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.
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