By Public Transit
San Francisco has one of the most comprehensive public transportation systems in the United States, arguably the most comprehensive system west of Chicago. Transport services within San Francisco are provided by several bodies; they are separate organizations and although they have many interchange stations, tickets are not normally transferable across the systems except for monthly or longer period passes. The major transit systems are:
Muni â Metro subway, streetcars, buses, trolley buses and cable cars within San Francisco proper.
BART â regional subway services in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Caltrain â commuter rail services to San José.
San Francisco Municipal Railway or Muni, +1 415 701-2311, (http://www.sfmta.com/cms/...) runs a network of local transport that covers most areas of touristic interest well. An all day Muni passport good on all Muni services, including Cable Cars, costs $14. Other passports and passes are available for longer periods: a 3-day pass costs $21, while a 7 day pass costs $27. The passports come in the form of scratch cards; be sure to scratch off the appropriate dates before using.
The Clipper Card was fully introduced in 2010 and is a contact-less, multi-agency fare card similar to Octopus in Hong Kong and Charlie Card in Boston. Clipper cards are free at any MUNI ticket machine and are accepted on BART, CalTrain, San Francisco ferries, and many regional transit systems outside the City of San Francisco, in addition to all of MUNI's vehicles streetcar/subway, busses and cable cars. Clipper can either be set up with pay as you go with all transfers calculated automatically or a monthly pass but not daily and weekly passports. MUNI has also created a single use "Clipper Ticket" as the new subway turnstiles no longer accept cash. You can still pay with exact change when boarding a streetcar above ground or a bus.
MUNI operates on a proof of payment basis, sometimes called an "honor system with teeth." 90 minutes of travel on the Muni system Metro, F-line streetcar, buses costs $2 $0.75 for youth 5-17, disabled, and seniors 65+ including transfers and return trips if they fall within the 90 minute limit. If you're using a Clipper Card, be sure you "touch on" at any of the readers located near the streetcar or bus door to pay your fare and start the 90 minute clock you can board at any door as they all have readers. Likewise if you aren't using a Clipper Card and don't have a passport and pay cash, you must board at the front door and obtain a transfer ticket from the driver. The MUNI Saturation Team fare inspectors and sometimes the SFPD randomly and frequently patrol streetcars, subway stations and buses with handheld Clipper Card readers checking for proper fare - residents who ride MUNI regularly report being checked once or twice a week. The fine for being caught without proof of payment is $250, although tourists are sometimes issued a warning if its their first offense.
Cable Cars are not included in these transfers and cost $6 per ride one way, no transfers, or $14 per day. Before 7AM and after 9PM, seniors and disabled pay $3 for cable car rides. Muni Passports and FastPasses greatly reduce this cost, including cable cars in the regular daily, weekly or monthly fares.
A portable wallet-sized map of San Francisco and all its public transit MUNI, BART, Caltrain is also available at stores around the city or through their website online (http://www.sfmta.com/cms/...). Many of the city's bus stops also have posted copies of this map with the location of the stop marked, a godsend for lost pedestrians.
You can plan your Muni travel online (http://www.sfmta.com/cms/...). Muni arrival times are also available online for many lines at NextMuni (http://www.nextmuni.com). An unofficial site is RescueMuni.com (http://www.rescuemuni.org...), which often has information on routes that are not listed officially.
Muni consists of:
Muni Metro
Lines J, K, L, M, N, S and T is a modern light rail and subway system. It connects many southern and western neighborhoods to downtown, where you can transfer to one of BART's four downtown stations and the Caltrain terminal at 4th and King. Outside of the Market Street and Twin Peaks subways, Muni Metro operates as a surface light rail system, running in the center of the street with stops every couple of blocks note that many of these stops are not wheelchair accessible - check the map to see which ones are. Tickets can be purchased from ticket vending machines before boarding; if the stop does not have such a machine and you do not have a ticket, you must board through the front door and buy one from the driver or risk being fined by a fare inspector. MUNI Metro operates seven days a week from 4:30AM to 1:30AM. Between 1:30AM and 5AM, OWL Buses substitute for Metro service.The Historic Streetcar F Line uses historic streetcars, in original colors from several cities in the US and Milan, Italy. The line runs from Fisherman's Wharf south along the waterfront Embarcadero to the ferry building at the foot of Market Street, then up Market Street on the surface to the Castro district. Board through the front door and buy tickets from the operator if you do not already have a transfer or pass.
The world-famous Cable Cars run on three lines in the steep streets between Market Street and Fisherman's Wharf: the north-south Powell-Mason and Powell-Hyde lines and the east-west California Street line. These cars are a fun ride, especially if you get to stand on the running board, if a bit impractical for everyday use though residents of Nob and Russian Hills do, in fact, use them on a daily basis. The cable car is such an attraction that, especially on weekends, it takes longer to wait in line to ride up Powell Street than it does to walk the short but sloping distance. If you want to save yourself time standing in line at the turnaround, just walk up a couple of blocks to the next stop â the conductors save a few spaces for people boarding along the way; you won't get first choice of seats, but you'll save yourself a long time standing in line. Board through any door or just grab a pole on the running boards; tickets are checked and sold by a uniformed conductor. Do not buy tickets from anyone off the car except for clearly marked ticket booths â scam artists are common.
Both diesel and electric trolley buses serve the rest of city. Board through the front door and buy tickets from or show your pass or transfer to the driver. Service ranges from a consistent two minutes on many lines leaving Market, to a more sporadic 20 minutes for buses to Treasure Island and between outlying neighborhoods. Bus delays, leading to waits of 20 to 30 minutes, are not uncommon and are a source of much grousing among locals. MUNI operates 24 hours a day / seven days a week in San Francisco although late night owl service is limited in both lines and stops.
Other public transportation options include:
BART
the regional metro, has eight stations in San Francisco, making it a nice way to get between well-trafficked parts of the city, especially downtown and the Mission. BART gets you across the Bay to Berkeley and Oakland and to the airports of San Francisco and Oakland. BART Trains run over 107 miles 172 km of track, serving 46 stations. BART trains operate on third rail power and accelerate to speeds approaching 80 MPH 130 km/h. BART operates seven days a week from 4AM to 12:30AM. On weekdays BART trains depart downtown San Francisco stations at two to three minute intervals. Outer stations in far outlying suburbs have a maximum wait of fifteen to twenty minutes between trains. After 12:30AM, AC Transit and other east bay transit providers provide late-night bus service, serving principal BART stations until about 6AM. BART routes are named for the two terminus stations, not by line color as denoted on the system map. For more information on BART, see the 'Get in' section above.Caltrain
has three stops within San Francisco. Other than the 4th and King terminal in SoMa, these are the 22nd St. Station and the Bayshore Station off Tunnel Ave, neither of which are particularly attractive for visitors. Of interest to visitors who wish to travel outside of the city is the Palo Alto Station at University Avenue, across the street from the campus of Stanford University, and San Jose Diridon Station. Caltrain operates fast frequent commuter rail service, seven days a week. Service generally runs from 5AM to Midnight. For more information on Caltrain, see the 'Get in' section above.
Navigating
Cross streets. As San Francisco streets are numbered 100 per block from the beginning of the street, and even and odd numbers are always on opposite sides, it is best when asking directions to ask for a cross street or neighborhood name rather than relying on the address alone. For instance, addresses on Mission Street at 18th Street are in the 2200s, but one block away on Valencia at 18th, addresses are only in the 700s. This is because Mission starts at the Embarcadero, two miles further east than Valencia's start at Market Street. Local residents rely on cross streets.
Numbered streets and avenues. San Francisco has both numbered streets, in the Mission, the Castro, and SoMa, and numbered avenues in the largely residential Sunset and Richmond districts. Mixing numbered streets and avenues when asking directions may leave you miles from your destination. This can be confusing, as San Franciscans will not say "Street" or "Avenue" unless it is required to avoid ambiguity. Thus, they won't say "I live on Fifth Avenue," but will say "I live near Fifth and Geary." Street signs generally don't have "Street" or "Avenue" either; they just say "GEARY" or "MASONIC", although numbered streets and avenues do.
Multiple street grids. One of the most confusing aspects of driving in San Francisco is the presence of multiple street grids, particularly in the downtown area where two grids intersect at an angle along Market Street. Even more confusing are streets in the middle of the standard blocks, like New Montgomery Street.
No left turns. Several key San Francisco arterial streets, including 19th Avenue and Market Street, do not have space for dedicated left turn lanes and therefore bear NO LEFT TURN signs at most intersections. As a result, you will be frustrated when you drive for miles on these streets with no opportunity to turn left. The trick, of course, is to go around the block with multiple right turns after passing one's desired street, which requires you to stay in the right lane, not the left lane.
By taxi
Taxis in San Francisco are, for a large city, surprisingly inefficient and expensive, starting at $3.10 just for getting in the door. You can get an idea of how much particular taxi trips cost in San Francisco using the San Francisco Taxicab Commission's webpage (http://www.sfgov.org/site...).
Except for taxi stations at or near downtown business hotels, or cruising just a few major arteries, taxis can be hard to find and hail -- and calling for a cab can mean a 30-45 minute wait, if the cab shows up at all. Now, if you're anywhere near Union Square and are holding shopping bags, just by standing on the curb and hailing passing cabs will usually get you one quite quickly. It is significantly easier to catch a taxi on weekdays, not including Friday night.
If you are heading to the airport, your best bet is to call ahead with a specific pickup time to one of the many taxi companies. You will also want to schedule your cab ahead of time because if you are going beyond 15 miles, you will end up paying 50% extra.
By bike
If you have strong legs and can tolerate traffic with intermittent bike lanes, bicycles can be a convenient form of transportation in San Francisco. Although it's a city with a hefty population and a high density rate, San Francisco is fairly small in land area-- just 7x7 miles from north to south and east to west-- so it's fairly quick to get from one end to the other. But much of the terrain is hilly and hard to pedal up. Do not be misled by maps depicting the city's strict, regular street grid, as even the straightest of San Francisco's streets might include steep hills or even staircases instead of a roadway. A classic and relatively easy ride is from the tip of Golden Gate Park's panhandle in the Haight, along paths and JFK Drive through the park to Ocean Beach. JFK Drive is lightly trafficked, and closed to cars on Sundays.
Downtown, SoMa, and the Sunset, and Richmond districts are relatively flat. There are a number of bike paths and bike routes on city streets; the San Francisco Bike Coalition (http://www.sfbike.org/) keeps a lot of information about them. There are a number of bike rental companies in town, including Dylan's Bike Rental (http://dylanstours.com/,Bay) City Bike (http://www.baycitybike.com/), Bike and Roll (http://www.bikerental.com/) and Blazing Saddles Bike Rentals (http://www.blazingsaddles.com/) with locations in Fisherman's Wharf, and the Bike Hut (http://www.thebikehut.com/) and Pacific Bicycle (http://pacbikes.com/) in SoMa.
The Golden Gate Bridge has sectioned off pathways on each side for pedestrians and bicyclists. If you choose to ride a bicycle across the Golden Gate Bridge, be aware that walkers always stay on the east side of the bridge and bikes are often to ride on the west ocean side of the bridge. When the Bridge is closed to pedestrians during nighttime, you may continue to bicycle across by stopping to press the buzzer at the automatically closed gates to be buzzed in and out. (http://goldengatebridge.o...) It is a pet peeve of many locals to have to dodge bicycles while jogging or strolling.