VTA’s 2025 Transit Service Plan
Another summer, another VTA annual service plan! Every summer, we look forward to speaking with you about what our transit network has to offer in the coming year. The 2025 Transit Service Plan will be focused on transit service changes around frequency, hours of operation, and bus reroutes that may influence how you travel throughout the county.
The 2025 Transit Service Plan builds upon VTA’s adopted 2024 Transit Service Plan – improving frequency and span on Frequent routes during certain times of day, redesigning or consolidating School-oriented bus...
VTA’s 2025 Transit Service Plan
Another summer, another VTA annual service plan! Every summer, we look forward to speaking with you about what our transit network has to offer in the coming year. The 2025 Transit Service Plan will be focused on transit service changes around frequency, hours of operation, and bus reroutes that may influence how you travel throughout the county.
The 2025 Transit Service Plan builds upon VTA’s adopted 2024 Transit Service Plan – improving frequency and span on Frequent routes during certain times of day, redesigning or consolidating School-oriented bus routes, and increasing productivity on the network’s lowest-performing Local bus routes.
Major features of the draft plan so far include:
- Frequency improvements earlier in the morning and/or later in the evening on four Frequent bus routes (Routes 23, 25, 66, 68), and one minor weekday frequency adjustment on one Frequent bus route (Route 77);
- Extended morning hours on weekends on two Frequent bus routes (Routes 26, 70);
- School-oriented service adjustments that meet actual student demand (Routes 70, 270, 87, 287, 288, and 288M);
- Combining two Local bus routes in Milpitas to “right-size” the amount of service to ridership and increase productivity (Routes 44, 47);
- Adjusting routing and schedules on one Local route in Palo Alto to update timed connections to Caltrain’s new electrification service and maintain connections to Frequent bus service (Route 89);
- Discontinue a Service Partnership Route due to low ridership (SCVMC Shuttle).
There are no changes proposed for light rail service in 2025 (Blue, Green, Orange Lines). VTA plans to restore full light rail service on weekends, with trains running at every 20 minutes, as soon as light rail operator vacancies are filled.
To leave room for these more urgent and impactful service changes in 2025, some service changes adopted in the 2024 Transit Service Plan are proposed to be put on hold to a future service plan when ridership warrants them. These changes make up just a small fraction of the service originally adopted for 2024 and include proposals such as
- Frequency improvements on portions of routes (Routes 20, 51, 42)
- Frequency restorations (Routes 57,61, 523)
- Hours of operation (span) extensions (Routes 20, 42, 53, 57, 87)
- Hours of operation (span) restorations (Routes 22, 52, 53)
- New weekend service (Routes 31, 53)
View Details about the Draft 2025 Transit Service Plan
Compare the draft 2025 Transit Service Plan to the adopted 2024 Transit Service Plan
| In-Person Meetings | Online Meetings |
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Tuesday, June 18, 2024 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Register: TransitMtgMilpitas_Eventbrite.com Milpitas Library 160 North Main Street Milpitas, CA 95035
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Thursday, June 20, 2024 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Register: TransitPlanVirtual1_Eventbrite.com Zoom: zoom.us/join Webinar ID: 842 9234 7915 Passcode: 635779 1-669-900-9128 A recording of this meeting is now available on Youtube. |
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Tuesday, July 9, 2024 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Register:TransitMtgMorganHill_eventbrite.com Morgan Hill Library 660 W. Main Avenue Morgan Hill, CA 95037
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Wednesday, June 26, 2024 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Register: TransitPlanVirtual2_eventbrite.com Zoom: zoom.us/join Webinar ID: 897 2900 8066 Passcode: 607744 1-669-900-9128 |
Transit Center Pop-Ups
Thursday, June 6, 2024, 7:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. @ Milpitas Transit Center
Monday, June 10, 2024, 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. @ Gilroy Transit Center
Wednesday, June 12, 2024, 7:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. @ Eastridge Transit Center
Thursday, June 20, 2024, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. @ Berryessa Transit Center
Friday, June 28, 2024, 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. @ VTA Downtown San Jose Customer Service Center
Community Tabling Events
Eastridge to BART Regional Connector (EBRC) Groundbreaking & Community Resource Fair
Saturday, June 8, 2024, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. @ Eastridge Transit Center
Viva Calle San Jose
Sunday, June 9, 2024, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. @ Lake Cunningham Park
World Refugee Day
Friday, June 14, 2024, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. @ Campbell Community Center
Juneteenth Event
Saturday, June 15, 2024, 12:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. @ Downtown San Jose, SoFA District
Farmers Markets
Locations:
Sunnyvale Farmers Market (Murphy Ave.) – Saturday, June 22, 2024, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Campbell Farmers Market (Downtown Campbell) – Sunday, June 23, 2024, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Santa Clara Farmers Market (Jackson & Homestead) – Saturday, June 29, 2024, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Independence Day Event
Thursday, July 4, 2024 @ Lake Cunningham Park
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Transit Service Plan?
A transit service plan lays out where bus routes travel and stop, how often buses come, and how early and late they run. These service details are decided based on a route’s service category.
- VTA’s most frequent route categories (Light Rail, Rapid, and Frequent) are considered a core part of the network. This Frequent Network runs every 15 minutes on weekdays, and also runs earlier, later, and more often on weekdays compared to other routes in the network.
- Local and Express routes run less frequently than the Frequent Network, and may offer varying service levels during peak hours, midday hours, and weekends. These routes typically serve important community destinations and meet specific transportation needs such as school service, transit shuttle service, or commuter-hour service that only run in one direction during morning and afternoon peak hours.
Every transit service plan is co-created by VTA and its riders every year and involves:
- A draft plan discussed with the community in the summer
- Revisions worked on by staff that is shaped by community feedback
- A final plan and a Title VI-driven service equity analysis report presented to VTA committees and the Board in the fall
- A schedule and service that takes place the following January
A transit service plan is created for each year and is typically the community’s chance to discuss possibilities for more frequent service, earlier service in the morning, later service in the evening, and service to new areas.
What about the 2024 Service Plan? How close are we to returning to full service?
VTA is close to restoring service to pre-pandemic service levels and is currently operating 97% of that service today. While we are working on restoring the last bits of service adopted in the 2024 Transit Service Plan, other parts of that plan are proposed to be postponed to a future service plan. Postponing these changes would give us the ability to implement more urgent, impactful service changes in 2025 based on the recent rider demand we have been observing throughout the VTA system. Details on service changes proposed for postponement can be found in the Service Changes by Route or the Service Changes by City tables on this page.
What is the difference between a major service change and a minor service change?
Major and minor service change definitions are determined by VTA’s Title VI Policies. These policies exist to ensure that VTA delivers on, provides meaningful access to transit service, and does not pose disproportionately high and adverse impacts on minority populations and low-income populations.
Major service changes must be adopted by the VTA Board after going through the annual service planning process. These changes are usually implemented in the January following the annual service planning process. Examples of major service changes include:
- Major changes to routing affecting >25% of a route
- Major changes to frequency or hours of operation affecting >25% of a route
- New routes
- Discontinued routes
Minor service changes can be made by staff as necessary and are any changes that don’t meet any of the “major” criteria. These changes can usually be done in April, August or October. Examples of minor service changes include:
- Adding a bus stop along a route’s current routing
- Matching schedules to school bell times
- Matching schedules with other transit schedule changes (e.g. BART, Caltrain, ACE Train, etc.)
- Schedule changes due to seasonal traffic conditions
- Minor revisions to schedules to meet operator work shift rules