Thirteen miles, five realistic ways to cover them, and a couple of hours of the week when the obvious one simply isn't running. Costs and times below, then how to pick.
| Option | Cost | Time | Wins when… |
|---|---|---|---|
| BART from downtown | $11.80 | ~30 min | You're travelling alone or as a pair with normal luggage, between about 5:30 am and midnight |
| Taxi | ~$56 | 20–45 min* | Three or more people, an early or late flight, or heavy bags — and it never surges |
| Uber / Lyft | $35–110 | 20–50 min* | Off-peak with no surge, or you're nowhere near a BART station |
| SamTrans 292 bus | $2.25 | Slow — local bus | Budget matters more than time, or BART is closed (it runs 24 hours) |
| Drive & park at SFO | $27/day | 20–45 min* | Short trips where a round-trip taxi would cost more than the garage |
* Road times are our estimates and depend entirely on the 101 and 280 — everything else on this page comes from the operator. Sources: BART fare calculator, SFMTA taxi fares, SamTrans fares, SFO parking.
The rule of thumb: one or two people, daytime, near Market Street → BART. Three or more people, or any flight before 5:30 am or after midnight → taxi. It's rarely more complicated than that.
Fares from other San Francisco stations: 16th St Mission $11.70, Balboa Park $11.10, Daly City $10.80. Every downtown station charges the same $11.80.
Blue and Green line trains stop at Daly City and turn around; only the Yellow (Antioch ↔ SFO/Millbrae) and Red (Richmond ↔ SFO/Millbrae) lines serve SFO, and Red Line service finishes in the evening. Some late-night trains run to Millbrae only, which is not the airport — read the destination before you board.
| SFO-bound trains from Powell St (weekday) | Time |
|---|---|
| First train (Red Line, SFO/Millbrae) | ~5:29 am |
| First Yellow Line train to SFO | ~5:34 am |
| Last three SFO-bound trains | ~12:04 / 12:24 / 12:44 am |
| Final train south (Millbrae only — not the airport) | ~1:13 am |
Times read from BART's published weekday schedule for Powell St in July 2026 and rounded to the minute shown. Weekends run shorter, and BART's timetable changes on August 10, 2026 — check bart.gov/schedules for your date. How BART fares and hours work →
Late-evening delays through summer 2026. BART is replacing the train control system between Daly City and Millbrae, and delays of up to 30 minutes hit Sunday–Thursday nights after 9 pm in the SFO/Millbrae area, with occasional weekend single-tracking between Millbrae, SFO, and San Bruno. If you're catching a late flight, add a buffer and check BART advisories before you leave.
SFMTA's own fare-estimate table, updated June 3, 2026, puts San Francisco ↔ SFO at about $56 on the meter before tolls and tip. There is no flat airport rate in San Francisco: the meter runs, so traffic costs you money.
Going to the airport, you skip the surcharge. The $6.00 SFO fee applies only to trips that start at the airport — there's no drop-off fee. So the outbound trip is genuinely cheaper than the ride back in.
Taxis don't surge, ever. That's the whole case for them here. On a Friday evening, during a downpour, or after a Chase Center event, the metered fare doesn't move while rideshare prices do — and up to five people can share one fare. Source: SFMTA taxi fares.
Route 292 links San Francisco to the airport terminals directly, continuing down the Peninsula through Millbrae, Burlingame, and San Mateo. It's a local bus that stops everywhere, so it takes considerably longer than BART's 30 minutes — check the timetable rather than guessing.
The real reason to know it: SamTrans runs around the clock, including the hours when BART is shut. Late at night the ECR Owl and Route 397 cover the SFO–Daly City–San Francisco corridor, and routes EPX and 142 serve the Rental Car Center, reachable on the AirTrain Blue Line.
Regional airport coaches — Marin Airporter, Groome Transportation for Monterey and Sonoma, Wine Country Airporter for Napa, and Beau Wine Tours — serve SFO from the North Bay and beyond, arriving at the center-island transportation zones. Regional buses into San Francisco itself mostly use the Salesforce Transit Center, where you can connect to BART one block away.
Rates include taxes and fees, and SFO's cheapest prices are only available if you book online in advance. Long-Term Parking connects to the terminals on the Blue Line only — the Red Line doesn't go there. Garage 1 has a 6'10" height limit, Garage 2 is 8'2", and taller vehicles use the surface lot.
One nice touch: SFO's free Remote Bag Check sits at the Long-Term Garage AirTrain station on Level 5, open 4 am to 8 pm daily for domestic flights on several airlines, so you can drop bags before you ride in.
Park at a BART station instead. BART sells multi-day reserved parking through its app at stations across the region, weekend parking at BART stations is free, and Millbrae is a four-minute train ride from SFO. For a week away that usually beats $27 a day at the airport. Source: BART airport connections.
Work backwards from the airline's cutoff, then add the pieces: about 30 minutes on BART from downtown, 10–15 minutes for the AirTrain connection if you're flying from Terminals 1–3, and whatever buffer the security queue deserves. For a road trip, the honest planning number at peak is 45 minutes, not the 20 that Maps promises at 11 pm.
Sunday mornings are the trap. BART doesn't open until 8:00 am on Sundays (6:00 am Saturdays, 5:00 am weekdays). For an early Sunday flight your options are a taxi, a rideshare, or the 24-hour SamTrans bus. This catches people out every single weekend.
Terminal 3 is mid-rebuild. Its AirTrain station is closed until the new facility opens in 2027, so United passengers use the "Terminals 2 & 3" station and walk. Baggage carousels 1–3 are shut and some walking routes are diverted outdoors. Add ten minutes if you're flying United. Terminal-by-terminal details →
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Fares and times verified against bart.gov, sfmta.com, samtrans.com, and flysfo.com in July 2026. Something outdated? Report an error →