I won't be able to rent a car but how is public transportation in L.A. and San Diego? Within the city and back and forth? Any cheap ways other than like probably Amtrak to go between the cities? Is there a subway system within either city? Or is the public transportation in them city buses? I'd appreciate any information, thanks!
2007-07-06 01:24:10 · 12 answers · asked by April D 1 in Travel ➔ United States ➔ Los Angeles
Well, both LA and San Diego have extensive transportation systems that actually blend together now via the Metrolink commuter rail system and with bus connections between systems in southern Orange county bridging the two regions. Within the LA area the MTA is the primary carrier operating bus & subway (Metrorail lines) the service is not bad and, given the time, can get you just about anywhere along with the dozen or so additional municipal transit operators which also run throughout the LA metro area. To save money buy a day pass valid for unlimited MTA travel on a particular day. To get to San Diego from LA just take a Metrolink Orange County line train from Union Station in LA and ride to Oceanside (SD county) from there the Coaster rail takes you the rest of the way into downtown SD. Amtrak makes the trip bus costs way more. The trip can also be made by bus with several transfers going through Orange county etc (I'll spare you those details for now) Within San Diego both MTS buses and light rail exist which cover the entire city and much of the county. Again, a day pass exists saving time & money. I'll post the various system links below. Feel free to E-mail if you need any more info. Good Luck!
2007-07-06 05:59:28 · answer #1 · answered by Roaddogg 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your best (and safest bets) would either be by Greyhound (as someone else already mentioned) or by Amtrack. At the moment, LA is the only one with a subway system, but both have their own Metro bus systems.
By train is not too bad. From LA to San Diego, they make on average 10 stops, lasting no more than 10 minutes. I used to take the train from Orange County down to San Diego, and it took about an hour and a half, and it wasn't that expensive, plus it was relaxing most of the time.
You can catch cabs in both cities, and San Diego also has a trolley system if you prefer to do the tourist thing. Luckily, in downtown San Diego, everything is pretty much within walking distance from the train & bus depots.
2007-07-06 02:48:54 · answer #2 · answered by silentmisfitpro 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have many years experience transiting LA to SD and believe me you want to take Amtrak. First off, train travels along the coast, with fabulous ocean views, in southern orange county/northern san diego county and that's a view you can't get from the bus, because the highway is inland from there. Plus it's much more comfortable to go by train with more comfortable seating and amenities. If there is any savings going by bus it's not worth it, view-wise or time wise. Traffic jams on the highways are frequent and can occur at all hours. I remember leaving the USC campus in Los Angeles after 11 pm once and getting caught up in people leaving the Laker game, getting caught in stop and go, til past midnight.
Second, avoid the metrolink to coaster alternative suggested by others. Although it might be a few bucks cheaper, those lines are not intended as long commute transits; they make many more stops than Amtrak and so it's a much slower trip. It'll drive you up the wall; trust me on this one. Just take the Amtrak.
I use to have to use Metrolink when I lived in Los Angeles and their system seems to be prone to frequent breakdowns. On my line, several times we ran into mechanical failures and had to wait for the Amtrak train to pick us up. Conditions were always so much nicer on their trains than the Metrolink trains.
In San Diego, you have a trolley and bus system that works ok, but not great. Problems with both Metrolink and the Coaster are that they are designed around work commuters schedules and so are not active midday or past 6:30 or so at night. In San Diego, for public transit info (including all the various trolley/bus/Coaster schedules) just call 619 233-3004. Have a pen and paper handy to write down directions and know the intersections you are starting from and hoping to end up at...they will give you very specific information. Easier than using the website, in my opinion.
You'd probably like to read an article in the San Diego Union Tribune about the Amtrak train ride and related information from the July 8 newspaper which might help you decide. http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070708/news_mz1t08amtrak.html
2007-07-07 13:16:31 · answer #3 · answered by Pat D 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a cheap way to go is to catch a Metrolink train to Oceanside
(there's one at 8:00am arrives Oceanside around or so
then you have an hour layover or thereabouts then board
the Coaster for the rest of the trip to San Diego
(this trip is can be done going north but the connection
is very tight (you have about 5 to 10 minutes to change
trains and get your ticket (if you didn't buy a round trip
LA to Oceanside ticket)
you can also use public transit from
Los Angeles, you can take the Blue line to 5th street
station (get a MTA to Muni transfer then take
any Long Beach 91,92,93 or OCTA 60 to the VA
transfer again to the OCTA 1-this route is about 3 hours
long and will take to the Carls Jr in on Cristanas road
where you can transfer to a NCTD bus which will
take to Oceanside (this bus also operates through Camp Pendation) one you reached Oceanside you can
either take 2 more bus to San Diego or hop the Coaster
as above
2007-07-06 11:51:55 · answer #4 · answered by mobilemark 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
San Diegans may know this better as USIU, the old name for this school. Its a very pleasant place, quiet, secure and clean and set within eucalyptus tree groves. It is probably a good place to focus on your studies. It is unfortunately in a suburban location some distance from the most interesting parts of San Diego for after-hours interests, you should make friends quickly with somebody who has a car here, it is farther than bicycle distance from anything also. San Diego is a big city of 1million+ people, cleaner and safer than most in the US. Almost anything or type of environment is possible here. San Diego's surrounding areas have the most variety of environments of anywhere in the country. Pine forest, stark desert, beaches, rock mountains, Mexico, Indian reservations, the second richest neighborhood in the US are all a short drive away.
2016-04-01 00:12:16 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
LA to SD is about 120 miles and are separated by Orange County there is no public transportation that crosses those borders. Amtrak is the nicest but you could probably go Greyhound as well.
While in LA the public buses suck and the trains are not much better. In SD the trains are better and so are the buses.
2007-07-06 10:31:51 · answer #6 · answered by Seano 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
April, I really think your best bet is the Pacific Coastliner (Amtrak). It goes right from Union Station in L.A. to Union Station in San Diego. Have Fun..
2007-07-06 03:05:53 · answer #7 · answered by Paris Hilton 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We used the Greyhound bus to get from LA to San Diego, not expensive, maybe $30 return and it took about 2.5 hours to get there. Check the Greyhound website for schedules and stations in LA...
2007-07-06 02:43:13 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The train to San Diego is very nice.
2007-07-06 06:32:15 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
LA has subway system with bus transfers to just about anywhere you want to go.
If you don't want to take the train to SD then you can take a bus.
I don't think SD has a subway system.
2007-07-06 02:07:35 · answer #10 · answered by DT 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋