Rural vs. Urban

A great part of the commute from Sunnyvale to Stanford is the various different commute options. El Camino and Foothill Expressway both touch sides of the campus, and are about the same distance. For alternatives, the modified 'crow flies' route goes mostly through quiet Los Altos streets. (These streets are mostly at 90 degree angles, so this route ends up being a few miles longer than the regular route.)
El Camino is the quintessential urban route. There are plenty of lights, but they tend to be rather short. There is also the constant stimulus of traffic, businesses and the like.
Foothill has a very rural feel. Built in the location of a former railroad, it seems to be mostly surrounded by trees. Intersections are fewer, but the lights cycles tend to be longer. Most intersections also seem to be "small towns" (many former railroad stops.)
It is nice to be able to switch from city to country without significantly impacting commute distance or time.
There are also other alternatives, like caltrain, that can take about the same time. as well as Alma/Central or Park/Evelyn that parallel the caltrain tracks and may take only a little longer.