Flying into SFO and heading to South Bay with 2 young kids - avoid rental car?
 

Hi all
Flying from ZRH-SFO and doing some pre planning given flying with two kids (will be 1yr & 3 yrs old). We are visiting family in South Bay for 3+ weeks and don't intend on driving much, plus need to take a side trip to PHX so trying to avoid renting a car but can't work out the logistics.

Basically, when we land, there is no suitable public transport that will take us to Santa Clara - are there Uber/Lyft services I could pre book that has car seats? or something similar for families? In all other cities we usually take public transport or for example in London the black cabs work great. Not sure if there is such an option in the Bay Area?

Thanks in advance

There are several limousine and car services at SFO which provide car seats upon request. A quick Google search came up with Americana Limousine, Berry Airport Shuttles, Kid Car and ABC Shuttle Service. I am sure that there are additional options.

Not sure how you are defining "suitable" and/or if you have already considered this and rejected it (e.g. the timing might not work out if you have a late arrival), but from SFO you can take either an expensive BART ride one stop, or a cheaper "route SFO" bus on Samtrans, either of which shuttles you to the nearby Caltrain station, from which Caltrain has various stops between SF and San Jose, including Santa Clara.

Given the ages of the kids, this is what I would recommend. Arrange a sedan or limo in advance, and with appropriate car seats. I wouldn't attempt to navigate an unfamiliar public transit system right after such a long flight, and after immigration and customs. Maybe use Caltrain or BART later in your trip, but after you're settled in and not sleep-deprived.

Thank you all for the responses

TWA884 Thanks for the tips - actually didn't think about that - was so focused on taxi / ride sharing services. Really helpful and provides some options thanks
Zorak Suitable meaning that even if we were to head all the way to the last BART station Mlilbrae, we would still need to get from there to a house in Santa Clara - plus will just be such a pain with two small kids after a long haul
dhuey Thanks for the input

Separately, even if we do go down the private sedan/limo service, once we get to Santa Clara we'll still need a car to move around. I don't think there is anyway around renting a car with car seats unfortunately

Fair enough, and sure, navigating this with small children + luggage coming off a long haul is a valid concern, but just to clarify:

"all the way to the last BART station Millbrae" -- I may be guilty of over-parsing "all the way" but note that SFO is the second-to-last BART station in that direction, so it's only one stop and 5 minutes to get to Millbrae.

"we would still need to get from [Millbrae] to a house in Santa Clara" -- that was why I mentioned Caltrain, which operates a commuter rail service between Millbrae (Caltrain and BART use adjacent platforms there) and Santa Clara :)

having said all that, agreed that in your circumstances it may not be the best option.

A search came up with this, see link below:

SJC Airport to SFO Airport Shuttle | Monterey Airbus

Looks like the bus takes you from SFO-SJC. Santa Clara is not far (shorter Uber ride) SJC.

I have not taken this bus therefore have no experience with it.

The OP is looking for a transportation service where she can pre-book car seats.

Monterey Airbus requires all children younger than 8 to be securely buckled in car seats, however, they "are unable to provide car seats or booster seats and require all passengers to provide them for their children."

I have taken this shuttle. It's fine for a solo traveler but I would not take it with children. Too difficult to work out the logistics.