How to get around the Bay Area
How do you get around Stanford and the San Francisco Bay Area? We hope this webpage will help you! Uber and Lyft are usually prompt and convenient options especially for shorter trips. Public transportation is often a good choice to get into the city.
Campus Transportation
Marguerite bus system: These campus buses traverse campus and are free to the public.
Campus parking: If you plan to drive to campus, you will need to purchase daily visitor parking permits in advance using ParkMobile. We recommend that you use the smartphone app and download it ahead of time. The permit you purchase is tied to the license plate so you must drive that same car. Unfortunately, we cannot cover the cost of parking violations and parking passes can’t be purchased retroactively once a ticket is issued. Via Ortega Garage is the closest parking to the conference and it is located at the corner of Panama St and Via Ortega (not accessible from Campus Drive using Via Ortega. If you are coming from that direction, turn onto Panama St to get to the garage.) The first floor of Via Ortega is reserved for visitor parking. Do not park in spaces designated A or C. If there is no visitor parking in Via Ortega, Roble Field Garage nearby also has marked visitor parking.
Campus Maps of Conference Locations: These maps show the primary conference locations and recommended walking routes.
Interactive Campus map: Our main campus is fairly walkable and this resource will help you find your way around.
Bay Area Public Transportation
Uber / Lyft: Two popular app based, ride-share services that are very convenient in this area.
Caltrain: Caltrain provides commuter rail service along the San Francisco Peninsula, and can be a practical way to travel to San Francisco or San Jose. Be sure you purchase your tickets before boarding the train. Also, the last train usually leaves the city between 11pm - 12am, so night owls beware!
BART: BART is another public rail service that travels along the San Francisco Peninsula and to some neighborhoods within San Francisco. The caveat is that it only travels as far south as Millbrae. In other words, BART is not directly accessible at Stanford.
Muni: Muni is San Francisco's network of buses, light rail trains, historic streetcars, and iconic cable cars. It is a great option for getting around the city.
VTA: VTA provides bus, light rail, and paratransit services throughout Santa Clara county including Mountain View, Palo Alto, and San Jose. Their light rail service is a popular way to get to Levi Stadium for 49ers games.
Taxi: We found a few local taxi services, if that is your preferred way of getting around. (1) Yellow Taxi Cab California, 650-993-3500 (2) Flat Rate Airport Taxi Cab, 408-249-1234; (3) Royals Taxi Cab, 408-599-9121; (4) Yellow Smart Cab, 650-966-6000.
Airports
San Francisco International Airport: SFO is about 30 minutes from Stanford. This airport likely has more direct flights and it has a BART station (public transit that only goes as far south as Millbrae).
San Jose International Airport: SJC is also about 30 minutes from Stanford. It is a smaller airport so may be easier to travel through, but possibly with fewer flight options.
Oakland International Airport: OAK is further away (~45 minutes), but worth checking out.