The constant rush of downtown San Jose does enough to prompt San Jose State students to pre-plan their own way to classes.
For some students, it’s not that simple.
Asha Weinstein Agrawal, professor of urban and regional planning at San Jose State, said the parking situation on campus alone is enough to make students think twice about transportation plans.
“I think the parking complications sometimes add as much time to the commute as traffic on the freeway,” Agrawal said. “It depends how far people are coming.”
It’s no secret students struggle for parking on campus.
Agrawal said students often forget about what a hassle parking adds to their commute.
“I can spend 20 minutes easily from when I drive into the parking lot, hunting. You know, it can take a long time,” Agrawal said. “And that might be a third of my driving time.”
With all the traffic around downtown San Jose, public transportation is another option for students.
Students who don’t want to drive or who are not able to drive can catch the bus, and use scooters and bikes to get around the area.
Agrawal said, this could be a viable option for a lot of students.
“Commutes vary from place to place. And now, on the plus side, San Jose State is fairly well served by transit,” Agrawal said. “In addition to the VTA bus service, there's buses going to Santa Cruz, etc. There's Caltrain so we do have a fair amount of transit service. It is an option for a lot of people.”
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is a group centered around providing Santa Clara county with bus and light rail transportation. Caltrain is a train that runs in the Peninsula, and within the Santa Clara Valley.
For students who commute from places like Fremont, Hayward, or even opposite sides of San Jose, the drive is different because they tend to hit highway traffic.
Itzel Gutierrez, justice studies and criminology senior, has a 20-minute commute to campus from the southside of San Jose.
Gutierrez said taking the highway for her 10:00a.m. and 9:00a.m. classes have always been a hassle with both traffic and parking.
“I usually have to be out of here [at] 7:50 just to be able to find parking,” Gutierrez said. “If I leave any later than 8:15, I get 20 minutes of traffic and then I can't find parking by that time.”
For these students, leaving early enough to ensure parking is only a part of the struggle.
The other part is the amount of traffic students may hit if they don’t leave by a certain time.
Sarah Minhas, sociology senior, said her commute from Alamo is never without traffic.
“It's always bumper to bumper, always construction happening. Shared roads, like sometimes it's one lane, sometimes it's two lanes, and all four lanes are being used,” Minhas said.
Agrawal said, this type of traffic is typical for us in the heart of the bay area.
She said even her students have been late to class due to traffic.
Commuting down highways like Interstate 880 or Interstate 680 can be an unpredictable commute, depending on the time-of-day students go to and from classes.
Minhas said, several things cause the traffic, but there are a couple of things that are established reasons..
“Most common would be when there are accidents on the road, or when there's construction. Usually that's when it's, bumper to bumper, that's what I usually see on a daily basis,” she said.
Gutierrez said the cause of traffic isn’t always so clear.
She said on her commute, there are several places that show heavy stop and go traffic, without a proper cause.
“Yeah, I mean, coming back home, there's usually just so much traffic and it's not like there's an accident or anything and there's just, cars are at a complete stop for no reason,” Gutierrez said. “Once you pass by you're just like, ‘Well, what was causing that?’ ”
Highway traffic and parking prove to be a huge problem for students who decide to commute to the South Bay
Agrawal said, students should consider biking or taking a scooter to ease the average commute and to help students get to classes on time.
“Those are the people who have it easiest, because not only is it cheaper, but it's reliable,” Agrawal said. “You know how long it's going to take you to bike to campus if you live two or three miles away, and you do it all the time.”
