Throughout a current journey to South Lake Tahoe for the 2023 ZorkFest convention, I made a decision to check out two other ways to succeed in town. There isn’t a industrial airline service on to Lake Tahoe, with the closest airport being in Reno, Nevada — about an hour by automobile or, in my case, wheelchair accessible shuttle service by way of the South Tahoe Airporter bus firm. That service was environment friendly sufficient and sure my most popular mode, nonetheless to combine issues up I made a decision to return dwelling from San Francisco Worldwide Airport — roughly 200 miles and a 3.5 hour automobile journey from Lake Tahoe.

Personal wheelchair accessible transportation from Lake Tahoe to San Francisco would have been price prohibitive, so I sought out a extra reasonably priced public transportation resolution. I plugged the route into Google Maps and it delivered a possible possibility that may require an Amtrak ticket and a journey on the Bay Space’s metro system, often called BART. The price breakdown was as follows:

• Amtrak ticket from South Lake Tahoe to Richmond, CA — $45.90
• BART public transit fare from Richmond, CA to San Francisco Worldwide Airport — $11.35

Amtrak Thruway Bus Service

There isn’t a Amtrak rail service on to Lake Tahoe, nonetheless the corporate contracts a feeder bus route often called Amtrak Thruway — the bus service is designed to increase Amtrak’s community to vacationers residing in or visiting smaller locations that may in any other case be lower off from America’s railway. This was my first time utilizing Amtrak’s Thruway service, which serves many cities across the nation.

On the day of my journey, I made my solution to the Thruway bus cease which was conveniently positioned just a few blocks from my Lake Tahoe resort. I arrived about half-hour earlier than scheduled departure and it was good that I did — the motor coach operator mentioned that he wasn’t aware of the method for utilizing the wheelchair raise. He known as his “tech assist” group, however I in the end coached him on deploying the wheelchair raise correctly.

Area for wheelchairs is created by pushing a number of rows of normal seating ahead — it’s the identical course of used on the wheelchair accessible Greyhound buses that I’ve reviewed earlier than. The seats had already been ready earlier than I arrived and the driving force rapidly secured my wheelchair utilizing the 4 offered Q’Straint straps.

We quickly departed and, about 100 yards into our journey, the seats straight in entrance of me slid backwards — I reacted rapidly and saved my knees from being crushed. The seat hadn’t been locked into place, and it’s to that row of seats that the wheelchair securement mechanism attaches. I realized a lesson — at all times ask bus drivers to test and double test that the seats are secured… and supervise that testing! After the seats had been correctly secured (I heard a loud “click on” because the lock fell into place), we set off once more and the rest of the journey proved uneventful, simply accurately!

The journey from South Lake Tahoe to Sacramento Valley (the place I’d switch to an Amtrak prepare) was a picturesque one — many passengers, myself included, captured images of the attractive California landscapes. The bus journey lasted about 3 hours, with a number of stops en route. Passengers had been allowed to get off the bus and use the lavatory on the Placerville Station Switch Station, about 90 minutes into the journey. The cease was brief — about quarter-hour, so I didn’t ask to disembark.

Amtrak Capitol Hall Prepare from Sacramento Valley to Richmond, California

We arrived to the Sacramento Valley station about 20 minutes early, giving my a layover of roughly 40 minutes. This allowed me to make use of the lavatory and seize a soda from the machine. There was a small cafe within the station, however I had lunch earlier than beginning the journey.

The stroll from the station terminal to the rail platform throughout the road takes about 5 minutes, so you’ll want to permit sufficient time.

Seeing me on the platform, the Amtrak conductor led me to the ahead automobile, which had fewer passengers. She deployed a wheelchair raise from the prepare which dealt with the burden of me and my heavy energy wheelchair nicely. I had by no means ridden Amtrak in California earlier than (solely native commuter rail and subway trains), so I used to be shocked to discover a built-in wheelchair raise — the opposite prepare I’ve seen with one was on the wheelchair accessible SJ prepare from Copenhagen, Denmark to Stockholm, Sweden.

As soon as inside, I discovered a big house to park my wheelchair subsequent to the window. There was a desk in entrance of the wheelchair house, and a typical seat reverse. Had I been touring with a buddy, they may have sat straight throughout from me.

Very similar to the bus journey, my eyes had been glued to the window, which supply magnificent views of California which turned more and more mesmerizing as we approached the Bay Space.

The prepare journey lasted about 90 minutes, stopping in Davis, Fairfield-Vacaville, Suisin/Fairfield and Martinez earlier than arriving in Richmond. I obtained off in Richmond as a result of it was the primary connection to the BART system, nonetheless the Capitol Hall prepare continued on to locations together with Berkeley, Oakland, Santa Clara and San Jose (its terminus).

BART Metro Service from Richmond, CA to San Francisco Worldwide Airport

The Bay Space Speedy Transit system, or BART, gives wheelchair accessible transportation to San Francisco, Oakland and the encircling space. The system has 5 strains and is pretty straightforward to journey — probably the most accessible native rail networks in the US.

At Richmond, I transferred from the Amtrak prepare to BART’s pink line prepare headed within the course of Millbrae, with the San Francisco Airport station being the second to final cease. My BART journey was a protracted one — I rode the pink line for nearly its complete size, a visit of about 70 minutes. Dreading the lengthy flight again dwelling to Boston, I positively thought of hopping off the prepare because it handed by way of downtown San Francisco!

Last Ideas

Wheelchair customers needing to journey between Northern California and Lake Tahoe will discover this path to be each accessible and reasonably priced. I like experiencing new routes and modes of transportation and, regardless of the lengthy journey of just about 7 hours in whole, I actually loved it! I’d think about doing it once more if touring to the Bay Space particularly, but when I’m simply attempting to catch a flight, Reno is the sensible and apparent alternative because it’s solely an hour’s drive from Lake Tahoe.