The purpose of this guide is to list Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) bus and light rail service to colleges and universities throughout Santa Clara County. In some cases, information about connecting local and regional bus and rail service to these campuses in included.
Like other transit guides here, this guide is for the good of informing the general public. Neither VTA nor any college or university mentioned here had any involvement with the creation or maintenance of this guide.
All colleges and universities mentioned are in alphabetical order. Make sure to check the schedule of the buses and/or trains you need to ride to your school to help plan your trip.
De Anza College (Cupertino)
De Anza College is located at 21250 Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino. The campus is just east of Highway 85 at the Stevens Creek Boulevard exit.
De Anza College is also home to the Flint Center for Performing Arts. The Center is located on Stevens Creek Boulevard and Mary Avenue, just behind Staff Lot J.
Seven (7) VTA bus lines serve the De Anza College campus – three of which from San Jose (including a limited-stop bus line on weekdays). Other VTA bus lines serve De Anza from areas like Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, and even Saratoga.
This De Anza campus map (Adobe PDF) will give you an idea of the bus stops in relative location to the rest of the De Anza Campus. Note that the map refers to bus stops as “County Transit” bus stops.
Stevens Creek Boulevard (North side of Campus)
- Stevens Creek and Mary (Northwest corner) – 51 bus northbound to Moffett Park (NASA Ames)
- Campus Drive near Staff Lot A – terminus (end of the line) for the 23 bus line returning to Alum Rock in eastern San Jose
- Stevens Creek and N. Stelling Road (Northwest Corner) – last Stevens Creek Blvd. stop for the 23 bus. Alsothe 51 to Moffett Park (NASA Ames) stops here.
- N. Stelling Rd. (Northwest and Northeast corners from Stevens Creek Blvd.) – 53 and 54 bus lines
South Stelling Road (East side of Campus)
- S. Stelling Rd. and Stevens Creek (Southwest corner) – VTA’s 25, 53, 54, and 55 local bus lines stop here. (This is the last stop for the 55 bus line from Great America in Santa Clara.) On weekdays, VTA’s 323 limited stop bus to downtown San Jose starts at this bus stop.
- S. Stelling Rd. and Pepper Tree Lane (at East Entrance of campus) – far side of the East Entrance gate is the VTA bus stop for the 25, 53 and 55 bus lines. Across the street north of Pepper Tree Lane is the stop for the 25 bus to Target on Saitch and Stevens Creek Blvd., and the 53 bus line to the Sunnyvale Caltrain station.
- S. Stelling Rd. and McClellan (Northeast corner) – 25 and 53 bus lines.
In addition, all current De Anza College students are eligible to obtain an “Eco Pass” Clipper card.
Foothill College (Los Altos Hills)
Foothill College is located at 12345 El Monte Road in Los Altos Hills.
Two (2) VTA bus lines serve the Foothill College campus from Mountain View – the 40 (also serving the Shoreline area, most Google buildings, and ending at VTA’s “North Division” bus yard) and 52 (ending at the Downtown Mountain View Transit Center).
Both of the bus lines serve the Foothill campus at three (3) locations along the campus’ Perimeter Road “Loop”:
- At the 2000 building (under the Pedestrian Bridge connecting the Campus Center and Swimming Pool – serves as the final stop for both bus lines)
- Planetarium (across from the Science & Engineering Labs, and in front of the Disability Resource Center)
- Transit Center (across from Lohman Theatre)
Be advised that only the 40 bus line serves the foothill campus on weekends. The 52 bus line only serves the campus Monday thru Friday.
Gavilan College (Gilroy)
Gavilan College is located at 5055 Santa Teresa Boulevard in Gilroy.
VTA’s 18 Community Bus line serves the campus from the Gilroy Transit Center/Caltrain station. The bus stop is located in the northern parking lot (Parking Lot A), between the Cosmetology building and the Theatre on the northwestern area of the campus. There is a bicycle rack near the bus stop area.
On Mondays thru Fridays when college is in session, the campus is also served by San Benito County Transit. One of San Benito County Transit’s “Intercounty” bus lines connects the campus with San Juan Bautista and Hollister.
Mission College (Santa Clara)
Mission College is located at 3000 Mission College Boulevard in Santa Clara. Two VTA bus lines – the 57 and 60 – stop on campus at the western end of Mission College Boulevard. The VTA bus stop is at the top of the Mission College Boulevard loop by Parking Lot E, near the campus Main Building.
The main campus is about a 15 minute walk from the VTA’s Great America light rail station.
San Jose City College (San Jose)
San Jose City College (SJCC) is located at 2100 Moorpark Avenue (off South Bascom Avenue) in San Jose. The campus is right off Interstate 280 at the Bascom Avenue exit.
VTA’s 61 and 62 bus lines stop within one block of the campus on Bascom and Moorpark, on the western side of the campus. VTA’s 65 bus line – connecting SJCC with San Jose Diridon Station, San Jose State University and other downtown San Jose destinations – stops along Leigh Avenue near the sports fields, on the eastern side of the campus. Finally, VTA’s 25 bus line stops one block south of the Sports Fields of the campus, at Fruitdale and Leigh.
San Jose State University (San Jose)
San Jose State University‘s campus is located in downtown San Jose. The campus is bordered by San Salvador Street, S. 4th Street, San Fernando Street, and S. 10th Streets.
San Jose State’s Transportation Solutions department keeps an updated page of VTA bus, light rail and connecting regional bus and rail service to and from the main campus.
Santa Clara University (Santa Clara)
The Santa Clara University campus is located at 500 El Camino Real in Santa Clara. The campus is bordered by El Camino Real, The Alameda, Market Street, Lafayette Street, Benton Street, and Freemont Street.
Five (5) VTA bus lines serve the campus. These include (as of December 8, 2013):
- 10 Airport Shuttle (serving San Jose International Airport and Metro/Airport light rail station)
- 22 Palo Alto – Eastridge
- 32 Santa Clara – San Antonio Shopping Center
- 81 Cupertino Square– Santa Clara – San Jose State University
- 522 Rapid (Palo Alto – Eastridge)
Just northeast of the campus, on El Camino Real and Railroad Avenue, is the Santa Clara Railroad Station. There, the following rail services are available
- ACE (Altamont Corridor Express – weekday peak periods only)
- Amtrak Capitol Corridor
- Caltrain
The VTA’s 32, 60 and 81 bus lines run along the northern and northwestern edges of the campus along Benton Street and Lafayette Street. The VTA’s 22 and 522 Rapid bus lines run along the eastern and southern parts of campus along El Camino Real.
Stanford University (Palo Alto/Stanford)
Stanford University‘s main campus is located in the unincorporated community of Stanford, just off El Camino Real and Galvez Street. The university’s Margurerite shuttle service (free and open to the public) connects campus areas with the Palo Alto Transit Center for Caltrain commuter rail connections to San Francisco and San Jose, as well as VTA, SamTrans, and Dumbarton Express bus connections.
VTA’s 22 bus line has several stops across El Camino Real from the main campus at Sam McDonald, Churchill and Serra streets.
West Valley College (Saratoga)
West Valley College is located at 14000 Fruitvale Avenue in Saratoga. The campus is bounded within Fruitvale Avenue, College Circle, and Allendale Avenue.
Four (4) VTA bus lines serve the campus at a transit center on the northwestern corner of the campus:
- 37 (Community Bus to Capitol Light Rail station)
- 53 (to Sunnyvale Transit Center)
- 57 (to Great America/Levi’s Stadium area)
- 58 (to Alviso)
On weekends and major holidays, only the 57 bus line serves the West Valley College campus area.
two errors:
1) route 40 does not serve foothill college on sunday
2) route 81 goes from Nasa to SJ via De Anza College, not 51!
but this will all be irrelevant once BART is running.
Pat:
Thanks for writing. Those corrections will be made shortly. For at least 2) that will remain to be seen, since BART won’t be going to De Anza nor NASA any time soon.
-eugene