Transportation in San Lorenzo

Street Cars and Trolleys

The first trolley in town was powered by a large horse. It traveled down the streets along its own rail track. The horse-drawn trolley was removed in 1908. An electric trolley replaced the horse-drawn. According to Dorothy Gansberger, retired Principal of Village School: "When the [electric] trolley cars first operated in this rural area the farmer's horses became very frightened at this new means of transportation. They would run away, many times overturning the buggies and spilling out the occupants. Country people were very much upset and did not welcome these new contraptions. There were so many accidents with runaway teams, injuring people and animals and breaking harness and wheels that the county court calendars were crowded with damage suits against the Traction Company" [which owned the trolley].

Railroad Arrives

A train station along the Southern Pacific line allowed farmers near San Lorenzo to get their crops to market much faster and easier. It also made it possible for people to travel a longer distance in a single day.

Automobile Age

By the 1910s automobiles were common in the East Bay. But roads were still just dirt trails, and cars often got stuck in the mud after rainstorms. The California legislature passed a gasoline tax to be used for road maintenance and construction in 1923, and the ease of auto travel increased. Gus King remembers one particular flood around 1916: "I was coming home from high school and the creek had flooded, covering the road at East Fourteen and Mattox Road. Cars were stalled, so I hurried home, hitched up a team of horses and earned some money by offering to pull them out."

Eventually, better roads brought more cars. The ability to travel easily to jobs in Oakland allowed homes to be built on former farmland in San Lorenzo. Traffic lights were installed on Hesperian in mid 1950s. Freeways were built to accommodate the increased traffic.

Buses Provide Alternatives

Alameda County Transit provides bus service to those residents of San Lorenzo who do not own a car, or who want to leave the driving to someone else.

Bay Area Rapid Transit(BART)

BART trains do not stop in San Lorenzo, but the station at Bayfair Mall in San Leandro is nearby and has plenty of parking.