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 2 3 4 Merced County Transit - About
- ↑ 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)
- ↑ Merced County, California: countywide transit
- ↑ City of Merced - Visiting Us
- ↑ California Welcome Center - Merced
- ↑ THE BUS: Route maps and bus schedules
External links
- The Public Transportation Services of the Transit Joint Powers Authority for Merced County
- mercedthebus current service information on Twitter
- Merced The Bus route information
- Merced Transportation Center information
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