Pioneer Valley Transit Authority

Organizational structure

As per Section 25, Chapter 161B of the Massachusetts General Laws, regional transit authorities in Massachusetts are not permitted to directly operate their service, but must instead contract with other entities to operate the buses. As such, the PVTA contracts with two entities to provide fixed-route service in the service area: First Transit and UMass Transit Services. The contractors run semi-autonomous garages that act as vehicle depots for the surrounding areas.

Springfield Area Transit Company

The Springfield Area Transit Company (SATCo) operates the southern portion of PVTA's service area, servicing Hampden County. SATCo, located at 2808 Main Street in Springfield, is managed by First Transit. PVTA's headquarters are also housed at this same location. All SATCo fixed-route buses are numbered in the 1000 series, except for the Palmer and Ware shuttle buses, numbered in the 5000 series along with other vans. Springfield PVTA transports more than 9 million passengers annually.

UMass Transit Services

UMass Transit Services operates PVTA's routes through the Five Colleges area in eastern Hampshire County and neighboring towns, with most of the routes centered around UMass Amherst, the largest ridership generator in the service area. UMass Transit Services is a department within the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The UMass Transit garage is located on-campus at 255 Governors Drive, Amherst. All UMass Transit fixed-route buses are numbered in the 3000 series. UMass Transit is a student-based organization with more than 90% of the employees (i.e. bus drivers, mechanics, dispatchers) being UMass students. Amherst PVTA is operated by one of the oldest student driver groups in the country, having been founded in 1969 as a demonstration grant from the Urban Mass Transit Administration. Today, UMass Transit Services operates 10 routes with a fleet of 40 transit vehicles (35' - 60'). Service runs 12 months a year, 20 hours per day, seven days per week, and is driven by over 150 student operators. UMass Transit Services Amherst PVTA transports more than 3.5 million passengers annually.

Valley Area Transit Company

The Valley Area Transit Company (VATCo) operates the central portion of PVTA's service area. All of its routes originate from Northampton, providing connections to the UMass Transit service areas via Route 9, and to the SATCo service area on the other side of the Mount Tom Range via Routes 5 and 10. VATCo, located at 54 Industrial Drive in Northampton, is managed by First Transit. All VATCo fixed-route buses are numbered in the 7000 series, except Easthampton-Nashawannuck vans, which are numbered in the 5000 series.

Hulmes Transportation Services (Paratransit Service)

ADA Paratransit Service is provided by Hulmes Transportation Services for the entire service area, except for the University of Massachusetts, where the UMass Special Transportation Service (operated by UMass Transit Services) provides service for University members. Amherst-area paratransit passengers who are not members of the University community are served by Hulmes.

All paratransit vehicles are numbered in the 5000 series.

Hampden County

These routes are all operated by SATCo.

Route Red 10 Shuttle: Westfield Center & Westfield State University: http://pvta.com/schedules/R10.pdf http://pvta.com/schedules/R10S.pdf

X90A Inner-City Crosstown. Replaces the Green 19. Serves Downtown Holyoke, New Ludlow Road, Memorial Drive, Springfield Plaza, Armory St, Walnut St, White St. and Big Y in East Longmeadow.
X90B Inner-City Crosstown. Replaces the Red 22. Serves Downtown Holyoke, Willimansett, Grattan St, Springfield Plaza, Armory St, Walnut St, White St. and Big Y in East Longmeadow. http://pvta.com/schedules/X90.pdf

X92 Mid-City Crosstown: Route serves Mill Street, Island Pond Rd, Independence House and East Springfield Memorial Industrial Park. Replaces the former route Green 8: http://pvta.com/schedules/X92.pdf

South Hadley Tiger Shuttle: Formerly the Route Red 25. Bus services South Hadley, Mount Holyoke College, and the Holyoke Transportation Center. http://pvta.com/schedules/TT.pdf

Amherst/UMass

These routes are operated by UMass Transit Services.

Northampton

All of these routes are operated by VATCo, and hub at the Academy of Music in downtown Northampton.

X98 Crosstown Route services Downtown Northampton, Hampshire Plaza and River valley Market. http://pvta.com/schedules/X98.pdf

Connections

PVTA offers connections to the following regional transportation agencies, weekdays only:

One way

One-way fixed-route fares are noted below.

NOTE: UMass Amherst buses (3000-series) do not have fareboxes and operate via a proof-of-payment system (see UMass Transit buses below).

Passes

All passes are good through the end of the service day.

Routes operated by UMass Transit Services

PVTA buses operated by UMass Transit operate via a proof-of-payment system. See here for more details.

Ridership increase

Ridership is up 12% in September 2014 and 9% in October. Springfield mayor Domenic Sarno stated that people who choose to live without a car in city centre in market rate housing can step out and get transit virtually everywhere in New England.

Accounting errors investigation

An audit in 2005 revealed that the PVTA made approximately $10 million in accounting errors on a transportation development project at Springfield's Union Station. Initial reports said PVTA could owe the federal government as much as $4 million. That amount was reduced in 2009 to less than $1 million. A federal probe in 2006 also targeted some PVTA employees. Subsequently, Administrator Gary Shepard resigned in 2006 after being put on leave by the Advisory Board, but he was never charged with any offense.

Holiday and school break service

All service changes, detours, and other alerts as a result of holidays and inclement weather are posted on PVTA's Alerts page.