Getting Around San Jose

Airport
The Mineta San Jose International Airport is only three miles from downtown and the Convention Center. Over 12 major airlines provide an average of 384 commercial departures and arrivals from both national and international locations. You can get anywhere from here. San Jose is easily accessible via four major freeways, Caltrans, bus, light rail, and airport shuttle services.

Parking
San Jose offers several ways to park FREE in downtown lots, with free weekend parking, and parking validation by area businesses. The Downtown San Jose Parking Validation program offers patrons up to two hours of free parking. Please look for a (PV symbol) sign in the windows of retailers who offer parking validations. Downtown shares the streets with pedestrians, buses and trolleys, so be alert to the signs. Turns at intersections traversed by the VTA Light Rail may be restricted. In many garages, you drive on the left hand side of the ramps instead of the right.

Rail
The Altamont Commuter Express (ACE Rail) is a commuter train that runs between Stockton and San Jose California.

Bus
VTA (Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority) is a Bus and light rail service to the San Jose metropolitan area of California.

Public Transportation
Caltrain runs between San Francisco and San Jose, with weekday commute-hour service to Gilroy. Key destinations along the Caltrain line include Pacific Bell Park, Stanford University, The Compaq Center and the San Francisco and San Jose international airports.

The free Downtown Area Shuttle connects between the San Jose Diridon Caltrain Station with VTA Light Rail stations, and downtown office buildings: McEnery Convention Center, San Jose State University, City Hall and Civic Plaza and outlying parking lots. DASH shuttles run about every 10 minutes from 6:17 am to 7:13 pm Monday through Friday, except on major holidays. All shuttles are lift-equipped and accessible to people with disabilities. Bikes are allowed on DASH when space is available.