mlshanks

Actually, that is nearly impossible as a "same day" trip, as the VISTA service is "commuter hours only" and the "Conejo Connection" (Thousand Oaks) route does not interface well with the "Coastal Express" (Goleta) route such that you might ride both in the same day on a trip from tha far south. But you *could* get all the way to Santa Barbara, and ride Santa Barbara transit to Goleta...

But I'm not...

First of all, it only works on weekdays, and is very time sensitive...
...miss a connection, and you could be screwed big time.

Exit the OCTA #1 at the Long Beach Transit Mall, buy a MTA day pass for $3 Get on the the MTA Blue Line, which you'll take north to the 7th Street/Metro Center Station, (roughly an hour)
Changing trains to the Red Line North (To North Hollywood) and ride to the last station. (roughly 30 minutes)
Exit the Metro station and cross the street to the Metro Orange Line station.
Board the Orange line and ride West to the end at the Warner Center Transit Center. (roughly 45 minutes)
Find the stop for the #METRO BUS 161 (THOUSAND OAKS TRANSIT CTR) and board it southbound, riding to the end. (Last bus able to make the connections is the 02:09PM which will arrive at TOTC at 03:26PM) [27 miles]
At the Thousand Oaks Transit Center, pay your $2 and take the 3:54 "Conejo Connection" to the Ventura County Government Center in Oxnard arriving at 5:06.
There you will wait for the 5:30 "Coastal Express" which which you'll ride to the last stop at Figueroa & Chapala.
Walk 1/2 a block (S.E.) on Chapala to the Santa Barbara Transit Center and catch one of the several busses to UCSB or Goleta (24X, 12X, 11, etc.), paying the $1.25 bus fare.

Oh, and that Santa Barbara bus boosts the whole thing to $12.90

Vs. Solano Beach to Goleta Amtrack being $26-45 dollars, depending on the vaugeries of fare sales and holiday fares...


Again, $12.90... And As I figure it, you could make it only by leaving Long Beach no later than 11 a.m., which means making the 8:25 OCTA #1... And I don't know which SD Transit bus. (but it's bound to be rather early...)

Not on a same day routing. While there are commuter buses that leave UCSB heading North to Lompoc, Buelton, and Solvang (and concievably connect North of there), they would all have departed long before a Northbound traver would arrive.

mlshanks

Sorry, but a single day all-transit bus UCSD to UCSB does NOT seem possible... As one would have to take the 6:00 a.m. NCTD #395 to make the 8:35 am. OCTA #1...

And there is no same-day NCTD #101 bus that connects with the 6:00 a.m. NCTD #395....the first one of the day arrives at Oceanside at 6:55 a.m.

Ah well...

civicmon

I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but I also don't think $20 for a train which takes 1/3 the time is outrageous either.

Is the ride fun? maybe.. I mean, if you don't mind driving through Santa Ana and Anaheim all day long, i'm sure it's not too bad. I mean, it's not unlike 90% of this country...

I mean you can do what you want but because i'm not going to nickel and dime my life, my comfort and most importantly, my sanity, doesn't mean i'm not a budget traveller.

SanDiego1K

I just scanned this entire thread, and am not sure that anyone has brought out an important point. Let's set aside the issue of cost for a moment. The OP has posted a way to get to LAX. Others have spoken of the train to LA. The train goes to the Amtrak Station in downtown LA. You still have to get from there across Los Angeles to LAX. My understanding is that it takes a couple metro transfers to go across LA, with perhaps a van at the end to LAX. It is my perception that the combo of bus/train/metro will end up taking as much time as the scheme the OP has identified.

I have also heard that there is a bus that goes from LAX to Disneyland, where you can transfer to the train to come south to San Diego. I've never tracked down the details, and whether it would really work.

I am fascinated by mlshank's description of the UC library bus. Does it still exist? We have welcomed over 70 international students who have come to UCSD. I thought I knew a lot of frugal ways they use to get around. That's completely new to me.

Fortunately, we are not this budget constrained. We normally do as civicmon suggests, and get a one way car rental to or from LAX.

IceTrojan

I will say that is a good point. From SD, you'd take either Amtrak or Coaster+Metrolink (pick your poison) to Union Station > Red Line > Blue Line > Green Line > LAX Shuttle Bus to the terminal. Lots of transfers, (still thinking it will still be 1-2 hours less), and way higher cost (mainly the train).

I will also concede that for the budget-minded who don't mind an adventure, $5 is a great deal to travel that distance.

AND... if the UC Library bus did still exist, that WOULD be something I would consider. (UC has an extension at LAX, right? )

Reindeerflame

This would be a good exercise for contestants on CBS' reality show "The Amazing Race".

mellowg

I don't mean to be rude, but a couple of corrections:

As far as I know, the OCTA #1 doesn't go to the LB Transit Mall. You have to get off towards the end (I mentioned the street in the first post), walk 2 minutes towards the bridge and catch the A or D to the transit mall.

You don't really drive through Santa Ana and Anaheim. I agree, the suburbs suck, and when I go to SNA on the local bus, it's boring as hell. BUT, the OCTA #1 takes PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) all the way across Orange County. You stop in a lot of cool beach towns and have amazing views of the ocean. Sunset is perfect.

The NCTD #101 also rides along the coast as well as through the Torrey Pines State Park. The NCTD #394 is the least exciting, but still interesting since it passes through Camp Pendleton. You see all the army machinery, troops doing drills on the side of the road, strange military structures on the sides of hills and other military activity. It's personally a bit disturbing to me (not as much as the suburbs however), but nonetheless interesting.

Civicmon, you're from SoCal, right? You know how it is. The coast is great, gorgeous. Slightly further inland you get suburbs, and even further desert. The coast is the gem. This journey is mostly along the coast, except for the journey through the military base, which has its own appeal.

civicmon

Easiest way is to go from Union Station and take the LA Light rail south (I forget the line colors) towards Long Beach and it intersects with the E/W line that runs along the 105 fwy. The train station is "Avation" I think and there's like a 3-min free shuttle (free w/ the train ticket, me thinks).

My old roommate does this.... a lot. Easily 5 times a year when he was in SD (lives in South OC now). I'm lucky.. my brother lives about 5 exits north of LAX off the 405 so I just drive there and he drops me off when I need to go up there. Takes care of parking too.

IceTrojan

As I recall, it's always free.. it's the shuttle bus run by the airport authority (same ones that take you to Lots B & C)

mlshanks

Actually, from LA Union Station, www.MTA.net suggests:

Which is a lot faster than trying to do 3 changes of metro to a shuttlebus...

mlshanks

Sorry but they discontinued the Library bus service in around 1990, when UPS made the University of California a discount offer for shipping books between the various UC libraries. I'm sad, as having returned to UCSB for my doctorate in 1997, I could have used it occasionally. But back when I was an undergrad (Class of 1983), it was quite the thing for the select few of us who knew about it.

IceTrojan

Hmm... this might be a YMMV kinda deal... depends on if you catch the trains at the right times. According to the time tables, you'll get from Union Station to LAX/Aviation in ~53 minutes, including all the transfers and waiting. So it's a choice between getting there ~1/2 earlier vs. just taking one vehicle all the way (note: both the bus and rail will require taking the LAX Shuttle, so I didn't count that ride)

cblaisd

To all:

My sincere apologies and particularly to the moderators of this forum.

I had forgotten that indeed Randy had appointed moderators for this forum and I did not mean to overstep any authority I might have. The moderators here are quite capable and I didn't mean to give any impression otherwise.

Mea culpa.

cblaisd
Senior Moderator

cassierose

If I may sum up --
bus = $5.15
train = $20
adventure = priceless!
^

MKE-MR

And for everybody who would support bus over train, there may be others who would support walking over bus (though points about cost are invalid when lodging and food are factored in, as already pointed out).

I walked 2000 miles last year from Georgia to Maine. In a sense it was "budget travel" since I spent little to do it, but nobody would argue that saving money was the only purpose. This isn't really any different, is it?