Unitrans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Unitrans is the name for the transit system which operates in Davis, California. It takes its name from an abbreviation of the words "University Transport". Excepting several managerial and maintenance positions, Unitrans is managed and operated entirely by students of the University of California, Davis who usually work part-time while attending school. The system is well known throughout the area for its use of several distinctive ex-London Transport double decker buses, as well as its fleet of modern natural gas single-decks. Ridership exceeds 3 million passenger-trips per year on 16 weekday and 4 Saturday routes. Current (2004) fares are $1.00 for the general public and free to undergraduate University students.
[edit] History
In the late 1960s, members of the Associated Students of U.C. Davis (ASUCD) realized the need for a transit system to transport students between the City of Davis and the University campus. In the Spring of 1966, providing a transportation system became an ASUCD presidential promise. Newly elected in the fall, the President helped start experimental service in October 1966. This service was initially run using a private charter service. The estimated cost at the time was $2000/quarter. The service ran for several months, but ASUCD officials decided that the service needed to be changed. These students approached Davis' Mayor Skinner (the mayor at the time) and appealed for support both politically and financially. With the mayor's endorsement, the University Transport System, or Unitrans, began to take shape.
To be unique, get the system noticed, and encourage ridership, Unitrans made arrangements to purchase two London Double Decker buses in the middle part of 1967 and use them on "East" and "West" perimeter routes in Davis. According to the March 5, 1968 edition of The California Aggie newspaper, the two RTL type double decker buses cost $3500 each, and were shipped to San Francisco for an additional $1000. After being modified with features like clearance lights and larger left side mirrors, service began in February of 1968. More than thirty years later, RTL 1014, the oldest functioning example of its type in the world still operates in revenue service on a regular basis. These first two lines operated from what is now a parking lot behind Young Hall, until 1970 when expanded service forced the terminal to move to its current location near Hickey Gym.
In 1972 the service dropped its remaining full-time drivers, and started running the service with a full staff of part-time student drivers. Since then, Unitrans has remained a student operated organization, employing students as drivers, conductors, supervisors, driver trainers, maintenance shop assistants, bus washers and office clerks. Career positions, the only non-student positions at Unitrans, currently include General and Assistant General Manager, Maintenance Shop Manager, Maintenance Shop Mechanics, and the Safety and Training Supervisor. Unitrans is one of only two transit systems in the United States to operate double deck buses in regular (non-sightseeing) service (the other being The Deuce in Las Vegas, Nevada), and has one of the best safety records of any transit system in California.
Through the 1970s and 1980s, Unitrans added six more double deck buses and expanded its fleet several times over the years with diesel single deck buses. The 1970s saw the addition of a 40 foot GMC bus and a number of 35 foot single deck GMC buses from San Diego, California. The fleet also acquired two "Old-Look" GMC's, affectionately nicknamed "Prison Buses". In the 1980s, Unitrans tacked on another 40 foot GMC, a few more 35 foot GMCs, and its first all new, never before used, buses when it purchased five 35 foot Gilligs from the manufacturer in Hayward, California.
With an increasing demand for service fueled by the expanding size of the University and the City of Davis, Unitrans continued to gear up for larger passenger loads by adding more buses and more routes through the City of Davis. At the end of the 1980’s, nine Flxible buses (four 40 foot and five 35 foot) were purchased from Sacramento Regional Transit (Sac RT). Three 30 foot Gilligs were provided by UCD’s Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS) for the intracampus and UCD Medical Center shuttle to be operated by Unitrans drivers. (This service is now run by the Medical Center.)
Greater ridership in the 1980s prompted the writing and passing of a student referendum that added a $13 fee to registration costs to create the fare-less system. Students who paid their registration fees could ride the bus by simply showing their registration card with a valid registration sticker, or board for the absolute bargain fare of $0.50. This referendum made Unitrans an even more convenient method of transportation for students attending UC Davis.
The 1990s saw Unitrans operating 13 routes, with yearly ridership expected to top 2 million in fiscal year 1997-98. The addition of 15 brand new natural gas powered Orion buses from Oriskany, New York allowed Unitrans to modernize and clean up by retiring the Flxible fleet and portions of the GMC fleet. Two 40 foot Gilligs purchased from Yolobus have been re-born as Unitrans buses.
In the late 1990s, the remainder of the GMC fleet was retired, and 12 new natural gas powered Blue Bird buses. Working with the University of California, Davis' Institute of Transportation Studies, one of the Blue Birds was slated to operate on a Hydrogen/CNG fuel blend, and was retired from service to begin work on the conversion. This bus was eventually introduced on April 20, 2004 when California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made a visit to the campus as part of a push for the Hydrogen highway project.
In 2000 the Maintenance Shop completed its retrofit of RT 2819 to use a brand-new John Deere natural-gas powered engine. This bus is believed to be the only one of its type in the world to be powered by such an engine.
2002 saw the addition of five new Mark VII 40' buses from Orion. These buses were purchased in coordination with Sacramento Regional Transit, and featured the 'low-floor' design, intended to make loading wheelchairs easier on the driver and the passengers.
In 2006, Unitrans added four new Orion Mark V 40' buses to its fleet, returning to the high-floor design. This decision was made due to lower prices, fleet standardization, and availability of buses. In exchange, Unitrans intends to retire several of the remaining diesel buses, moving towards its goal of an all-CNG fleet by the end of 2007. In Spring 2006 Unitrans placed another order of 10 more Mark V 40' buses, and expects to receive them within 12-18 months.
For the future, Unitrans is considering purchasing two Alexander Dennis Enviro 500 buses, in an attempt to accommodate the high passenger loads while reducing the demand on drivers. These buses will be powered by clean diesel engines, which produce the same levels of emissions as the Compressed Natural Gas, which powers the modern fleet. These two buses are not intended to replace the antique RT Double Deck buses, but to complement them and accommodate the high passenger loads that Unitrans experiences on a daily basis.
