polydad

What's the best way for son to get back to Bay Area (San Jose) for the holidays? I've seen bus and train schedules but would like some first hand information.

hbparents

We live in Orange County and have both driven up and brought our son home ( @ 4 hours one-way), and sent him on the Amtrak train ( close to 7 hours one-way ). He liked the train but not the long time it took. We looked into flights out of SLO and Santa Maria and they were way too much. The other option is to carpool with other students going back to the area. There must be a spot where students post this stuff. If anyone knows where let us know. The Campus Police are supposed to have information on travel also. Along these same lines, I would like to know if there is another way to get from campus to the train station on weekend mornings other than by taxi?

gotpeter

We live in San Mateo and my son takes the Amtrak bus from Cal Poly (Station Code SLP) to San Jose (Station Code SJC) and then hops on a CALTrain to San Mateo. You can buy Amtrak tickets online @ Amtrak - Reservations - Fare Finder however there is a trick to it. You can only purchase a ticket online if it includes a segment on an actual train so what you do is buy a ticket to Fremont and don't use the train segment. The cost, $34.00, is the same.

My son enjoys the bus ride, it has WiFI and movies, and he alleges that he gets homework done.

polydad

Thanks for the trick Peter. Think we'll give it a try!

SLO_pop

Put a 'ride wanted' out on the ASI On-Line Classifieds, which can be accessed from the portal. My son got 2 offers within 2 days for a weekend ride back to the bay area. It seems that the current 'gas contribution' is about $15 to $20 each way, which is pretty reasonable.

gotpeter

That's definitely an option that my son has used a couple of times. However, both times the hassle of synching up arrival/departure times and locations was considerable. So far the drivers have been less than reliable. The Amtrak/CalTrain combination has been easier.