I have a D starting in the fall and would like to find out about what students do for transportation? Mainly, how they get back home ?
We live in LA (3 hrs away), if my D does not get access to a CPSLO parking permit (lottery) is it easy to find carpools going to LA or SF? How is the rail system? Is Amtrak a good option for going home? How about parking off campus? What is the bike culture? Can you have decent bikes or will they be stolen (as is the case on most campuses)?
I just did a quick search (as someone not from SLO or that goes to Cal Poly), and I found Amtrak does look like a pretty simple and economic solution.
The Pacific Surfliner starts in SLO and goes all the way down to San Diego, obviously stopping in LA. A bus can pick people up at Cal Poly, or you can go to the station itself. A value ticket costs $41 and takes 5 hours 25 minutes, though I’m also seeing routes that take 2 hours and 25 minutes (less stops and more direct, maybe?).
No clue about anything else, but Amtrak sounds pretty solid.
My niece is a current Freshman and takes the Amtrak most of the time home and she lives in the San Gabriel Valley. From campus, you can take the bus to the Amtrak station.
She does have a friend with a car and will sometimes tag along with him and I am sure that if your D checks around there may be students going her way home.
When my son’s did the campus tour, the tour guide stated biking can be difficult due to the hilly campus terrain and said the bike seats were popular targets for bike theft. If you have a sturdy U-Lock with chain, there should be no worries about a stolen bike as long it is locked up properly around the bike frame and not around the wheels.
My son is a second year student from OOS. He didn’t bring a car first year. Second year he brought his car and the tank was still on Full at Thanksgiving from the fill up when he arrived in August. Bike and bus are his daily go to. Don’t bring a good bike though. He’s had both his pedals and his seat stolen. A friend with a nice bike had the whole thing taken. Mind you the theft was off campus at a student apartment complex.
Lots of kids seeking (or offering) rides post on cal poly’s rideshare page -
https://www.facebook.com/groups/250502971675365/
My son and his roommate brought (nice) bikes and kept them in their room when living on campus. You can also rent a bike locker on campus.
the link is f a c e book (dot) com (the rest of the info is above), lol, it won’t let me post the whole thing.
Thanks to everyone for the info (anyone know how much Amtrak avg’s to LA–trying to figure out if car is worth it) & @ MLM what are bike lockers? My D likes to MB, but can’t fit one in the bricks…
An Amtrak ticket from SLO to Union Station LA for a unreserved Coach seat costs anywhere from $40 to $51 one way. If you are a AAA member, you can get a few dollars off the lowest rate and if you sign up for email communications, they will send you fare deals. There are a limited amount of trains leaving SLO, so that is the only downside. Not sure where you live, but my niece lives in the San Gabriel Valley and instead of ending at Union Station, she will take the train to Glendale instead. $41 one-way for unreserved coach.
@1andonly Cal Poly has a little over 200 bike lockers that you can rent to hold your bike. The lockers are located (outside) throughout campus and you use a key to lock the locker. The university police department handles rentals. You can call 805-756-6680 for more information. Here is a video from a few years ago of someone putting their bike into a locker https://cppdwatch.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2013/11/19/bike-lockers/
@1andonly I wouldn’t bother with the car. Bike, bus and walking are the easiest ways of getting around campus and downtown SLO, and Zip-car ride-share cars are available on campus for travelling to other towns, beach, weekend trips. I never had any problem hopping a ride with someone: every weekend/holiday rides were available to get home (most Cal Poly students live in SF Bay Area, LA area, etc.) I also took Amtrak which was fun, especially traveling with friends (we would play board games, cards during the trip)