San Jose fills the floor of the Santa Clara Valley, and its freeways stack up around downtown. US 101 runs northwest-southeast through the city toward San Francisco and Gilroy, I-280 swings along the west side toward Cupertino and the Peninsula, and I-880 heads north along the bay toward Oakland. I-680 starts at the 101 and climbs northeast toward Fremont and the East Bay. SR 87 links downtown to the airport and the south side, SR 85 loops through the west valley, and SR 17 winds over the Santa Cruz Mountains to the coast.
Between the freeways, the county expressways do a lot of the work. Capitol, Almaden, Lawrence, Central and San Tomas expressways carry heavy traffic across the valley with signals instead of interchanges, and they back up badly at rush hour. The 101 and 880 corridors through North San Jose crawl every weekday morning, and the 85 and 87 merge points are notorious. A stall in that traffic is stressful, and a mechanic who comes to your office or driveway afterward saves you from losing another commute to a shop drop-off.
San Jose Mineta International Airport sits just north of downtown, between the 87 and the 880, so its garages and economy lots are a quick trip for a mechanic. VTA light rail and buses cover much of the city, Caltrain stops at Diridon Station, and BART reaches the Berryessa area. Even so, most households drive, and with tech campuses spread across the valley, a car that won't start can derail an entire day.
