Traffic alert: Sacramento Kings game isn’t only concern for I-80 and San Francisco roads

Hanh Truong
·2 min read

If you’re headed to San Francisco Thursday from Sacramento, you might want to leave a little earlier than usual.

Two major games are taking place in San Francisco and they’re both happening at around the same time.

The Sacramento Kings are playing their third playoff game against the Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center at 7 p.m.

And the San Francisco Giants will go head-to-head with the New York Mets at 6:45 p.m. at Oracle Park. Both stadiums are just of Interstate 80, within a half mile of each other — it’s safe to assume, traffic will be tight.

The San Francisco Chronicle called Thursday night a “traffic nightmare” for the city. Roughly 18,000 people are expected at the Kings vs. Warriors game and tens of thousands more at Oracle Park. There’s also a 4/20 cannabis festival at Golden Gate Park.

How to check highway conditions

You can check highway conditions online before hitting the road with Caltrans.

If you want to arrive by 6:30 p.m., typical traffic takes between an hour and 40 minutes and 2 and a half hours on I-80, according to Google Maps.

Public transit to San Francisco

If you’re planning on using public transportation, here are some options:

  • Amtrak has trains running starting at $35 for coach. There’s a connection to BART — Bay Area Rapid Transit — at the Richmond station.

  • Greyhound is offering round trips starting at $17.99. The routes will take you to a San Francisco bus station where you can take BART to where you need to go.

  • FlixBus also has trips starting at $17.99.

According to Google Maps, the fastest public transit route to the area takes more than 3 hours.

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