Rail service to and within San Jose is provided by Amtrak (the Sacramento–San-Jose Capitol Corridor and the Seattle–Los-Angeles Coast Starlight), Caltrain (commuter rail service between San Francisco and Gilroy), ACE (commuter rail service to Pleasanton and Stockton), and a local light-rail system connecting downtown to Mountain View, Milpitas, Campbell, and Almaden Valley, operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). Historic streetcars from History Park operate on the light rail lines in downtown during holidays. Long-term plans call for BART to be expanded to Santa Clara through Milpitas and San Jose from the current terminal in Fremont. Originally, the extension was to be built all at once, but due to the recession, sales tax revenue has dramatically decreased. Because of this, the extension will be built in two phases. Phase 1 will extend service to a temporary terminal in north-eastern San Jose in 2018 at Berryessa station. Construction has been approved and funded and will begin in Summer 2012 and connect with the Warm Springs extension to southern Fremont. In addition, San Jose will be a major stop on the future California High Speed Rail route between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Diridon Station (formerly Cahill Depot, 65 Cahill Street) is the meeting point of all regional commuter rail service in the area. It was built in 1935 by the Southern Pacific Railroad, and was refurbished in 1994.
VTA also operates many bus routes in San Jose and the surrounding communities, as well as offering paratransit services to local residents. Additionally, the Highway 17 Express bus line connects central San Jose with Santa Cruz.
Air transportationSan Jose is served by Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (IATA: SJC, ICAO: KSJC, FAA LID: SJC), two miles (3 km) northwest of downtown, and by Reid-Hillview Airport of Santa Clara County (ICAO: KRHV, FAA LID: RHV) a general aviation airport located in the eastern part of San Jose. San Jose residents also use San Francisco International Airport (IATA: SFO, ICAO: KSFO, FAA LID: SFO), a major international hub located 35 miles (56 km) to the northwest, and Oakland International Airport (IATA: OAK, ICAO: KOAK, FAA LID: OAK), another major international airport located 35 miles (56 km) to the north. The airport is also near the intersections of three major freeways, U.S. Route 101, Interstate 880, and State Route 87.
Freeways and highwaysThe San Jose area has a large freeway system, including three Interstate freeways and one U.S. Route. It is, however, the largest city in the country not served by a primary Interstate; most of the Interstate Highway Network was planned by the early 1950s well before San Jose's rapid growth decades later.
U.S. 101 runs south to the California Central Coast and Los Angeles, and then runs north up near the eastern shore of the San Francisco Peninsula to San Francisco. I-280 also heads to San Francisco, but goes along just to the west of the cities of San Francisco Peninsula. I-880 heads north to Oakland, running parallel to the southeastern shore of San Francisco Bay. I-680 parallels I-880 to Fremont, but then cuts northeast to the eastern cities of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Several state highways also serve San Jose: SR 17, SR 85, SR 87 and SR 237. Additionally, San Jose is served by a system of county-wide expressways, which includes the Almaden Expressway, Capitol Expressway, San Tomas Expressway, and Lawrence Expressway.
Several regional transportation projects have been undertaken in recent years to deal with congestion on San Jose freeways. This includes expansion of State Route 87 including more lanes near the downtown San Jose area. The interchange for I-280 connecting with I-680 and US 101, a rush-hour spot where the three freeways meet has been known to have high-density traffic similar to Los Angeles County interchanges.
Major highways Interstate 280 Interstate 680 Interstate 880 U.S. Route 101 State Route 17 State Route 82 State Route 85 State Route 87 State Route 130 State Route 237 WalkabilityA 2011 study by Walk Score ranked San Jose the nineteenth most walkable of fifty largest cities in the United States.
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