The passengers on these Amtrak Thruway busses seem much more well-mannered (and drivers more friendly) than some of the Greynound videos that I've seen recently :-)
If the new Corridor Study pans out, the best outcome would be several Surfliner runs each day to SLO with coordinated transfers to Mid Coast Corridor trains the rest of the way to Emeryville -- perhaps even a crew change with the train itself continuing without the need to transfer.