Oakland International Airport
Oakland Transportation
Airport
Oakland International Airport (OAK) is one of the best-ranked American airports for on-time flights. Though it’s located across San Francisco Bay, OAK Airport rarely experiences fog delays, as occasionally happens at SFO Airport. In recent years, OAK has enhanced its two terminals with more restaurants, cafes, gift shops, business services, and amenities common to modern American airports. OAK Terminal Map
A $3-fare BART Oakland Airport People Mover transports you from OAK Airport 3 miles to Coliseum Station of the BART rapid transit system. From there you pay a separate fare to catch BART to Oakland, Berkeley, Hayward, Union City, Fremont, Richmond, Walnut Creek, Concord, Pleasanton, San Francisco, and SFO Airport.
Taxis are plentiful at OAK, Oakland Downtown Marriott Hotel, and Jack London Square. Super Shuttle goes from OAK to downtown Oakland, San Francisco, and many other parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. Oakland car rental shuttle stop is outside each terminal. The shuttle travels 10 minutes to the Oakland Car Rental Center hosting Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, and Thrifty services.
Amtrak Capitol Corridor powered by a low-emission locomotive; credit Compgeke/Wiki Commons
Train Station
It what seems redundant, Amtrak Oakland Station is located at 245 2nd Street in Jack London Square, while just a couple miles away, Amtrak Emeryville Station is located at 5885 Horton Street. At both stations, you can board these Amtrak train routes:
Capitol Corridor: Auburn-Sacramento-Emeryville-Oakland-San Jose
San Joaquin: Oakland-Emeryville-Stockton-Merced-Fresno-Bakersfield
These Amtrak Long-Distance routes only stop at Emeryville:
Coast Starlight: Los Angeles-Oakland-Sacramento-Portland-Seattle
California Zephyr: Chicago-Omaha-Denver-Sacramento-Emeryville
Capitol Corridor is one of the most popular Amtrak lines outside the Northeast Corridor. They run over 10 daily roundtrips and feature cafe car. The seating width and legroom are ample. WiFi service is onboard too. Coast Starlight and California Zephyr are long-distance trains that run once daily.
BART train leaving the Oakland 19th Street Station
Rapid Transit
Opened in 1972, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) has expanded to a 109-mile, 46-station Metro Heavy Rail system that runs underground, under San Francisco Bay, and on elevated track never disrupted by auto traffic. BART trains run in 4 to 10-cabin trains in 5-15 minute intervals each weekday, depending on commute hour.
Though spacious otherwise, four downtown San Francisco stations get very crowded during commute hours. Since the freeways and toll bridges are more congested during commute hours, BART is the preferred way to ride between San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Fremont, Richmond, Walnut Creek, and SFO Airport. Bicycles are permitted on BART during the mid-day, night hours, and weekends.
Since station floors are level with train floors and each station has elevators, BART is wheelchair accessible. BART System Map
All five BART lines pass through Oakland. Four of five BART lines pass through San Francisco. BART line names and endpoints are:
Richmond-Daly City/Millbrae
Warm Springs-Daly City
Pittsburgh/Bay Point-SFO
Dublin/Pleasonton-Daly City/Millbrae
Warm Springs-Richmond (does not go to San Francisco)
Fares are distance-based and seem appropriate for miles traveled. If you are familiar with transit ticket dispensers in NYC, Washington, or Chicago, you’ll easily grasp the same approach for BART ticket dispensers. BART hours of operation are:
Weekdays: 4:15a-Midnight
Saturdays: 6:00a-Midnight
Sundays: 8:00a-Midnight
When the 1989 Earthquake disabled San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and a double-deck Oakland freeway, the undamaged BART system was only shut down for an hour-long safety check, then continued running. Without BART, a massive number of San Francisco jobs would have ended until bridge repairs were completed many months later. To combat wear & tear, BART is repairing original stations and replacing old train cabins with new, quieter ones. The most recent 10-mile BART extension opened south to Warm Springs and Berryessa in North San Jose.
Oakland-Alameda Ferry arriving from San Francisco; (c) Soul Of America
Ferries
San Francisco-Oakland Ferry is by far, the best eye-candy way to travel from Oakland to San Francisco. The ferries are frequent and provide break-taking views of the San Francisco Bay. If you pay for round-trip, you’ll cruise past Alcatraz and around Angel Island before returning to Oakland Jack London Square. Routes are:
AT&T Park – Seasonal Service to SF Giants baseball games & select events
SF Ferry Building – daily
SF Pier 41 – daily
South San Francisco – weekdays only
Alameda Main Street – daily
PRICING: Fare prices are each way; $6.60 adults; age 5-18 $3.40; children under 5 enter FREE; frequent ferry riders can purchase a discounted Clipper Card.
ADDRESS: Ferry Landing is near 10 Clay Street, Oakland, CA
PARKING: Riders receive up to 12 hours of validated parking in the 7-story garage at 101 Washington Street in Jack London Square. Validate parking tickets at the ferry terminal. Garage hours are: Mon-Thu 5:30a-1a; Fri 5:30a-2a; Sat 8a-2a; Sun 8a-1a. There is no overnight parking.
Tours
Roots & Vines Wine Tours
DESCRIPTION: Full-day private bus tours to Napa, Sonoma, or Livermore Valleys in a relaxed, informative, and interactive setting; discover the best of California wineries and wine. The tour starts with breakfast included at an Oakland restaurant, then departs at 10 am and returns at 6 pm. Dress in layers if you are unsure about the day’s weather, but note that summer in Wine Country tends to be hot. These experienced tour providers say the best seasons for tours are spring and fall.
PRICING: $139 per person; 8 patron minimum, 22 patron maximum
ADDRESS: Oakland; contact tour organizer for a place of meeting
PHONE: 510-881-8865
WEBSITE: https://www.rootsandvines.com
Oakland side of the Bay Bridge; credit SBurbank
Freeways
Oakland Freeway Network is well developed in terms of traffic status signs, carpool lanes and metered entrance ramps. Nevertheless, traveling westbound on San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (locally called “Bay Bridge”) remains crowded during commuter hours.
Traffic is very slow between Oakland and Emeryville across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco during morning and evening commute hours. When traveling westbound on the Bay Bridge, you pay a toll. Traveling eastbound is FREE. Tolls helped build the architecturally notable and earthquake-resilient Bay Bridge’s east span.
To best enjoy East Span and West Span views, drive the Bay Bridge between 9:30a-2:30p during weekdays or anytime on weekends. Avoid traffic tickets, DO NOT USE Bay Bridge Fastrak lanes without a pre-paid toll transponder on your vehicle.
Since it’s a very large bay, there are several smaller bridges to Oakland-East Bay. When traveling westbound on the San Mateo Bridge, Dumbarton Bridge, and Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, you pay a toll. Traveling eastbound is Free. Traveling southbound on the Carquinez Bridge and the George Miller Bridge, you also pay a toll. Traveling northbound is Free.
