San Francisco charter bus rental: coaches, minibuses, and shuttles priced from real 2026 trips
Metropolitan Shuttle offers charter buses, minibuses, sprinter vans, school buses, and party buses for groups in San Francisco and across the Bay Area: companies moving a team from a Financial District office to the coast for an afternoon or a department from a South Bay hotel to Stanford for the day; convention delegations out of Moscone Center for an evening in Napa; hospitals and health systems with staff to move; universities and schools on field trips and campus moves; sports travel groups in a Peninsula hotel with a game at Stanford, a shopping stop, and a flight out of SFO; wedding parties between a Union Square hotel, City Hall, and a dinner cruise; fan groups to Oracle Park, Chase Center, and Levi’s Stadium. We have done this in San Francisco since 2001, from our office on Fillmore Street, through a network of Bay Area operators whose safety records and insurance we verify in federal databases before the first booking. We are a transportation management company, not a fleet owner, which is why the right-sized vehicle is available on the date and why every quote is itemized before you sign.
Companies we have worked with
What does it cost? A full-size coach for a Peninsula hospital group’s day at the San Francisco Zoo ran $1,375 this September. A 30-passenger minibus for a convention group’s evening from Moscone to a Carneros estate and back ran $1,400. A 20-passenger minibus for a PwC team celebration from San Jose to Pier 39 ran $795. A sprinter van for a corporate afternoon from Sansome Street to Pacifica State Beach ran $625. A party bus for forty from North Beach to the Olympic Club for the Olympic Club Foundation on a Friday night ran $895. Those are recent invoices, all-inclusive of the driver, fuel, and insurance, and the full table is below.
Key Takeaways
Recent San Francisco Trip Pricing
Recent San Francisco invoices: 56-passenger coach $1,375 to $1,395; 40-passenger coach $850; 35-passenger minibus $1,750; 30-passenger minibus $1,400 to $1,800; 25-passenger minibus $1,000 to $1,350; 20-passenger minibus $795; sprinter van $625 to $800; school bus $1,095; party bus $895 to $1,850. Every figure is a 2026 trip, all-inclusive.
Published San Francisco 2026 Rates
Published 2026 San Francisco rates run $165 to $285 per hour for a coach, $150 to $200 for a minibus, $125 to $160 for a sprinter or van, and $120 to $145 for a school bus, on a five-hour minimum; party buses $175 to $400 on a four-hour weekend minimum. A full day of ten hours or more is quoted as a day rate: $1,800 to $2,850 for a coach, $1,500 to $1,900 for a minibus. Most San Francisco trips are five to ten hours and land between $625 and $1,850.
Hours & Standby Drive Costs
Hours and standby drive the price more than miles. A 75-minute coach shuttle across SoMa billed a four-hour minimum at $850; a seven-hour coach day to the Academy of Sciences billed $1,395; an 11½-hour minibus day priced as a day at $1,800.
Book Peak San Francisco Dates Early
San Francisco prices by the calendar. Moscone convention weeks, Giants and 49ers home dates, Outside Lands, Fleet Week, Pride, and May commencements compress the Bay Area supply; fixed-date trips in those windows book two to four months out.
Choose the Right San Francisco Charter Bus for Your Group
Mini Bus
14-35 PASSENGERS
For mid-size groups without the need for extra capacity of a full-size motor coach.
Coach Bus
40-56 PASSENGERS
For large groups seeking a comfortable ride with reclining seats and quality amenities.
Specialty Buses
18-56 PASSENGERS
For exclusive events that call for style, plush interiors, comfort, and premium amenities.
How much does a San Francisco charter bus cost?
Published 2026 San Francisco rates, all-inclusive of driver, fuel, and insurance, with what recent trips billed:
| Vehicle | Seats | Published hourly rate | Recent San Francisco invoices |
|---|---|---|---|
| 56-passenger charter coach | 52 to 56 | $165 to $285 | $1,375 (Peninsula hospital group’s Thursday to the San Francisco Zoo) and $1,395 (Gilead’s seven-hour Friday from Foster City to the California Academy of Sciences) |
| 40-passenger coach | 36 to 40 | $165 to $285 | $850 (midday university shuttle from Mission Street to UCSF Mission Bay, four-hour minimum) |
| 35-passenger minibus | 35 | $150 to $200 | $1,750 (split-shift day: Hotel Spero to City Hall and back, then to Alameda for a dinner cruise) |
| 30-passenger minibus | 30 | $150 to $200 | $1,400 (convention evening, Moscone to a Carneros estate in Napa and back) and $1,800 (11½-hour corporate day, Santa Clara to the Stanford Faculty Club) |
| 25-passenger minibus | 25 | $150 to $200 | $1,000 (RDK Sports International, San Mateo hotel to the Great Mall to SFO, five hours, 15 suitcases) and $1,350 (RDK’s Saturday of four transfers including a Stanford football game) |
| 20-passenger minibus | 20 | $150 to $200 | $795 (five-hour PwC team celebration, downtown San Jose to Pier 39) |
| Sprinter or 14-passenger van | 12 to 14 | $125 to $160 | $625 (corporate afternoon, Financial District to Pacifica State Beach) and $800 (six-hour Saturday night for twelve across three venues) |
| School bus | 44 adults | $120 to $145 | $1,095 (day rate, Santa Clara University to California’s Great America) |
| Party bus | 20 to 40 | $175 to $400, four-hour weekend minimum | $895 (Olympic Club Foundation, Friday-night transfer for 40 from North Beach) and $1,850 (Sunday Giants game day from Scotts Valley to Oracle Park, ten hours) |
Full days of ten hours or more are quoted as a day rate, $1,800 to $2,850 on a coach and $1,500 to $1,900 on a minibus; shorter trips bill by the hour against a five-hour minimum (a four-hour minimum can occasionally be arranged when the operator agrees), which is why a typical San Francisco charter lands between $625 and $1,850. Bridge tolls on Marin, East Bay, and Napa itineraries go on the quote. Season matters: Moscone convention weeks, Giants and 49ers home dates, Outside Lands, Fleet Week, Pride weekend, and May commencements at Stanford, Berkeley, and USF are the tight windows. The published San Francisco rates above are the same bands we publish nationally on our charter bus pricing guide.
Those are real invoices, not estimates, and the spread between them has a logic. Our network of Bay Area operators prices every trip on the same handful of variables; here is what each one looks like on the ground here:
- Duration: Most San Francisco charters bill by the hour against a five-hour minimum, and a full day of ten hours or more is quoted as a day rate. A 75-minute coach hop across SoMa for a university group still billed a four-hour minimum ($850); an 11½-hour minibus day from Santa Clara to Stanford priced as a day ($1,800). The clock, not the odometer, sets the number.
- Distance: Inside the Bay Area, miles matter less than hours: a seven-hour coach day from Foster City to the California Academy of Sciences ($1,395) and a 7½-hour minibus evening from Moscone to a Carneros estate in Napa ($1,400) cost about the same. Distance starts to drive the price past Napa, Monterey, or Santa Cruz, and on anything that puts a driver near the federal duty limit (Yosemite, Tahoe), which can mean a second driver or an overnight.
- Bus type: A sprinter for twelve ran $625 for a five-hour afternoon; a 56-passenger coach with a restroom and underfloor bays ran $1,375 for a day at the Zoo. Between them sit the minibuses, which is where most San Francisco groups land. The vehicle is chosen by headcount and, for airport runs, by the luggage count before the headcount.
- Day of the week and season: Moscone convention weeks, Giants and 49ers home dates, Outside Lands, Fleet Week, Pride weekend, and May commencements at Stanford, Berkeley, and USF compress the Bay Area supply. A Sunday afternoon minibus to SFO billed the top of its band ($200 an hour); a Thursday afternoon sprinter to Pacifica billed the floor ($125 an hour). Same bands, different calendar.
- Extras: Bridge tolls are the one to expect: the Bay Bridge and Richmond Bridge going east, the Golden Gate coming back from Marin and wine country. They go on the quote before you sign, as do parking at venues that charge for it and the driver’s lodging on an overnight. Gratuity is at your discretion and never assumed.
- Particular to San Francisco: The steepest blocks of Russian Hill and Nob Hill, and Lombard Street, are off the route for a full-size coach, and some downtown venues take a drop a block away rather than at the door. The city’s tour-bus restrictions in certain neighborhoods, the Moscone and Union Square curb rules, and a game-day or convention-week crawl on the Embarcadero all get planned for in the itinerary; none of it is a surprise charge if your coordinator knows the stops in advance, which is why we ask for every address before we quote.
A San Francisco charter bus company since 2001
Metropolitan Shuttle has arranged group transportation in San Francisco for twenty-five years from our office on Fillmore Street. The vehicle that shows up is one we sourced and vetted for your date from a Bay Area operator whose safety record and insurance we checked in federal databases, and a dedicated coordinator handles your quote, itinerary, and day-of changes, reachable at 415-944-4102 around the clock. We have moved a Roaring Riot fan group from SFO to Fisherman’s Wharf and on to a Panthers game at Levi’s Stadium, a team from the Airbnb headquarters to a meeting in Sausalito, and Atlassian executives on a luxury sprinter to Napa. Bay Area clients include Gilead, PwC, Airbnb, Atlassian, the Olympic Club Foundation, RDK Sports International, the United States Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco, and the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. Booking works the way it did for every trip on this page: you send the addresses, times, and headcount; a coordinator sources and vets a Bay Area vehicle for the date, quotes it itemized, and signs it with you; the same coordinator is on the phone at 415-944-4102 the day of the trip. Thousands of Bay Area trips later, the job is the same: the right bus, on time, at a price you understood before you signed.
Minibus and shuttle bus rental in San Francisco
Eight of the fourteen recent invoices above are minibuses and vans, and that is San Francisco. A 20-, 25-, 30-, or 35-passenger minibus fits a Taylor Street hotel entrance, the Moscone curb, a Sansome Street loading zone, the Pier 39 drop lane, and a Peninsula office park, and it prices well under a coach. Forward-facing seats with armrests, climate control, PA and usually a screen, rear space for day bags. No underfloor bays and, on most units, no restroom, which is why the class earns its keep inside about 90 miles: Napa, Sonoma, Stanford, Santa Cruz, and, with carry-ons, SFO.
- Sprinter and passenger vans: twelve to fourteen seats for small teams and nights out; $625 to $800 on recent trips.
- 20-passenger minibus: team events and small corporate days; $795.
- 25-passenger minibus: sports travel groups, game days, airport legs; $1,000 to $1,350.
- 30-passenger minibus: convention evenings to wine country and long corporate days; $1,400 to $1,800.
- 35-passenger minibus: the largest vehicle that still moves like a minibus; $1,750 on a split-shift celebration day.
The whole family lives nationally on our minibus rental page. For a shuttle loop on one day, a wedding guest shuttle between a hotel and a venue, or a conference shuttle between Moscone-area hotels and an evening event, any of these vehicles runs it as a charter; for a daily commuter program, see the shuttle section below.
Coach bus rental in San Francisco
The full-size motorcoach seats 52 to 56, with reclining seats, a restroom, power, video, and underfloor bays that hold a checked bag and a carry-on per passenger, which is what makes SFO arrivals, Napa days, and Monterey weekends one-vehicle jobs. The San Francisco 56-passenger coach ran $1,375 and $1,395 on recent Bay Area days; the 40-passenger coach, the same ride with sixteen fewer seats, ran $850 on a midday shuttle. Coaches move through the city with planning: the steepest blocks of Russian Hill and Nob Hill are off the route, and some venues take a drop a block away, which your coordinator checks before you sign. For a luxury charter bus or an executive coach, with leather seating, tables, and premium interiors for a board or a VIP group, see our luxury bus and executive minibus pages. The coast-to-coast coach fleet is on our charter bus rental page.
We have a San Francisco charter bus for every occasion
