CPMC Van Ness ↔ SFO.

The patient drop-off at CPMC's Van Ness campus isn't on Van Ness at all. You enter from Geary Street and exit onto Post, and the door you arrive at puts you into the building on the second floor. It's a sensible design once you know it and a confusing one if you don't — plenty of drivers stop on Van Ness Avenue itself, which leaves you walking round the block.

We use the Geary Street approach. The underground garage, if someone in your group is driving, holds a few hundred cars and is entered from Geary or Cedar, with the Post Street entrance sitting between Franklin and Van Ness. Valet is available at the campus. From SFO it's about 14 miles: 25 minutes when US-101 is moving, up to 50 when it isn't, at a flat $65 either direction.

This is Sutter's main San Francisco hospital — the newest of the city's big ones and the one that pulls the most patients in from outside the city for specialist and surgical care. If you're having a procedure here, the hospital will tell you two things: don't drive yourself home, and bring someone.

The ride home is the part people underestimate. You'll be slower than usual, possibly sore, and in no condition to arrange a curb pickup or watch a price climb while a nurse finishes your discharge. Book ahead and text us when you're actually walking out — discharge times slip constantly, and leaving the return open costs nothing. Drivers take luggage and mobility aids and won't rush you into the car.

Sutter CPMC offers fertility care including IVF, and this stretch of Van Ness has become something of a cluster — Spring Fertility sits a block away at Daniel Burnham Court, off the same corridor. If you're coming for a cycle rather than an admission, check which address is on your letter first; they're close enough to confuse and far enough apart to matter at 7:30 in the morning.

Either way the fare is identical, because anywhere inside San Francisco is the same flat city rate. Monitoring mornings, procedure days and hospital visits all price the same.

Booking for someone else is normal here — a family member organizing a parent's surgery trip, or an assistant arranging travel for someone flying in to consult. Book with your own details, put the rider's name and mobile number in the notes, and the driver contacts them directly. The confirmation and receipt come to you.

Staying in the city around the appointment? Our hotel guide covers the downtown and Nob Hill options a short ride from Van Ness, and downtown San Francisco rides price at the same flat $65.