I’m a native Ohioan. I lived in the Buckeye State for 57 years but recently moved from Greater Cleveland to the San Francisco Bay Area because my wife took a job here. It has been an interesting change in many ways. Like any place, California has its good and bad points, but one of the good points, especially in the Bay Area, is the quality of transportation system. 

Like the rest of the U.S., California is dominated by car-centric sprawl, but it is still far ahead of Ohio when it comes to transportation freedom. Back in Ohio, we needed a car for almost everything. Here in the Bay Area, we hardly drive at all—only about twice per week. 

Here’s what it’s like for us now. Our town is located on the Caltrain line between San Jose and San Francisco. We could drive to the station but almost never do. We can walk there in about 15 minutes. The station is also the hub for the local bus network. About a block from our condo, we can also catch a bus that goes to San Jose International Airport, stopping at the Caltrain station along the way. 

Fourty-four Caltrain trains serve our station each weekday and 32 each weekend

day. There are also 14 daily Amtrak Capitol Corridor trains (San Jose-Sacramento), and eight Altamont Commuter Express trains per weekday (San Jose-Stockton). 

In San Jose, which is just a short bus or train ride away from us, we can catch local Amtrak’s Coast Starlight train between LA and Seattle (and during daylight hours, unlike Amtrak in Ohio), a local light rail line, city buses, a few Amtrak Thruway buses serve this station too, and eventually, California High Speed Rail trains as well.

Every train station out here is a multimodal hub served by local buses and, in some cases, local light rail. Each Caltrain has a car dedicated to bicycle storage, and many stations offer bike lockers. Several nearby communities along the Caltrain line have pedestrian-friendly development within a short walk of their station, making it possible to access shops and restaurants without driving. One stop even has a Costco adjacent to it. I sometimes shop there. 

We were back in Ohio for a week-long visit recently. The contrast was stark.

Suddenly, we had to adjust to driving almost everywhere. We had to discuss who needed the car and when. We had to plan most of what we did around driving. We drove more miles in a week back in Ohio than we do in a month out here in the Bay Area, and I was less relaxed because of that. Driving is a stressful activity, whether we consciously realize it or not. Since we have been out here and driving so much less, that stress is a lot more noticeable now when I do drive.

It is absolutely liberating to only drive when we want to or need to rather than having to because there is no other choice—and we’ve gotten used to it quickly. Here’s a funny story:  One evening this past summer, I needed to get to the train station to go somewhere. I misjudged the time and realized, I wouldn’t be able to walk there or get the bus in time to catch my train, so my wife and I started discussing our options, including hailing a Lyft. We had completely forgotten that we own a car, and my wife could just drop me at the station. We had a good laugh about it, but it is a good example of how our perspective on transportation has changed since we moved here.