Central Valley Super Commuters Took the Car-Free Challenge
Congratulations to our July Super Commute Challenge winners, Noella Dixon, Viviana Martinez, Angela Leija, and Mike Jaime. They’ve found a way to get creative to survive long-distance commuting.
Stockton to Stanford Redwood City: This trio of Stanford super-commuting employees who live in the Central Valley join forces for their super-commute.
When Viviana Martinez entered our Car-Free Challenge last fall, we knew we had to share her story. Viviana, a financial analyst, had been commuting to Stanford's Redwood City campus on her department’s designated in-office day, taking the southbound ACE Train to Caltrain in Santa Clara, which was out of her way but the only way to get to Redwood City. Finally, she hopped on the Midpoint shuttle to SRWC. Sound grueling? It was. All totaled, including the reverse commute home, Viviana spent almost four hours a day on the road.
That changed in 2023 when she connected with colleague Noella Dixon, who also happened to take the ACE Train from her home in Mountain House (between Tracy and Livermore) to Fremont. From there, Noella, a finance associate with Stanford’s Financial Support Center, creatively pieced together a commute by sharing the cost of a Lyft to SRWC ($35 one way) with her colleague Angela Leija, also a Stockton resident.
“When Noella asked if I might consider joining them on their creative commute, I said, ‘Uh yeah!’” recalled Viviana with a laugh.
For the past two years, the trio has been Wednesday commute buddies. Other pluses? They take advantage of Stanford’s pre-tax transit benefits when purchasing their train fare. The ACE Train is clean and comfortable, featuring bathrooms and tables for working. While commuting, they often sleep, read, or watch videos. Their morning commute takes 2 hours and 40 minutes. The commute home clocks in at almost three hours, nearly the same as driving. “But it beats sitting in traffic, and at least I’m with Noella,” said Viviana.
As women, they feel safe traveling long distances together. And they like supporting local Lyft drivers. Best of all, their shared adventure makes the unfortunate reality of super commuting a bit more bearable. “Noella can be sleeping on the train,” said Viviana, “but just knowing she’s with me makes a world of difference.”
“I encourage everyone to find people who live near you who might be willing to car/vanpool or find a creative commute together.“ – Noella Dixon
Visit Stanford’s vanpool page.
Stockton to the Stanford Campus: Mike Jaime has been commuting sustainably from the Central Valley on the ACE train + Marguerite Line AE-F for 24 years!
All it took was one week of Mike Jaime driving from his home in Stockton to the Stanford campus back in 2001 to realize sustainable commuting was the way to go. During the second week, he took the ACE train and the Marguerite Line AE-F. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Mike, a financial manager for the Neurosurgery Department, worked five days a week on campus. Now, due to his hybrid schedule, Mike fortunately only has to brave the grueling six-hour round-trip commute several times a month. He wakes up at 3 am to catch the 4:10 am ACE train, using the time to sleep or read. He keeps work-related tasks to a minimum, considering his commute “my time.” Once he arrives in Fremont, Mike takes Marguerite Line AE-F to the Stanford campus. When I first started riding the bus, if we had 10 riders, it was a big deal,” he said, noting that now, it’s always full. “I see how many Stanford people live out in the valley, and it’s nice because we’ve built a sense of community on the train and the bus.”
“The ACE train is a great way to commute from the Central Valley; it saves wear and tear on your vehicle and you. You also save on gas and bridge tolls.”
Try our calculator to determine your potential savings. Mike saves over $1,500 a year in apparent commute costs (gas, parking, and tolls) and $4,700 annually in hidden commute costs (repairs/maintenance). As an added benefit, by commuting sustainably, Mike reduces his CO2 emissions by more than 6,200 lbs a year. Schedule a One-on-One Commute Consultation to learn more.
