<p>I've heard some pretty bad things about the campus shuttle system (overcrowding, often late, etc.) and I wanted a first hand opinion from the Cal students about how useful they are for getting to class and such.</p>
<p>For example, if I dorm in one of the units, how hard will it be to get back and forth to my Engineering classes across campus? (such as McLaughlin Hall)</p>
<p>Should I just bring a bike instead?</p>
<p>I’ve never used one. I don’t even know how many there are, how often they are, or what the route is. The only reason I know they exist is because there’s a stop right in front of my building. >_></p>
<p>Unless you’re pressed for time – that is, work or another class – take the extra 10 minutes and walk. Or, yes, bike (though there’re hills!).</p>
<p>I say walk. The units are not far enough that you need to take a bus. The shuttle runs pretty often or you can take the 52L, either way you’ll lose 10-15min waiting and riding when it takes 10 min to walk there.</p>
<p>I am a biker/cyclist here at Berkeley. For the most part, only bike here if you are good at maneuvering. Otherwise, you will have a hard time squeezing in-between an on-coming bus and a parked car, or through the little roads on-campus. Plus, you have to take into account that when you bike through campus, you have to learn how to dodge tons of students walking around.</p>
<p>My take on the bus? The bus is GREAT if you need to get from one side of the campus to the other, or if you need to go to the Safeway grocery store in Oakland, or if you need to go to the BART station. Don’t take the bus if you can just walk it though.</p>
<p>the campus shuttles are terrible. yes, v. overcrowded, bursting in the mornings, and thus often late. bus drivers make no effort to stay on schedule, if you take perimeter on southside and get off at evans in the morning, it’s 15+ minutes instead of the scheduled 10.</p>
<p>it’s free it’s great</p>
<p>@krysaio, you take the perimeter bus from southside to evans? Wow, I thought I was lazy riding my bike everywhere.</p>
<p>green-aw-lives: Yeah, but campus shuttles don’t really do that, the city buses do. The city buses have their perqs. :P</p>
<p>But hell, even going from Telegraph to Shattuck (and the BART station) only takes ~15 minutes.</p>
<p>If it takes me less than 30 minutes to walk, I walk. The buses here – and this does include the shuttles – are incredibly unreliable as a whole.</p>
<p>Let me help all you lower classmen using AC Transit: [NextBus:</a> GPS satellite tracking of transit, shuttles and trains](<a href=“http://www.nextbus.com%5DNextBus:”>http://www.nextbus.com)</p>
<p>If you have an internet capable phone, getting out of class, checking nextbus.com = life saver. It works off GPS and is within 1-2 mins. accurate.</p>
<p>So if I’m hoping to be taking a class at Berkeley over the summer (I’m an undergrad at WashU hoping to take the 8-week DifEq course), what would you all recommend for transportation? I could bring a car, but I don’t really know what parking is like, and it’s a three day drive for me. Can I get around campus (and the city, for that matter) with some sort of bus pass and a some comfy shoes? Do the relevant buses even run during the summer?</p>
<p>no car is needed. and car is a hassle here.</p>
<p>City buses always run. Don’t know about school shuttles but, as mentioned, they’re more annoying than they’re worth anyway.</p>
<p>You can buy a fare-based or time-base card for use on city buses. I forget the exact charge, but you can check on AC Transit’s site.</p>
<p>Walking is good and you will probably do a lot of it. If you can bring a bike with you, that would be great. A car is definitely a liability more than an asset.</p>
<p>ok, thanks! so if i wanted to get to the airport, or to the beach, the city buses would have routes to do that?</p>
<p>The buses can get you anywhere the buses run, which is a surprisingly large area. You can check Transit 511 (transit.511.org) for exact numbers and fares, but:</p>
<p>Airport: BART from Downtown Berkeley -> SFO or BART from Downtown Berkeley -> Oakland Coliseum -> AirBART -> OAK</p>
<p>There is a series of buses that will also get you from Berkeley to the airport, but if you’re paying fare it’s a LOT easier and possibly even cheaper just to use the BART.</p>
<p>Beach: Hahahah, there are no beaches. 
There’s a bus that runs from the campus area down to the Berkeley Marina. You can also get to the Presidio, etc. by BART’ing over to SF (or taking the F bus) and then figuring out which bus you need over there to get that far. Any other beaches would require a car.</p>
<p>lol, ok well it was worth a try on the beaches 
I’ll wait and see how things work out. I may not have enough spare time before/after the trip to take three days to drive even if I wanted too, so I’m sure the bus system will be fine. thanks!</p>