Directions to ISI

The Information Sciences Institute (ISI) is located off campus in the beautiful oceanside area of Marina del Rey, CA (point A). It is about 30 minute drive west of the USC campus (B), 10 minute drive from LAX (C), 20 minute drive from Santa Monica (D), and 2 minute walk from the waterfront.

[From USC by shuttle] [by car] [by bus] [by bike]
[From LAX] [From the Pacific]

From USC Campus by shuttle

The easiest (but not necessarily the most reliable) way of getting to ISI from the USC campus is via USC shuttle for Marina del Rey.

The current schedule for school year 2011-2012 (starting 8/22/2011) is:

Depart USC
8:00am, 9:30am, 12:00pm, 1:30pm, 4:00pm, 5:30pm

Depart ISI
8:45am, 10:15am, 12:45pm, 2:15pm, 4:45pm, 6:15pm

However, during summer only the bold faced times are in service.

Pick up on Watt Way between Downey Way (== 36th Place) and 37th Street, just outside the Vivian Hall (VHE) near the big Viterbi School sign. The street address (for Google maps) is approximately 3675 Watt Way, Los Angeles.

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Vivian Hall shuttle station

Note that the shuttle is not 100% reliable, and is often late. If you can't find it, call USC Transportation immediately at 213-740-3575 (press 0).

Time: 25-40 minutes (medium variance on the shuttle arrival time)

From USC Campus by car

Take (1) Exposition (west), (2) bear left to Rodeo (west), (3) turn left at La Cienega (south), (4) right on Slauson (west), and (5) left on CA-90 Marina freeway (west) all the way to the end; (6) turn left on CA-1 Lincoln (south), and (7) finally turn right into the parking lot on Lincoln.

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Time: 25 minutes (low variance).

Note: Google Maps would tell you to take I-10/I-405 freeways, but don't trust it this time: 405 and 10 are two of the most congested freeways in the U.S. In the best case (around noon) you might be able to save 3 minutes, but the variance is so high that the expected latency is much worse. A colleague of mine managed to finish a book in a month while driving on 405. I myself learned Spanish and Japanese while driving in L.A. thanks to the Pimsleur CDs (check your local libraries), and finished many audiobooks from the Teaching Company.

From USC Campus by public transportation

Theoretically possible, but virtually infeasible. Public transportation in much of L.A. (and almost the whole U.S.) is nothing but a joke. Notable exceptions include the Santa Monica buslines (big blue bus).

Take 754 from Exposition and Vermont (SW corner of campus) south to Slauson, and transfer to 108/358 west to Mindanao/Admiralty (S corner of ISI).

Time: 1.5-3 hours (high variance).

From USC Campus by bike

Take Exposition (west) to Syd Kronenthal Park at National/Jefferson (35 minutes) and continue on the Ballona Creek bikepath (southwest) to the McConnell exit (30 minutes). Follow McConnell - Bonaparte - Glencoe - Mindanao (10 minutes).

Note:

The Ballona Creek bikepath is one of the two main bikepaths on the westside of L.A.; the other being on the beach from Pacific Palisades all the way to Palos Verdes. The two paths intersect near ISI, where the former bisects the latter.
Do not take the Lincoln (CA-1) exit from the Ballona Creek (as Google Maps would tell you to)! Lincoln (CA-1) is an expressway there and it is extremely dangerous to bike on it!

Time: 75 minutes (no variance).

From LAX

From the Pacific Ocean

Swim/kayak into the main channel of Marina del Rey; head north and land at the Burton Chace Park. Or if you feel exhausted swimming/kayaking, try catch a water bus from (7) or (1) and drop off at the Park (2).

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Last modified: Thu Aug 11 15:25:16 PDT 2011