Gilroy – A new express bus line between Monterey and San Jose will let Gilroyans visit neighboring cities without getting stranded all day.
Starting Aug. 28, residents will have three chances a day to get from the Caltrain station in Gilroy to downtown Monterey or to the Diridon Train Station in San Jose, across from HP Pavilion. The new route – Line 55 – offers mid-day return service from both cities. The lack of mid-day rail service between South Valley cities and San Jose has long been a source of complaints.
“This not only supplements the morning and afternoon train service, but there will also be a schedule in the middle of the day,” said Jayme Kunz, spokeswoman for the Valley Transportation Authority. “This will help fill in the time when there is no train service. It also will help people traveling out of Gilroy to make connections to other services, because the schedule is timed to meet Caltrain and Capital Corridor train schedules.
The northbound bus to San Jose stops in Gilroy at 6:25am, 11:05am and 4:35pm. It returns to Gilroy at 8:55am, 2:35pm and 6:50pm. The trip from Gilroy to San Jose lasts 55 minutes and costs $4, and the trip from Gilroy to Monterey lasts an hour and costs $6. The same fares apply on weekends, though trains depart at slightly later times.
The Monterey-San Jose express line is funded by a federal grant from Jobs Access Reverse Commute, as well as funding from VTA and the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority, which operates commuter trains to Sacramento.
To get a schedule and list of fares, visit Monterey-Salinas Transit at www.mst.org.
