Antioch

Understand

Antioch is one of the oldest towns in California. It was founded in 1850 by two brothers, William and Joseph Smith, who named the town Smith's Landing. In 1851, the town's new minister persuaded the residents to change the name of the town to Antioch, for the Biblical city of Antioch, Syria. Antioch is the 270th largest city in America.

Get in

By car

Highway 4 runs through Antioch and splits near the Antioch Bridge, becoming Highway 160 north towards Sacramento while staying Highway 4 south for the route through Brentwood, eventually leading to Stockton. Tolls for the bridge are collected for northbound traffic, and there are 5 exits going East and 3 exits going west on Highway 4. This is the primary route between the Antioch and the rest of the Bay Area, which leads to heavy congestion during commuting hours in the morning and early evening.

Renting

With Antioch's considerable sprawl, car rentals are the most convenient form of transportation for visitors. Local companies tend to offer better prices, but national chains might be more convenient as far as return policies and hours

By metro

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) connects Antioch with the majority of Contra Costa County, Oakland (including Oakland International Airport) and the rest of the East Bay from Richmond to Fremont and San Francisco and the Peninsula as well as the far northeastern reach of Silicon Valley, usually at a cost between $2 and $4 each way. Note that there is an extra $5 added to any fare beginning or ending at SFO.

Antioch BART station, at 1600 Slatten Ranch Rd, is inexplicably far from almost anything you might want to get to. You'll probably want to connect to a bus line (see below), have someone pick you up, or call a taxi/Uber/Lyft. Also keep in mind Pittsburg Center BART station in Pittsburg, which is more convenient for some bus lines to Antioch.

By train

Amtrak serves Antioch with its Gold Runner train between Oakland and Bakersfield, via Fresno. Antioch Station is at 100 I St, there is no ticket booth at the station and other amenities are limited. The station may not be around for long: there are plans to close it when nearby Oakley's Amtrak station opens in the near future (scheduled for 2025).

Get around

Tri-Delta Transit buses serve the area; pretty much all bus lines will take you to the BART in Pittsburg. County Connection bus #930 goes to Walnut Creek. Many of the routes are quite slow and circuitous.

The main streets are Hillcrest, Lone Tree, Somersville, A Street and James Donlon. These streets can pretty much take you anywhere you need to go in Antioch.

By public transit

Tri-Delta Transit operates as local public transportation between Antioch, Bay Point and Pittsubrg on multiple routes. They also operate a single route from Pittsurg to Martinez (200x).

By taxi

Taxi service is available, but on a much reduced scale as compared to major cities, but you won't be able to hail a cab; it is necessary to call and arrange for a taxi to pick you up. Rates are fixed by city ordinance and do not vary among companies.

Uber and Lyft operate in Antioch.

Stay safe

Exercise caution in downtown during nighttime, its dimly lit and the homeless are numerous in that area. As with any city just use smart judgement and you should be safe.

Go next

In the East Bay

• Mount Diablo
• Martinez
• Walnut Creek
• Berkeley

Further afield

• Go to San Francisco, which is only about 40 minutes away.
• Sacramento is also pretty close, about 45 minutes away.