Getting to the Bay Area

Travel Options to East Bay Cities
For East Bay cities including Fremont, Hayward, Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, Richmond and Martinez transfer from the Highway 17 Express ($7) to a Capitol Corridor train ($12) when you arrive at the San Jose Diridon station, or transfer to VTA Rapid 500 ($5) to get to Berryessa/North San Jose BART station. At the Berryessa/North San Jose station, BART station trains are available to all other BART stations (changing trains may be necessary to get to some destinations). Cost: $1.95 to $7.50, depending on destination. The BART fare calculator is available at http://www.bart.gov/tickets/calculator/index.aspx. BART system information is available at http://www.bart.gov.

Travel Options to Peninsula Cities
At the San Jose Diridon station take a Northbound Line/San Francisco Caltrain to get to any of these peninsula cities: Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Redwood City, San Carlos, Belmont, Hillsdale, San Mateo, Burlingame, Millbrae, San Bruno, South San Francisco and San Francisco. Cost: $3.75 to $13.75, depending on destination. The Caltrain fare chart is available at http://www.caltrain.com/Fares/farechart.html. The Caltrain system map is available at http://www.caltrain.com/stations/systemmap.html.

Highway 17 Express Bus Service
Highway 17 Express buses travel between the Santa Cruz METRO bus station (downtown Santa Cruz) and the San Jose Diridon Train Station, providing connecting service to Amtrak Capitol Corridor and Coast Starlight trains, CalTrain, and VTA buses and light rail.

Please note: UCSC student ID cards and other UCSC bus passes are not accepted on Highway 17 Express buses or by any transit agencies other than Santa Cruz Metro (SCMTD). 

   To speed up the boarding process for Highway 17 Express buses
   1-Ride passes can now be purchased from the ticket vending machine,
   or from the Customer Service Booth located in the lobby of
   the Santa Cruz Metro Center. Purchasing a pass from these sources
   instead of paying the driver will help with on-time departures.

Greyhound Bus Service
Greyhound buses depart from and arrive at the Santa Cruz METRO Center, located at 920 Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz. Greyhound shares this facility with Highway 17 Express buses and Santa Cruz METRO Transit buses. Greyhound offers six daily schedules from this location. For fare and schedule information and to buy tickets call 1 (800) 231-2222 or visit the website at www.greyhound.com.

Amtrak
The Amtrak location nearest to UCSC is the San Jose Diridon Station, which is served by Santa Cruz Metro's Highway 17 Express bus. Amtrak offers a 15% discount to students age 17-25 with a valid student ID card. For information about the program and reservations, please visit www.amtrak.com/student.