Travel choices to consider:
For those of us who fly with any regularity, the associated emissions are easily the single-highest source of GHG emissions, far greater than the emissions from conditioning our homes or driving our cars.
The CO2 emissions of a flight assume the flight is full and do not account for the warming effect of plane contrails, which can easily double the climate impacts of GHG emissions from the flight. Internal combustion Engine vehicle emissions EPA estimate of 400 g/mile, including embodied carbon. Electric Vehicle emissions using the EPA estimate for the CA grid of 72 g/mile.
The GHG emissions for a single regional flight cause damages between 90 - 200 dollars per passenger. This so-called 'social cost of carbon' reflects the actual damage of your flight, usually incurred by others without our privilege that the passenger is not compensating for. Sources for further reading on the SCC here, here, here. The damages reflected by this social cost of carbon far exceed the small dollar amount airlines charge you to 'offset' your carbon emissions. Offsets do not work; they are a greenwash meant to make you feel better about the environmental impact of your flight. Sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) similarly are a greenwash to make you think flying is not actually all that bad. They do not and will not scale as the amount of land that would be required for monocropping SAFs is enormous. In a world where climate change is already reducing the area of farmable land, arable land is far better used producing food for human consumption.
Regionally, when taking travel time to and from the airport and your check-in time into consideration, flying does not save nearly as much time as you may think, usually costs much more, and is far more environmentally damaging.
Bus options
From San Francisco:
The Groome Monterey shuttle service has a direct bus service from SFO that gets you to Monterey in 2 hours 15 min (4 stops, $62 one-way), with a short connection to a local bus line 1 that drops you off close to the Asilomar Conference Center. Or you can use a rideshare service.
Groome Monterey Airbus - 1 (831) 373-7777
Monterey-Salinas Transit - 1 (888) 678-2871
From Berkeley:
You can take the Red BART to SFO and the Groome Monterey direct bus service from SFO gets you to Monterey in 2 hours 15 min (4 stops, $62 one way).
The Orange BART to North San Jose, with transfer to the red BART at Milpitas to San Jose Airport gets you there as well. Groome Monterey (3 stops, $51 one-way) gets you there, with a short connection to a local bus line 1 that drops you off close to the Asilomar Conference Center.
Groome Monterey Airbus - 1 (831) 373-7777
Monterey-Salinas Transit - 1 (888) 678-2871
From Los Angeles:
There is a direct bus service from LA Union Station to Salinas, with a short connection to a local bus line 1 that drops you off close to the Asilomar Conference Center.
Carpool: it’s a 5-hour drive from Los Angeles
Parking
Parking is free at Asilomar Hotel & Conference Grounds and there is no park entrance fee.
Airport
Monterey Regional Airport is the closest airport to Asilomar Hotel & Conference Grounds. There is limited to no taxi service at the Monterey Airport, but rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft provide convenient transportation from this airport to Asilomar Conference Center. For a return to the MRY airport, if you depart early in the morning, give yourself some extra time to get a response for Uber/Lyft driver. Drivers are typically available at all hours for the quick trip to the MRY airport (10 miles).
