Valley Transit Authority was set to implement scheduled changes across its entire light rail and bus system on Dec. 28, posing new headaches for many South Bay commuters and new solutions for others.
As a way to make the changes more palatable and introduce new riders to public transit, the transit system is offering free rides on all VTA bus and light rail lines Dec. 28-31.
Light rail will now have three distinct lines, which will be color-coded, and the new orange line will connect downtown Mountain View to the Milpitas Transit Center. During weekday peak hours, service will be every 15 minutes, and during weekend peak hours, trains will run every 20 minutes.
The orange line will run from Alum Rock to Mountain View.
The blue line will run from Santa Teresa to Baypointe.
The green line will run from Winchester to Old Ironsides.
Other changes to light rail include:
- The light rail segment from Ohlone/Chynoweth to Oakridge will be discontinued and will now be served by Route 64a.
- I-880/Milpitas station renamed Alder Station
- Montague Station renamed Milpitas Station
- New Route 60 will serve the San Jose Airport, Valley Fair/Santana Row, downtown Campbell and Milpitas Transit Center.
- Only passengers boarding from the airport will board Route 60 for free.
Bus routes that have been discontinued or changed:
- Routes 17, 34, 45, 58, 88
- Limited Routes 304, 321, 328 and 330
- Express Buses 120, 140, and 180 will be discontinued.
- Express Bus 181 will continue to operate until BART service opens.
A new Frequent Bus Network will operate every 15 minutes or better on weekdays between 6:30am and 6:30pm and every 15 to 30 minutes on weekends:
Rapid 500 San Jose Diridon Station to Downtown San Jose
Rapid 522 Palo Alto Transit Center to Eastridge Transit Center
Rapid 523 Lockheed Martin Transit Ctr to Berryessa Transit Ctr
Route 22 Palo Alto Transit Center to Eastridge Transit Center
Route 23 De Anza College to Alum Rock Transit Center
Route 25 De Anza College to Alum Rock Transit Center
Route 26 West Valley College to Eastridge Transit Center
Route 57 Old Ironsides Station to West Valley College
Route 60 Milpitas Transit Center to Winchester Transit Center
Route 61 Good Samaritan Hospital to Sierra & Piedmont (via King/Mabury)
Route 64 Almaden & Crown to McKee & White
Route 66 Kaiser San Jose to Milpitas/Dixon Landing Road
Route 68 Gilroy Transit Center to San Jose Diridon Station
Route 70 Eastridge Transit Center to Milpitas Transit Center
Route 72 Senter & Monterey to Downtown San Jose
Route 73 Monterey & Branham to Downtown San Jose
Route 77 Eastridge Transit Center to Milpitas Transit Center
Improved Bus Routes
Route 20 Sunnyvale Caltrain Station to Milpitas Transit Center; 15-minute
frequency during commute periods and 30-minute frequency in
midday.
Route 21 Stanford Shopping Center to Santa Clara Caltrain station; a
merger of Routes 32 and 35 into a single route.
Route 51 Moffett Field to West Valley College; hourly service on weekdays.
Route 56 Lockheed Martin Transit Center to Tamien Station; 30-minute
service on weekdays and weekends.
Route 59 Old Ironsides Station to Valley Fair Transit Center; 30-minute
frequency on weekdays and hourly on weekends.
For more details, visit vta.org.
