FOCS 2011 October 22-25, 2011 Travel Information

Location. Palm Springs is located in the inland area of Southern California, about 100 miles east of Los Angeles and 80 miles north-east of San Diego. It has its own airport with connections to all major hubs in the US. The next closest aiport is Ontario (~70 miles). Other alternatives are LAX (Los Angeles), San Diego, John Wayne (Irvine), and Burbank.

Flying to Palm Springs. This is the default choice. Palm Springs has its own airport (PSP), with connections to all major hubs and a number of other cities in the US, and serviced by all major airlines.

The hotel provides free shuttle service from the Palm Springs airport. To arrange the ride, call the hotel at (760) 325-9676 from the airport upon your arrival. If you are in a hurry, the hotel is only within 2 miles from the airport, so the taxi should cost no more than $12-15.

Missing your connecting flight to PSP could delay your arrival by a day, so we recommend that, to be on the safe side, you leave extra time for the layover and try not to take the last flight to PSP (especially if you fly from overseas).

Flying to Ontario. Ontario Airport serves the Inland Empire area of Souther California (Riverside and San Bernardino counties). It's located in the city of Ontario, about 50 miles east of LA, and has connection to all US hub airports, and more.

The distance from Ontario to Palm Springs is about 70 miles and drive time around 1h 15m. Ground transportation options include car rental, airport shuttles, taxis, and the train (only 3 trains a week). Car rental, shuttles and taxis are quite expensive, and if you are interested in ride sharing, we have set up a mailing list for FOCS'11 attendees interested in sharing transportation (or a hotel room). To subscribe, click here.

• Car rental. For round-trip, should be cheaper than the airport shuttles.
• Super Shuttle charges $110/person for transportation between Ontario and Palm Springs.
• Prime Time Shuttle. The cost is about the same as Super Shuttle, but they also have an option to rent a sedan with a driver for about $140 for up to 3 people.
• AM/PM Shuttle. They only provide service between airports, but if they drop you off at PSP, you can get to Zoso on their shuttle. Ontario-PSP is $130. This may sounds expensive, but they charge per ride, not person, so if you share, this is a better deal than Super Shuttle.
• Taxis. Cost negotiable, likely to cost about 50% or more than the shuttle.
• Train. Amtrak has three trains a week ($32), on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, leaving from Ontario ($32) at 3:54PM, arriving in Palm Springs at 5:35PM. The train station is not at the airport, but close. The return train from Palm Springs to Ontario leaves at 4:54AM (Su, We, Fri).

Flying to LAX. This could work if you are planning to rent a car anyway, or if you have other travel plans in California besides attending FOCS. Other than car rental, ground transportation from LAX is very expensive. The shuttle options are the same as for Ontario Airport, but more expensive. If you are interested in ride sharing, we have set up a mailing list for FOCS'11 attendees interested in sharing transportation (or a hotel room). To subscribe, click here.

You can also try the Amtrak train ($37), leaving from Union Station at 3PM, arriving in Palm Springs at 5:35PM, but it runs only Su, We, Fr. (This is the same train as the one from Ontario.) There is also Greyhound bus with several daily connections between Los Angeles and Palm Springs. The ticket is about $25.

Other airports. There are three other airports in the area: San Diego, John Wayne (in Irvine), and Burbank. San Diego is about 80 miles from Palm Springs as the crow flies, but it has no good freeway connection to Palm Springs. Flying to San Diego would make sense only if you rent a car and are planning to do some sightseeing on the way to Palm Springs, like driving through Anza Borego and passing by Salton Sea.