Marin Transit

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Founded	1964
Headquarters	3501 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael
Service area	Marin County, California
Service type	transit bus, school bus, paratransit
Routes	30
Operator	Golden Gate Transit Whistlestop Wheels
Web site	Marin Transit

Marin Transit (formerly called Marin County Transit District) is a public bus agency in Marin County, California. Since its inception last 30 July 2007 from the Marin County Transit District (MCTD), the transit agency has had its new logo, improved its vision for Marin County, and continuously evaluating and improving the different transit options for its citizens. Marin Transit operates three kinds of service aside from its bus service provided by Golden Gate Transit.

[edit] Bus Service

See Golden Gate Transit for more information on the commute and regional basic routes

Golden Gate Transit operates all the routes within Marin County under contract with Marin Transit. Currently, there are 12 local fixed bus routes that operate on weekdays with limited weekend and holiday schedules, and 12 supplementary local service routes that operate during school days. All of the bus routes operating within Marin County serve almost all the major cities and communities, except for several portions of Novato (Black Point and area west of Novato Boulevard), Belvedere (only served by commute routes 8 and 9), and portions of northern San Rafael, especially north of Terra Linda (served by Marin Transit Route 259).

[edit] Bus Routes operated by Marin Transit

Note that Sundays and Holidays may have limited bus service serving all routes. Also, cities and attractions in italics mean these areas are served at certain times of day only (example: weekdays only)^[1]

[edit] Bus Route Notes

Route 17:

• Most route 17 buses continue as route 19 in Marin City to Tiburon.
• Several morning peak route 17 buses continue as route 4 from Mill Valley (E Blithedale and Tower) to San Francisco Financial District.
• Route 17 buses beyond 9pm serve Marin City, Mill Valley, and Strawberry only, and operates from Mondays to Saturdays excluding holidays.
• One morning route 17 bus serves from San Rafael to Tiburon, not stopping in downtown Mill Valley.

Route 19:

• Most route 19 buses change as route 17 in Marin City to SRTC via Mill Valley.
• Route 19 buses beyond 9pm serve Strawberry and Marin City only, and operates from Mondays to Saturdays excluding holidays.

Route 22:

• First 3 weekday route 22 buses (5:33am, 6:24am, 7:22am) from SRTC continue as route 18 at the College of Marin to San Francisco Financial District.
• Two northbound afternoon weekday route 22 buses leave from Strawberry at off-peak hours (1:37pm and 2:37pm) to augment service between Corte Madera and SRTC, thus creating 30-minute headways from 1:30pm to 5:45pm.

Route 23: Weekend route 23 buses run between Fairfax/Manor and San Anselmo only on weekends and holidays. Two late-night buses run round-trip between Fairfax and San Rafael Saturdays only.

Route 29: Weekend route 29 operates Saturdays only, not Sundays or holidays. Bus connects to Larkspur Ferry, but does not stop at the Larkspur Ferry Terminal.

Route 35: Several route 35 buses change as route 45 to Northgate Mall at the SRTC.

Route 36: Route 36 serves during peak-hours only, and does not operate on Sundays or holidays.

Route 45/45K:

• Several route 45 buses change as route 35 to Canal District at (SRTC).
• Route 45/45K alternate every 30 minutes, with route 45 leaving on the hour from SRTC, and route 45K leaving half past the hour.
• Route 45K to Kaiser Hospital operates on weekdays only except holidays. To reach Kaiser on weekends and holidays, take route 49.

Route 49: Route 49 continues as route 51 to San Marin on weekdays and route 52 to Redwood and Grant on weekends at Ignacio (Enfrente and Salvatore).

Route 51: Route 51 changes as route 49 to Hamilton and SRTC at Ignacio (Enfrente and Salvatore). Route does not operate weekends or holidays.

Route 52:

• Weekdays: Route serves between Downtown Novato and SRTC (no stops at Vintage Oaks Shopping Center and Sutter Novato Medical Campus) via Alameda del Prado and Highway 101.
• Weekends and Holidays: Route serves between Ignacio (Enfrente and Salvatore) and Downtown Novato via Vintage Oaks Shopping Center and Sutter Novato Medical Campus, and continues as route 49 to Hamilton and SRTC at Ignacio.

Route 71:

• Route augments with select basic route 70 and 80 buses between Novato, SRTC, and Marin City.
• Select southbound route 71 buses serve between Novato and SRTC only.

[edit] School Bus Routes

Along with other transit agencies in the Bay Area, Marin Transit provides limited supplementary local school service routes that cover certain schools in Marin County. The participating schools include:

[edit] Muir Woods Shuttle

Muir Woods Shuttle (Route 66)^[2] provides weekend and holiday service from Marin City to the famed Muir Woods. The service is also extended to Sausalito Ferry to connect to the Golden Gate Ferry service to San Francisco. The shuttle service operates from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend.

[edit] Local Shuttles

A Marin Transit shuttle bus, seen near the San Rafael Transit Center in San Rafael

Local Shuttles^[3] provide weekday-only shuttle service in certain neighborhoods within Marin County. These include:

On March 10, 2008, the Twin Cities Shuttle (Route 221) revamped its schedule, along with route modifications on the service. ^[4] The improved Route 221:

• Serves an area not covered by Golden Gate Transit buses: instead of making a loop at Magnolia Avenue towards Tamalpais Drive (served by Golden Gate Transit route 22) and serving Corte Madera Town Hall, it extends towards the Marin General Hospital, going inside Bon Air Subdivision (via S. Eliseo and El Portal Drives), and ending at the Bon Air Shopping Center in Greenbrae. With the route going inside Bon Air Subdivision, flag stops are permitted in the area since no shuttle stops are provided.
• Provides one morning and two afternoon trips extended to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal to serve passengers from the area to Golden Gate Ferry services to San Francisco.

[edit] West Marin Stagecoach

Logo of The Stage (West Marin Stagecoach).

West Marin Stagecoach^[5] provides a shuttle service that connects communities in West Marin with the cities in the eastern part of the county. Three routes provide service from West Marin, including:

• ♦ - Three (3) extra round trips added from March to December.
• ¤ - One extra round trip added Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays that connects with Route 62.

On March 10, 2008, West Marin Stagecoach routes improved its route schedules that will enhance services from Marin City and San Rafael to West Marin.^[6] The details include:

• Route 61 (South Route) has added three (3) extra round-trips on weekends that will be in service from March to early December, thus doubling the service between Marin City and Stinson Beach.
• Route 68 (North Route) has improved its schedules from the San Rafael Transit Center to West Marin. It now operates on Sundays and holidays, thus increasing its service to daily.

[edit] Fares

The local adult fare is US$2.00, while youth, seniors (over 65), and Medicare fare is US$1.00. Transfers are offered for free in the system, and is used to connect with any of the systems listed above for travel within Marin County only.

[edit] Paratransit () and Shuttle Service

Whistlestop Wheels provides local paratransit () service within Marin County. It also provides deviation service for passengers traveling within 3/4 miles of a main road and serves communities throughout the county. ^[7]

The Hamilton Shuttle and EZ-Rider, both of Novato, are operated by Whistlestop Wheels and funded by the city of Novato. The former operates during peak hours on weekdays between Hamilton and the Alameda del Prado Park and Ride, while the latter operates on an on-call basis operating within Novato, with major stops including the Margarett Todd Senior Center, Downtown Novato, and Senator Judy Arnold's Office. Whistlestop Wheels, along with Novato Community Hospital, also operates the Novato Health Express, which provides a medical-only shuttle for Novato seniors to the Novato Community Hospital, a Sutter affiliate. ^[8]

[edit] Fuel Cell Bus Partnerships

Golden Gate Transit, in partnership with AC Transit of the East Bay and other large bus agencies, is trying its best to protect the environment by participating in the California Fuel Cell Program, sponsored by the California Air Resources Board and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), in partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE).^[9] The partnership will involve a demonstration of three (3) fuel-cell powered buses which will soon reduce dependence of gasoline for fuel, and instead use alternative, renewable resources such as hydrogen and fuel cells to power new urban buses. When GGT receives the new buses, it plans to run them in several key routes around Marin, and in the future, commuter services to San Francisco.^[10]

Lsst February through March, GGT operated a hydrogen fuel cell bus as part of a Zero Emission Bus (ZEB) Demonstration Program for Golden Gate Transit routes operated by Marin Transit, with several local routes participed in the trial service. ^[11] As the ZEB bus was not equipped with a fare box, no fares were collected during the trial period.

[edit] See Also

• Golden Gate Transit
• TransLink

[edit] Notes