Category: Transit Alerts

Bus Service To This Weekend’s 36th Annual Gilroy Garlic Festival

The 36th annual Gilroy Garlic Festival takes place this weekend at Christmas Hill Park, 7050 Miller Ave., in Gilroy.

This year’s festival features three up and coming country music artists playing at the main stage on Saturday. This is in addition to the multitude of garlic and garlic-based cooking available at the festival this weekend.

Free secure bicycle parking is available on Miller Ave. at the levee (Uvas Parkway). Make sure to bring your own lock.

Believe it or not, there are several transit options available to and from the festival area. For instance, from San Jose Diridon Station and downtown San Jose, catch VTA’s 68 bus line to the end of the line at the Gilroy Transit Center. VTA’s 68 bus line typically runs every 30 minutes on weekends.

Alternately, you can catch Monterey-Salinas Transit’s 55 express bus to Gilroy Transit Center. The bus also stops in Morgan Hill after leaving downtown San Jose. Buses typically leave San Jose Diridon Station at 9:15am and 2:05pm, reaching Gilroy about an hour later depending on traffic on Highway 101. Return buses to San Jose leave Gilroy Caltrain Station at 11:15am and 4:16pm, reaching San Jose Diridon Station about 1 hour later depending on traffic.

At the Gilroy Transit Center, transfer to VTA’s 18 bus line to Gilroy High School at W. 10th and Princevalle Streets. On weekends, the 18 bus runs hourly, with the last bus leaving Gilroy High School for the Transit Center at 4:35pm Saturday, and 4:40pm Sunday.

Finally, walk about 3/4 mile along West 10th Street (which becomes Uvas Parkway at the curve) and make a left on Miller, where the Festival grounds and entrance are located.

Make sure to allow at least 30 minutes extra time to and from Gilroy on the buses, as crowds enter and leave the Garlic Festival this weekend.

Enjoy the Gilroy Garlic Festival this weekend and stay safe!

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users

VTA Quarterly Bus Service Changes Effective Today

Our group has learned that the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has made its quarterly bus service changes effective today (July 7).

Key amongst the bus service changes:

  • On the 122 express bus line between South San Jose and Lockheed in Sunnyvale, one morning trip and one afternoon trip have been dropped due to low ridership.
  • On July 12, Saturday service will be introduced on the 323 limited stop bus line between downtown San Jose and De Anza College. The expanded service will run every 15 minutes from 9am to 6pm in both directions.
  • For the 22, 23 and 522 Rapid bus lines, running times along Santa Clara Street and Alum Rock Avenue in San Jose will be adjusted. This time adjustment is to account for VTA constructing the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project along both streets for the next few months.
  • At VTA’s bus stop on North First and Santa Clara Street in San Jose, the boarding location for the 181 express bus and the 72, 73 & 323 bus lines, will swap places. VTA is performing this bus stop swap to reduce congestion from riders boarding and leaving buses at these stops.

Make sure to check out how your bus line is affected by VTA’s quarterly bus service changes today. Happy riding, respect each other, and stay safe out there.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users

Happy Independence Day 2014!

4th of july flag

The Silicon Valley Transit Users wishes everyone a happy, safe, and sane July 4.

On Friday, all Silicon Valley transit agencies like Caltrain, VTA, and SamTrans will be running on a Sunday/Holiday schedule. Also, all BART trains will also run a Sunday/Holiday schedule on Friday.

Regular Saturday service will resume for the transit agencies mentioned above on Saturday, July 5.

Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) trains between San Jose and Stockton will NOT run on Friday. ACE train service resumes Monday morning, July 7.

Fire At Former KNTV Studios Affects Three VTA Bus Lines

An explosion and fire at the former KNTV television studios at Park and Montgomery occurred about an hour ago. As of 4:30pm, the San Jose Fire Department declared it a “five-alarm” fire.

Three (3) bus lines – VTA’s 64 and 65 bus lines, and the Highway 17 Express bus line – all run past and stop at the former studios. The explosion and resulting fire has also caused rerouting and delays on these bus lines as firefighters put out the blaze.

Two other notes: the fire is yards away from VTA light rail and railroad tracks used by Caltrain, Amtrak and Union Pacific freight. No word yet on whether or not rail services have been affected. The blaze is also across Park Avenue from the San Jose Fire Department’s training headquarters on Montgomery.

Group member David Lytton of Campbell took this photo after witnessing the explosion and resulting smoke before the blaze.

Follow @svtransitupdts for additional news on how transit info is affected by the fire, and when normal service will be restored.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users

Happy Thanksgiving!

On behalf of the Silicon Valley Transit Users, I everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving day and long weekend.

All Silicon Valley bus and train services are running on a Sunday schedule on Thanksgiving Day (Thursday). This includes Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) bus and light rail trains, Caltrain, and the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) train service between Stockton and San Jose.

All services are expected to return to normal service on Monday.

Follow @svtransitupdts on Twitter for all Silicon Valley public transit updates this long weekend.

Please stay safe and sane this weekend!

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users