Tag: Palo Alto

Super Bowl LVIII Local Party Transit Guide

Super Bowl LVIII logo with San Francisco and Kansas City team logos on the left and right, respectively.
Image courtesy foxsports.com

The stage is set for Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII.  Can’t make it to the rematch of the Big Game between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs?  There are local parties at bars, clubs, and restaurants throughout Santa Clara County – and beyond. Read on for more details.

Soccer Weekend In Silicon Valley

Courtesy: San Jose Earthquakes

It’s that time of year again for soccer fans in Silicon Valley. As we celebrate Independence Day this coming Tuesday, the California Clasico soccer match between the San Jose Earthquakes and Los Angeles Galaxy is set for Saturday night at 7pm at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto. Fireworks at the stadium area will follow after the game ends.

Caltrain from San Francisco, the Peninsula, and San Jose is your best bet to and from the festivities. Our transit guide to Earthquakes soccer matches shows you how to ride Caltrain to beat traffic and parking woes at Stanford for the game. Our guide also shows you how San Mateo County Transit (SamTrans)’ ECR bus line and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) 22 local and 522 Rapid bus lines are a short walk to and from Stanford Stadium.

This year, Caltrain will provide charter train service to and from Stanford Stadium. Read here to learn how fans going to and from the game can ride the charter train.

More professional soccer in Silicon Valley will be played the day after. On Sunday, VTA will provide special bus and light rail service for the CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer doubleheader at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, starting at 4pm. The first game features Jamaica vs. St. Kitts & Nevins; the second game immediately afterward features Mexico vs. Qatar. Read here to learn more details on that special service.

More transit news will be posted here tomorrow.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users

TAKE ACTION! Ensure Public Transit Stays In the State Budget Proposal

Riders boarding Caltrain in Mountain View station. Front of the train is on the right, with its lights on. Passengers boarding and alighting are on the left.
Riders boarding Caltrain in Mountain View.

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s latest state budget proposal cuts funding for public transit. If passed into law in June, it would result in fare hikes and service reductions for many transit agencies throughout California. This as several key Bay Area transit agencies like Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Caltrain struggle to regain pre-COVID pandemic ridership. This also occurs as many public transit agencies are running out of federal COVID relief funding to run their buses and trains.

Our group is part of a coalition to have the California State Legislature pass “gap” funding in the State Budget until public transit agencies pass their own operations funding means.

Read more on what’s going on, and how YOU can get involved.

TAKE ACTION! How YOU Can Support VTA’s Service Increase Proposal

Several people are seated aboard a VTA bus moving within the City of San Jose.  Seats have grey backs. Camera faces front of bus.
Several people are seated aboard a VTA bus.

Yes, you read that correctly. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has just formalized a proposal to radically increase bus and light rail service in Santa Clara County. That proposal will start to go thru various committees at VTA starting this week.

Fellow public transit advocate Monica Mallon informs us that VTA’s “Visionary Network” proposal envisions an 83% increase in bus and light rail service throughout Santa Clara County. This would take place over the next few years, should the proposal be approved by the VTA’s Board of Directors at their June 1 meeting. Read Monica’s blog for details.

Here’s more on VTA’s service increase proposal, how transit riders will benefit, and how YOU can help make it happen.

April Showers (Of Service Increases)

Passengers boarding a white and blue VTA 68 bus heading to Gilroy, in downtown San Jose.
People boarding VTA’s 68 bus in downtown San Jose.

On April 24, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) made several service changes to increase bus and light rail service throughout Santa Clara County. Read more about these changes here.

Key notes on the April 24 service changes:

  • Going to the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill? The 568 Rapid bus no longer serves the Morgan Hill Caltrain station. Instead the bus will stay on Monterey Hwy. thru downtown Morgan Hill. The stop now shares the 68’s bus stop on Monterey/3rd, a 10 minute walk to the Courthouse on 301 Diana Ave.
  • On weekends, the 27 bus no longer serves downtown Los Gatos due to area traffic and resulting delays. Those normally taking the bus to downtown Los Gatos. Bus stops for downtown Los Gatos on weekends will be Santa Cruz/Los Gatos-Saratoga (EB to Kaiser SJ), and Los Gatos-Saratoga/University (WB to Winchester LRT station).
  • Also, VTA still does not have enough light rail operators to run light rail at 15-minute frequencies on weekends. This will change as bus drivers apply to become light rail operators throughout the year. VTA is still hiring bus operators; here’s how to apply for a bus operator job.

What are your thoughts and feelings on today’s service increases? Please comment and suggest below.

More later this week. Meanwhile, have a nice day and stay safe.

Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users