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The following is a list of
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, more commonly known simply as the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), is a special district responsible for public transit services, congestion management, specific highway improvement project ...
bus routes. Route numbers are classified as follows: * Lines 1-99 are standard local bus routes, which feature many, closely spaced stops. These lines serve a smaller area, such as connecting transit centers to the surrounding community or Downtown San Jose to nearby neighborhoods. * Lines 100-199 are express services and primarily operate during peak periods only. These lines operate express mainly on freeways and provide fewer stops than local services, mainly at train stations and major transfer points in Santa Clara County. These also charge higher fares than standard bus routes. * Lines 200-299 are school services that operate limited service to several area high schools. * Lines 500-599 are limited stop "Rapid" branded routes. * Lines 800-899 are commuter rail shuttles that operate mainly during peak periods. These lines operate of Great America ACE/Amtrak Station and serve nearby high-tech businesses and industrial parks. * Lines 900-999 are intercity routes operated in conjunction with other agencies. VTA embarked on a large network redesign that was implemented on December 28, 2019. This eliminated the DASH shuttle, Almaden Light Rail shuttle, limited-branded bus service, community bus service, and many express routes but established a core frequent network and increased service on numerous local bus routes. In , VTA's bus system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .


Regular bus service

Santa Clara VTA operates numerous bus lines that operate on most major thoroughfares throughout Santa Clara County. Several of these lines converge at key transfer points, including Downtown San Jose, several Caltrain stations between Palo Alto and Gilroy, and most light rail stations. Some lines also provide connecting services to other transit agencies, including
AC Transit AC Transit (Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District) is an Oakland-based public transit agency serving the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. AC Transit also operates "Transbay" ro ...
,
Dumbarton Express Dumbarton Express is a regional public transit service in the San Francisco Bay Area connecting Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties via the Dumbarton Bridge, the system's namesake. The bus service is funded by a consortium of five tra ...
, Monterey-Salinas Transit, and
SamTrans SamTrans (stylized as samTrans; officially the San Mateo County Transit District) is a public transport agency in and around San Mateo, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It provides bus service throughout San Mateo County and into porti ...
. Included in this listing are VTA's limited-stop Rapid services, as those levy the same cash fares as regular local buses.


Rapid bus service

Currently, the VTA operates one arterial rapid transit line, a precursor to
Bus Rapid Transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
(BRT) service, the Rapid 522'

This service operates along one of Santa Clara County's major commercial corridors, California State Route 82, El Camino Real, between Palo Alto and East San Jose. It stops at 30 intersections and transit centers that provide timed and extensive connections to other bus and light rail services, a far fewer number of stops than line 22 that operates on the same corridor. On January 6, 2014, VTA expanded the Rapid 522 hours on weekdays and Saturdays to end at approximately 10:30 pm while introducing a new Sunday schedule operating between 9 am and 6 pm. This service operates daily; for service outside of operating hours, use Line 22. Similar to the BRT systems for which it is a precursor, Rapid Line 522 utilizes queue-jump lanes, traffic signal priority, and enhanced bus stop designs that provide riders with quicker service to and from major attractions in Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, and San Jose. VTA started construction in March 2014 on the Santa Clara-Alum Rock Bus Rapid Transit Projec

which will upgrade the section of the Rapid 522 between Eastridge Transit Center and the
SAP Center at San Jose The SAP Center at San Jose (originally known as San Jose Arena and the HP Pavilion at San Jose) is an indoor arena located in San Jose, California. Its primary tenant is the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League, for which the arena has ...
to BRT service. The new BRT service will feature special hybrid vehicles with Wi-Fi on board, enhanced stations, dedicated lanes on Alum Rock, transit signal priority, electronic real-time information message signs, off-board payment and all-door boarding to speed up stops, and service every 10 minutes at peak times. In the future, VTA has plans to upgrade the rest of the Rapid 522 route to BRT service with the El Camino Real Bus Rapid Transit Projec

VTA replaced line 168 with line 568 in October 2021 due to many passenger complaints that line 68 took too long to get between Gilroy and San Jose. Line 568 is a weekday service that has fewer stops than line 68 with quicker travel times between Gilroy and San Jose, but utilizes Monterey Road rather than using local freeways like most Express routes except for most of Morgan Hill.VTA Expans Transit Access to South Santa Clara County
San Jose Spotlight.


Special bus services


Express routes

VTA's Express Bus routes operate along many of Santa Clara County's freeways, including California State Route 85, Highway 85, Highway 237, Interstate 280 and
U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...
. The buses used on these lines are suburban-style Gillig low-floor buses that have WiFi capability on board. These services mainly operate during weekday peak periods only, operating in the typical commute direction. Due to the large subsidy per rider to operate express bus routes, VTA eliminated most express bus routes in the December 28, 2019 network redesign, except for those serving the Stanford Industrial Park, which funded the cost of operating the service. Fares are higher than standard bus fares.


School tripper routes

VTA operates a collection of routes timed specifically to serve students at local high schools. These services only operate around bell times when schools are in session.


ACE (Altamont Corridor Express) shuttles

The VTA, in conjunction with many private entities and high-tech companies, as well as in coordination with
Altamont Corridor Express The Altamont Corridor Express (also known as ACE, formerly Altamont Commuter Express) is a commuter rail service in California, connecting Stockton and San Jose during peak hours only. ACE is named for the Altamont Pass, through which it runs ...
, operates free shuttles to and from various light rail stations and
Great America Station Great America station is a light rail station operated by Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). Great America is served by the Orange and Green light rail lines. Great America is named for the nearby California's Great America the ...
to serve businesses in Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Milpitas, Santa Clara, and San Jose. Passengers can ride these shuttles for free as funding for these services are provided by grants from high-tech companies and business associations based in Santa Clara County, as well as from the
Bay Area Air Quality Management District The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) is a public agency that regulates the stationary sources of air pollution in the nine counties of California's San Francisco Bay Area: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San ...
. These mainly operate weekdays only (except holidays). All shuttles listed below originate from
Great America Station Great America station is a light rail station operated by Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). Great America is served by the Orange and Green light rail lines. Great America is named for the nearby California's Great America the ...
and are operated in coordination with ACE train arrival times in the morning peak and departure times in the afternoon peak. ''For a map of these services, clic
here
'


SCVMC Shuttle


Regional services

The VTA collaborates with other regional agencies that operate into and out of Santa Clara County with inter-agency transfers and commuter benefits. However, these lines do not use VTA's own buses nor levy VTA's bus fares; instead, these are operated by a consortium of operators, in which the agency is a participant, and the consortium sets the fares for such services.


References

{{SFBAtransit
Bus routes A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
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Bus routes A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
Santa Clara VTA bus routes Santa Clara VTA bus routes Santa Clara VTA Santa Clara VTA bus routes
Bus routes A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...