04February, 1997
Airport Shuttles
SLAC is located equidistance from the San Francisco and the San Jose airports. The great majority of flights are in and out of San Francisco. Avoid the Oakland Airport, since it is very difficult and time consuming to travel to or from this airport and SLAC.
Airport shuttles are available at both airports. At San Francisco Airport, go to the upper level. The shuttles are vans that hold 6 - 9 passengers. The cost one-way to Menlo Park or Palo Alto is about $20. Some shuttles take credit cards. There is always a shuttle availabe--reservations for incoming flights are not needed. When leaving you will need to call a shuttle service to arrange a pickup from wherever you are (motel, SLAC).
Limousines (stretched automobiles) and taxis are also available with higher prices in the same order. Of course you can put 2 or 3 persons in a taxi for the same price. Taxis are about $50 one-way.
Tips are expected but not required. About 10% is typical.
Shuttles and limousines take 30-45 minutes to get you to Palo Alto from the San Francisco Airport. Taxis are faster, about 30 minutes, because you are their only passenger.
El Camino Real is the principal commercial street extending the length of the peninsula. See the local maps available on WWW from the SLAC Home Page at URL http://www.slac.stanford.edu/.
Airport Bus Service
Unfortunately, SLAC is on the border of 2 bus systems. In San Mateo County, which includes the San Francisco Airport, Menlo Park, and SLAC, the system is called SamTrans. In Santa Clara County, which includes Palo Alto, the system is called the Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority.
The SamTrans 7F bus can be boarded at the upper level of the San Francisco Airport in the direction of Palo Alto (southward). This is only practical if you don't have much luggage and/or it is not commute time. The fare is $1.00 exact change (dollar bills accepted). The bus runs along El Camino Real, passes through Menlo Park, and finally terminats at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto (some of the buses continue to Page Mill Road). The travel time to this point is about 1 hour. If you are going to the Creekside Inn in Palo Alto, you must transfer at the Shopping Center to the Santa Clara Vally TA bus no. 22 and continue south along El Camino Real. (If the 7F does continue to Page Mill Rd., you could choose to ride that far, then walk the final rather long block.) The easiest way to do the fare is just to pay the regular $1.10 when boarding the no. 22 bus. Going in the opposite direction, the same is true (pay $1.10 on the no. 22, then $1.00 on the no. 7F). See Accomodations for location of Motels.
Local Bus Service
There is a bus (Santa Clara Valley TA No. 22) that runs along El Camino Real every 10-15 minutes. Use this bus to get from Creekside to the Menlo Park CalTrain Station (end of the line), travel time about 15 minutes. The fare is $1.10 exact change, dollar bills accepted. But since you will be transfering to another bus, you had best buy a "day pass" for $2.20.
At the Menlo Park CalTrain Station, get the SamTrans Bus No. 50B in the Sharon Pk and Monte Rosa direction (westbound). It take you past the entrance to SLAC.
From the Mermaid you can walk to the CalTrain Station about 2 blocks north (toward San Francisco), and about a half block east on Santa Cruz Ave.
The fare is $1.00 exact change, dollar bills accepted. The day pass from the Santa Clara Valley TA system is also accepted.
The SamTrans 50B leaves the CalTrain Station at 7:04, 7:33, and 8:38, passing the entrance to SLAC at 07:19, 07:48, and 08:53 am respectively.
If you would like to look at the Bus Schedules and route maps on the Web, go to URL http://server.berkeley.edu/Transit/.
SLAC operates a shuttle bus in the early morning and early afternoon between the Palo Alto CalTrain Station and SLAC. It leave the CalTrain Station at 06:40 and 07:40 weekdays, and leaves SLAC to return at 15:20 and 16:45. The No. 22 bus described above (but not the 7F) stops at the Palo Alto CalTrain Station. (Between the Creekside Inn and the Palo Alto CalTrain Station, the bus fare is $1.10 exact change, dollar bills accepted.)
Special requests or problems notify Jym Clendenin at clen@slac.stanford.edu.
This page is maintained by Keith Jobe.