Pasadena Transit, formerly known as Pasadena Area Rapid Transit System (Pasadena ARTS), is the transit

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

service in the city of

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

, California. The system was launched as a single shuttle route ahead of the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football, soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the countr ...

, at the Rose Bowl. The system greatly expanded in 2001 and ahead of the opening of the Metro Gold Line (now known as the L Line) in 2003. , the system consists of eight lines, which are operated under contract by

First Transit First Transit is an American transportation company. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, First Transit operates over 300 locations, carrying more than 350 million passengers annually throughout the United States in 39 states, Puerto Rico, Panam ...

, with a fleet of 32 buses.

History

Pasadena launched its transit bus system in June 1994, in time for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

, held at Pasadena's

Rose Bowl stadium The Rose Bowl is an outdoor athletic stadium located in Pasadena, California. Opened in October 1922, the stadium is recognized as a National Historic Landmark and a California Historic Civil Engineering landmark. At a modern capacity of an all-s ...

. Known as the Pasadena Area Rapid Transit System (ARTS), it consisted of a single fare-free shuttle line called the Downtown Route which connected Old Pasadena, Civic Center, Playhouse District, and South Lake Business District. A second route was added in mid-1996, connecting to the Downtown Route at Old Pasadena; the new Uptown Route served residents in the northwest and eastern areas of Pasadena, connecting them with the Civic Center, the North Lake shopping area, and also serving the high-density senior housing along Villa. In 2001, anticipating the opening of the Metro Gold Line (now known as the L Line) in 2003, Pasadena restructured the transit system serve the six new light rail stations. ARTS was restructured into four routes in 2001, which are operated today as Lines 10, 20, 31/32, and 40. Two additional routes were added in June 2003: Routes 51/52 and 60. When the Gold Line opened in July 2003, Pasadena ARTS also began charging a 50 cent fare, which allowed the agency to enter into interagency transfer agreements that enabled ARTS riders to transfer onto the Gold Line or buses from other agencies for an extra 25 cents. In 2010, the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

that was being felt around the nation also impacted Pasadena's budget, forcing the city to cut service including the elimination of Sunday service; in addition, the aging vehicles dragged down the agency's on-time performance into the low-80% range, and ridership fell by 13% that year. Federal grants allowed Pasadena ARTS to modify Route 10 and increase Route 20 frequency in July 2013; additional service improvements included an increase in Route 31 frequency in fall 2015 and the resumption of Sunday service in July 2018. The service was rebranded as Pasadena Transit starting on December 1, 2015. The new logo and branding materials were developed by students at Pasadena's

ArtCenter College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred ...

Service

Fixed route system

Pasadena Transit operates nine routes, each connecting with at least one Metro L Line station. Four of the lines (10, 51/52, and 60) are classified as "Feeder" lines, which connect low-density residential neighborhoods to work and shopping destinations, and other modes of transit. The other four lines (20, 31/32, and 40) are classified as "Local" lines, which connect the Metro stations with the city's attractions and high-density residential neighborhoods. Route 20 is the busiest in the system, with nearly 2.5× the daily boardings as the next-highest route operated by Pasadena Transit, 31/32. Effective July 1, 2018, service is operated seven days a week, with the exception of six major holidays (New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day (July 4), Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day).

Route overview

;Notes

Dial-a-ride service

In addition to its fixed routes, Pasadena Transit also operates an on-demand ("

dial-a-ride Demand-responsive transport (DRT), also known as demand-responsive transit, demand-responsive service,
US National Trans ...

") service for senior and disabled residents in the city of Pasadena and neighboring communities in Altadena, San Marino, and unincorporated Los Angeles County. The Dial-a-Ride service started in 1984 and began serving San Marino residents in 1989. Areas of Kinneloa and East San Gabriel were added in 1990, and Altadena joined in 1993.

Fares

Fares may be paid by cash. In September 2015, Pasadena Transit began participating in the regional

Transit Access Pass The Transit Access Pass (TAP) is a contactless smart card used for automated fare collection on most public transport services within Los Angeles County. It is administered by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), ...

(TAP Card) farecard program. Passes are kept on the TAP Card. Pasadena Transit will honor the regional EZ Transit Pass and all Metrolink tickets as full fare. Youth, senior, and disabled riders must use an appropriate Reduced Fare TAP Card in conjunction with an appropriate ID. Up to two children ages five and under may ride for free with one paid Full (adult) fare. Initially, the base fare was 50 cents (youth and discount riders: 25 cents) when Pasadena ARTS began collecting fares in July 2003. The transfer fee to another transit agency was an additional 25 cents. Fares were raised in 2009 to 75 cents (adult), 50 cents (youth), and 35 cents (discount). Passengers who pay with cash stored on a TAP Card, can ride for 2.5 hours, and will get discounted inter-agency transfers.

Fleet and facilities

Fleet

The six original buses when Pasadena ARTS began were wrapped in a distinct design, themed for the Visual Arts, Symphony, New Year's Day, Historical Landmarks, and Multicultural; they were billed as "Art that really moves you". In 2006, the bus livery was redesigned to incorporate each of the six original designs as a unified pattern for all buses. The first major replacement of the fleet was completed by 2013.

Facilities

Pasadena Transit is managed by the city's Department of Transportation and is housed in a building at 221 E Walnut St. Operations and maintenance are handled by contractors, using a leased facility at 303 North Allen Ave. There are two additional lots for overflow parking and bus storage.