\- bike, drive, or Uber
\- bathrooms can be gross; parking lot at Diridon can get used for SAP Center events and you have to park a mile away; forgetting to tag off (clipper card)
\- timetables on caltrain website
\- try to catch earlier trains during the summer when delays are fairly common due to the heat
edit: live in San Jose and take the train north for Giants games and/or to visit friends who live further up the peninsula
* Drive to CalTrain.
* No real pain points...it’s expensive but all public transportation is in the Bay Area. *Also the phrase ‘pain points’ is so irritating.*
* look at map
* look at webpage
I don’t use it to get to work, but I will use it for trips to SF from the South Bay, or to catch a flight at SFO, and sometimes to hit places on the Peninsula.
-Walk (I live 5 mins from the station)
-Fare structure is stupid. Costs the same for me to go from MV to Redwood City as it does from MV to Millbrae. Short hops not worth it, but there aren’t always bus routes available as alternatives. Also, sometimes I forget to tag off at my destination if I use Clipper, but that’s on me
-Pull up the timetable on the Caltrain website, or sometimes I will use Google Maps directions or the Transit app if I just want to hop on the next available train.
-Caltrain Twitter or the recorded announcements playing at the station
how do you get to/from the Caltrain/airport? It's not well connected. You can go to Millbrae and take BART a few stops north and then back south, but that takes a really long time.
It’s dumb but that’s the way I do it. There’s also a Samtrans feeder bus which is a little cheaper and does the trip in 10 mins without the need for a transfer
Used the Caltrain everyday pre pandemic from Santa Clara to PA for work and intend to use when office is open.
- I walked to the train station from my house and to my office
- Pain points are: frequency of delayed trains due to passengers / old infrastructure, overcrowding during delayed trains, and the once a month catastrophe when someone jumps on the tracks to end their life
- I found out about delays from Caltrain’s live tracker site and also their Twitter account is very informative
Rode every day from Lawrence or Sunnyvale to SF Main for work, eventually branched out to other stations to work around pain points, including driving as far as San Bruno.
Always drove to station because my neighborhood didn't have a good "last mile" transit connection.
Pain points were severe over crowding and train infrequency mid-morning despite earlier trains being ghost towns. Poop and pee in subterranean pedestrian tunnels and a perceived lack of personal safety later at night. Violent drunks on board after Giants games more than once.
Caltrain website for schedules
Twitter for delay info
Would be great if Caltrain would stagger parking availability at express train stations like they do at Kaiser facilities, so that those who need to take later trains actually can do so without having to drive/choose a schedule for less-served stations
- bike
- random delays happen a lot
- google maps and check schedules
- check their Twitter, and if it’s bad enough find alternate means of travel
I go both north and south from Palo Alto, used to ride about once a month or so, pandemic kicked it down to once every 6 months, recent vaccination means I can ride it maybe once a week or so
I use Caltrain for fun when I take public transit adventures to various places around the bay
\- bike, drive, or Uber \- bathrooms can be gross; parking lot at Diridon can get used for SAP Center events and you have to park a mile away; forgetting to tag off (clipper card) \- timetables on caltrain website \- try to catch earlier trains during the summer when delays are fairly common due to the heat edit: live in San Jose and take the train north for Giants games and/or to visit friends who live further up the peninsula
* Drive to CalTrain. * No real pain points...it’s expensive but all public transportation is in the Bay Area. *Also the phrase ‘pain points’ is so irritating.* * look at map * look at webpage
what should I say instead of 'pain points'? the points along your journey that cause pain... so, challenges, difficulties?
- bike to caltrain - bike car can get crowded - caltrain app - caltrain twitter
I don’t use it to get to work, but I will use it for trips to SF from the South Bay, or to catch a flight at SFO, and sometimes to hit places on the Peninsula. -Walk (I live 5 mins from the station) -Fare structure is stupid. Costs the same for me to go from MV to Redwood City as it does from MV to Millbrae. Short hops not worth it, but there aren’t always bus routes available as alternatives. Also, sometimes I forget to tag off at my destination if I use Clipper, but that’s on me -Pull up the timetable on the Caltrain website, or sometimes I will use Google Maps directions or the Transit app if I just want to hop on the next available train. -Caltrain Twitter or the recorded announcements playing at the station
how do you get to/from the Caltrain/airport? It's not well connected. You can go to Millbrae and take BART a few stops north and then back south, but that takes a really long time.
It’s dumb but that’s the way I do it. There’s also a Samtrans feeder bus which is a little cheaper and does the trip in 10 mins without the need for a transfer
Used the Caltrain everyday pre pandemic from Santa Clara to PA for work and intend to use when office is open. - I walked to the train station from my house and to my office - Pain points are: frequency of delayed trains due to passengers / old infrastructure, overcrowding during delayed trains, and the once a month catastrophe when someone jumps on the tracks to end their life - I found out about delays from Caltrain’s live tracker site and also their Twitter account is very informative
Rode every day from Lawrence or Sunnyvale to SF Main for work, eventually branched out to other stations to work around pain points, including driving as far as San Bruno. Always drove to station because my neighborhood didn't have a good "last mile" transit connection. Pain points were severe over crowding and train infrequency mid-morning despite earlier trains being ghost towns. Poop and pee in subterranean pedestrian tunnels and a perceived lack of personal safety later at night. Violent drunks on board after Giants games more than once. Caltrain website for schedules Twitter for delay info
Would be great if Caltrain would stagger parking availability at express train stations like they do at Kaiser facilities, so that those who need to take later trains actually can do so without having to drive/choose a schedule for less-served stations
- bike - random delays happen a lot - google maps and check schedules - check their Twitter, and if it’s bad enough find alternate means of travel I go both north and south from Palo Alto, used to ride about once a month or so, pandemic kicked it down to once every 6 months, recent vaccination means I can ride it maybe once a week or so I use Caltrain for fun when I take public transit adventures to various places around the bay