Solo female overnight travel

[Ishrita]

Hi all! I’m 21 yr old woman planning to travel between San Francisco and San Diego. The route involves an overnight Amtrak connecting bus ride and then a short train ride. I was wondering if anyone have taken an overnight connecting bus because since it’s overnight I’m a little concerned about safety!
Thank you

 

[A.H. Rudd]

If your schedule allows I would recommend catching the Coast Starlight from Emeryville. It's daily scheduled departure is 8:39am. Then you would change trains in Los Angeles and ride one of Amtrak's Surfliner trains the rest of the way to San Diego, with a scheduled arrival of 1:14am.

 

[George Harris]

Unless someone is meeting you, I would advise against a middle of the night arrival at your final destination.

Is what you are talking about a train down the valley with change to bus at Bakersfield, bus to LA, then train from there to San Diego? If so, there should be no problem as all is within their system. It has been a few years, but I have done this a few times. You can go to Google Maps, zoom in on the station area with the aerial photo version and see where the tracks and bus bays are in Bakersfield.

You say start in San Francisco. How are you getting out of SF? Bus across the bay to Emeryville then train, or what?

 

[Ishrita]

Unless someone is meeting you, I would advise against a middle of the night arrival at your final destination.

Is what you are talking about a train down the valley with change to bus at Bakersfield, bus to LA, then train from there to San Diego? If so, there should be no problem as all is within their system. It has been a few years, but I have done this a few times. You can go to Google Maps, zoom in on the station area with the aerial photo version and see where the tracks and bus bays are in Bakersfield.

You say start in San Francisco. How are you getting out of SF? Bus across the bay to Emeryville then train, or what?

thank you for your reply! The route im planning to take involves an overnight connecting bus from SF to Santa Barbara. It reached Santa Barbara early morning the next day and then it’s a 6 hour train ride to San Diego

 

[Bob Dylan]

thank you for your reply! The route im planning to take involves an overnight connecting bus from SF to Santa Barbara. It reached Santa Barbara early morning the next day and then it’s a 6 hour train ride to San Diego

I've done the SF to Santa Barbara Thruway Bus Trip a few times, it stops @ a Truck Stop/ Food Island for a break and is an easy,smooth ride down 101.

The Dome Car Ocean View used to occasionally be in the consist and was a nice way to ride down the Coast.Business Class is a good way to go on this Route to avoid the crowding from LA to San Diego that can occur, especially on Weekends,Holidays and during Racing Season.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

My issue with Thruway buses were bathrooms that lacked paper or soap and showed no signs of recent cleaning. I mentioned this to the drivers who responded with indifference. That being said my trips were booked through regular Amtrak so maybe Amtrak California is better than what I saw.

 

[me_little_me]

I've done the SF to Santa Barbara Thruway Bus Trip a few times, it stops @ a Truck Stop/ Food Island for a break and is an easy,smooth ride down 101.

The Dome Car Ocean View used to occasionally be in the consist and was a nice way to ride down the Coast.Business Class is a good way to go on this Route to avoid the crowding from LA to San Diego that can occur, especially on Weekends,Holidays and during Racing Season.

She asked about safety on the overnight bus ride, not smooth rides, food breaks, or crowds and dome cars on the trains.

 

[Seaboard92]

Honestly I haven't done them and if that is the only routing that fits your schedule makes it difficult. I do find it a disgrace that in this first world country young women and women in general have to worry about their safety like this. We should be decently enough educated by now to be respectful and not to create incidents. I traveled on the Trans Siberian with random women I do not know and neither them nor I felt uncomfortable. And that is in a country some Americans think of as uncivilized. So we have a lot of room to make improvements in our country.

 

[Triley]

She asked about safety on the overnight bus ride, not smooth rides, food breaks, or crowds and dome cars on the trains.

You don’t always stick to the topic at hand when you jump in a conversation to respond to me…

 

[George Harris]

thank you for your reply! The route im planning to take involves an overnight connecting bus from SF to Santa Barbara. It reached Santa Barbara early morning the next day and then it’s a 6 hour train ride to San Diego

Given this, (thru bus and early morning change in Santa Barbara) I see no need to be concerned about safety once you are on the bus. Sit near the front of the bus if you can would be best. What time and from where does this bus depart SF? I lived in SF for a few years, but it has been about 6 years since I left. As others have said it would be good if you could avoid a "potty break" on the bus, but that is a cleanliness issue, not a personal safety issue. If you are living in an urban area, I doubt there will be any unique safety issues with the bus ride. An overnight bus ride is just that, an overnight in a relatively small seat, a comfort issue, not a safety issue. Unless you have never ridden an intercity bus before, there should be no surprises, and the ones you would have should not be earthshaking.

 

[me_little_me]

You don’t always stick to the topic at hand when you jump in a conversation to respond to me…

You are correct. Mea culpa. Should not have said it publicly.

 

[Willbridge]

Added note: a friend of mine rode that overnight Coast Line bus, albeit with her two teen-aged sons, but the only problem was not having a station open in San Francisco upon arrival.

Having traveled on a variety of intercity bus trips I have noticed that the stereotypical problems happen on long-distance runs, especially those with two or more nights. On shorter routes in midweek there are good chances of having a pair of seats to yourself. There also tend to be fewer problems on bus lines where the fares are higher than on the competing services.

I should also note that on longer trips people tend to team up with like-minded passengers to help each other, for better or worse. That's not likely on the short overnight Coast Line bus segment.