Travel Information

Venue

The conference takes place at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA.

Please note that there is no parking at LBNL and site access is managed through the lab shuttle service from downtown Berkeley and other pickup points. Please review the shuttle schedules, pickup location, and site access instructions below. Please give yourself extra time to arrive at the Building 50 Auditorium Monday morning. Registration is at the B50 Auditorium.

LBNL Site Access Requirement

In order to access the LBNL site, attendees without a valid LBNL badge must present a valid form of ID. If a state-issued ID, such as a driver’s license, is used it must be compliant with the REAL ID Act.

Some examples:

A REAL ID-compliant driver’s license from any US state
A valid passport from any country
Any other REAL ID-compliant identification (please see the full list)

Travel to Berkeley

Flying to the Bay Area

Most travelers fly into the following two airports:

San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
- Approximately 25 miles (40 km) from Berkeley
  - Driving: 30-35 min with no traffic; typically ~1 hour or more during rush hour
  - Public transport (BART): approximately 1 hour travel time
    - From SFO BART station, take the Red BART line (heading towards Richmond) to the Downtown Berkeley station (50 min ride)
Oakland International Airport (OAK)
- An operating base for Southwest Airlines
- Approximately 15 miles (24 km) from Berkeley
  - Driving: 20-25 min with no traffic; typically ~45 min or more during rush hour
  - Public transport (BART): approximately 50 min travel time
    - Take the Oakland Airport Connector to BART Coliseum station (9 min ride) then transfer to the Orange line heading towards Richmond to the Downtown Berkeley station (20 min ride)

Driving

Parking at LBNL is not available for conference attendees lodging off-site or visiting for the day. Attendees are encouraged to take the shuttles from downtown Berkeley to LBNL.
BART is a great option and the LBNL shuttle stop is adjacent to Downtown Berkeley BART stops.
Attendees who drive to Berkeley for the day are encouraged to park their vehicles in downtown Berkeley and take the shuttle to LBNL.

Parking in downtown Berkeley

The recommended parking garages near the LBNL shuttles are:
- Center Street Parking Garage (2025 Center Street), 720 parking spaces
- Oxford Parking Garage (2165 Kittredge St), 99 parking spaces
- Telegraph Channing Parking Garage (southeast of map boundary; 2450 Durant Ave), 420 parking spaces

LBNL Shuttles

Recommended: there will be special "SPECIAL SERVICE" event shuttles from Downtown direct to the Auditorium (registration is at the Auditorium). The Downtown location is directly in front of the Jupiter restaurant next to the Downtown Berkeley BART station. Special service times are as follows::

Morning Service (Downtown direct to B50 Auditorium)

7:40am, 8:00am, 8:20am, 8:40am

Evening Service (B50 Auditorium direct to Downtown)

6:00pm, 6:20pm, 6:40pm, 7:00pm

Alternative (Shuttle): The LBNL "BLUE" shuttle boards every ~10 minutes in the same location directly in front of the Jupiter restaurant next to the Downtown Berkeley BART station. When boarding at this station the shuttle will be labeled "BLUE UPHILL"

When boarding the "BLUE" shuttle, you will have to show the driver your email visitor pass and ID (please see the previous section concerning valid forms of ID).
The driver may tell you to show your visitor pass and ID to the guard at the LBNL Blackberry gate (main entrance) for inspection.
After the shuttle passes through the gate, it MAY stop at the entrance (if a rider requests it) and WILL stop at B65. Don’t get off at either of these locations. Wait until the 3rd stop which is B50/70 stop in front of the B50 Auditorium. Ask the driver if you need help getting to the B50 Auditorium, they are very helpful.

Note: to leave LBNL you can always take the "BLUE DOWNHILL" shuttle from B65 (every ~10 minutes). No pass or ID is required to board an exiting shuttle.

Alternative (Walking): You can also walk all the way up to the Blackberry Canyon Entrance gate and check in with the guard and then walk all the way to the venue, see the maps below.

Session Rooms

The sessions will take place in two rooms:

Building 50 Auditorium
Building 59 Room 3101
- located at the main entrance of Building 59; as you enter the building, Room 3101 is right in front of you

The map shows the locations of the two buildings relative to the shuttle stop, as well as walking paths (red lines) between points of interest.

Building 50 Auditorium

Main room: plenaries, panels, poster blitzes, parallel sessions

Building 59 Room 3101

Second room: parallel sessions, poster sessions, speed mentoring workshop, CV /interviewing workshop, SIAM business meeting

Recommended Hotels (first two with Group Rates)

On-Site - Berkeley Lab Guest House: 1 Cyclotron Road, Building 23, Berkeley CA 94720
- only lodging option on LBNL site
- 5 minute walk to conference rooms
- If you don't have car, will have to rely on lab shuttle, which only has service from Downtown to the lab until 8:48pm (could making returning back challenging after dinner in downtown Berkeley). There are no dinner options on-site at LBNL.
- NCC25 has secured a group rate of $145/night (single occupancy, add $10 for additional guest in room); $145/night is the government per diem rate
  - group rate: start date Sun Oct 26, end date Tue Oct 28 (i.e. need to check out on Tue Oct 28)
  - Group name: "2nd SIAM NCC25"
  - Booking code: B00X25 (second and third characters are the digits "zero," not the letters)
  - 3 ways to book from your room block:
    - Visit our website at www.berkeleylabguesthouse.org and click on the RESERVATIONS tab at the top of the screen. Enter your group booking code where it says “I have a group booking code” and proceed with the reservation.
    - Call (510) 495-8000 to call our Front Desk. Reference your group name and / or booking code when you make your reservation.
    - Email the Front Desk directly at reservation@berkeleylabguesthouse.org and refer to the group name and / or booking code.
Residence Inn Berkeley (Marriott): 2121 Center St, Berkeley, CA 94704
- newest hotel in Berkeley (opened a few years ago)
- less than 1 block walk to Downtown Berkeley BART station and LBNL shuttle stop
- NCC25 has secured a group rate of $217/night (note that this exceeds the government per diem rate)
  - group rate: start date Sun Oct 26, end date Tue Oct 28 (i.e. need to check out on Tue Oct 28), last day to book: Mon Oct 6
  - book group rate link
Hotel Shattuck Plaza: 2086 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94704
- less than 1 block walk to Downtown Berkeley BART station and LBNL shuttle stop
Graduate by Hilton Berkeley: 2600 Durant Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704
- ~0.8 mile (1.3 km) walk to Downtown Berkeley BART station and LBNL shuttle stop
Aiden by Best Western Berkeley: 1499 University Ave, Berkeley, CA 94702
- 1 mile (1.6 km) walk to Downtown Berkeley BART station and LBNL shuttle stop