Sonoma County Airport Express

I was driving back from the airport and saw their bus weaving in and out of lanes on the highway in a very aggressive manner and 20 minutes later we were in the same place on the road. There was no reason for them to be driving that aggressively to basically get nowhere for all the effort and discomfort for their passengers. I called the company to let them know the number of the bus etc. and they never had anyone call to find out what had occurred. Seems they have no regard for the safety of their passengers. Very disappointing since we have had our family on these buses many times but will need to reevaluate in the future and maybe you should too.

This is unusual, and maybe I’m just unlucky, but it has happened to me twice in the past year that a bus has entirely failed to show up. Each time, I’ve had to wait at least another hour for the next one. When they do show up, which is, admittedly, most of the time, they are friendly and clean, and there’s wi-​if, which is nice. When it happened tonight, they didn’t charge us for the ride. On the other hand, a 2 hour bus ride turned into 3.5 hours, this after a very long day of flying, and I won’t get home til 2:30 am.

Great ride in front seat, huge window and smooth ride. took a lil nap even.

My go to service for transit to SFO for work or vacation. Could I spend the night in a hotel with free parking and shuttle near SFO, sure, but usually is much more costly. The buses are a tad older, and the price of round trip is a tad high, but hey it’s probably a cheaper option all around if you compare everything else. It is also nice to take the stress out of communicating to SFO or Oakland during peak hours, which can be a nightmare. Eating on board is allowed as well as complimentary WiFi and a restroom is provided, so it’s a win-​win in my book!

on timer, convenient & helpful. The only thing is the price, for RT price for a group bus its rather steep

Such a gem! I am so grateful for the Petaluma-​SFO shuttle the drivers are really nice and it’s a comfortable ride. I’m airline crew so its really convenient and my only hope is they someday the run every half hour rather than hour. Highly recommend!

I need to fly regularly. Sometimes, I need to leave out of Oakland. Since the Marin Aiprorter doesn’t offer a service to Oakland, I discovered the Sonoma County Airport Express for those who live in Southern
is a great way to go. It runs often enough that I can work it into my schedule. It is a lot less expensive than every other option other than having a friend or family member do the driving. Depending on how long you are away, the only other option might be to drive yourself and park at one of the long term lots.
The only down side is that they drop off at a central location that is not convenient if you need a wheel chair. I was recovering from surgery and was told that the driver would call ahead and order the chair to meet me. It didn’t. I wish the airport would stop thinking that they do a better job by not dropping the passengers off in front of their own terminals. Oh well, that’s another issue.
Departs San Rafael Third and Heatherton (the transit center in San Rafael)
the sonoma airport express leaves every 2 hours starting between 4:15am and 8:15pm. It takes about an hour. Buy the ticket online for a $ 2 discount.
Fares to or from Marin County One Way
Adult$ 26.00 Senior (Age 62+), Military (with I.D.),
& Students (13 – 21 with I.D.)$ 24.00 Children (12 and under) Free
You can buy a round trip online.
They have wifi. It is very convenient. If you need a wheel chair, tell the driver to call for one and they will wait at the drop off center.

As always, clean, smooth, ride with reliable friendly service and free onboard wi fi. For $ 66 round trip Santa Rosa to SFO why wouldn’t you choose a carefree ride!

Read your own schedule: The 5AM bus arrives at Oakland at 7:15AM. So, to be in Oakland at 7AM, you must catch the 3AM bus.
Service to Oakland is unacceptable. Buses early in the morning are two hours apart. Further, you must transfer buses. For example, to be in Oakland at 7 AM, you must catch a bus in Santa Rosa at 3 AM!
Apparently, they want to be out of this business. I stopped using the shuttle to Oakland years ago. It’s not for people who have serious business.

First, I’ve been a customer since 1987. I’ve seen their service consistently decline since the elimination of their competition. For some reason, I’ve remained a loyal customer — could be because they pretty much have a hostage customer base. I’ve taken my last ride with Airport Express. If anyone uses Airport Express from Petaluma you have another, much more reliable option in the Marin Airporter. Their northernmost stop is in Novato. Many friends of mine have started doing that and are most pleased. It takes about 15 minutes longer to get to Novato but they don’t seem to care. I used them once on a return trip from SFO and was pleased. Now, for my last two experiences.
On December 10^th I took the bus from Petaluma to SFO. While we were waiting the ticket agent came out and did a head count of passengers going to Oakland. She said they might need two use two buses — not a problem. They even warmed up another bus. The bus finally shows up and, rather than use the other bus to take Oakland passengers to San Rafael, they wasted even more time trying to figure out how to fit all the Oakland passengers on the bus so they wouldn’t have to run another bus. So, at the height of rush hour, the agent and driver are spending their time trying to figure out how to avoid using two busses. In the end, the bus left, late, with five passengers standing all the way to San Rafael. When we finally got to San Rafael the driver thanked us for our patience and said «traffic!». The woman sitting next to me laughed and said she got on at the airport in Santa Rosa and there were no traffic problems on the way to Petaluma. The trip to San Rafael was typical 8 a.m. rush hour traffic — same stuff they see every day. The bus was even later getting to SFO. In any case, it had nothing to do with traffic — the agent in Petaluma and the driver were more concerned about avoiding the use of one of their small busses than meeting the needs of their customers.
While the 10^th was bad — there were a lot of unhappy customers that day — the return from SFO on the night of the 13^th was worse. I arrived at the pick-​up area at 8:10 p.m. for the 8:30 bus. Within several minutes of the scheduled 8:30 departure, all of the scheduled airport transportation busses made their pickups (including the Marin Airporter) — all except Sonoma County Airport Express. Turns out there were about 8 or 9 of us waiting in front of terminal 1 and some of us had been calling to try and get information. I contacted the Santa Rosa office. The person in that office told me he didn’t have contact with the busses and I’d have to contact the office in Petaluma. Quality customer service would have led to the question «would you like their number.» I had to find it myself. When I found the number and dialed it I reached an answering service. Of course the service had no idea what was going on — I felt sorry for the poor woman at the service — she was flooded with calls. In any case, everyone calling was getting the answering service. I did finally get in touch with the Petaluma office — the agent told me he had no way of getting in touch with their busses and no idea what was going on. Another person in the small group I was waiting with called a few minutes later and was told there had been a breakdown and the bus was just starting its run. He pressed for more information — specifically, where’s the bus because we were at the first stop and saw nothing. Bottom line, the agent lied to us. There was no bus starting a run. At 9:15 a bus finally showed up and after we were all loaded the driver told us he was the 9:30 run and had been instructed to make a run to pick up 8:30 passengers — and when he was done picking us up we were going to wait some more so he could make his 9:30 run. I’m not sure what genius made that decision but he should have just waited and made sure he started his 9:30 run on time. All he did at that point was enrage us further.
But it begs the question — who contacted him? The agent in Petaluma told numerous callers that they had no contact with the drivers. Who told him to start the 8:30 run? Also, the first question they always ask after the bus heads north after leaving SFO is «Are there any Petaluma passengers who would like a phone call made?» They’ve done that for the almost 30 years I’ve used them. After the driver gets the information he or she relays it to the agent in Petaluma. No contact with our drivers?! Bottom line, they’ve lost my business for good. Again, if you’re travelling from Petaluma the Marin Airporter is a really good option.
Unreliable, unprofessional, unresponsive, untrustworthy — best description I can come up with for the Sonoma Country Airport Express.

Great service. A little pricey, but worth not having the hassle of commuter traffic and airport parking! Clean buses and wi-​fi if you can link in.

I love them! I love them! I’m a Flight Attendant who commutes and they help me get to work ALL the time!

We had a flight on October 22 out of Oakland. We were on the 6:45 am flight and they were on time. As we were driving, the driver got news of some issue on the Richmond Bridge and the company was concerned the big bus couldn’t get through. We got to Petaluma and were asked to get off the bus, the company had a substitute driver take us on a smaller bus to San Rafael, this was done very quickly. We got to San Rafael (usual drop off for passengers going to Oakland instead of San Francisco) the big bus was waiting for us. There were no other issues and all of us got to Oakland in a timely manner. I felt all of this was handled very professionally and got our vacation off to a pleasant start. This was not our first or will it be our last trip on Airport Express.

I have been taking Airport Express from Rohnert Park to Oakland Airport for years. All the drivers have been kind, helpful and I have always been on time. I am surprised by the bad reviews. I always check the schedule to ensure that I arrive at the airport on time, because schedules do change. I am pleased that the price is low for the service, considering that cost of gas, toll and parking if you take your own car. The buses are clean, and modern. If you want a luxury bus, which will increase the rates, you should take a car service to the airport if luxury is what you require. The bus has never been late, or cramped. My only complaint ever was a fellow passenger who felt he was entitled to more space due to being a man, it was a packed bus. Also tip the driver, when he delivers you safely to your destination.

We recently used SCAE to travel from Sonoma Airport to SFO and back, and were very happy with their service. They were on time going and returning, and the driver we had on the initial leg was very friendly and helpful.
The buses are clean and pretty comfortable, and they will also call you a cab if you need one to get home from the airport.

Early, late, cold, uncomfortable, slow, expensive.
Last time I took the shuttle, it was ~10−15 minutes late picking up at the airport. Not a big deal, BUT this time I tried to take the 2:30 bus, arrived at the pickup location at 2:32 and there was no bus to be seen anywhere. I don’t know what schedule they were running, but I know it takes more than 2 minutes to load passengers. So I waited. At 3pm I saw the bus parked up at departures for 25 minutes! Finally he got around to us and the bus is WAY TOO COLD. This is an issue I’ve had every time I’ve ridden these buses. My nose and fingers are nearly numb, and I have on a long-​sleeve shirt, sweater, and travel blanket. Unacceptable.
It took over an hour fifteen just to get out of SF, not because of traffic, but because we were driven around on the Great Highway and through Richmond. Why? There was no accident on the 1, no construction, no game to avoid. I was baffled at how long this ride took. Some of the seats are very rickety, too, which is exacerbated by the unnecessary stop/​go of the surface street route. We got out of SF just in time for rush hour traffic. How this 3:30 bus barely made it through Marin by 5:30 is the most frustrating kind of mystery.
One of my previous bus drivers even pulled the bus over to the shoulder of A FREEWAY ONRAMP to tell me to stop speaking (in a normal, conversational volume) to the passenger across from me. That was astounding. Especially since the buses are equipped with a com/​speaker system.
It’s a shame this is the only viable airport service from Santa Rosa. I’m reluctant to spend this kind of money on such unacceptable, unreliable, and uncomfortable service.

The drivers are very helpful with any questions you might have and with luggage. They are good drivers and very courteous. The ride is actually quite relaxing and the drivers take great care to give you a comfortable ride.
I always take the Airport Express buses from Oakland Airport and back again to the airport. They are very reliable and a great source of transportation to and from both the San Francisco and Oakland Airports. They are an excellent service which I greatly appreciate!

Anthony very quickly responded to my Unilocal review and additionally sent a direct message to me in case I wanted to reach out to him.
I just got off the phone with him and I really have to say that Anthony exemplifies everything a great business owner should be. He was very courteous and took full responsibility of the situation and was extremely pleasant to talk to!
I used SCAE again yesterday and it went very smoothly, in fact I will be using them again next week!

I tend to take the earliest flight possible and find myself on the 245 AM bus (which happens to be where I am now) and every time I am amazed at how chipper all the drivers are at this time. I appreciate this company and their service very much.

This is my GO-​TO transportation back to the Northbay from SFO. At almost $ 40 per fare, it is quite high, but SCAE provides excellent service and they are rarely late when it comes to picking up customers southbound towards the airport. You rarely have to share a row of seats with someone, unless it’s the holiday season. It’s very spacious and clean inside!
tips:
*If you ever take the 3−4am express to SFO from Santa Rosa, it’s for certain you will arrive an hour ahead of schedule always.
*the airport express IS always late 5 – 15 minutes in picking up customers at SFO. It’s not their fault, blame the bay area traffic. So if you don’t see them within 5 minutes of the scheduled pick up time, don’t freak out!
One thing I have a problem with is that their wifi is wildly inconsistent. I have taken SCAE almost 25 times, but the wifi only works well half the time