Merced County Transit
| File:Merced TheBus logo.png | |
 | |
| Parent | Transit Joint Powers Authority for Merced County |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
| Headquarters | 1950 Wardrobe Ave Merced, CA 95340 |
| Service area | Merced County |
| Service type | Bus service, Dial-a-Ride |
| Routes | 17[1] |
| Stops | 238 |
| Fleet | 43[1] |
| Annual ridership | 1,000,000 [1] |
| Fuel type | Gasoline, Diesel |
| Operator | First Transit[2] |
| Website | mercedthebus.com |
Merced County Transit, also known as "The Bus", provides public bus transportation services throughout Merced County in the Central Valley and San Joaquin Valley areas of California. Vehicles are owned and maintained by Transit Joint Powers Authority for Merced County with daily operations conducted by a private contractor.[3]
History
The Bus was formed in 1996 by consolidating four local transit service providers.[4]: 29
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.[5] 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.[6]
Fleet
Currently the fleet consists of 43 fixed-route transit buses (24 of which are larger heavy-duty buses and 19 of them are smaller cutaway buses) as well as 21 ADA Paratransit and Dial-A-Ride vehicles. The fixed-route fleet consists of seven 2011 Gillig Low Floor Diesel 29' coaches (numbered M-150 through M-156), two 2012 and five 2013 Gillig Low Floor Diesel 40' coaches (M-157 and M-158 are the 2012 models and M-159 through M-163 are the 2013 models), six 2015 Gillig Diesel 35' coaches (numbered M-164 through M-169), and four newer 2017 Gillig Diesel 35' coaches (numbered M-170 through M-173) which replaced four 2003 Gillig Phantoms that were retired in late 2017. The fixed-route fleet also consists of 19 2014 and 2015 Chevrolet Arboc cutaway buses (numbered M-419 through M-437) for use on local routes with more frequent service. 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. These buses were later replaced in 2015 by a combination of six Gillig Diesel buses and a small fleet of Arboc cutaways.[1] In late 2019 and early 2020, both The Bus and YARTS were awarded grant funding to begin the transition to a zero-emission electric bus fleet in which the first of these buses are expected to arrive some time in 2021.
Services
17 fixed bus routes (2 of them route deviation services) are provided 7 days a week (with the exception of the UC route which is 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.[7]
| Rte. No. | Route | Days | Destinations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed Routes (as of 2020) | |||
| A1 | Atwater Cross-Town | Mon-Sun | Bellevue Rd, Winton Way, Broadway, Buhach Rd, Castle Air Force Base, Atwater Target |
| A2 | Winton Way | Mon-Sun | Connects Atwater and the town of Winton via Winton Way |
| DP | Dos Palos Link | Mon-Sun | Connects Dos Palos and Los Banos |
| G | Gustine Link | Mon-Sun | Connects Gustine with Los Banos, Santa Nella, Newman, and Downtown Merced |
| L | Livingston Commuter | Mon-Sun | Connects Livingston with Winton, Atwater (Castle Air Force Base), and Merced College (Merced) |
| LB | Los Banos Commuter | Mon-Sun | Los Banos-Dos Palos-Downtown Merced |
| M1 | Merced West | Mon-Sun | Southwest Merced-Downtown-Merced Marketplace-Northwest Merced |
| M2 | R Street Route | Mon-Sun | Downtown-Merced Mall-Merced Marketplace via R Street |
| M3 | M Street Route | Mon-Sun | South Merced-Downtown-Merced Mall-Merced College-via M Street |
| M4 | G Street Route | Mon-Sun | South Merced-Downtown-Merced College-Mercy Hospital-via G Street |
| M5 | Merced Southeast | Mon-Sun | Southeast Merced-Amtrak-Downtown-via Childs Ave & 21st St. |
| M6 | Merced Northeast | Mon-Sun | Downtown Merced-G Street-Hoover Middle School-Save Mart |
| 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 Route | Mon-Fri | Downtown Merced-Amtrak-Merced College-UC Merced-via M Street and Yosemite Ave. |
| W1 | Winton Commuter | Mon-Sun | Winton, Atwater(Bellevue Rd), Buhach, Beachwood-Franklin, Downtown Merced |
| W2 | Winton Communter (North) | Mon-Sun | Winton, Atwater, Buhach, Beachwood-Franklin, Merced Walmart, Merced College |
References
- ^ a b c d "About Us". Transit Joint Powers Authority of Merced County. Archived from the original on 2009-11-16.
- ^ "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 Board Of Supervisors. April 14, 2009. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011.
- ^ "Merced County, California: countywide transit". Archived from the original on 2011-07-18.
- ^ LSC Transportation Consultants, Inc. (June 30, 2017). Merced County 2017/18 - 2021/22 Short Range Transit Plan (Report). Merced County Associtation of Governments. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ City of Merced - Visiting Us
- ^ California Welcome Center - Merced
- ^ THE BUS: Route maps and bus schedules Archived 2009-11-25 at the Wayback Machine