The North Central Regional Transit District operates a network of several local and intercity bus routes in northern New Mexico, serving Santa Fe, Española, Taos, and many smaller communities along a network of 25 fixed routes and one demand-response route, one dial-a-ride and complementary Paratransit service in the Taos area. Routes operate Monday through Friday only, with the exceptions of the "Taos Express," which operates only on weekends, the Mountain Trail route to the Santa Fe National Forest and Ski Santa Fe, which operates daily, and seasonal daily service from the Town of Taos to Taos Ski Valley. All routes are fare-free, with the exception of the Taos Express and Mountain Trail route which are premium fare-based routes. The service is supported primarily by transit gross receipt taxes, which provides approximately 70% of the RTD's revenues. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .

History

The North Central RTD was created in September 2004 by the New Mexico Transportation Commission under the Regional Transit Act, a law passed by Governor

Bill Richardson William Blaine Richardson III (born November 15, 1947) is an American politician, author, and diplomat who served as the 30th governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. He was also the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Energy Secretary ...

that authorized the creation of Regional Transit Districts in New Mexico. The RTD first began public transit operations in 2007 after consolidating with local transit services in Rio Arriba County and the City of Española. In the following years, NCRTD expanded service further, aided by a

gross receipts tax A gross receipts tax or gross excise tax is a tax on the total gross revenues of a company, regardless of their source. A gross receipts tax is often compared to a sales tax; the difference is that a gross receipts tax is levied upon the seller of ...

of one-eighth of one percent that was approved by voters in 2008. In January 2015, NCRTD took over operations of the weekend Taos Express bus service, and in July took over operations of the local Chile Line bus service in the town of

Taos Taos or TAOS may refer to: Places * Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States * Taos County, New Mexico, United States ** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico *** Taos art colony, an art colo ...

. In September 2015, the RTD opened a new route serving the Santa Fe Ski Area. And in March 2016, the RTD began service along a new route between Santa Fe and La Cienega. In partnership with the Jicarilla Apache Nation, the District launched the 170 Jicarilla Route in October 2017. The route provides service between Chama, Dulce and Farmington, NM. Current members of the district include Los Alamos County, Rio Arriba County, Santa Fe County and Taos County, as well as several pueblos, including Ohkay Owingeh, Pojoaque, Nambe, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara and Tesuque.; and the Cities of Española and Santa Fe, the Town of Taos and Edgewood and the Village of Chama. The Rio Metro RTD, based in Albuquerque, sits on the Board as an ex-officio member.

Blue Bus Tracker

In March 2015, NCRTD launched the Blue Bus Tracker, which allows riders to view bus routes and stops, as well as to view service alerts and expected departure times based on real-time GPS data. Each bus stop on the network is identified by a unique number, which is displayed at the stop; by inputting the number into the Blue Bus Tracker or by texting the number to an automated service number, real-time information can be viewed for that stop.

Recognition

In October 2014, NCRTD was one of five rural transit agencies nationwide recognized by the

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...

with the "Administrator’s Award for Outstanding Public Transportation Service in Rural Public Transportation." NCRTD was also honored by the

New Mexico Department of Transportation The New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT; es, Departamento de Transporte de Nuevo México) is a state government organization which oversees transportation in New Mexico, State of New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The agency ...

as the "2014 Section 5311 Rural Transit System of the Year," and was honored in both 2009 and 2012 as the "Job Access and Reverse Commute Transportation System of the Year."

Expansion

In partnership with the Jicarilla Apache Nation, the District launched the 170 Jicarilla Route in October 2017. The route provides service between Chama and Dulce Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and Chama, Dulce and Farmington, NM Tuesday and Thursday. On 28 September 2015, the new Mountain Trail route opened, providing service between the city of Santa Fe and the Santa Fe Ski Area. Unlike most other NCRTD routes, there is a $5 fare to ride each-way in winter and one-way outside of the ski season, although this is compensated for with discounts for lift tickets at the ski area, during season. Multiple stops are made at trailheads and various locations in the Santa Fe National Forest.

List of routes

*100 Riverside: Riverside Drive, Española *110 Westside-Crosstown: Fairview Lane, Española *150 Chimayo: Las Trampas – Chimayo – Española *160 Santa Clara: Santa Fe/

Ohkay Owingeh Ohkay Owingeh ( Tewa: Ohkwee Ówîngeh ), known by its Spanish name as San Juan de los Caballeros from 1589 to 2005, is a pueblo and census-designated place (CDP) in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. Ohkay Owingeh is also a federally recognized tribe ...

– Española –

Santa Clara Pueblo Santa Clara Pueblo (in Tewa: Khaʼpʼoe Ówîngeh ɑ̀ʔp’òː ʔówîŋgè ″Singing Water Village″, also known as ″Village of Wild Roses″ is a census-designated place (CDP) in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States and a federa ...

*170 Jicarilla: Service between Chama, Dulce and Farmington, and the Jicarilla Apache Nation *180 El Rito: El Rito – Ojo Caliente – Española *190 Chama: Chama – Española via

U.S. Route 84 U.S. Route 84 (US 84) is an east–west U.S. Highway that started as a short Georgia–Alabama route in the original 1926 scheme. Later, in 1941, it had been extended all the way to Colorado. The highway's eastern terminus is a short dista ...

*200 Santa Fe: Española-

Pojoaque Pojoaque (; Tewa: Pʼohsųwæ̨geh Ówîngeh/P'osuwaege Owingeh ’òhsũ̀wæ̃̀gè ʔówîŋgè, Po’su wae geh, which translates to “water gathering place”, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. ...

– Santa Fe *210 Pojoaque-Nambe Dial-A-Ride *220 Tesuque: Española- Tesuque – Santa Fe *230 San Ildefonso:

San Ildefonso Pueblo San Ildefonso Pueblo (Tewa: Pʼohwhogeh Ówîngeh ’òhxʷógè ʔówîŋgè"where the water cuts through" ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States, and a federally recognized tribe, established c. 13 ...

– Pojoaque *255 Mountain Trail: Santa Fe – Santa Fe Ski Area *260 La Cienega: La Cienega – Santa Fe *270 Turquoise Trail: Santa Fe –

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

–

Golden Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall * Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershi ...

via

New Mexico State Road 14 New Mexico State Road 14 (NM 14) is an approximately state road located in northern New Mexico. The highway connects Albuquerque to Santa Fe and comprises most of the Turquoise Trail, a National Scenic Byway which also includes NM ...

*280 Eldorado:

Edgewood Edgewood may refer to: Places Canada *Edgewood, British Columbia South Africa *Edgewood, a University of KwaZulu-Natal campus in Pinetown, South Africa United States Cities and towns *Edgewood, California *Edgewood, Florida *Edgewood, Illinois, a ...

–

Eldorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...

– Santa Fe *290 Edgewood:

–

– Santa Fe *300 Taos:

– Española via New Mexico State Road 68 *305 Taos Express:Weekend express service between Taos, Española and Santa Fe *310 Red River: Red River – Questa *320 Questa: Taos – Questa – Costilla via New Mexico State Road 522 *330 Peñasco: Taos – Peñasco – Las Trampas *340 Chile Line Red: Town of Taos *341 TSV Green: Town of Taos to Taos Ski Valley *360 Tres Piedras: Taos – Tres Piedras via the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge *400 Los Alamos: Los Alamos – Española/Pojoaque

Other RTD funded services

The North Central RTD also funds two local bus networks in the area. In Santa Fe, the RTD provides funding to Santa Fe Trails, which provides service on ten fixed routes, two downtown circulator routes (the Santa Fe Pickup) and a paratransit service that provides demand-response transportation for elderly and disabled persons (the Santa Fe Ride). In Los Alamos and White Rock, the RTD also provides funding to Atomic City Transit, which provides service on seven fixed routes, five school bus routes, and a Dial-A-Ride system. The RTD also provides funding to the New Mexico Rail Runner Express which offers rail service between the cities of Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official North Central RTD (NCRTD) website
Bus transportation in New Mexico Transit agencies in the United States Transportation in Los Alamos County, New Mexico Transportation in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico Transportation in Santa Fe County, New Mexico Transportation in Taos County, New Mexico Transportation in Torrance County, New Mexico Española, New Mexico Santa Fe, New Mexico Taos, New Mexico 2007 establishments in New Mexico