What’s the fastest and cheapest way to get to Sacramento airport? We raced to find out
The launch of a new bus service has opened a third travel choice for flyers to get to Sacramento International Airport alongside Uber and other rideshares, as well as the family car.
But which is fastest? Cheapest? Most convenient? We challenged three journalists to a race.
Tony Bizjak, Ryan Lillis and Alex Yoon-Hendricks took off from The Sacramento Bee’s hive in midtown Sacramento at the same time Tuesday morning, each choosing a mode that fit their lifestyle. They ostensibly headed for a 12:10 p.m. flight to Seattle at Terminal A.
The winner ... well, depends. Do you value speed? Then, it’s Uber. If it’s cost, it’s the bus. If it’s convenience, it’s either Uber or the family car.
In any case, their key finding: The new bus is a legitimate contender. (By the way, SuperShuttle, a once popular airport rideshare option, shut down two months ago. )
Public transit bus
Mode: The new Sacramento Regional Transit downtown-to-airport express bus runs from 3:23 a.m. to midnight seven days a week from 13 downtown stops close to the state Capitol.
Racer: Bee transportation reporter Tony Bizjak is a baby boomer who actually remembers when 15-cent jitneys were a real thing.
Cost: $2.50 one person, one way. It’s the cheapest of the three choices. Secret tip: The service is a joint venture of Sacramento Regional Transit and Yolobus. Yolobus, which operates some of the buses, was only charging $2.25 on my trip. The buses marked Route 142 are RT buses; the buses marked 42 are Yolobuses. Not so secret tip: The bus service is free in the month of January as an introductory offer.
Trip time: 39 minutes. It was the slowest of the three. I had hoped I could at least beat Ryan, the car driver in our trio, figuring he might have to wait a long time for an airport parking lot shuttle bus. To my chagrin, I stepped off the bus to find my competitors already standing there, victorious little smiles on their faces.
Experience: Bee photographer Xavier Mascareñas and I were going to walk a mile to the closest bus stop from The Bee, I with my carry-on bag, but it was cold and damp, so I got a coworker to drive us to the stop at 14th and L streets. We got there 5 minutes early, to be safe. The 10:35 a.m. bus showed up on time. It took the L Street ramp onto Interstate 5, and dropped us off at Terminal A at 10:57 a.m. before heading to Terminal B.
Freeway traffic was light. Bus driver Clara Stratton said the commute hour trips that morning had been congested and obscured by fog, but she said she easily completed those trips within the 20-to-30-minute window RT and Yolobus schedule for the rides.
The only other rider on our bus was Jose Yanez, an Alamo airport rental car employee who normally drives his car and sometimes takes the hourly Yolobus that loops through Woodland, Davis, West Sacramento and downtown. But he often had to wait up to an hour for that bus after work, he said.
“This is better,” he said. “Very good.” It’s prompted him to consider buying a monthly pass. “I (can) relax instead of driving the car.”
Bottom line: If it’s easy for you to get to one of the downtown bus stops, this service is a cost-effective alternative for flyers and a decent commute option for airport workers. Our bus was clean and the seats comfortable. There are no racks for luggage, but if the cabin isn’t jammed, there’s room to squeeze a large piece of luggage and one carry-on at your feet or on the adjacent seat. There are no seatbelts, but the freeway ride felt smooth and safe.
Personal car
Mode: 2015 Mazda CX-9 with a children’s car seat in the back.
Racer: Assistant Managing Editor Ryan Lillis, a harried Gen-X family guy with an SUV and children who is looking for the lowest hassle factor. He’s also trying to save a bit of money.
Cost: $30 in the airport economy parking lot for a three-day trip, plus a dollar or two for gas.
Travel time: It took exactly 30 minutes to get from The Bee’s office to the ticket kiosk in Terminal A. Driving to the airport was a breeze; that part of the trip took about 15 minutes. But when I pulled into the economy lot at SMF, I was greeted with an ominous sign that read the wait time for a shuttle to my terminal could be 30 minutes.
Experience: Luckily, two shuttle buses pulled into the lot as I found a parking space. I was able to rush a bit and catch the first bus; that probably would not have been a case if I were dragging four suitcases and trying to coax two young kids into moving faster.
Once on the shuttle, the trip seemed to come to a halt. The slow-moving bus worked its way through the economy lot and didn’t get me to the terminal until about 10 minutes later. Still, the bus was clean, the driver was courteous and there was plenty of room for luggage. Walking into the terminal from the shuttle bus stop is extremely convenient, even on cold or rainy days.
Heading back to the economy lot can present its own challenges. Again, I was lucky to be greeted by a bus almost immediately after I left the terminal. But the ride back to my car took about 12 minutes – not ideal if you’re arriving late at night after a long trip with the kids.
Bottom line: If you want to have control over your trip, driving to the airport remains a solid option. This is especially true if you’re not in a rush and are looking to save money by parking in the cheaper economy lot. It’s also still your best option if you’re traveling with a big group, kids and lots of bags. But the financial benefits of driving fade if your trip is going to last longer than five or six days. After that, a roundtrip on Uber or Lyft may be cheaper than the parking fees, depending on how far you live from the airport.
The airport’s website offers information on parking lot costs and real-time parking availability on its website: https://sacramento.aero/smf/to-and-from/parking
Uber rideshare
Mode: A silver Honda Accord driven by Uber driver James Mathers
Racer: Bee county reporter Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks is a millennial living in midtown who doesn’t own a car. To get around town, she usually walks, or hops on a Jump bike.
Cost: $20.95 with a $4 tip. At the time of the race, a Lyft ride would’ve cost about $2 more from The Bee to the airport.
Travel time: 23 minutes. That includes the three minutes it took between calling my Uber and my driver rolling up to the curb at 21st and Q streets. Rideshare was the fastest of the three modes of travel.
Experience: At 10:19 a.m. when the race began, I pulled up both the Lyft and Uber apps to check which would be the cheaper ride. After spending a minute dealing with a minor credit card snafu, James arrived within three minutes. We made it to Terminal A at 10:41 a.m., and I was standing in front of the Delta counter a minute later.
Although it wasn’t entirely surprising to win the race, it was certainly satisfying when Ryan strode into the terminal and I got see his crestfallen face when he realized I beat him handily. It’s a good reminder that even though I lack a car, the plethora of transit options available makes it easier than ever to get where I need to be in a timely manner.
For the full flight experience, I brought a carry-on suitcase with me (packed with towels) and put it in the trunk. The ride was smooth and comfortable. James’ car was immaculate, and had several phone chargers available.
I didn’t have to worry about driving through the foggy morning, but traffic was light anyway, though James warned sometimes cars get backed up on certain interchanges.
Taking Uber has an added element. You often end up in conversation with a fellow Sacramentan you wouldn’t have met otherwise.
James, a retiree who lives near Placerville, told me that he started driving for Uber about 10 months ago to supplement his and his wife’s social security checks, but after car expenses he ends up only making about 8 bucks an hour. We talked about retirement plans and mutual funds, and I received some much-appreciated wisdom on market uncertainty.
“Alright, I get a thousand-dollar bonus for getting you here fast,” James said before shaking my hand and popping the trunk open for me.
Bottom line: If you are someone who struggles with time management, using a rideshare car is definitely the fastest way to get to the airport to avoid missing a flight. But it’s also the most expensive way of getting to the airport – about $50 round trip, and that’s not factoring in surge pricing during holidays or nights. And every Lyft and Uber driver and their car is different, so there’s more unpredictability about the experience.
This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 5:00 AM.