I read an interesting news article.
A summary: Starting immediately, Golden Gate Transit, the Marin County Public Transit entity, is inaugurating Bus Route 580, a new nine-month commuter bus service between Berkeley and San Rafael.
I took the 8:13 am bus to San Rafael from Berkeley this past Tuesday. Bus Route 580 is only active during commuter hours, and I decided to find a different way to get back to Berkeley.
My plan was to return to Berkeley by walking from San Rafael to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal and then take a ferry from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal to the Ferry Building in San Francisco. After which, it is a short walk to the Embarcadero BART station. I will then disembark at the North Berkeley BART Station and walk home.
Here are some downsides to this fabulous bus route: 1. Bus Route 580 has been funded for only nine months, after which there will be an evaluation to determine if it is feasible to continue the service. 2. Bus Route 580 is only active on weekdays during commute hours. 3. There is no weekend service.
UPDATE: The bus route has been canceled due to a lack of sufficient riders to make the route financially viable. Too bad.
Click on an image to view the full-size photograph.
US 101 is visible in the lower portion of this photograph. San Pedro Mountain is on the upper left, with China Camp State Park jutting out into San Francisco Bay. The view is looking northeast.
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| The approximate distance traveled was 6.5 miles. The approximate cumulative elevation gain was 629 feet. |
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| This graph shows the elevation changes encountered in this ramble. |
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| San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley. There is a new small sign to the left of the more prominent Alameda County Transit sign. The small sign signifies that this location is also a bus stop for Golden Gate Transit Bus Route 580. |
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| A Golden Gate Transit Bus traveling to San Rafael in Marin County. Mount Tamalpais is visible in the background. The current location is on Interstate Route 580, moving through Richmond. |
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| 4th Avenue in downtown San Rafael. |
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| On 4th Avenue, San Rafael. Arizmendi Bakery is located in this residential building. |
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| Church of Saint Rafael. This beautiful church is located at 1104 Fifth Avenue in downtown San Rafael. |
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| On 4th Avenue, San Rafael. |
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| Youth in Arts is located at 917 "C" Street, San Rafael. |
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| The Panama Hotel and Restaurant is located at 4 Bayview Street, San Rafael. |
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| This is the start of a climb up to Brett Harte Road. |
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| A view of central San Rafael. San Rafael Hill is in the background. |
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| Beautiful Mount Tamalpais. A segment of Corte Madera Creek is visible. The view is looking southwest. |
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| San Pedro Mountain is visible in this photo. US 101 can be seen as it passes through San Rafael. The view is looking northeast. |
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| San Quentin Prison, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and the Larkspur Ferry Terminal are visible in this photo. The Larkspur Ferry Terminal is my destination on this ramble. The Ferry Terminal can be seen in the bottom right of this photo with its parking lot full of cars. The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge is visible at the far left. San Quentin State Prison is visible at sea level adjacent to San Francisco Bay, just up from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal. The view is looking southeast. |
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| Mount Tamalpais. This is a view of the mountain as seen from Greenbrae. The view is looking west. |
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| This is a view of the US Route101 interchange above Corte Madera Creek. |
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| I reached the Larkspur Ferry Terminal, my destination for the day. The ferry "San Francisco" is receiving maintenance work. |
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| The MV Napa, a catamaran ferry operated by Golden Gate Ferry, is now arriving at the ferry terminal from San Francisco. Shorty after it discharges passengers, it will turn around and return to the San Francisco Ferry Building. San Quentin State Prison is visible in the background. The view is looking east. |
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| The MV Napa is slowly moving to the loading/discharging platform. -------------------------------- |
"A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera." Dorothea Lange
"Photography has not changed since its origin except in its technical aspects, which for me are not important." Henri Carter-Bresson
The first volume of the San Francisco Bay Area Photo Blog contains galleries of photographs posted on the Internet between 2002 and 2011. Click Here to view those photos.
Question or comment? I may be reached at neil@mishalov.com.
