I have taken the UCSF free shuttle service the past few months to hop around to the various UCSF campuses for medical appointments: Mission Bay, Parnassus Heights, and Mt. Zion. San Francisco is a hard place to find parking, unless you are willing to pay big time, and it is also difficult to drive in, so this free shuttle service is a Godsend. Both employees and patients can use it. I have always found the shuttle drivers to be be super friendly and helpful, and obey all traffic laws, which is not common among bus drivers. They have been trained well by UCSF. They even called the UCSF Jitney (local UCSF shuttle for Mission Bay campus) to transport me from the shuttle stop there to the main medical building at 1825 4th Street. One even sat with me during her break at the shuttle stop cheerfully talking while I waited for the Jitney to arrive. The have all sort of routes, designated by color, such as Blue, Gold, Green, Grey, etc. They stop at all the UCSF locations around San Francisco, so you never have to drive there. They also start early in the morning, around 5:30 AM. It is popular among employees, students, and residents, as they make their way to work at the various campuses. Their mobile app is also very organized and fast as well. It has all the timetables, and well as way to track to shuttles in real time, so I know exactly when they are coming. They run every 20 minutes or so. If my review sounds glowing, it is because it is true. The only negative thing I have to say is the Grey route between Parnassus Heights and Mission Bay does tend to get crowded, so there is standing room only if you board late. But you can sit down on most of the other routes. I also wish the shuttle stop at Mission Bay was a little closer to the main medical building, but they are doing construction, so they had to move it a little farther away. read more

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Was riding my bike and shuttle bus passenger side mirror almost hit my head. Shuttle driver didn't follow the three foot rule when passing a bicycle rider. This happened near a busy intersection by Irving St. because there was a truck double parked on the other side of the road. There were cars parked on both sides of the street and the shuttle did not have room to pass me, didn't want to wait the length of the double parked truck even though I was ahead of him - dangerous, rude driver. I contacted UCSF's transportation department four times and they would not respond at all. read more

What do I love about being a UCSF student? Their free shuttle service that connects Parnassus campus (Inner Sunset) with many areas around the city, including Inner Richmond/NOPA, Mission/SOMA, Mission Bay, the Castro for FREE. This means it allows UCSF students, faculty, and employees to get to different destinations without having to pay $2 for MUNI. SCORE!! Most of the shuttles come every 15 minutes, and for those that come less often, about every half hour. What I love about riding the shuttle is that it's really quiet--no loud passengers on the bus. A lot of times, my friends and I take the shuttles to the Mission to eat out, which is really nice because we don't have to worry about parking. Everyone's really respectful on the bus too, so there aren't rude passengers or anything. Even though taking the shuttle takes 5-10 minutes longer than driving or taking the bus, it's worth it since you avoid the extra stops, noise, and congestion on the Muni. The shuttles are remarkably very on time, and even better, UCSF's website has a real-time bus tracker to see when the next shuttle is. Certainly, a lot of my tuition (and alumni) money is going into the shuttle service, but it's well worth it because it's really a great service for the UCSF community. Thank you UCSF Shuttle Service for saving me and my friends money and for being very convenient! :) read more

It isn't perfect and I have had some problems with it but overall it is amazing. It is almost always on time and the drivers are friendly. It doesn't smell bad like the bart or Muni. The people are very cordial. It is fast and efficient. Really the only bas thing to say is that sometimes the shuttle doesn't show up when it is supposed to... but it doesn't happen often. read more

UCSF Shuttle Service - Public Transportation Near Me - San Francisco, California

The UCSF shuttle is a life saver. I have a horrible sense of direction and being that I'm not from San Fransisco getting lost is just inevitable. The shuttles goes to all UCSF locations, including Mt. Zion, Parnassus, Laurel Heights, SF General Hospital, basically all over the city. And there is now an app for phones that will tell you where and when the shuttles are coming. Oh and get this, it's FREE for all UCSF students, staff and members, no 2 dollar Muni fee for me. If it wasn't for the UCSF shuttle, I would be a sad, poor, lost girl in the city. read more

In a city where finding parking feels like a scene from the Hunger Games, it's always a pleasant perk to work in an institution that has a shuttle service. UCSF, in all its top ten glory, has an excellent shuttle system. It's free for employees and all UCSF patrons, the drivers are generally friendly in nature, and most importantly -- always on time! This is important for those of us who rely on getting to work on right before the timecard hits 7am. The struggle is real. Thanks for always being so dependable Purple shuttle. :) read more

The shuttle is awesome!! I like so many things about it. Firstly, it's pretty dang convenient! I can get from Parnassus to my grandpa's house near Mission bay in like 10 mins and for FREE :D I've also taken it from Parnassus to Mt. Zion and it's so quick and convenient. It runs on a secudule so planning a trip is pain-free. There's even an app for the shuttle times and routes!! I really like that it's quiet and clean inside! One of the reasons I don't like public transit is because people can be so dang loud. No consideration. The people on the shuttle speak in a normal volume. And it never smells like urine or vomit! Good job UCSF. read more

If the MUNI system could be anywhere near UCSF's shuttle service, I would: 1- be overjoyed 2- crap in my pants 1 is self-explanatory, 2 is becoz I use Muni everyday and have become accustomed to non-existing schedules. read more

Okay, I cant thank UC enough for having a transport system. 5 stars for that. I take the Bronze.. and the only reason why I dropped to 3 stars is because every so often, we get someone high up on the transport management/adminstration and he HARASSES anyone at the bronze shuttle stops. He wants to police the bronze shuttle so only people that live at Aldea can ride the shuttle, not the employees work there making the medical facility run. If you want to police the bronze shuttle, you should also police THE OTHER SHUTTLES TO BE FAIR. /rant --------------------------------- read more

I'm at the stop waiting for it right now...... annnd it's here, gotta go ; D blue & gold read more

Very reliable! They always arrive either early or on time and always leave on time. The shuttles start running between 5am-7am and go until the evening. They arrive at the stops every 20-35 minutes, which is convenient. There are routes that go to every campus, and the buses are very clean. The workers are also friendly! read more

I took the UCSF shuttle yesterday when I went the wrong way after my interview on 6th and Townsend. The entire experience including the camaraderie between the drivers and the students reminded me very much of being at UC Santa Cruz. I was kind of scared at first that they wouldn't let me on for not being a UCSF student but I thought if nothing else I could show them my UCSC ID and say we are part of the same system - hell, if TAPS can give us all tickets why can't our IDs get us on all the different schools' shuttle services? As I was afraid of standing out from the rest of the students I didn't really ask how to get to the BART from the shuttle (the lady on the street said take the YELLOW but all I found was the GOLD). In the end I wound up somewhere in Portola and had to walk down to Church St. to catch the N back to the Powell BART station. Aside from the getting lost part it was a great experience and no one made me feel weird or as if I didn't belong. Too bad I couldn't be more forthright and just ASK. read more

I love that there's 2 stops right by my place and I can get anywhere in the city for FREE! I've taken the red line from 16th St. BART to MCB (yeah, I know that's only 5 blocks, but it was right there) and even all the way to Mission Bay. I can take the Lime Line (it's fun to say) to Inner Sunset with just a few stops. It beats taking the Muni any day! The drivers and the shuttle lines are both supa nice! The shuttles are moderately sized and never too crowded at non-peak hours so you sometimes feel like you're riding in your own personal comfy city stagecoach. Love it! read more

I've only had to use the shuttle service once to get an important document to the Mission Center office on time. The shuttles basically go to all the UCSF locations, including Parnassus, Mt. Zion, Laurel Heights, SF General Hospital, etc. Just take a look at the schedule to find out which color line goes where and at what times. They come very often, every 15 minutes! You can actually get around the city pretty fast. Only UCSF personnel are supposed to be allowed to use the shuttles, but going to and from the Mission Center office, I wasn't asked to show my ID. So next time you need to get somewhere and don't have any money, check out where the UCSF Shuttle Service goes and give it a shot. read more

This is a great service and well worth the money (because its free). I only took this because I needed to get from UCSF Parnassus to Mission bay but now I know I can get around the city because of all the available bus lines. It's never early or late to leave and I always get to my location on time. The litter is minimal, the graffiti is non-existent, the drivers are nice, and everyone that takes it is quite respectable. Thank you for your service UCSF! read more

Love that's it's free but the routes they take are indirect and slow and the gas-brake-gas-brake of most drivers is absolutely nauseating.

cool because its free. If you're at parnassus and need to get to china basin campus, it takes 1 hour - 1hour 15min. Because there is no direct shuttle, you have to take the grey to mission bay then hop on the teal. 2 shuttles to get out there. read more

This shuttle rules. I catch the red line and it takes me right to 16th and Mission where I can catch BART or meet up with friends. The drivers are nice and there are very few stops - plus it's free. read more

This is for the GREEN shuttle only (I've taken the other UCSF shuttles before and have had no complaints ). I'll give the shuttle one star because its free for UCSF employees and has reasonably convenient stops (and yelp doesn't let me review less than a star). I work at UCSF Mission Bay, and I have taken the Green shuttle almost twice a day every day to and from Caltrain and Mission Bay for the past couple of months. I say *almost* because more often than not, the Green shuttle is late. This is obviously a problem when I have a meeting that I'm trying to get to or when I'm trying to get from Mission Bay to the Caltrain on time. Now, it being late isn't even the most egregious issue; rather, it is also be cause the Next Bus app keeps showing it as "2" or "1" minute away or, even more frustrating "arriving." I know that this is also Next Muni's fault, but if the Green shuttle is going to be 8 times out of 10 late by 5 or 7 minutes, they should update their time schedules so that poor shmucks like me know to run to the Caltrain rather than wait for a bus that is in no way going to make it on time (because it is late...again!) read more

SHHHHH! It's FREE. It's a secret, but I've been taking the Shuttle Services between Hospitals (from UCSF-University of California San Francisco to UCSF Mt. Zion Campus (on Divisadero)and the UCSF Laurel Heights Campus (on California Street) Be sure to Board the Van that has the UCSF Shuttle either the TAN or BLACK van. You can get on their website (see above) or the other website for time tables and for the other UCSF facilities (Like Mission Bay- (RED van), San Francisco General Hosptial) shuttles@cls.ucsf.edu--------It's for students, faculty,and PATIENTS, patient's family & guest (they do not check). Check the website for San Francisco General Hospital or the other Campus Sites. All the Vans are marked by Colors. Unfortunately, they do not do special stops. read more

Great if you live in Mission Bay. Nice drivers, clean buses, and way less ghetto than Muni.

I love this shuttle service! Ever since UCSF Transportation reorganized the shuttle with color coded routes, I find that I can get around SF in a snap. Need to get to the Inner Sunset to the Outer Mission in a hurry - without transferring on a bus? Take the Blue line. Need to get to SOMA and don't mind walking - Lime shuttle. Need to get to Mission Bay - Grey shuttle. read more

As someone who works at UCSF and uses this shuttle to get between sites on a tight schedule I thank you for posting this. I have long suspected that people are freeloading on the shuttle that have absolutely no business or connection with UCSF. A number of other employees have expressed our concern to UCSF Campus Life Services that this needs to stop. Thanks to your posts, Transportation services is finally going to do something about it. Don't bother deleting the posts, they've been screenshotted and cached locally. I can't wait until some freeloader is embarrassed and made to get off the shuttle that they have no business using. I don't care what your reasons or rationalizations might be. These shuttles are not a free ride around the city. Please take MUNI, that's what it was designed for. UCSF shuttles are for UC employees and patients. Period. read more

This is a shuttle service for the employees of the University, their guests and patients at the hospital. It is a quick, efficient way to get to most of the UCSF buildings across the city. They have an APP for the iPhone and android platform to assist you in getting around and a website as well. Very convenient. Most of the staff are friendly and can answer your questions, but there are exceptions. Most drive well and smooth, but there are exceptions again, and some routes are just a bear to drive. But for a reasonable cost to the University, you get a very good transit system that covers almost every area of UCSF. read more