How is the public transportation in San Jose, California?

Question

Can you please tell me about it?

Thank You everybody.

Answer 1

You can get around, but it is very time consuming. Only a few popular bus routes run every 10 or 15 minutes. The rest run once a half hour or worse. Rarely can you get anywhere without taking at least 1 bus transfer and waiting that half hour.

They have a few light rail routes, but they didn't plan them well and they don't really go where many people need them to go.

Answer 2

The bus & light rail system is called VTA for valley transportation authority. They do have a large service area but many of their routes have infrequent schedules. On major streets a few lines have really great service like the 22 for example which runs between San Jose and Palo Alto/Menlo Park and even has a limited stop variation. The fares are a bit high compared to other areas as well at $4 for a day pass.Additionally, the Cal-Train regional rail system provides great service along the Gilroy, San Jose, San Francisco corridor. The good thing about San Jose is the overall bay area transit service which can take you anywhere you want to go from Santa Cruz or Monterey in the south to Santa Rosa or Sacramento in the north or even Stockton or Modesto in the central valley. Good Luck in your travels!

Answer 3

http://www.vta.org/

Mehhh, it's "medium". It's not useless like Detroit transit, but it's not "goes everywhere and so frequent you don't bother carrying a schedule" like San Francisco transit.

A LOT of people commute to work on transit, but they don't go anywhere else on it. Off-hours, it's mainly the poor and people who can't drive (drunk drivers, disabled etc.) If you ask an average person how to get somewhere on transit, they'll have no idea whatsoever. If you're there on business, people will think you're lame for not having a car.

It's a lot better in downtown San Jose or around the college, a student could live car-free... but still it's nothing like San Francisco.

Buses run mostly 5am-7pm sort of thing, 7 days. Some run til midnight and there's a few lines run 24hrs.

Frankly, I wouldn't try to live down there without a car, unless I was very sure about the transit options to my destinations, and then very carefully chose where I was going to live based on transit routes and frequency to my destinations. You can't just pick a random place in the valley and expect to have good transit. (that's true anywhere but here especially, because it's so spread out.)

Answer 4

These are the main public transportation providers in San Jose:

1) VTA - Valley Transportation Authority - They run a large bus network and a light rail network that spans the entire county (from Palo Alto to Gilroy). Most accounts are that VTA's network is sub-par. The coverage of the system is good (there's very few places that aren't within walking distance of a bus or light rail stop), but the route efficiency and frequency is not well managed. The light rail system is terrible compared with similar systems in other cities. Basically, it's usable, but requires a lot of time and patience. On the plus side though, the buses and light rail are usually on-time.

2) Caltrain - this commuter rail line goes from San Jose to San Francisco, with very limited service south into Gilroy on weekdays. This is a very well-managed transit operator, and has done a lot in the past few years to improve their service. Their "Baby Bullet" trains are extremely popular. The baby bulletts are express trains that run from San Jose to San Francisco with only a handful of stops in between. They are almost always faster than driving. The only downside is that the Baby Bullets only run during commute hours. Caltrain connects with VTA and BART very well with cross-platform transfers at several of its stations. Caltrain's on-time performance is usually very good.

3) Amtrak Capitol Trains - these trains run between San Jose, north through the East Bay and onto Sacramento. They run almost all day long and there is a limited weekend schedule. They are OK, not great, not too bad. They tend to be on the pricey side, and they tend to run behind schedule.

4) ACE Train - these trains run only during weekday commute hours. Essentially, they run between the Stockton/Tracy area to San Jose. They appear to be very popular, but they definately have a very targeted customer base.

5) Amtrak Coast Starlight - fairly useless, unless you enjoy train rides. This train stops twice per day in San Jose (one train northbound, the other southbound) and runs between Seattle and Los Angeles. It's slow, the on-time performance is abysmal, and it is very expensive.

6) Highway 17 Express - a fairly well run bus route between downtown San Jose and Santa Cruz. It's a bit on the expensive side as bus rides go, but it's fast. This bus is fairlyh popular with SJSU students.

7) Monterey Salinas Transit - an express bus that runs between San Jose and the Monterey area. This route is brand new, so I don't know much about how well it runs, but the busses appear to come rather frequently.

8) DASH - the Downtown Area Shuttle - this is a free shuttle bus that connects San Jose Diridon station with the rest of Downtwon San Jose. A very good option if you are going downtown.

9) BART - although BART does not directly service San Jose, many people connect to BART (either by taking Caltrain to Millbrae or the VTA 180 Express bus to Fremont). BART does a pretty good job in covering the rest of the Bay Area. They are usually on-time, and are fairly decent as far as speed. There are numerous BART stations in Oakland an San Francisco.

Answer 5

Havent been there in a few years.. but last I remember it sux.. get a rental car is my advice...