Can I make do without a car? (San Jose, Santa Clara: rent, purchasing)

[canadian_wanderer]

I'm coming to San Jose for 2 months for work. Originally I was hoping to make do without a car but the more I read about public transit the more I think I should just break down and rent one. I'll be based in South San Jose but living downtown so would I be going against rush hour traffic? Also is the light rail really as slow as everyone says? It seems it only ever comes every 15 minutes and a lot of the reviews I've read say it takes forever to get anywhere on it. Also I'm hearing mixed reviews on how safe it feels. As a baseline I've used public transit in a few cities around the world (Rome, London, Boston, Montreal) and have always felt safe on them. How does the light rail compare?

[ccm123]

Your commute from DT San Jose to South San Jose is a "reverse commute" (against traffic) and should be very light.
A car will usually be more efficient than the light rail (VTA) and the light rail is pretty safe, from my experiences.

[GioLM]

Where in South SJ is an important question. I take the light rail from downtown to ssj all the time, it's really not a big deal and it only chugs slowly through the downtown core. Safety is the same in any orher large US city public transit system, just be smart. From the Santa Clara St station to Ohlone/Chynoweth for example it takes between 15 and 20 minutes...and yes it only shows up every 15 mins, but I still see it as better than driving and dealing with the hassles of a car, and people exaggerate the negatives with VTA.

[bobby_guz_man]

Short answer, going by your commute situation, is YES.

I also suggest purchasing a cheap, working mountain bike once you get here, and sell it once you are done with your 2-month stay.

As a commuter who takes light rail from SSJ into Downtown for the last year or so (except for this winter, for obvious reasons, LOL I'm a wuss, I know!), I can say that you CAN make do without a car, AS LONG AS you plan accordingly. Downtown to SSJ is one of the primary public transit corridors, and it works quite well.

You need to keep track of lightrail times and be on time. You also want a bike to do the "last-mile" commute. If you're working from the tech zone in the SSJ by Great Oaks/San Ignacio, then the light rail will drop into Del Oro very close to Great Oaks/San Ignacio. If you're working in the tech zone by Bernal/Silicon Valley Road, then it will be 1-2 miles away from Del Oro, so you will definitely need a bike.

If the lightrail shuts down for some reason, then you can go the alternative route by taking 87 Bikeway from Downtown to SSJ, and make your way into the tech zones in SSJ via Santa Teresa Road. It will take about 1.5 hours each way for that commute. But I have never had any lightrail shutdown so far, so 99.9999999% it won't be a problem for you.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

"Only" every 15 minutes????

Wow. That's bad? When I had to take public transit, in many cities in many states and even other countries, I never experienced buses ever coming any more often than that, and in my experience, if they came even every 1/2 hour that was great.

[bobby_guz_man]

Well, it does feel like "15 minutes" once you start making it an actual commute instead of just a visit/joyride Also, the lightrail times vary--peak hours are about 10 minutes between each train, and off-peak are about 20-25 minutes.

[treedroppings]

You can also take the Bus. The 68 goes down Monterey Rd, then switches to Santa Teresa at Cottle Rd, winds up back at Monterey rd to take you as far as to the Gilroy transportation hub, if you so desire.


Every 15-30-60 minutes. here is a link: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority