Transportation from the airport to the conference hotel/venue
San Francisco is served mostly by the San Francisco International Airport (SFO), although some people might be arriving at the newly named San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport (OAK) in Oakland. There are 3 modes of transportation from the airports.
BART
BART stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit. It is a train transit system that serves the San Francisco Bay Area. There is a BART station in both airports.
- SFO: You can take both the yellow line (to Antioch or Pittsburg/Bay Point, faster), or the red line (to Richmond, slightly slower). The conference hotel is located right next to the Embarcadero Station (the last stop in San Francisco). The current cost is $10.55.
- OAK: The Oakland airport is connected to BART via a special train. It will get you to the Coliseum Station, from which you can take the blue line (to Daly City) or the green line (to Daly city) to Embarcadero Station (the first stop in San Francisco). The current cost is $12.
Here is a link to the BART map: https://www.bart.gov/system-map
The only way to pay for BART is with a Clipper card. You can get a physical card in the self-serve machines at the airport BART station, or you can add it to your Google or Apple Wallet in your smartphone. Here is a link for more information on how to get a Clipper card: https://www.clippercard.com/ClipperWeb/get.html
Clipper cards also work on buses, trams, and trains around the Bay Area.
For more information about service hours: https://www.bart.gov/schedules
Stay safe: BART is generally safe to ride during the day. However, it might get a bit sketchy at night, especially after 9pm. If you are not comfortable with that, we strongly recommend the next two modes of transportation.
App rides
Both SFO and OAK have special designated areas for app rides (Uber and Lyft). Follow the app directions on how to get to those areas. There should also be signs at the airport. Prices can vary wildly, depending on whether there is surge pricing or not. They can be cheaper or more expensive than the third mode of transportation.
Taxi
Follow the signs for taxis at the arrivals level. A taxi ride from SFO to the conference venue could cost around $50-60, but it could be more (due to traffic conditions, plus any additional surcharge). The norm in the US is that taxi drivers would expect a tip as well.
Transportation in San Francisco and around the Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area has many different local transportation systems. The transportation system in the city of San Francisco is called Muni. It consists of buses, metro/tramway lines (J, K, L, M, N, T) and an iconic old-school streetcar line (F). The hotel venue is next to several buses, the streetcar line and all the metro lines except for the T line.
You can use cash to pay for rides in Muni, but it is cheaper and more convenient to use a Clipper card (the same card that is used in BART). A single ride with a Clipper card costs $2.50.
San Francisco is also famous for its cable cars going up and down its strenuous hills. Their higher cost however ($8 for a single ride) means that they are mainly used today as a tourist attraction.
You can also use app rides (Uber, Lyft) to move around the city. There is a newer form of app ride in San Francisco, called Waymo (part of Google). It is the first company to be allowed to offer app rides in San Francisco in self-driving cars. You will surely see many of them while you are in the city.
If you want to explore nearby places outside of the city, you can use BART (especially if you are attending NLP4MusA, which will be held at the SiriusXM/Pandora offices in Oakland, near 19th St Oakland station). There are also buses (from the Salesforce Transit Center) that go to the East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley and other cities/towns) and Marin County (north of the iconic Golden Gate bridge, home to a beautiful little town named Sausalito). There is also another train system called Caltrain that goes from San Francisco (4th St & King St) to San Jose, going down the San Francisco peninsula and stopping at the main cities that form the Silicon Valley.