VTA 59 (Stevens Creek - Baypointe via Alviso)
a microcosm of Silicon Valley, its flaws, and all its beauties in one hour
Alviso is a fascinating neighborhood of San Jose. Incorporated 1852 and consolidated into San Jose in 1968, the town has faced economic and environmental struggle after the canning companies skipped town, the land sunk, and the Guadalupe kept flooding. It’s a backwater now — hauntingly barren but still with remnants of what it used to be if you know where to look.
The 59 route is the only bus route into this neighborhood. It links many key points in the West Valley like Valley Fair, Santa Clara TC, Mission College, Old Ironsides, and Baypointe, and should not be a route taken lightly. It serves a vital purpose and represents a key piece of transportation equity, even if the ridership numbers might stumble a little bit.
the route
I started my trip on Stevens Creek Boulevard, a massive, six-to-eight lane stroad through the heart of the West Valley. It was early in the morning, but no matter: cars streamed down the street before closed storefronts and empty parking lots.
The 59 route is served with 29’ Gillig HEVs, the smallest buses by far in the VTA fleet. There are very few seats in the vehicle.
The bus makes a short way down Stevens Creek before heading behind Valley Fair mall and down Forest Ave. It passes by O’Connor Hospital (below) before turning onto Bascom. Ridership at this point was weak, but a few people had gotten on on Bascom.
Thus begins the first of two main environments of this route: the leafy suburbs of Santa Clara, which will then be followed by Office Park Hell. My parents have always dubbed these homes out in this part of Santa Clara “老兵房”, or “veterans’ homes” for their rudimentary construction and very hasty appearance. Historically, this moniker makes sense too — around the time of this neighborhood’s original proliferation, the GI Bill’s economic miracle was just kicking into high gear.
After blowing by Santa Clara University, Santa Clara’s suburbs are abruptly interrupted by El Camino Real and Santa Clara Transit Center. The TC serves some 100 trains a day by a cursory count going to San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose and Stockton. A railroad history museum also sits inside the historic depot, once the oldest continuously operating ticket office in California, and which was built in 1863.
We enter what I now like to dub:
This is a unique piece of the northern coast of Santa Clara County, where office parks now sit on what used to be mudflats, canneries, and railyards. Many of VTA’s routes serve this colloquial region, and some run fully within this area too. Between Santa Clara and Alviso, the 59 runs in Office Park Hell.
Off of the Transit Center, the bus winds through the office parks. Right onto Monroe, then right onto Scott, right onto Montague, left onto Mission College, where the line passes near such Bay Area icons like Great America (RIP) and Levi’s Stadium (latter below)
The first of two Light Rail stations on this trip, Old Ironsides, is also here. It’s a major transit center with other bus routes in this northern part of the county, and is the last port of entry before making it into Alviso. A short bridge later, and you’re in the little town that never could.
This route ends at Baypointe, the terminus of the Blue Line and where the Orange Line finally meets it. Little lies between here and Alviso, bar some new housing blocks along First Street.
in review
I love this route, but it doesn’t have the juice. Culturally, it is a comprehensive tour of all you could want of Silicon Valley: the good, the bad, and the ugly. I love the town of Alviso, but it has gone through a lot in the past century. From the dilapidated docks along the Guadalupe, you can look southward and see new glass blocks rising on the horizon, a beautiful justification of past, present, and future.
Frequency is poor — every half hour on weekdays and every hour on weekends — constantly, and the ridership statistics don’t seem to justify an improvement to the route. Which is such a shame! This route is beautiful and serves communities that rely on VTA, not just Alviso. Land use (cough cough, office park hell) is not amazing either.
final thoughts
5/10, but a 9/10 in my heart — I just can’t reconcile the weakness of actual service with my love for this place. The frequency has to improve, and the bus size is too small for the ridership of the line. I have spent enough time on this line to see it packed relatively often, and these vehicles should definitely be bigger.
Hear my plea for this route’s respect: Silicon Valley’s nature is a scorched earth destruction of its past. Alviso, and much of the 59, show us resilience, dragged kicking and screaming into technological innovation that spares nobody.
