I’ve received numerous requests to share the technical details of my public transit trip from Vancouver, Canada to Tijuana, Mexico. So here we go, here are the “details” of my trip and how I planned it all out.

• Map: Public Transit from Vancouver to Tijuana (Google Maps)
• Itinerary and Fare Information: Trip Plan – Vancouver to Tijuana (Google Sheets)

The planning process

This all started in 2012, when I started to plan my trip to Salem, Oregon. I relied on Google to search for transit agencies and see where their bus services went. I started at the US/Canada Border and saw what bus routes were on the other side, looked at the transit system map for that transit agency (Whatcom Transportation Authority), saw how far south I could get, and then Google that city to see if there was a transit agency there that could take me further.

I would generally repeat that process over and over to see how far south I could get. Sometimes, when I couldn’t go any further, I would go back to an earlier point in the itinerary to see if there were any alternate routes I could take. For example, in Portland, I could take transit south to Salem, or I could take transit west, to the Oregon coast. Not knowing what connections were available in either Salem or the Oregon coast, I had to explore each route separately to see how far it could get me.

As time went by, researching on the Internet became easier, as Google Transit became available, and as more transit agencies provided data to Google. This allowed me to just put random destinations into Google Transit and see if there were public transit options available. This saved quite a bit of time as I didn’t have to find the transit agency first, before looking at what transit services were available and where they went.

By using the above methodology, I was able to stitch together a transit journey taking me from Vancouver to Tijuana, travelling via Seattle, Portland, the Oregon Coast, Eureka, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

The missing link

Until 2024, my route took me to Portland, then to the Oregon coast and into Arcata, where I headed inland to Redding. My route would take me south towards Sacramento, where I would get to San Francisco and then take the route I ended up using on this trip in 2024. The only problem was that there was a small, but significant gap between Gridley, CA and Live Oak, CA. It was a 12.5 km gap that was probably walkable, but broke the “rules” (see next section), and was probably a bit sketchy in terms of me needing to walk along a rural highway for 3 hours. So I decided not to do that. What was most infuriating about this “gap” was that this 3-hour walk could be covered by a 10-minute drive.

By 2024, I was able to travel from Arcata (through Eureka) to San Francisco due to a new bus service operated by the Humboldt Transit Authority, providing service between Eureka and Ukiah. This completed the missing link, and I was able to go on this epic adventure.

The rules

But before we get to more planning, I’ve been asked several times about the “rules.” Generally, this was taking transit provided by local transportation authorities. This didn’t necessarily mean “bus only,” but in many jurisdictions, this was the case.

What was allowed:

• Scheduled transit on fixed routes, operated by government transit agencies
• Buses, including conventional vehicles, shuttles, and highway coaches.
• Light rail
• Commuter rail

What was not allowed:

• Greyhound, Flixbus, or similar
• Amtrak
• Custom transit / microtransit
• Taxis or ride hailing (Uber, Lyft, etc.)

The connections

My general aim was to leave 10 minutes for bus-to-bus connections to account for traffic and general delays, but this was not always possible. If it was not possible to achieve a 10-minute buffer for connections, I looked at how much walking I had to do between bus stops, and consider if the connection point was a timing point. Timing points are particularly helpful because the connecting bus should not leave early. These factors would help me assess if making the connection would be practical.

If I had more time for connections, I would take a look to see where I can walk around and explore while waiting for my next bus. Google Maps again was helpful, as it helped identify landmarks and places of interest for me, such as parks, historical monuments, places to eat or viewpoints.

One particular item I looked for was washrooms. I found that community centres, public libraries, shopping malls, large hotel chains, and fast food restaurants were generally good options.

How far to travel each day

I would generally try to start my day around 9 a.m., and then see how far I can travel. Depending on when transit services were scheduled, some adjustments were sometimes necessary. For example, the last bus from Santa Maria to Santa Barbara departed at 6:27 a.m., so I wasn’t able to start my day any later than that.

As for where to stop, most of the time, the schedules decided this for me: there were no more buses heading south for the rest of the day. Otherwise, I stopped travelling when the sun was about to go down, because I wanted to make sure I was able to look out the window and see the landscape passing by as I was travelling. This was a big reason why I didn’t travel past Lakewood on the first day, and why I decided not to enter Tijuana on the eighth day.

In either situation, the most important consideration was to make sure there was a suitable place for me to stay the night. That is, I checked to see if accommodations were available that were close to the bus stop, if it was within my price range, and of course, if it looked like a clean and safe place to stay.

When to go

I was also very intentional about planning my trip to coincide around the summer solstice. I wanted to travel around this time of year because of two factors: daylight and weather.

Daylight was important because I wanted to look out the window (and I wouldn’t want to travel if it were dark outside), so the longer days would allow me to cover more ground than if I had travelled in winter. Weather was also important to me as well for similar reasons. If it were rainy, it would be disappointing as I wouldn’t be able to see much out the window, so June seemed to be the most ideal time for me to make this trip.

Final preparations

Closer to the actual departure date, I considered what to pack. Drawing on my experience from the 2013 trip to Salem, I anticipated that I would need to travel on vehicles that were smaller, such as shuttles. These vehicles did not have much room for luggage, so I made a decision to travel light, bringing only a knapsack. I ended up just packing the basics — a few changes of clothes, some electronics, a water bottle, and some snacks.

One last thing: money. Through my research, it was evident that most transit agencies don’t yet accept credit cards for fare payment, so it was necessary to carry cash — and it was important to have exact change! This is why I put together some columns in my planning spreadsheet to plan how much money of each denomination I needed for my trip. The weekend before I was set to depart, I visited the currency exchange and asked for 50 $1 bills, so I had enough change for the journey.

In closing

There you have it — now you know how I planned my trip from Vancouver to Tijuana. Hopefully this inspires others to attempt the same or similar journeys. Please share with me in the comments any tips you have that might be helpful for my future travels. If you end up taking this journey exactly, or if you make some deviations, please let me know too. I would love to hear all about your travels.