Yesterday I had been asked this question.
A quite myth buster like question. Someone wants to know whether it is possible to travel from San Diego all the way to San Francisco using municipal or county transit systems but without involving Amtrak, Greyhound, or any private bus companies.
The asker of the question wants the route to travel as coast side as possible and not inland.
After doing some researching online My conclusion is that this myth is busted. However part of it is true.
According to my knowledge which I got online it is possible to travel from San Diego via Coaster rail and change to Metrolink at Oceanside and ride to Los Angeles Union Station. At Los Angeles Union station transfer to the Ventura line and ride toward the end of the line. However to travel to any point farther north seems impossible as transit systems in Ventura county doesn't not seem to connect with transit systems those farther north such as Santa Barbara county. I guess for now any point north of Ventura would require use of Amtrak, Greyhound, or other privatized transportation options.
For those traveling from San Francisco and southwards One can get to as far as Salinas or Monterey via urban transit but any point farther south would require Amtrak or private buses. Google maps transit would direct you to Amtrak or even the Bundu bus if you decide to travel farther north. Though I see Bundu bus has very bad reviews online so I be weary of taking this bus company.
For now the best way is to travel via Amtrak with the coastal route. There are several methods to do this one is to take to Pacific surf liner to Los Angeles Union Station and transfer to Coast Starlight. While this way is relatively easy but can take a long time as the Coast Starlight travels on a very crooked track and according to Amtrak.com the whole journey would take about 12 hours and often much longer as Amtrak is notorious for delays and encountering track problems. The other path is to ride Amtrak Pacific surf liner from San Diego to Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo depending on where the line ends and transfer to an Amtrak bus to travel the rest of the distance. Believe it or not this way usually use less time than riding the train all the way. For booking you can book the entire trip on Amtrak.com there is no need to by separate bus tickets to transfer to an Amtrak bus if you booked a train that does not reach your destination and require a transfer to a bus.
Maybe someday California's intercity transit systems would be good enough to allow people to travel between San Diego and San Francisco via transit. Though for now it seems like it is impossible to avoid privatized transit.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Going to Mexico get a AT&T Gophone SIM card
Searching for the best value cell phone plan for going south to Mexico?
Nowadays cell phones appear to be is necessary as money when heading out from home. Twenty years ago cell phones and their price were insanely huge and hard to comprehend. Things have evolved over the years to bring cell phone prices down to earth and make them much more user friendly. The prices for communication on a cell phone is also dropped to a bargain and include long distance calls in its price and most companies include minutes for use in the entire country for the same rate. Cell phones also have evolved to not only a phone without a landline but also has become personnel data computers and can go on the Internet.
While most cell phone companies have pretty much eliminated roaming charges for the country that the company is in. They still tack pretty high roaming charges for those who would venture just slightly out of the country as they have to contract with a whole different company. It is surprisingly the reality that things can still be so divided between countries despite how globalized the world population is nowadays where the world seems like ones backyard. This can really be quite a hassle for those who live either in border zones or happens to have to travel between countries. People living in border zones not only do they often need to cross the border often they also might often encounter that even when they don't officially cross the border itself their cell phones often "jump" between signals of carriers of either countries which would lead to expensive roaming charges i.e in the US Verizon Wireless and AT&T charges $0.99 a minute for Roaming in Mexico. This includes when being next to the border when Mexico's Telcel signals from towers south of the border overpowers signals transmitted by AT&T towers north of the border as radio signals don't stop at the border.
For those traveling to Mexico there are two choices to avoid the roaming charges. One is to by a local Sim card. The two major local companies include Telcel and Movistar. Telcel is known as the largest mobile network in Mexico kind of like Verizon Wireless in the US, it uses mostly GSM technology though it does use limited CDMA but I heard its been phased out. Movistar is the second largest network in Mexico which is behind Telcel in terms of size. However Movistar operates in Spain and many other Spanish speaking countries in Latin America so its a larger company. There are two things to think about before buying a local sim card, first it might not be cheaper, the second is that one would need a Mexican address to obtain a local SIM card. For this section I write rates in US dollars to avoid comfusion unless otherwise noted. I give some examples of rates for Mexican carriers which I find surprisingly high, for example Telcel rates can be quite steep at $0.32 a minute for outgoing calls to local region in Mexico(fyi Mexico has nine regions for cell phone billing) 7 pesos/$0.58USD for long distance (calls to another region) and 16 pesos/$1.33USD a minute for calls to the US which surprisingly costs even more than making a roam call with any US cell phone carrier in Mexico. The charge for incoming calls with Telcel range from no cost for calls from the same region as where the phone is registered in to $0.19USD for long distance incoming calls from all different regions. Movistar is also another major nationwide cell phone service provider in Mexico. Its rates are cheaper than Telcel at 3.3 pesos $0.27USD a minute for all calls in Mexico regardless of distance or where the phone is in Mexico. The rate applies even for calls to the US. With Movistar there are no roaming or long distance charges in Mexico unlike Telcel. Movistar also offers flat rate calling plans for prepaid sim cards Though buying Mexican carrier SIM cards can be a hassles for those short on time, unfamiliar with Mexico locations, or have difficulty with Spanish as it can be hard to find instructions in English. Also cell phone carriers might require a local address in order to register a sim card which can be a difficulty for travelers particularly boaters who may not have a local land address. The second choice however is to simply buy a prepaid AT&T Go phone Sim card in the US. Surprisingly AT&T has an amazing deal with Telcel Mexico which is the largest mobile network in Mexico and offers a $0.25USD a minute rate anywhere in Mexico. This rate is actually lower than the rate offered by the cheaper of the two Mexican carriers which is Movistar for per minute outgoing calls and much lower than Telcel's own rates. Alas this rate does not apply to those who have AT&T regular plan phones which the closest best deal is to subscribe to world traveler rates for about $5.99 a month which discounts roaming from $0.99 to $0.59. The downsides for this option are one would need an GSM unlocked phone that would support the 850Mhz and 1900Mhz bandwidths, one would also need to pay the same rate for incoming calls, also in order to take advantage of the data plan the phone has to be an AT&T phone, and most importantly locals in Mexico who call from a landline or Mexican based cell phone carrier would probably have to pay long distance to call you even if you are particularly next door.
In conclusion if one is going to stay for just a few weeks in Mexico or in a border zone its best to just get an AT&T gophone sim card given one has an unlocked GSM phone that supports 850Mhz and 1900Mhz bandwidths. One would get customer service in English and can easily refill the account balance. Also it can be used in the US without roaming charges which is good thing for those on the border where cell phone signals can interfere with each other without warning. Though if you are staying in Mexico for an extended period of time or have a lot of people who need to call you in Mexico get Movistar but still try if possible to have a phone with an AT&T Gophone sim. For those with Verizon Wireless phones a good value option is to go for the Nationwide plus Mexico which costs just $15 dollars more than their standard nationwide plans however remember CDMA coverage in Mexico is not as good as GSM as the major carriers in Mexico are making less development on CDMA to focus on GSM. Verizon also offers 100mb global data plan for International use which include Mexico for $25 The best thing is that Verizon global data plan also include cruise ships which is the first in the industry to do this.
Please note that this is for information only. Please do a reality check for the most updated details.
Nowadays cell phones appear to be is necessary as money when heading out from home. Twenty years ago cell phones and their price were insanely huge and hard to comprehend. Things have evolved over the years to bring cell phone prices down to earth and make them much more user friendly. The prices for communication on a cell phone is also dropped to a bargain and include long distance calls in its price and most companies include minutes for use in the entire country for the same rate. Cell phones also have evolved to not only a phone without a landline but also has become personnel data computers and can go on the Internet.
While most cell phone companies have pretty much eliminated roaming charges for the country that the company is in. They still tack pretty high roaming charges for those who would venture just slightly out of the country as they have to contract with a whole different company. It is surprisingly the reality that things can still be so divided between countries despite how globalized the world population is nowadays where the world seems like ones backyard. This can really be quite a hassle for those who live either in border zones or happens to have to travel between countries. People living in border zones not only do they often need to cross the border often they also might often encounter that even when they don't officially cross the border itself their cell phones often "jump" between signals of carriers of either countries which would lead to expensive roaming charges i.e in the US Verizon Wireless and AT&T charges $0.99 a minute for Roaming in Mexico. This includes when being next to the border when Mexico's Telcel signals from towers south of the border overpowers signals transmitted by AT&T towers north of the border as radio signals don't stop at the border.
For those traveling to Mexico there are two choices to avoid the roaming charges. One is to by a local Sim card. The two major local companies include Telcel and Movistar. Telcel is known as the largest mobile network in Mexico kind of like Verizon Wireless in the US, it uses mostly GSM technology though it does use limited CDMA but I heard its been phased out. Movistar is the second largest network in Mexico which is behind Telcel in terms of size. However Movistar operates in Spain and many other Spanish speaking countries in Latin America so its a larger company. There are two things to think about before buying a local sim card, first it might not be cheaper, the second is that one would need a Mexican address to obtain a local SIM card. For this section I write rates in US dollars to avoid comfusion unless otherwise noted. I give some examples of rates for Mexican carriers which I find surprisingly high, for example Telcel rates can be quite steep at $0.32 a minute for outgoing calls to local region in Mexico(fyi Mexico has nine regions for cell phone billing) 7 pesos/$0.58USD for long distance (calls to another region) and 16 pesos/$1.33USD a minute for calls to the US which surprisingly costs even more than making a roam call with any US cell phone carrier in Mexico. The charge for incoming calls with Telcel range from no cost for calls from the same region as where the phone is registered in to $0.19USD for long distance incoming calls from all different regions. Movistar is also another major nationwide cell phone service provider in Mexico. Its rates are cheaper than Telcel at 3.3 pesos $0.27USD a minute for all calls in Mexico regardless of distance or where the phone is in Mexico. The rate applies even for calls to the US. With Movistar there are no roaming or long distance charges in Mexico unlike Telcel. Movistar also offers flat rate calling plans for prepaid sim cards Though buying Mexican carrier SIM cards can be a hassles for those short on time, unfamiliar with Mexico locations, or have difficulty with Spanish as it can be hard to find instructions in English. Also cell phone carriers might require a local address in order to register a sim card which can be a difficulty for travelers particularly boaters who may not have a local land address. The second choice however is to simply buy a prepaid AT&T Go phone Sim card in the US. Surprisingly AT&T has an amazing deal with Telcel Mexico which is the largest mobile network in Mexico and offers a $0.25USD a minute rate anywhere in Mexico. This rate is actually lower than the rate offered by the cheaper of the two Mexican carriers which is Movistar for per minute outgoing calls and much lower than Telcel's own rates. Alas this rate does not apply to those who have AT&T regular plan phones which the closest best deal is to subscribe to world traveler rates for about $5.99 a month which discounts roaming from $0.99 to $0.59. The downsides for this option are one would need an GSM unlocked phone that would support the 850Mhz and 1900Mhz bandwidths, one would also need to pay the same rate for incoming calls, also in order to take advantage of the data plan the phone has to be an AT&T phone, and most importantly locals in Mexico who call from a landline or Mexican based cell phone carrier would probably have to pay long distance to call you even if you are particularly next door.
In conclusion if one is going to stay for just a few weeks in Mexico or in a border zone its best to just get an AT&T gophone sim card given one has an unlocked GSM phone that supports 850Mhz and 1900Mhz bandwidths. One would get customer service in English and can easily refill the account balance. Also it can be used in the US without roaming charges which is good thing for those on the border where cell phone signals can interfere with each other without warning. Though if you are staying in Mexico for an extended period of time or have a lot of people who need to call you in Mexico get Movistar but still try if possible to have a phone with an AT&T Gophone sim. For those with Verizon Wireless phones a good value option is to go for the Nationwide plus Mexico which costs just $15 dollars more than their standard nationwide plans however remember CDMA coverage in Mexico is not as good as GSM as the major carriers in Mexico are making less development on CDMA to focus on GSM. Verizon also offers 100mb global data plan for International use which include Mexico for $25 The best thing is that Verizon global data plan also include cruise ships which is the first in the industry to do this.
Please note that this is for information only. Please do a reality check for the most updated details.
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