List of AC Transit routes

A new Van Hool bus on Route 51 in Berkeley.

AC Transit operates 175 bus lines throughout the East Bay, including two lines under the Broadway Shuttle name. While AC Transit administers Dumbarton Express, it transferred operation of that service to MV Transportation effective 19 December 2011. Extensive local service connects 15 cities in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties and Milpitas in Santa Clara County. Transbay service is provided to San Francisco, San Mateo County, and Palo Alto in Santa Clara County.

Route summary

AC Transit bus routes are arranged in six categories (five numbered, one lettered). Since its inception in 1960, AC Transit has used both numbers and letters to distinguish routes. Many Transbay rail lines were inherited from the Key System and converted to bus routes, and AC Transit continued to use letters to identify the routes. Many Transbay routes continue to follow the original Key System routings to some degree. The number and letter ranges listed below do not mean that all numbers or letters with a range are in use.

Numbered routes operate within the East Bay:

• 1 to 99 primarily serve the northern part of Alameda County and all of Contra Costa County.
• 200 to 299 serve the southern part of Alameda County and Milpitas.
• 300 to 399 serve combined portions of other bus lines, usually only at certain times of day or certain days of the week.
• 600 to 699 operate on school days only.
• 800 to 899 are part of the All Nighter network, which provides bus service during owl hours and at times when BART is not operating.

One- and two-digit route numbers are sometimes used as a "base" number for three-digit route numbers. For example, Route 339 is "based" on Route 39.

Lettered routes (A to Z) provide Transbay service (i.e., service across a bridge) between the East Bay and San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties.

Suffixes (also lettered) are used on some local and Transbay routes to distinguish different routings. Currently, A, B, C, L, M, R, S, and X are used. Some suffixes have special meanings:

• A - Denotes Clockwise service, as used on Routes 25 and 49 or can denote one section of a split line, as used on route 51.
• B - Denotes Counterclockwise service, as used on Routes 25 and 49 or can denote one section of a split line, as used on route 51.
• C - Denotes Combined service on Transbay routes, where portions of two or more routes are combined into a single route during the PM commute period. Used on Routes LC and NXC.
• L - Denotes Limited stop service, where not all local stops are served. Used on Routes 46L and NL.
• R - Denotes Rapid service, which is similar to limited stop service. Used on Routes 72R.
• X - Denotes Express service, where portions of the main route as skipped entirely. Used on Routes NX, NX1, NX2, NX3, NX4, and OX.

Supplemental numerical suffixes are used to differentiate route variations for lines that already use a lettered suffix. This is the case with the NX lines listed above.

Note: Routes listed below are current as of March 26, 2017.^[1]

Local service

An AC Transit bus operating as Route 70 at the Richmond BART/Amtrak Station.

These routes serve various cities, towns, and attractions in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. One route also serves Milpitas in Santa Clara County. Several routes provide deviations on select trips, where a bus serves a particular business or school that is not on the regular route.

Historically, Route 51 has been considered the busiest bus route in the East Bay, connecting the cities of Berkeley, Oakland, and Alameda.^[2] However, this route was split into Routes 51A and 51B in March 2010.

In early 2015, following several rounds of community meetings, AC Transit announced a proposal for a radical rerouting and redesignation of many lines throughout their service area due to extra funds made available by the passage of Measure BB in November 2014. Called AC Go, the program looks at redesigning bus lines throughout the system to reflect the changing traveling habits of its residents by providing more frequent service on its busiest lines while rerouting others to better serve adjoining communities.^[3][4]

Notes:

• Routes 80 and 81, when combined, form a frequent service between Ashby & Claremont and Berkeley Amtrak via Ashby Avenue and 7th Street in Berkeley.
• Route 210 serves Centreville/Fremont Station (for ACE and Amtrak trains) despite not having access to a BART station.
• Additional weekday trips on Routes 217 and 239 operate to and from Northwestern Polytechnic University in Fremont and do not operate their full routes.
• Route 275 has been temporarily suspended since March 26, 2017 and is replaced by a one-year trial of the Newark FLEX (see below).

Rapid service

For an explanation of bus rapid transit, click here.

There is one Rapid route operated by AC Transit.

These routes provide the following amenities and features:^[5][6]

• Frequent service (every 12 minutes), which complements regular local service
• Stops spacing every 1/2-mile on average
• Passenger shelters with Rapid branding
• Low-floor buses for faster entry and exit
• Transit Signal Priority (TSP) so buses spend less time waiting at traffic signals

Special service

Several special service routes, numbered between 300 and 399, cater to various purposes:

• Routes 314, 356, and 391 provide midday shopper service, connecting residential neighborhoods and senior homes with shopping centers and major attractions.
• Other routes combine popular segments of two or more regular routes and operate evenings and/or weekends when ridership is insufficient to support the regular routes.

FLEX Service

In 2016, AC Transit started operating two FLEX services that provide on-demand van service to riders in Castro Valley and Newark. These services require passengers to book their trips online, using a smartphone app, or by telephone (up to three months in advance), and vans arrive within 30 minutes after the reservation is made.^[7] If boarding from a BART station, no reservations are required; just tell the operator your desired drop off point. Fares are identical to the local fares, and Clipper cards are accepted. These services operate Mondays to Fridays from 6am to 8pm (except holidays).^[8]

Transbay service

These routes cross San Francisco Bay and connect the East Bay with San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties. All routes except Route 800 are lettered. (Route 800 is part of the All Nighter network and is listed in its respective section.) Most Transbay routes operate weekdays only during commute periods; two routes operate throughout the day on weekdays only and three routes operate daily. Most commute-only routes operate westbound from the East Bay in the morning and eastbound to the East Bay in the afternoon, but some service is provided in the reverse commute direction.

Serving San Francisco

All bus routes serving San Francisco cross the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and terminate at the Transbay Temporary Terminal (at Howard and Beale streets). A map showing bus stop boarding locations at the TTT is available here.

Service via the San Mateo Bridge

One route operates between the East Bay and San Mateo County via the San Mateo Bridge.

Service via the Dumbarton Bridge

AC Transit operates one route between the East Bay and Santa Clara County via the Dumbarton Bridge. Additional bus service across the Dumbarton Bridge is provided by Dumbarton Express, which is a Transbay bus service provided under a consortium of five transit operators (AC Transit, BART, SamTrans, Union City Transit, and VTA). Dumbarton Express was operated by AC Transit through 16 December 2011 before being transferred to a contractor.

School service

A series of school-day only routes serve a variety of public and private middle, junior high, and high schools in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. Many of these routes provide connections to/from BART stations. While these lines are open to all riders at regular fares, they do not operate during school breaks and holidays. Some regular local bus routes also provide supplemental school service to nearby schools. These routes are usually timed to match the morning and afternoon bell schedules of all schools served.

There are 63 school routes numbered between 600 and 699: 604, 605, 606, 607, 609, 611, 614, 618, 619, 620, 621, 623, 624, 625, 626, 627, 628, 629, 631, 634, 638, 640, 641, 642, 643, 645, 646, 648, 649, 650, 651, 652, 653, 654, 655, 657, 658, 660, 662, 663, 665, 667, 668, 669, 670, 671, 672, 673, 674, 675, 676, 677, 679, 680, 681, 682, 683, 684, 685, 686, 688, 689, and 696. More details can be seen here.

All Nighter service

Several transit agencies in the Bay Area, including AC Transit, participate in the All Nighter program. All Nighter buses provide overnight bus service when BART and Caltrain are not operating. AC Transit Route 800 is the backbone of this network, serving eleven or thirteen BART and four Muni Metro stations en route.

All AC Transit All Nighter routes provide timed transfers at Broadway and 14th Street in downtown Oakland. Most routes operate daily including holidays, generally from midnight to 5:00 AM. Weekend morning service on Routes 800 and 801 extends until 6 AM on Saturdays and 8 AM on Sundays, corresponding to the start of BART service for the day.^[9]

Broadway Shuttle

The Broadway Shuttle, also known as The B, is a free shuttle service operating along Broadway in downtown Oakland as part of the Meet Downtown Oakland program.^[10] The service is provided by AC Transit in conjunction with the City of Oakland, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and several public and private entities. The shuttle service began in August 2010 and was expanded in July 2011^[11] and again in December 2014.^[12] The B operates two routes:^[13][14]

The B connects with the Alameda/Oakland Ferry, Amtrak (at Jack London Square), BART (at 19th Street/Oakland and 12th Street/Oakland stations), and most AC Transit routes serving downtown Oakland. The B also serves the following points of interest:

• Jack London Square
• Chinatown
• Old Oakland
• Downtown/Oakland City Center
• Uptown
• Lake Merritt (Day route)
• Koreatown/Northgate (Night route)

Transit connections

AC Transit provides connections to several other transit operators, including:

Buses and Light Rail

• Fairfield and Suisun Transit (FAST)
• Golden Gate Transit
• Napa VINE
• SamTrans
• San Francisco Muni
• San Joaquin SMART
• Santa Clara VTA
• SolTrans
• Union City Transit
• WestCAT

Ferries

• Alameda Harbor Bay Ferry
• Alameda/Oakland Ferry

Shuttle Services

• Bear Transit (UC Berkeley)
• Emery Go Round
• Estuary Crossing Shuttle
• Marguerite Shuttle (Stanford University) ^[15]
• San Leandro LINKS

Train Services

• Altamont Commuter Express (ACE)
• Amtrak (including Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach)
• BART
• Caltrain
• Capitol Corridor

Defunct lines

AC Transit has operated several different bus lines over the years, some of which no longer exist. Other lines, like Route 40, have been modified over the years through rerouting, rescheduling, line extension and/or reduction, or some combination.

References