northern california navigation help

[rax]

So I'll be in NorCal Oct 11-16, staying in the Mission, I won't have time to see everybody I'd like to but would love to see some folks and say hi. (Drop me a line!)

On Saturday and perhaps Sunday, I'll need to get down to the Santa Clara fairgrounds (344 Tully Rd, Santa Clara, CA 95111) for Pokemon Regionals, where I'll be competing. Gmaps tells me the only way to get there is to leave the previous night, because Caltrain doesn't run (early enough) on weekends, but a helpful Pokécquaintance suggested BART to Fremont, VTA 181, VTA 73 to get there. It's like a two and a half hour trip, but whatever, I can live with that. (I have rediscovered reading novels! It is boss!) If I have to do it two days in a row that will suck (winners advance to play on Sunday) but I can probably cajole a hotel floor out of someone on Saturday night if I am winning.

My question to y'all who actually live there is: Is there something I am missing, either something better that neither the person nor Google knows, or is there something Google knows that I don't that means the VTA route won't work? I can't find any reason for that, but when multiple sources disagree I get nervous and look for expertise.

Also, if you're in northern CA and think this sounds amusing, you're welcome to come along, I'll even provide you a deck to play and teach you the basics. :::;D

Thanks!

Comments

[movingfinger]

Check BART and bus start times and also whether the bus will stop at the stop you need on a weekend. Transit becomes vestigial outside of rush hours, especially in the suburbs.

Check http://tripplanner.transit.511.org/ for route suggestions. At one time there was an excellent early-morning weekend bus down the Peninsula from the city.

[movingfinger]

I just saw that 511.org has a transit planning app out now.

http://511.org/apps-transit.asp

[jtu]

Have you looked into Amtrak? I know that's how some people in the east bay get to work in Santa Clara.

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

Caltrain certainly does run on weekends, just that it starts much later in the morning so if you want to be in San Jose before 10am it's not so great: http://www.caltrain.com/schedules/weekendtimetable.html

I'm less familiar with schedules from the east bay with VTA but I'm guessing they suffer from a similar problem with the earliness. People apparently don't want to spend weekend mornings in silly valley.

[rax.livejournal.com]

Ah, yeah, it's not early enough, I have to be there by or before 10 AM. Thanks!

[davidglasser.livejournal.com]

Don't trust specific transit schedules on gmaps, go to the source.

How much earlier than 10 do you need to be there? The first Caltrain gets to San Jose at 9:51. 10 minute cab ride to Santa Clara. That's 10AM, and much less of a pain than BART/bus/bus.

(Note that while Caltrain weekday schedules are changing on Oct 1, I don't think weekend schedules are.)

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

No, they're not, I'm just theorizing that that's the reason gmaps is being dumb about October schedules in general. I've never seen it do that before. Then again, I rarely ask it for transit directions more than a week in advance so maybe it never knows that far out.

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

*fiddles with gmaps some* HEY WAIT!!! It's not telling me to leave the night before - it's telling me to leave on Sept 30th!! I think google transit hasn't been loaded with October data yet. Some transit agencies (Caltrain for sure) are changing their schedules effective Oct 1. Try again in a few days?

[anasai.livejournal.com]

That seems kind of wacky. Can't you just stay in San Jose? I don't know the VTA very well, but everything not on nextbus is sketchy, in that it may not run on time and you may be trapped wondering what the heck is going on. I mean, it'll probably work, but you are risking adventure/stress.

BTW, if you fail out Sunday, come to Treasure Island Music Festival! It's my fave. There's a giant ferris wheel you can watch music from with a beautiful view of SF over the water.