Alder station (formerly known as I-880/Milpitas) is a

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

station operated by

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, more commonly known simply as the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), is a Special district (United States), special district responsible for public transit services, Congestion management agen ...

(VTA). This station is served by the Orange Line of the

VTA light rail The VTA light rail system serves San Jose, California, San Jose and nearby cities in Santa Clara County, California. It is operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and has of network comprising three main lines on stan ...

system. The station was opened on May 17, 2001, as part of VTA's Tasman East light rail extension. The station has a 275 space

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...

lot situated diagonally opposite from the platform. The entrance to the parking lot has a large public art installation, a clocktower called "Gateway to the City of Milpitas."

History

Alder originally served as the eastern terminus of the first phase of the Tasman East light rail extension on May 17, 2001, and so was originally served by trains operating directly from Mountain View. When the station first opened, it served the southern terminus of

AC Transit AC Transit is the main Public transport bus service, bus transit operator in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. AC Transit is the third largest bus operator in California, serving the western portions of Alameda and C ...

's 217 bus, the only such service that runs into

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259 as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County form the ...

. Since then, the second phase of the Tasman East extension altered the station's service patterns, and the 217 bus now terminates at the Milpitas Transit Center. Since 2017, VTA's plans for new routes in support of the

Silicon Valley BART extension The Silicon Valley BART extension (officially VTA's BART Silicon Valley Extension Program, commonly known as BART Silicon Valley) is an ongoing effort to expand the Green and Orange Line service by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) into Santa Clar ...

included renaming this station "Alder" after its cross-street Alder Drive. The name change was made on December 28, 2019.

Service

Location

Alder station is located in the median of Tasman Drive just west of Alder Drive near Interstate 880 in

Milpitas, California Milpitas (Spanish for or little cornfields) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, part of Silicon Valley and the broader San Francisco Bay Area. Located on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, it is bordered by San Jose, California, S ...

References

External links

Alder station
– VTA Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light rail stations Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority bus stations Buildings and structures in Milpitas, California Railway stations in the United States opened in 2001 2001 establishments in California {{SantaClaraCountyCA-railstation-stub