The San Benito County Local Transportation Authority (LTA) is the public transportation agency of
San Benito County, California
San Benito County (; ''San Benito'', Spanish for " St. Benedict"), officially the County of San Benito, is a county located in the Coast Range Mountains of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,209. The c ...
, immediately south of
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Cou ...
(
Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County together ...
). LTA provides fixed route inter-county and intra-city service as San Benito County Express; the ''Intracounty'' routes connect destinations in
Hollister and
San Juan Bautista to
Gilroy in Santa Clara County, while the ''Tripper'' routes connect destinations within Hollister. LTA also provides demand-responsive
dial-a-ride
Demand-responsive transport (DRT), also known as demand-responsive transit, demand-responsive service,
US National Trans ...
service within selected areas of northern San Benito County as County Express On-Demand.
History
The first public transit agency in San Benito County was named San Tran, which was operated by the City of Hollister from March 1975 to March 1990. In June 1990, the San Benito County Local Transportation Authority (LTA) was created 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 ...
by the county and the two incorporated cities, Hollister and
San Juan Bautista.
Transportation Services
Bus service is exclusive to northern San Benito County, where the LTA operates and administers County Express, providing fixed-route local bus service in the city of Hollister; regional fixed-route bus service between Hollister, San Juan Bautista, and Gilroy; and dial-a-ride service in northern San Benito County.
Fixed routes
County Express offers ''Intercounty'' routes that connect Hollister and San Juan Bautista to Gilroy, where riders may transfer to
Caltrain
Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a California commuter rail line serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose at Tamien station with weekday rush hour service running as fa ...
,
Santa Clara VTA,
Monterey-Salinas Transit, or
Greyhound Buses. The traditional commute direction is north to Gilroy; buses depart from Vets Park in Hollister, traveling through downtown Hollister along
California State Route 156
State Route 156 (SR 156) is a west to east state highway in the U.S. state of California, running from State Route 1 in Castroville to State Route 152 near Hollister. It serves as part of the primary route from the Monterey Peninsula to eithe ...
to San Juan Bautista, stopping at Abbe Park and
Anzar High School, then continuing north along
U.S. 101 to Gilroy. At Gilroy, one of three terminal stops is made:
[
# ''Caltrain'' service during peak weekday commute periods, stopping at ]Gilroy station
Gilroy station is a Caltrain station located in Gilroy, California, United States. It is the southernmost terminus of the Caltrain system, and is only served during weekday rush hours in the peak direction, with trains going toward San Francisco ...
for Caltrain and VTA transfers.
# ''Greyhound'' service on weekends, stopping at the Greyhound bus depot in Gilroy.
# ''Gavilan College'' service on weekdays, stopping at the main campus of Gavilan College for VTA transfers.
Some weekday trips (''Caltrain'' and ''Gavilan College'' service) bypass San Juan Bautista by traveling on SR 25. All trips that stop at Gavilan College continue on to the Caltrain depot.[
Local bus service in Hollister is branded as the ''Tripper'', which operates a single loop route that runs anti-clockwise and takes approximately 60 minutes to complete.]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 ...
, intracity fixed routes in Hollister used three color-coded lines: red, green, and blue. The green and blue ran in a loop through Hollister, the green line running clockwise and the blue line running counter-clockwise. The red line operated north–south from the south side of the loop, continuing to its terminus near the City of Hollister Municipal Airport. All three routes started from the same point near Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital.[
]
See also
* Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach
Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transi ...
* Caltrain
Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a California commuter rail line serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose at Tamien station with weekday rush hour service running as fa ...
* Coast Starlight
The ''Coast Starlight'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, which has operated continuously since Amtrak's format ...
* SCMTD
References
External links
County ExpressTres Pinos Branch
Public transportation in San Benito County, California
Bus transportation in California
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