Background
This is a quick guide assembled to show Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) buses that run as close to the light rail system as possible. This is to be consulted with whenever there is an outage to VTA light rail, for any reason.
Information is based on the December 2019 VTA transit service map.
Green Line (Winchester to Downtown San Jose)
From Winchester light rail station, take any northbound 60 bus (Milpitas BART via Airport) to Winchester/Stevens Creek (Valley Fair). From there, transfer to the 523 Rapid bus (Berryessa BART) to Downtown San Jose. Reverse this travel when going from Downtown San Jose southbound to Winchester station in Campbell.
Downtown Campbell – Get off the 60 bus at Winchester/Campbell, then walk about 3 blocks.
Hamilton and Bascom – Get off the 60 bus at Winchester/Hamilton, then walk four blocks. For Bascom, keep walking along Hamilton to Bascom, turn left on Bascom, then walk ~1/2 mile to Southwest Expressway. Turn right on Southwest Expressway then walk 1/4 mile. The station will be on your left.
Fruitdale and Race – From the 523 Rapid bus stop at San Carlos/Race in San Jose, transfer to the 64B (Almaden/Camden bound) bus line.
Blue Line (Downtown San Jose to Ohlone-Chynoweth to Santa Teresa)
Two (2) VTA bus lines parallel most of light rail south of downtown San Jose – the 64A, 66 and 68 bus lines.
From about Children’s Discovery to Ohlone-Chynoweth, the 64A (McKee/White <> Ohlone-Chynoweth light rail station) bus line parallels VTA light rail along Bird, Coe, Lincoln, and Almaden Expressway. Also, the 64A bus directly serves Ohlone-Chynoweth station.
From Convention Center station, the more frequent 66 (Milpitas <> Kaiser San Jose) and 68 (San Jose Diridon <> Gilroy) bus lines run along S. 1st Street and Monterey Highway to just after Senter. The 66 directly stops at the Snell light rail station, ending at Kaiser San Jose. The 68 bus line directly serves the Cottle and Santa Teresa light rail stations.
64A
Virginia – get off the 64A at Bird/W. Virginia, then walk 1/2 mile to the station.
Tamien – at Lincoln/Willow in San Jose, transfer to the 25 (Alum Rock) bus line and get off at the Tamien station bus stop.
Curtner – at Lincoln/Curtner, transfer to the 26 (Eastridge) bus line and get off at Curter station bus stop.
Capitol – at Foxworthy, transfer to the 37 (Capitol Station) bus line and get off at the Capitol station bus stop.
Branham – at Branham Lane, get off the 64A bus then walk 3/4 mile to Branham station.
Ohlone-Chynoweth – directly served by the 64A bus line.
66/68
Virginia or Tamien – at Willow, transfer to the 25 bus line, which directly serves Tamien station. For Virginia, get off at W. Virginia then walk several blocks to the station.
Curtner – at Monterey/Curtner, transfer to the 26 bus line (Westgate/West Valley College).
Capitol – at Monterey/Capitol Expressway, transfer to the 71 (Capitol Station) bus line
Blossom Hill – Take the 66 (Kaiser San Jose) bus to Blossom Hill Road. Then, transfer to the 27 (Winchester light rail station) bus, and get off at the Blossom Hill station.
Snell – directly served by the 66 bus line
Cottle and Santa Teresa – directly served by the 68 bus lines
Orange Line (Alum Rock to Milpitas Transit Center up to Alder)
The 71 bus line (Capitol Station to Milpitas Transit Center) parallels VTA light rail between the Milpitas Transit Center and Alum Rock stations via Montague Expressway, Piedmont, and White Roads in San Jose.
Alum Rock – take any Valley Medical Center or De Anza College-bound 25 bus to Alum Rock/White, then transfer to a Milpitas-bound 71 bus.
McKee – take any McKee/White-bound 64A or 64B bus to the end of the line, then transfer to a Milpitas-bound 71 bus.
Penitentia Creek – walk 1.2 miles along Penitentia Creek Road to Piedmont. At Piedmont, turn left to go to Noble. Take any Milpitas-bound 71 bus at the Piedmont/Noble bus stop.
Berryessa – take any 61 bus going to Sierra/Piedmont, then transfer to a Milpitas-bound 71 bus from there.
Hostetter – take any Milpitas Transit Center-bound 70 bus from the station to Milpitas Transit Center.
Cropley – walk 3/4 mile to the Milpitas Transit Center.
Great Mall – walk 3/4 mile from the Milpitas Transit Center. Or, ride the 44 bus from the Milpitas Transit Center.
Alder – from Milpitas Transit Center, take the 44 bus line to the Alder light rail station.
Orange Line (Mountain View to Old Ironsides)
The Mountain View light rail station is nearly 1 mile north of El Camino Real and the 22/522 Rapid bus lines. The station is also served by Caltrain. If you normally go to downtown San Jose from Mountain View, consider taking the 22 or 522 Rapid bus lines, or Caltrain, if possible.
Lockheed Martin – Take any Eastridge-bound 22 or 522 Rapid from El Camino Real/Castro in Mountain View to El Camino Real/Sunnyvale-Saratoga Rd. in Sunnyvale. From there, any Lockheed-bound 523 Rapid bus to Lockheed-Martin light rail station.
Borregas, Crossman, and Fair Oaks – From Lockheed Martin station, the 56 bus line parallels VTA light rail at these three stations.
Vienna, Reamwood, and Old Ironsides – the 55 bus line parallels light rail at the Reamwood and Old Ironsides stations. It’s a 1/2-mile walk west to the Vienna station, and a 1/2-mile walk to the Great America/Levi’s Stadium stop.
Conclusion
This guide will be revised as information warrants. Please comment below or contact us for any corrections and revisions.
Eugene Bradley
Founder, Silicon Valley Transit Users