transit
*Tri-Delta Transit
*Union City Transit
*Vallejo Transit
*WestCAT
*WHEELS

Ferries

Public ferry services cross the bay to serve both commuters and leisure travelers. Operators include Golden Gate Transit, Blue and Gold Fleet, and Red and White.

Airport shuttle service

* [http://www.bayareatransit.net/east_bay_transit.htm Bay Area Shuttles directory]
* [http://www.bayareashuttles.net/oakland_east_bay_airport_shuttle.htm BayPorter Express Airport Shuttle] serves Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco Counties; airports served: San Francisco International and Oakland international airports

Freeways and highways

The Bay Area possesses an extensive freeway and highway system.

Trans-bay crossings

*Interstate 80 - The western terminus of I-80 is located in San Francisco as James Lick Skyway, just west of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge. The interstate continues to the east, 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 - 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.
*State Route 92 - 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.
*State Route 84 - SR 84 begins at State 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

*Interstate 280 and U.S. Route 101 - Eight-lane and, in some parts, 10-lane freeways connecting San Francisco to San Jose, passing through the Peninsula as Junipero Serra and Sinclair Freeways (I-280) and Bayshore Freeway (101). 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."
*California State Routes 1 and 35 - 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.
*California State Routes 17 (Santa Cruz Freeway) and 9 - 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.
*California Routes 237 (South Bay Freeway) and 85 (West Valley Freeway) - Six-lane freeways connecting the west Santa Clara Valley to the east Santa Clara Valley, bypassing Downtown San Jose.
*State Route 87 (Guadalupe Parkway) - North-south six-lane freeway entirely in San Jose, connecting San Jose International Airport, Downtown to the Almaden Valley.
*State 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.
*State Route 82 - 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. Through much of the San Mateo County, it is also known as El Camino Real. 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.

North Bay

*US 101 (Redwood Highway) and SR 1 - Continue north of San Francisco, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and connecting San Francisco to Marin and Sonoma counties, and eventually to Oregon.
*State 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.
*State 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.
*State Route 12 - A highway connecting Santa Rosa with suburbs to the west and Interstate 80 through Sonoma and Napa to the east.

East Bay

*Interstates 880 (Nimitz Freeway and Cypress Freeway) and 680 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.
*Interstate 980 (Grove Shafter Freeway) is entirely in Downtown Oakland and begins at Interstate 880 and travels north to become State Route 24 at Interstate 580.
*State Route 13, or the Warren Freeway, is entirely in the Oakland Hills and travels north from Interstate 580 to State Route 24, where the freeway portion ends. Beyond SR 24, SR 13 is Berkeley's Ashby Avenue.
*State Route 24 (Grove Shafter Freeway and Mt. Diablo Boulevard) begins at Interstate 580 in Oakland and travels east through the Caldecott Tunnel to Interstate 680 in Walnut Creek.
*State Route 238/Interstate 238 (Mission Boulevard) is an arterial from Fremont to Hayward, along the base of the hills, then becomes a freeway near Oakland.
*State Route 4 (John Muir Parkway) - 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.

Bridges

Due to the central location of the San Francisco Bay, several bridges cross the Bay or Bay tributaries.
*The Golden Gate Bridge, connecting San Francisco with Marin County
*The San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge
*The San Mateo-Hayward Bridge
*The Dumbarton Bridge, connecting Menlo Park in San Mateo County with Fremont in Alameda County
*The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge
*The Carquinez Bridge, connecting Vallejo in Solano County with Crockett in Contra Costa County
*The Benicia-Martinez Bridge, connecting Solano and Contra Costa Counties
*The Antioch Bridge, connecting Antioch in Contra Costa County with Sacramento County