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If you are taking I-280 the distance between the SFO airport and San Jose would come around 48 miles. There are multiple ways to get to San Jose from San Francisco Airport and you must choose depending on the budget and comfort.
San Francisco Airport to San Jose by Taxi
You can easily find a taxi to get from SFO Airport to San Jose as soon as you come out of the arrival. The taxi will take you anywhere in the bay area but remember the cabs can get really expensive in the bay area. Good thing is that there is a great taxi fare calculator which is pretty accurate in its forecast. The calculator is easy to use, simply input your origin and destination and it will tell you the approximate fare as per the local charges.
San Francisco Airport to San Jose by Uber or Lyft
The best alternative to the local taxi service is app based cabs. Uber and Lyft are the two most popular options and are very inexpensive compared to the local taxi. A Uber or Lyft ride would typically cost you $50-55 to a trip to downtown San Jose. Santa Clara will cost a about $10 less from airport.
The catch is that to use any of these app cab service you need to have a US mobile no. Alternatively, if you have a Google Voice no. you can use it to register for an account as well. One great thing is if you are first time user, you can use a discount or a referral code from a friend to get a few dollars off on your bill.
San Francisco Airport to San Jose by Train
SF Bay area offers good connectivity through public transportation. You need to change two trains if you are going anywhere in the bay area. Take the BART to Millbrae station which is the first station on the line. The BART train runs from within the airport international arrival terminal. Once you are at Millbrae take a southbound Caltrain.
Tickets for both BART and Caltrain are availalble through the machine near the platform, remember to buy before you travel as tickets are not available on board and there is a routine check done by the TC. If caught without ticket you might have to shell out pretty hefty fine.
Caltrain is a double decker train with ample of spacing, it stops at the station for few minutes so you can easily get in with a luggage. The schedules are displayed on the platform and train usually runs right on time. On Sunday there are less no. of trains and in worse case you might to wait for upto an hour to get the train. Assistance is also available for differently abled people.
A word of warning though, don’t get on the baby bullet train unless you know for sure it stops at your station. While all other Caltrain stops at all the stations, baby bullet only stops at a few. If you are going to San Jose you will be relieved to know that the baby bullet stop there.
San francisco airport to San jose by shuttle
There are also multiple shuttle options available between SFO arport and SJC airport located in San Jose.
The Monterey shuttle bus will cost you somewhere around $20.00 and therefore is the best option in terms of price and convenience. You can get further discount of $5 if you buy your tickets online.
Be sure to check the shuttle bus schedule as the service runs on limited frequency. Also check Supershuttle, they provide pick up and drop services to your exact address too.