Is there an easy way to take public transportation from San Jose to Oakland? (San Francisco: home)

[herrerafamily]

I am moving back to the Bay Area....San Jose. I was born and raised in San Jose but moved to the central valley nearly 10 years ago! Well anyways, I am not used to driving in heavy traffic anymore and I will be residing in San Jose - Santa Teresa area and need to commute to work in Oakland (for the county offices) Is there anyway possible I can get public transportation? Bart, Amtrak, lightrail???? I would rather not drive in that traffic, if I have to, I will and what would the traffic be like if I did drive 8 am from San Jose to Oakland in commuter traffic? How long would it take me to get there in that traffic? Thanks so much for your help!

[krudmonk]

There's a bus from downtown to Fremont BART, but even that's not too convenient. Adding a light rail trip on top of it isn't really practical. I think you're out of luck.

The traffic goes mostly the opposite direction (valley jobs) in the morning, but once you hit around Hayward or San Lorenzo, people going to Oakland and San Francisco start to back up and things are pretty slow.

[Lifeshadower]

San Jose to Oakland along 880 usually takes 40-45 minutes when there is no traffic, so expect at least 1-2 hours when there is traffic. However, public transportation may actually take longer depending on where in Oakland you are going, if its near a BART station or not.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...6,1.766052&z=9

You could either take Caltrain up to the Milbrae BART station, and take BART from there to Oakland (but this will be considerably expensive), or you could take the VTA Express Bus Line 180 or 181 from Downtown San Jose to Fremont BART, and catch BART from there up to Oakland. Be advised that either way, you're looking at 1.5-2 hours on PT, assuming that everything is on time

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...F8&z=9&start=0

Passes are available for both the VTA and BART, so this should reduce some costs for public transportation. Good luck!

http://www.vta.org/
http://bart.gov/

[humboldtrat]

Amtrak's Capitol Corridor goes between San Jose and Oakland CCJPA :: Home :: Stations (http://www.capitolcorridor.org/home/stations.php - broken link)

[herrerafamily]

Thanks for all your replies, I really appreciate it!

[sonarrat]

Yep, Capitol Corridor is probably the best way.. the downtown Oakland Amtrak stop is just a few blocks from the county offices. You can park in San Jose or at Fremont-Centerville.