<p>My daughter will most likely be attending this fall as a freshman and I have questions about what is the best way to fly to LA from Berkeley. I know that Oakland airport is closest to school and accessible by Bart and a short shuttle ride, but I've heard that the Oakland Bart station is not very safe. Is the better choice to take the BART to SF international aiport for travel even though it's further away? Also, if she had to travel out of Oakland, is there a reliable shuttle service to Oakland directly from school? Any help would really be appreciated!</p>
<p>You can take BART directly to SFO, but you’re right, it will take longer and can involve a transfer. </p>
<p>Of course there are private, door-to-door van shuttle services, too.</p>
<p>I didn’t feel unsafe at the Oakland Coliseum BART station, but understand your concern. Maybe limit travel at night. It is a popular stop. </p>
<p>FYI: They are building an automated aerial tram link from BART to OAK airport that’ll take place of the buses. It’s supposed to open in late 2014.
[BART</a> - Oakland Airport Connector](<a href=“http://www.bart.gov/about/projects/oac/index.aspx]BART”>Airport Connections (SFO & OAK) | bart.gov)</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your reply! The aerial tram will definitely be helpful when it opens. BTW, my daughter will also be in chem engineering. This is off topic, but how is the job market for chem e’s in California if you don’t want to work in an industrial setting?</p>
<p>IMHO, Oakland Coliseum BART is not less safe or safer than any other BART station. I know because my office is only a few blocks from there.</p>
<p>Oakland Airport is much more convenient, especially when the link from OAK is open.</p>
<p>I also like OAK more than SFO because OAK is much smaller.</p>
<p>I guess I’ve just heard stories about homeless wandering the stations, smell or urine in the tunnels, etc. Coming from a sheltered suburban environment, I do worry about how comfortable my daughter would feel traveling alone on the BART even though I think it’s the most economical and efficient method of transportation in the area. I think we will most likely hold off until the link to OAK is done, and definitely limit travel to daytime hours.</p>
<p>Will you be going to Cal Day or CalSO? If so, why not try taking BART from the airport with your daughter and judge by experience.</p>
<p>My son is a freshman at Cal this year and is also a sheltered kid from the 'burbs who did not grow up in a city with good public transportation. When we went to CalSO we used BART with no trouble at all. He has since used it four times by himself to travel back and forth from the airport. At the Oakland Coliseum station there are lots of riders coming and going. There have always been at least two uniformed security guards and an an attendant in a ticket booth in the downstairs area where the ticket vending machines are located. When you come down the stairs from the platform you are only steps away from the exit. The bus to the airport pulls up to the curb directly in front of the door. All you have to do is cross the sidewalk to board. When you get to the Downtown Berkeley station, the bus stop is right outside the door there, too.</p>
<p>The trip Berkeley to SFO will be close to 90 minutes all in</p>
<p>Since your concern is safety probably a cab is the way to go</p>
<p>Although isn’t part of the benefit of going to an urban school learning how to function in the urban environment?</p>
<p>Think NYU . . .</p>
<p>The Oakland Coliseum Bart station definitely has a sketchy feeling to it with homeless walking around and weird smells. But, in my four years of traveling back and forth, I have never seen or heard of one incident at that Bart station. The worst that ever happened was a homeless guy asking me for money, in which I said no and he went and asked someone else.</p>
<p>Sometimes, you have to let your children go out into the real world. Although it is all they know, the world isn’t full of peaceful suburban neighborhoods where everyone is perfect and is used to a comfortable lifestyle. As long as daughter can think rationally, You have NOTHING to worry about. Sheltered children always have it worst off in college. They’ll get over it after a year or two.</p>
<p>
Tennistime, ChemE’s are in demand. There are a lot of alternative energy, biochemistry, pharmaceutical, and technology research firms in California. She can also pursue an MBA and get into management, consulting, etc. ChemE is a great degree for the future.</p>
<p>The buses to Oakland airport (either AirBART or AC Transit) stop right in front of the Coliseum BART station, so there is not the aspect of wandering around the city to find the bus stop.</p>
<p>Oakland airport is less prone to flight delays than San Francisco airport.</p>
<p>Crime inside the paid areas of BART and on the trains is low, probably because criminals know that they can be trapped more easily, especially with cell phones everywhere (someone will call the police who will be waiting at the next station, and someone else will probably taking pictures…). If really worried, ride in the front car where the operator is, and avoid times when the trains are full of drunks (New Year’s Eve and the like).</p>
<p>^ Or after Raider games! :D</p>
<p>I used to park at the Oakland station and nothing has ever happened. However, I understand the need to avoid the Colosseum.</p>