Annual ridership 1,000,000 Headquarters Merced Founded 1996 | Routes 20 Website mercedthebus.com Operator National Express Fleet 43 | |
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Parent Transit Joint Powers Authority for Merced County Service types Transit bus, Demand responsive transport | ||
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.
Contents
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. 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.
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.
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.