Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority |
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is the public transit service of Santa Clara County, California, covering
San Jose and the surrounding Silicon Valley area.
VTA service includes three light rail lines, a number of bus lines, and Paratransit serivice.
Light Rail
The VTA operates trains along 30.5 miles of track, currently consisting of two main lines and a spur line. The Baypointe
station is the only connection between the two main lines.
Route 902: Mountain View — I-880/Milpitas
Runs from Mountain View through Sunnyvale, Santa Clara
and into Milpitas at Interstate 880. It has 19 stops along the way.
On June 24, 2004, an 8.3-mile extension to this line incorporating 8 new stations
opened. The extension is known as the Tasman East/Capitol Light Rail Project and runs from the I-880/Milpitas
station east along Tasman Drive in Milpitas, then into San Jose on Capitol Avenue, continuing southeast. It runs as far as Alum
Rock Avenue. This extension brings service to the Great Mall of Milpitas. A connection to BART on this line is proposed for the Montague station. The total cost of this extension is $448.9 million. Future
additions to this line may include a station at Gay Avenue, pending funding.
Route 901: Baypointe — Santa Teresa
Runs from the Baypointe station to Santa Teresa, almost entirely within San Jose, running through downtown and onto the median
of California State Highway 87 and then onto
the median of Highway 85. There are 26 stops
on this line.
Route 900: Almaden Shuttle
There is a 3-stop spur from the Ohlone/Chynoweth station to Almaden. It receives
little traffic, even though there is an intermediate stop at the Oakridge Shopping Mall.
Under Construction: Vasona Extension
The Vasona extension is an 11-stop 6.8-mile addition to the VTA network. It will connect to the Baypoint — Santa Teresa
line (Route 900) in downtown San Jose and run southwest through Campbell to the Vasona Junction stop at California State Highway 85 in Los Gatos. One of the stops will be at the San Jose Diridon station, providing connections to
Caltrain, Amtrak and Altamont Commuter
Express. The extension is to be completed in two phases, the first, scheduled for completion by January 2006, includes service as far as Winchester Blvd in Campbell. The extension's capital cost is budgeted at $379.9
million, including both phases. Construction began on the first phase in March 2001.
Completion estimates for the second phase are unavailble due to uncertainty of funding.
Connections
The Mountain View and Tamien stations connect with Caltrain. The Lick Mill
station connects with Amtrak and Altamont Commuter
Express.
A connection to BART is planned for the future at the Montague stop. Additonal
connections to Caltrain, Amtrak and
Altamont
Commuter Express are planned for the Vasona extension at the San Jose Diridon station.
Bus Routes
VTA operates 83 bus routes as of June 2004. There are many commuter-based services and connections to VTA light rail service
and Caltrain stations.
Paratransit
Paratransit service is door-to-door shuttle service available to disabled people that meet the requirements of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.
External links
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