How to Go Carless

Find schedules, maps, and other details about shared and active transportation options available to workers and residents in Palo Alto.

Public Transit

Train service between San Francisco and Gilroy
Caltrain station map
Caltrain schedules
Serves Santa Clara County
- From Mountain View:
  - VTA 21 bus
- From Mountain View and Sunnyvale:
  - VTA 522 (rapid) or 22 (local) bus
Other routes and schedules: https://www.vta.org/go/routes
Serves San Mateo County and portions of San Francisco & Palo Alto.
- From East Palo Alto:
  - SamTrans 281 bus
- From Redwood City:
  - SamTrans ECR bus
Other routes and schedules: https://www.samtrans.com/schedulesmaps#tab-884439-pane-3
From Union City BART and Fremont Ardenwood to either the Palo Alto Caltrain station (DBE) or El Camino Real at Page Mill Rd (DB1).
https://dumbartonexpress.com/

Local Shuttles

Palo Alto Transit Center to Stanford Research Park via El Camino Real
More details here: https://transportation.stanford.edu/marguerite

Bike/E-Scooter

After-Hours Lyft Program

Receive a $10 credit for an after-hours Lyft ride of up to 5 miles. To be used after trains and buses stop running. Must earn less than $100,000/year.
Restrictions apply. Click here for more details.

Guaranteed Ride Home Program

The Guaranteed Ride Home (GRH) program is provided by VTA to encourage commuters to use a sustainable mode of transportation to work, college, or adult education classes in Santa Clara County by providing reimbursement on the cost to get home in the event of an emergency. Participants are eligible to receive up to six reimbursements a year or $500 in total reimbursements, whichever comes first. Each qualified trip may be reimbursed up to $125.
More information can be found here: https://www.vta.org/grh

Vanpool

VTA is making it more affordable for vanpoolers to pay for their commute with a $350 monthly subsidy on top of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC) $350 monthly vanpool subsidy.
With a vanpool, between 7 and 15 riders can share a large SUV or van when travelling together to work. Sharing the ride and expenses in a vanpool can save money, save time, and help save the environment by cutting back on the number of vehicles on the road.
MTC administers the Bay Area Vanpool Program where passengers share the cost to lease the vehicle from Enterprise, which can be anywhere between $1,000 - $1,575 per month, as well as the cost of fuel.
More details here: https://www.vta.org/blog/vanpool-subsidy-vta#

Carshare/Rental Car

Accessible Transportation

Residents of Palo Alto who have disabilities or are over the age of 65 can request a free door-to-door ride to appointments, activities, errands and more.
Eligible residents must enroll in the program to call a ride.
Eligible individuals with disabilities who cannot use conventional accessible bus and light rail transit service due to their physical, visual or cognitive disabilities may also apply to VTA ACCESS Paratransit service .
More details here: ACCESS | VTA