| Parent | San Mateo County Transit District |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1 July 1976 |
| Headquarters | 1250 San Carlos Ave. San Carlos CA |
| Locale | San Francisco Peninsula |
| Service area | San Mateo County |
| Service type | bus service, express bus, paratransit |
| Routes | 55 |
| Fleet | 339 |
| Daily ridership | 68,410 (2010) |
| Web site | samtrans.com |
SamTrans (stylized as samTrans; officially the San Mateo County Transit District) is a public transport agency in and around San Mateo, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It provides bus service throughout San Mateo County and into portions of San Francisco and Palo Alto. Service is largely concentrated on the Bay side of the San Bruno Mountains, leaving coast-side service south of Pacifica spotty and intermittent.[1]
SamTrans is constituted as a special district under California state law. It is governed by a board of nine appointed members; two county Supervisors, one “transportation expert” appointed by the county Board of Supervisors, three city councilpersons appointed by the cities in the county to represent the county's judicial districts, and three citizens appointed by the other six board members (including one from the coastside).
The district was established in 1976 by Pittsburgh resident John Mauro[2] and consolidated eleven different municipal bus systems serving the county. One year later, SamTrans began operation of mainline bus service to San Francisco.
In addition to fixed route bus and paratransit operations, the district participates in the administration of the San Jose-San Francisco commuter rail line Caltrain and provides funding for the San Mateo County portion of BART system south of Daly City Station. SamTrans also once possessed the authority to alter service levels on this segment of BART which services the San Francisco International Airport (SFO), and has done so on several occasions.[3] However, in the face of increasing financial disputes, SamTrans and BART decided to end their partnership, giving BART full control over the extension, in early 2007.[4] SamTrans also provides administrative support for the San Mateo County Transportation Authority, a separate board charged with administering the half cent (US$0.005) sales tax levy funding various highway and transit improvement projects.
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Currently, SamTrans serves the cities of Atherton, Belmont, Burlingame, Colma, Daly City, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Pacifica, Palo Alto, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Mateo, and South San Francisco. Most routes provide connecting service to BART, Caltrain, or both. There is also regular scheduled service to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Transbay Terminal in downtown San Francisco.
Unlike most large transit operators in the Bay Area, SamTrans outsources to private contractors the operation of a number of its routes. The current contract operator for Peninsula mainline, Coastside and paratransit services is MV Transportation.
SamTrans previously operated special service for a couple of Bay Area events such as San Francisco 49ers home football games and the quirky Bay To Breakers footrace in San Francisco.
Since SamTrans reorganized its bus routes in August 1999, SamTrans adopted a new route designation system to identify service types, geographical coverage, and connections to rail services.
Express bus routes designated by a letter and X. In December 2009, seven express routes were eliminated due to budget constraints; route KX is the only express route still operating.
All local routes have either two or three digits. For three digit routes, the first digit identifies a rail connection:
All two digit routes are identified as community service routes. Most of these routes do not connect with rail and operate only on school days.
The second digit of the three digit routes, as well as the first digit of the two digit routes, identifies the geographical coverage of the route:
Note: fares below are in effect February 1st, 2010[5][6]
| Fare category | Single ride | Monthly Pass |
|---|---|---|
| Adult local† | US$2.00 | US$64 |
| Adult local (boarding from San Francisco on routes 391, 292 and 397) | US$4.00 | US$96 |
| Adult express | US$5.00 | US$165 |
| Youth† (17 years and under) | US$1.25 | US$36 |
| Youth (boarding from San Francisco on routes 391, 292 and 397) | US$2.50 | |
| Youth express | US$2.50 | |
| Senior and Disabled† | US$1.00 | US$25 |
| Senior and Disabled (boarding from San Francisco on routes 391, 292 and 397) | US$2.00 | |
| Senior and Disabled express | US$2.50 |
SamTrans offers bus tokens for adult and youth local fares, US$12.50 and US$8.00 respectively, in packages of ten. Multiple tokens or combinations of tokens and cash are accepted for journeys requiring higher fares. Tokens are promoted as being easier to handle than cash, and also include discounts. For example, a package of youth tokens includes 2 free rides assuming the others are worth $1 each.
In addition, SamTrans typically offers a discount summer pass for youth which is treated like a monthly pass, but good for the entire summer. They typically cost a few dollars more than a normal youth monthly pass. These passes usually do not go on sale until mid-May.
SamTrans does not provide transfers nor day passes. The Federal Transit Administration has recommended SamTrans introduce transfers and/or day passes to increase bus ridership.[7] SamTrans is in the process of purchasing new fareboxes that have the ability to issue transfers. The purchases and installation is expected to be completed by the end of 2009.
BART Plus tickets and Caltrain monthly passes (with two or more zones) are honoured on SamTrans as local fare payment.
As of December 22, 2010, Clipper card fare machines became fully operational throughout the system, allowing riders to pay fares using a transit smart card that is also accepted by most other Bay Area transit agencies.
SamTrans is in the midst of testing a new, state-of-the-art farebox that will have the ability to accept (in addition to cash) paper and magnetic-stripe tickets as well as the ability to issue change cards in the event that the rider overpays due to lack of exact change. SamTran's 2011 Summer Youth Pass will be among the first types of magnetic tickets available. There is also speculation that this new fareboxes will be able to issue day passes. All buses are expected to be equipped with the new fareboxes by 1 June 2011.
SamTrans currently has a fleet of 339 buses of various sizes for its fixed route service. Fifty-five are articulated buses made by North American Bus Industries with the 10 m (35 ft) and 12 m (40 ft) buses, some with low flooring, are made by the Gillig Corporation. Each bus is equipped with GPS tracking providing both visual and voice next-stop announcements, and are accessible to passengers in wheelchairs and limited mobility. In addition, most of the fleet has highback seats, with the notable exception of the Gillig low-floor buses. This enables greater fleet flexibility in terms of local and express routes.
In 2009, SamTrans added 135 custom made Gillig low floor buses to their fleet, numbered 400-490,500-539 & 2900-2903, replacing 137 older Gillig Phantom buses in their fleet.[8]