Forum | Parking | Airports | Car Rental | Shuttles | Amtrak | SCT bus | AEOE pickup | Driving | Camping | Maps |
AEOE is committed to encouraging carpooling and use of public transportation for people traveling to the conference.
Transportation Web Forum: A web forum has been established so that members may arrange carpooling and exchange information about public transportation. For people coming from southern California, with friends in northern California, you may wish to come up by air or train and be picked up by a friend for your final leg to Westminster Woods. There are clusters of outdoor schools in the Pescadero area south of San Francisco, the Santa Cruz/San Jose area, and the Sierra Nevada foothills, and a number of people will be traveling from those locations.
Parking: There will be a "diamond lane" on entry to the conference - all vehicles with two or more people will park for free, but all vehicles with less than two people will pay a $5 parking fee. These fees will go into the Joie Armstrong scholarship fund. Though no fee will be charged for large vehicles carrying few passengers, we do ask that members try to arrange carpooling so that every vehicle is as full as possible. Parking is limited at Westminster Woods.
Airports: The closest major airports to Westminster Woods are Oakland (OAK) and San Francisco (SFO), with Oakland usually having lower fares. Southwest Airlines usually has the lowest fares, particularly if you purchase well ahead of time and on the Internet. Southwest has online booking four months ahead of time, and sample fares will be posted here by Feburary 1.
Santa Rosa does have an airport (STS), served by United Express/Skywest at rather high fares, from San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Santa Rosa/Sonoma County airport is served by Sonoma County Transit Route 62/64. It is not known if car rental is available.
Car Rental: Competitive car rentals are available at both Oakland and San Francisco airports, from a number of companies.
Shuttles: Both airports are also served by shuttle services to Santa Rosa, the closest major town to Westminster Woods. Travel time from these two airports to Santa Rosa is about two hours.
Amtrak: The bay area is also served by Amtrak. Amtrak buses connect the train station in Martinez with Santa Rosa. Travel time between these two points is about 1.5 hours. The list below provides some information, but for more detail, obtain the Amtrak California Capitol Corridor Timetable or the San Joaquin Route Timetable, or call Amtrak at 1-800-USA-RAIL or check the website. Connections with the Coast Starlight are poorly timed but are possible if you have enough leeway. Amtrak Thruway buses can often be used by themselves, and are an alternative to Greyhound and regional bus lines.
Amtrak Thruway buses to Santa Rosa
Martinez 11:48 am to Santa Rosa 1:35 pm: from Capitol 724 & 727, and San Joaquin 711; Coast Starlight 11 (southbound)
Martinez 3:15 pm to Santa Rosa 4:30 pm: from Capitol 726 & 729, and San Joaquin 713
Martinez 6:55 pm to Santa Rosa 8:15 pm: from Capitol 730 & 733, and San Joaquin 715
Martinez 9:10 pm to Santa Rosa 10:55 pm: from Capitol 732 & 735, and San Joaquin 717
Amtrak Thruway buses from Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa 11:55 am to Martinez 1:35 pm: to Capitol 729 & 726; San Joaquin 716
Santa Rosa 4:15 pm to Martinez 6:10 pm: to Capitol 733 & 730; San Joaquin 718; Coast Starlight 14 (northbound)
and four times on Monday
SCT bus: The Sonoma County Transit (SCT) Route 20 bus service from Santa Rosa to Occidental (stops at Occidental and Monte Rio, no stop at Westminster Woods) is not practical unless you have a lot of time (about two hours travel time) and match the bus schedule.
AEOE pickup: If you are arriving on public transportation, AEOE will pick you up in Santa Rosa on Friday evening and return you to Santa Rosa on Sunday afternoon. There will be a signup for this service in the conference registration packet, and arrivals will be combined to achieve the fewest number of trips. The service will be free, but we will encourage donations to offset the cost. Travel time from Santa Rosa to Westminster Woods is about 45 minutes.
Driving: Northbound traffic on Friday afternoon from the bay area to Santa Rosa is oftentimes quite congested. We recommend either coming early or late and avoiding the rush hours of 4:00 to 7:00 on Highway 101. Sometimes using the backroads of western Sonoma County will get you to Westminster more quickly than US 101 and CA 116 or CA 12. Southbound traffic on Sunday is usually no problem.
Vehicle Camping: Camping in trucks or campers will be allowed, at the same cost as dorms and tent camping. The vehicle camping area is somewhat limited, and sleeping in vehicles will not be permitted in the main camp area. Bathroom facilities and water are across a bridge in the main camp area.
If you wish to know any particular information, please contact Dan Allison, Transportation Coordinator, at
.
AEOE > Conferences > Spring 2001 > Transportation