Important travel information if receiving funding
Because funding comes from the National Science Foundation, there are travel requirements that must be met in order to qualify for the travel allowance. Participants must use the most cost-effective means of travel, which means economy class tickets for air travel. Guidelines do not allow reimbursement for insurance, priority boarding, seat selection, economy plus, business class, or first class tickets. Ground transportation, up to a maximum of $200, can also include baggage fees and airport or hotel parking.
Because of the Fly America Act, participants coming from outside the U.S. must purchase a ticket from a U.S. flag carrier (an airline owned by an American company) or an EU (European Union) carrier, unless exempted by one of the following Open Skies Agreements:
- Participants may use a Japanese carrier as long as the point of origin or destination is an airport in Japan.
- Participants may use a Swiss carrier as long as the point of origin or destination is an airport in Switzerland. Likewise for Iceland and Norway.
- Participants may use an Australian carrier as long as the point of origin or destination is an airport in Australia.
These exemptions do not include Canada or Mexico. All flights originating in North America must bear the designation of a U.S. airline. This means that the ticket must show the flight code of a U.S.-based carrier, independent of which company actually operates the flight. Normally this means that the ticket must be purchased from the U.S. airline. Tickets from Air Canada cannot be reimbursed.
Via Air
The easiest option is to fly directly into Sacramento International Airport (SMJ), which is 18 miles (29 km) from Sacramento State University. There is a bus to downtown sacramento whose schedule can be found here (See here for directions). An Uber or Lyft typically costs between $20-30 from the airport, but can vary. From downtown, a light rail and bus system or Uber/Lyft can be used to get to hotels. See below for schedules and details.
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is 100 miles (160 km) from Sacramento. Renting a car it takes between 1.5-2 hours (see here for directions). Using public transportation one can take BART to the Richmond Station, and from there can take the Capital Corridor Train to Sacramento (see here for directions). The entire trip takes about 3 hours with public transportation. Another option is to take the local transportation from SFO to the CalTrain Station in San Francisco (see here for directions), and from here take a MegaBus to Sacramento (see here for the MegaBus schedule, and where one can purchase a ticket in advance).
Additional airports nearby (within 1.5-2 hours) include Oakland International Airport (OAK), San Jose International Airport (SJC), and Reno International Airport (RNO). Public transportation is possible from these airports.
Within Sacramento
Sacramento has a light rail and bus system as well as many Uber and Lyfts. If you take a train or bus into Sacramento you will be able to access all of these options. Many of these options also connect to Sacramento State campus.
The address of location of the conference and also a map can be found below under Location.
Parking on campus
A Sac State parking permit is required to be displayed while parked on campus. To purchase a 6 dollar full-day (or 3 dollar two-hour) parking permit:
- When you arrive on campus, pay with cash or credit at any permit machine located in all student parking lots/structures; view the campus map for locations.
- Sign up for a PayByPhone account and download the app. When you arrive on campus, enter location number "5115" into the app to pay your parking fee.
Your parking permit is valid in student parking spaces. The closest parking to the conference (Riverside 1015) is Parking Structure 1. Please view driving to campus and the campus map for directions. A printable campus map is also available here (pdf).
