Travel: Getting Here and Getting Around

Berkeley is in the San Francisco Bay Area on the west coast of the US. Two major airports serve this part of the Bay Area: SFO (San Francisco) and OAK (Oakland). SJC (San Jose) is much further south and not conveniently connected to us via public transit.

BART, the Bay Area Rapid Transit train system, is a quick, convenient, inexpensive way to get to Berkeley from either OAK or SFO. Your destination on BART is the Downtown Berkeley station.

Airports to Downtown Berkeley on BART

BART system map — Click for link to BART website

The BART website has an online trip planner that creates your itinerary, as well as rider guides for SFO and OAK.

The OAK trip starts with an eight-minute, $6 ride on an elevated railway dedicated to connecting the airport and the nearest BART station, Coliseum.

The “ticket” for BART is a Clipper Card, which is accepted by most transit agencies in the area. It may be purchased for $3 from a machine at any BART station and then loaded at any time with the fare you think you will need, using a credit card or cash.

Your destination on BART is the Downtown Berkeley station on the Richmond line.

Downtown Berkeley BART to the Hotels

Google Map showing walking path from BART to Residence Inn — Click for interactive Google Map

The Residence Inn Berkeley is very close to the Downtown Berkeley BART station.

Google Map of route from Downtown Berkeley BART to The Graduate hotel — Click for interactive Google Map

The Graduate is an 0.9 mile (1400 m), slightly uphill walk or an inexpensive taxicab ride from Downtown Berkeley BART. Note the SORMA West venue just to the north of the route on Bancroft Way.

Hotels to the Symposium Venue

SORMA West 2025 will be held in the University of California-Berkeley’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Union Building, which is on the south side of the main campus on Bancroft Way at the corner of Telegraph Avenue. The address is 2495 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94720.

Google Map showing the BART station, the two conference hotels, and the conference venue — Click for interactive version

Bear Transit Shuttles

Map of Perimeter and Reverse Perimeter shuttles in vicinity of interest to SORMA — Perimeter and Reverse Perimeter shuttle routes. Click for full map and timetable.

UC Berkeley’s shuttles are open to the general public for $1 cash fare per ride. Of special interest are the Perimeter (clockwise) and Reverse Perimeter loops, which run every half hour.

Parking

Parking at the Residence Inn Berkeley is valet-only at $54/day. Self-parking at The Graduate is $34/day. The Lower Sproul Parking Garage, adjacent to the venue, is open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis at $3.50 per hour up to a $33 daily maximum; parking at the Recreational Sports Facility, a bit further down Bancroft Way, is similar. On-street parking in the campus perimeter neighborhoods is subject to alertly policed residential-permit time restrictions.