I was talking to a friend about how a post about getting around the bay would be so good for the new students and their parents to read. But he reminded me that living without a car in the Bay Area is a huge hassle.  Eventually, in 2 or three semesters, you may make friends with cars who may be kind enough to shuttle you around to shared destinations; until you do, here are some tips.

1) Your Cal ID gets you free rides on AC transit, including the lines that go to SF.  No whining that it takes too long. If I were a single person with no children and only the burden of college text books to weigh me down and I had free bus rides to SF, I would be singing and dancing for joy, with my textbooks in hand.

2) Get a bike, a really great bike that doesn’t look so hot.  You may purchase one from Karim’s on Shattuck and benefit from the countless bikes that were stolen on campus and brought over to Karim’s  for resale (disclaimer: this is purely speculation and is commonly conjectured by many on campus, including the police who told me to go look for my stolen bike there; so it’s hearsay but not slander).  You will be glad you got yourself a bike. Or you can regret you didn’t get yourself a bike when you were in college b/c you realize years later that you would have probably had an easier time fighting off the freshman 15 which never really goes away, and a way of getting around in between the “transportation system” so that you actually get around more.

3)  If you do plan on staying in SF late into the night, have 2 plans. One that involves a friend’s couch or car, and a second one involving a www.transit.511.org tripplanner print out in your back pocket for routes you predict might be helpful to know if you find yourself stranded in the middle of the night. (This obviously applies if you live in SF and happen to find yourself in Berkeley late at night.) There is little and periodic transportation between 12:30AM and 5:30 AM crossing the Bay.

4) Explore everywhere but not alone.  You don’t want to find yourself in a compromising situation while you are wandering around looking like a tourist for months.  I once ended up in Dade Couty, FL with a very nice camera walking through several miles of hostile territory, where even the old men sitting in front of the barber shops told me I don’t belong there and warned me to get out quick. If it wasn’t for the very nice OG in a wheelchair escorting me part of the way, I think I could have easily run into trouble.  So I suggest you wander with a friend and save solo traveling for known destinations.

5) Don’t buy a car.  Hahaha!  I know. That is so mean. But the truth is, you will be overwhelmed by car tickets. Unless you are living off campus and have a garage and are not planning on bringing it to campus, just forget the car.  Disregard this if money is no object.

I think that’s it for now. I will post more if I think of them. Oh, if you are a Cal alumni and have a transportation tip, feel free to comment.