Porterville Transit (PT) was the primary bus agency serving residents and visitors to Porterville, the fourth-largest city in

Tulare County, California Tulare County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 473,117. The county seat is Visalia, California, Visalia. The county is named for ...

. It was operated by the city and offered both fixed routes and dial-a-ride local service within Porterville, with all fixed routes operating out of a central transit center. Buses connecting Porterville's transit hub to nearby census-designated places were handled by

Tulare County Area Transit Tulare County Area Transit (TCaT) was the county-operated bus agency providing service between cities and local community circulator routes in Tulare County, California; transit within the larger cities was provided by agencies operated by those c ...

(TCaT), including services to Tulare and

Visalia Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...

(TCaT Route 40), Springville (TCaT Route 70),

Terra Bella SkySat is a constellation of sub-meter resolution Earth observation satellites owned by Planet Labs, providing imagery, high-definition video and analytics services. Planet acquired the satellites with their purchase of Terra Bella (formerly S ...

(80), and Poplar and Woodville (90). Prior to the

COVID-19 pandemic in California Ten of the first twenty confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States occurred in California, the first of which was confirmed on January 26, 2020. All of the early confirmed cases were persons who had recently travelled to China, as testing wa ...

, PT also offered service to the nearby

Tule River Indian Reservation The Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans. The Tule River Reservation is located in Tulare County, California. The reservation was made up of Yokuts, about 200 Yowlumne, Wukchum ...

. Porterville Transit routes are now operated by the

Tulare County Regional Transit Agency The Tulare County Regional Transit Agency (TCRTA) is a joint powers agency formed by all the cities in Tulare County, California (except Visalia) alongside the county government on August 17, 2020. It operates the public transportation systems wit ...

(TCRTA), which was formed as a

joint powers agency A joint powers authority (JPA) is an entity permitted under the laws of some U.S. states, whereby two or more public authorities (e.g. local governments, or utility or transport districts), not necessarily located in the same state, may jointly ex ...

in 2020 by the city and county governments of Tulare County, with the exception of Visalia.

History

In 1980, the city began to offer public transportation as a

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

point-to-point service branded Dial-A-COLT (City Operated Local Transit). The city entered an agreement with TCRTA to provide public transportation services within the Porterville urbanized area in 1983, with the County providing a share of the operating budget. A locally owned company, Sierra Management, was formed in 1994 to manage the transportation service operations, including drivers, dispatchers, and administrative personnel. The city is responsible for day-to-day administration, including fleet maintenance and repair, under the Department of Public Works. With increased demand, the city began offering two regular fixed routes as Porterville Transit starting in July 1997. Dial-A-COLT was reprioritized to focus on elderly and

Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ...

passengers in August 2006, with regular transit taken over by Porterville Transit. In April 2020, the city began operating the transPORT service, mimicking on-demand private rideshare services like Uber and Lyft.

Services

Porterville Transit operates seven days a week, with no service provided on specific holidays (New Year's Day, July 4, Thanksgiving, and Christmas). The service area encompasses ; of the 76,000 residents, approximately 80% live within the city limits of Porterville, an area of .

Fixed routes

All fixed routes originate from the Porterville Transit Center (PTC), 61 W. Oak Ave. Routes 1 through 8 are one-way loops that return to PTC; Route 9 is a linear route between PTC and the

. Route 9, which began service in 2013, was the most popular route by 2016, accounting for approximately 20% of all riders; Route 3 was the most frequently-boarded, averaging 17.5 boardings per revenue-hour. Routes 4, 7, and 8 were suspended due to low ridership amid the

; Route 9 was suspended at the request of the Tule River tribe. The City Council voted to resume Route 4 in August 2021.

Fares

Due to the ongoing

, TCRTA suspended fare collection on all transit routes and participating sub-agencies, including

(TCaT), Tulare InterModal Express (TIME),

Dinuba Transit The Tulare County Regional Transit Agency (TCRTA) is a joint powers agency formed by all the cities in Tulare County, California (except Visalia) alongside the county government on August 17, 2020. It operates the public transportation systems wit ...

, Porterville Transit, and Woodlake Transit starting on July 1, 2021. Partial support was provided by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. Prior to the suspension of fares, exact change was required. Porterville Transit also offers a contactless "

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" (

smart card A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...

and onboard farebox; passengers may pre-purchase single-trip fares; 1-, 7-, or 31-day passes; or preload the card with cash. Alternatively, passengers may pay using the agency's mobile app, which will display a

QR code A QR code (an initialism for quick response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) invented in 1994 by the Japanese company Denso Wave. A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that can contain information about th ...

to be scanned by the onboard farebox. ;Notes

Transfers

Bus services connecting Porterville with other communities within Tulare County are provided by

(branded TCaT). TCaT riders on Routes 40, 60, 70, 80, and 90 may transfer to Porterville Transit buses for free.

Fleet

In August 2021, the transit fleet included 10 battery-electric buses, 14 CNG transit buses, 12 battery-electric vans, 3 CNG cutaway buses, and 9 gasoline minivans.

Facilities

The Transit Center, which opened in May 2003, also houses the bus dispatch center and ticket office. Bus maintenance, fueling, and storage are performed at the City of Porterville Department of Public Works, Field Services Division facility on North Prospect Street, between W Grand Ave and W Morton Ave.

References

External links

Official website
*{{cite web , url=https://cptdb.ca/wiki/index.php/Porterville_Transit , title=Porterville Transit , website=Canadian Public Transportation Discussion Board wiki Public transportation in the San Joaquin Valley Area Bus transportation in California Public transportation in Tulare County, California Transit agencies in California