Merced County Transit

Merced County Transit
Parent Transit Joint Powers Authority for Merced County
Founded 1996
Headquarters 880 Thornton Rd
Merced, CA 95340
Service area Merced County
Service type Bus service, Dial-a-Ride
Routes 20[1]
Fleet 43[1]
Annual ridership 1,000,000 [1]
Operator First Transit [2]
Website mercedthebus.com

Merced County Transit, also known as "The Bus", provides transit services throughout Merced County in the Central Valley area of California. Vehicles are owned and maintained by the county with daily operations being privately contracted.[3]

Merced Transportation Center

Located in the former Southern Pacific railway station, the downtown transportation center serves as the hub for Merced’s local, regional and national bus service.[4] Greyhound provides bus service to Sacramento, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles. YARTS and VIA Adventures provide bus service to Yosemite National Park. Situated at the same location, the California Welcome Center carries souvenirs, maps, and brochures for visitors, as well as YARTS bus tickets.[5]

Fleet

Currently the fleet consists of 27 transit buses and 16 Dial-A-Ride vehicles. They began the greening of their fleet in 2006 with the purchase of 9 "clean air" Orion VII models and planned the construction of a compressed natural gas fueling facility.[1]

Services

20 fixed bus routes (2 of them route deviation services) are provided 7 days a week (also with the exception of 2 routes which are Weekdays only) operate within the city of Merced and throughout the county, as well as the cities of Newman and Turlock in neighboring Stanislaus County. However, the unincorporated community of Hilmar-Irwin which has a combined population of over 5,000 appears not to have any of The Bus services, even though it is located within Merced County. [6]

No. Route Days Notes
New Fixed Routes (as of 2013)
A1 Atwater-City Loop Mon-Sun Bellevue Rd, Winton Way, Broadway, Buhach Rd
A2 Atwater-Winton Way Mon-Sun Connects Atwater and the town of Winton via Winton Way
A3 Atwater-Castle Crosstown Mon-Sun Castle Airport connector via east and central Atwater
DP Dos Palos Link Mon-Sun Connects Dos Palos and Los Banos
G Gustine Commuter Mon-Sun Connects Gustine with Los Banos, Santa Nella, Newman, and Downtown Merced
L Livingston Commuter Mon-Sun Connects Livingston with Winton, Atwater (Bellevue Rd), and Merced College (Merced)
LB Los Banos Commuter Mon-Sun Los Banos-Dos Palos-Downtown Merced
LB1 Los Banos-Pacheco Blvd Mon-Fri Mostly follows Pacheco Blvd with a diversion into Downtown LB
LB2 Los Banos-Crosstown Mon-Sun East-west crosstown service thru Downtown LB
LB3 Los Banos-Downtown Mon-Sun North-south crosstown service thru Downtown LB
M1 Merced-Westside Mon-Sun Southwest Merced-Downtown-Merced Marketplace-Northwest Merced
M2 Merced-R Street Mon-Sun South Merced-Downtown-Merced Mall-Merced Marketplace via R Street
M3 Merced-M Street Mon-Sun South Merced-Downtown-Merced Mall-Merced College-via M Street
M4 Merced-G Street Mon-Sun South Merced-Downtown-Merced College-Mercy Hospital-via G Street
M5 Merced-Southeast Connector Mon-Sun Southeast Merced-Amtrak-Downtown-via Childs Ave & 21st St.
M6 Merced-Northeast Connector Mon-Sun Northeast Merced-Merced College-Merced Mall-Merced Marketplace
P Planada Commuter Mon-Sun Le Grand-Planada-Downtown Merced
T Turlock Commuter Mon-Sun Turlock-CSU Stanislaus-Delhi-Livingston-Atwater-Downtown Merced via Freeway 99
UC UC Merced Mon-Fri Downtown Merced-Amtrak-Merced College-UC Merced-via M Street and Yosemite Ave.
W Winton Commuter Mon-Sun Winton, Atwater(Bellevue Rd), Buhach, Beachwood-Franklin, Downtown Merced

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Merced County Transit - About
  2. ↑ Merced County Board Of Supervisors: Authorize Staff to develop and issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a new contracted operator agreement for "The Bus" - Merced County Transit Re: 5 year agreement (July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2015)
  3. ↑ Merced County, California: countywide transit
  4. ↑ City of Merced - Visiting Us
  5. ↑ California Welcome Center - Merced
  6. ↑ THE BUS: Route maps and bus schedules

External links