Wonderful to Have Options

Unlike most Californians, we who live on the mid-Peninsula have mass-transit options that are cost- and time-effective. For a commute from Foster City to San Francisco we can choose among an express bus (it stops a block from my house and drops me off a block from the office), CalTrain and BART. The door-to-door time during rush hour is roughly the same, about 70 minutes for each system.

The bus is the clear winner from the standpoint of cost:

Despite the expense I prefer to buy the CalTrain monthly pass package, which includes parking at CalTrain stations and unlimited rides on San Francisco’s Municipal Railway---helpful if one wants to make short trips around San Francisco during lunchtime.

Sam Trans Evening Express

CalTrain bypasses the occasional traffic stoppages on Highway 101 and operates until midnight, while the evening bus’ last run is at 6:30. CalTrain is also the only transit alternative that permits eating and drinking (including alcohol which I only imbibe on the way home for medicinal reasons of course).

On Thursday the morning news said that a broken track in San Mateo resulted in a half-hour delay in both directions. So I drove north to Millbrae and snagged the next train to San Francisco (if none arrived I would have switched to BART a few feet away). It’s wonderful to have options. © 2008 Stephen Yuen