Everything about Samtrans totally explained
San Mateo County Transit District (
SamTrans) is a
public transport agency in and around
San Mateo, California in the
San Francisco Bay Area. It provides bus service throughout
San Mateo County and into portions of
San Francisco and
Palo Alto. Service is largely concentrated on the Bay side of the
San Bruno Mountains, leaving coast-side service south of
Pacifica spotty and intermittent.
SamTrans is constituted as a
special district under
California state law. It is governed by a board of nine appointed members; two county Supervisors, one “transportation expert” appointed by the
county Board of Supervisors, three city
councilpersons appointed by the cities in the county to represent the county's judicial districts, and three citizens appointed by the other six board members with one from the coastside).
The district was established in
1976 by
Pittsburgher
John Mauro(External Link
) and consolidated eleven different municipal bus systems serving the county. One year later, SamTrans began operation of mainline bus service to San Francisco.
In addition to fixed
route bus and
paratransit operations, the district participates in the administration of the
San Jose-San Francisco
commuter rail line
Caltrain and provides funding for the San Mateo County portion of
BART system south of
Daly City Station. SamTrans also once possessed the authority to alter service levels on this segment of BART which services the
San Francisco International Airport (SFO), and has done so on several occasions. However, in the face of increasing financial disputes, SamTrans and BART decided to end their partnership, giving BART full control over the extension, in early 2007. SamTrans also provides administrative support for the San Mateo County Transportation Authority, a separate board charged with administering the half cent (US$0.005) sales tax levy funding various highway and transit improvement projects.
Bus service
Currently, SamTrans serves the cities of
Atherton,
Belmont,
Burlingame,
Colma,
Daly City,
East Palo Alto,
Foster City,
Half Moon Bay,
Hillsborough,
Menlo Park,
Millbrae,
Pacifica,
Palo Alto,
Redwood City,
San Bruno,
San Carlos,
San Mateo, and
South San Francisco. Most routes provide connecting service to
BART,
Caltrain, or both. There is also, regular scheduled service to
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and
Transbay Terminal in downtown San Francisco.
Unlike most large transit operators in the Bay Area, SamTrans
outsources to private contractors the operation of a number of its routes. The current contract operator for Peninsula mainline, Coastside and paratransit services is
MV Transportation.
SamTrans additionally operates special service for a number of Bay Area events such as
San Francisco 49ers home
football games and the quirky
Bay To Breakers footrace in San Francisco.
Route designations
Since SamTrans reorganized its bus routes in
August 1999, SamTrans adopted a new route designation system to identify service types, geographical coverage, and connections to
rail services.
All
express bus routes are designated by a letter and X (for example KX, MX, etc).
All local routes have either two or three digits. For three digit routes, the first digit identifies a rail connection:
- 1 – Connection to BART stations only (Primarily routes in Daly City, Colma, South San Francisco and San Bruno)
- 2 – Connection to Caltrain stations only (Primarily routes south of Millbrae)
- 3 – Connection to both BART and Caltrain stations (Only four routes have this designation: Two of them operate along El Camino between Daly City/San Francisco and Palo Alto/Redwood City, one serves within Millbrae and connects to the Millbrae BART/Caltrain station, and another route provides overnight service between Palo Alto and San Francisco as a part of the All Nighter network.)
All two digit routes are identified as community service routes. Most of these routes don't connect with rail and operate only on school days.
The second digit of the three digit routes, as well as the first digit of the two digit routes, identifies the geographical coverage of the route:
1 – Coastside (Pacifica and Half Moon Bay)
2 – Daly City and Colma
3 – Brisbane and South San Francisco
4 – San Bruno, Millbrae and Burlingame
5 – San Mateo and Foster City
6 – Belmont and San Carlos
7 – Redwood City
8 – Menlo Park, East Palo Alto and Palo Alto
9 – Multi-City service
Fares
| Fare category |
Single ride |
Monthly Pass |
| Adult local† |
US$1.50 |
US$48 |
| Adult local (boarding from San Francisco on routes 391, 292 and 397) |
US$3.00 |
US$72 |
| Adult express |
US$4.00 |
US$128 |
| Youth† (17 years and under) |
US$1.00 |
US$29 |
| Youth (boarding from San Francisco on routes 391, 292 and 397) |
US$2.00 |
| Youth express |
US$2.00 |
| Senior and Disabled† |
US$0.75 |
US$22 |
| Senior and Disabled (boarding from San Francisco on routes 391, 292 and 397) |
US$1.50 |
| Senior and Disabled express |
US$2.00 |
† Local fare applies on express bus routes CX and REX, connecting to BART and don't serve San Francisco, as well as KX for rides within San Mateo County.
SamTrans offers bus tokens for adult and youth local fares, US$12.50 and US$8.00 respectively, in packages of ten. Multiple tokens or combinations of tokens and cash are accepted for journeys requiring higher fares. Tokens are promoted as being easier to handle than cash, and also include discounts. For example, a package of youth tokens includes 2 free rides assuming the others are worth $1 each.
In addition, SamTrans typically offers a discount summer pass for youth which is treated like a monthly pass, but good for the entire summer. They typically cost a few dollars more than a normal youth monthly pass. These passes usually don't go on sale until mid-May.
SamTrans doesn't provide transfers nor day passes. The Federal Transit Administration has recommended SamTrans introduce transfers and/or day passes to increase bus ridership.
BART Plus tickets and Caltrain monthly passes (with two or more zones) are honoured on SamTrans as local fare payment.
Fleet
SamTrans currently has a fleet of 339 buses of various sizes for its fixed route service. Fifty-five are articulated buses made by North American Bus Industries with the 10 m (35 ft) and 12 m (40 ft) buses, some with low flooring, are made by the Gillig Corporation. Each bus is equipped with GPS tracking providing both visual and voice next-stop announcements, and are accessible to passengers in wheelchairs and limited mobility. In addition, most of the fleet has highback seats, with the notable exception of the Gillig low-floor buses. This enables greater fleet flexibility in terms of local and express routes.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Samtrans'.
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