Fresno County Rural Transit Agency

Fresno County Rural Transit Agency (FCRTA) is the primary bus agency providing intra- and inter-city routes for smaller cities and unincorporated rural communities in Fresno County, California since 1979, including Coalinga, Firebaugh, Fowler, Huron, Kerman, Kingsburg, Mendota, Orange Cove, Reedley, Sanger, San Joaquin, and Selma. FCRTA riders may transfer to Fresno Area Express service within the county seat of Fresno, and FCRTA has additional transfer points connecting to neighboring agencies in Fresno, Kings, and Tulare counties, including Clovis Transit Stageline, Kings Area Regional Transit, and Dinuba Connection.

Fresno County Rural Transit Agency

Parent	Fresno Council of Governments
Founded	September 27, 1979; 45 years ago (1979-09-27)
Headquarters	2035 Tulare Street, Ste 201 Fresno, California
Service area	Fresno County, California
Service type	Bus service, Dial-a-Ride
Destinations	Coalinga Firebaugh Fowler Huron Kerman Kingsburg Mendota Orange Cove Reedley Sanger San Joaquin Selma
Annual ridership	266,621 (2020)[1]
Website	ruraltransit.org
System map (2019)

History

Fresno County adopted a Regional Transportation Plan in March 1975, which provided a goal of establishing public transit service throughout the county by 1995, including demand responsive service in the small incorporated cities and four inter-city fixed routes:^[2]: I-1

1. Firebaugh–Mendota–Kerman (implemented as Westside Transit)
2. Kingsburg–Selma–Fowler (implemented as Southeast Transit)
3. Orange Cove–Reedley–Parlier–Sanger (implemented as Orange Cove Inter-city Transit)
4. Coalinga–Huron–Riverdale–Caruthers–Easton (implemented as Coalinga Inter-city Transit)

The Fresno County Rural Transit Agency was formed under a joint powers authority agreement signed on September 27, 1979, by the rural incorporated cities in Fresno County (Coalinga, Firebaugh, Fowler, Huron, Kerman, Kingsburg, Mendota, Orange Cove, Reedley, Sanger, San Joaquin, and Selma) and the County of Fresno.^[2]: III-1 While FCRTA is the overall operator which is responsible for funding and planning the system, day-to-day operations are delegated to local agencies or their contracted providers.^[2]: III-1

Sub-systems

FCRTA's local operations are carried out by the following sub-system operators:

FCRTA local operators^{[2]: III-4, III-6}

Sub-system	Scope of operations			Operator
	Intra-city	Inter-city	Inter-community
Auberry Transit		[a] DR[b]	DR[b]	MV Transportation
Coalinga Transit	DR[b]	[c] FRD[d]
Del Rey Transit	[e] DR[b]
Dinuba Transit			[f] FR[g]
Firebaugh Transit	DR[b]	[h][i] FRD[d]
Fowler Transit	DR[b]	[j] FRD[d]
Huron Transit	DR[b]	[c][k] FRD[d]
Kerman Transit	DR[b]	[i] FRD[d]
Kingsburg Transit	DR[b]	[l][j] FRD[d]
Laton Transit		[m][n] FR[g]
Mendota Transit	DR[b]	[h][i] FRD[d]
Orange Cove Transit	DR[b]	[o] FRD[d]
Parlier Transit	DR[b]	[o] FRD[d]
Reedley Transit	DR[b]	[l][o] FRD[d]
Rural Transit			DR[b]
Sanger Transit	DR[b]	[o][p] FRD[d]
San Joaquin Transit	[q] DR[b]	[i] FRD[d]
Selma Transit	DR[b]	[j] FRD[d]
Shuttle Transit	[r]
Southeast Transit		[j] FRD[d]
Westside Transit		[i] FRD[d]

Notes

1. Combined inter-city/inter-community service to Adler Springs, Auberry, New Auberry, Big Sandy Indian Rancheria, Burrough Valley, Cold Springs Indian Rancheria, Friant, Jose Basin, Marshall Station, Meadow Lakes, Mile High, Prather, Sycamore, Table Mountain Indian Rancheria, Tollhouse, and Fresno
2. demand responsive
3. via Coalinga Transit, serving Coalinga, Huron, Five Points, Lanare, Riverdale, Caruthers, Raisin City, Easton, and Fresno
4. Fixed route with route deviation
5. serves Del Rey and Sanger
6. service to Dinuba and Reedley
7. Fixed route
8. via Firebaugh–Mendota Transit, serving Firebaugh and Mendota
9. via Westside Transit, serving Firebaugh, Mendota, Kerman, and Fresno
10. via Southeast Transit, serving Fresno, Fowler, Selma, and Kingsburg
11. serves Huron, Harris Ranch, I-5/198 Interchange, West Hills College, and Coalinga
12. as Kingsburg–Reedley Transit
13. via Kings Area Regional Transit, serving Hanford, Grangeville, Hardwick, and Laton
14. via Inter-County Service, serving Hanford, Laton, Selma, and Fresno
15. via Orange Cove Transit, serving Orange Cove, Reedley, Parlier, Sanger, and Fresno
16. service to Sanger, Parlier, and Reedley
17. San Joaquin Intercity Transit, serving San Joaquin, Cantua Creek, El Porvenir, Half Way, Tranquility, and Three Rocks
18. Transports passengers from Coalinga, Orange Cove, Southeast, and Westside Transit to employment, education, training, and medical appointments in the Fresno–Clovis Metropolitan Area.^{[2]: III-19}

Governance

FCRTA is governed by a board of directors drawn from elected officials in the cities it serves, in addition to one member of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors.

Services

Virtually all intra-city services are operated on weekdays only as demand responsive services. A few locations offer Saturday intra-city services, including Del Rey, Kingsburg, Reedley, Sanger, and Selma.^{[2]: III-5 to III-7} Most inter-city and inter-community services operate as deviated fixed routes.^{[2]: III-5 to III-7}

FCRTA fixed routes^[3]

Route name	Terminus	via (Destinations)	Terminus	Trips	Notes / Refs.
Coalinga	Coalinga Courthouse	SR 269, Mount Whitney, SR 41 (Huron, Five Points, Lanare, Riverdale, Caruthers, Raisin City, Easton, Fresno Courthouse Park / FAX)	Fresno Yosemite International Airport	1 RT Mon–Fri	Traditional commute: service to Fresno in AM, returns to Coalinga in PM.[4]
Huron	West American Bank (Huron)	SR 269, SR 198 (Harris Ranch, I-5/SR 198, Coalinga Hospital, West Hills College)	Kmart (Coalinga)	3 RT Mon–Fri	[5]
Kingsburg-Reedley	Coffee Pot Bus Shelter (Kingsburg)	SR 99, Manning (Selma, Fowler, Children's Hospital, Parlier)	Reedley College	3 RT Mon–Fri	[6]
Orange Cove (Express)	Los Amigo Market / Eaton Park (Orange Cove)	Manning, Academy, and Jensen (Reedley, Reedley College, Parlier, Sanger, Sanger Hospital, Fresno Amtrak/Greyhound)	Fresno Courthouse Park / FAX	2(+1) RT Mon–Fri	(+1) Express service with limited stops for traditional commute (to Fresno in AM, return to Orange Cove in PM)[7][8]
Sanger Express	Sanger Community Center	Goodfellow & Reed	Reedley College	6 RT Mon–Fri	[9]
Southeast	Coffee Pot Bus Shelter (Kingsburg)	SR 99 (Selma, Fowler, Children's Hospital, Fresno Courthouse Park)	Fresno Amtrak/Greyhound	3 RT Mon–Fri	[10]
Westside	Firebaugh Senior Center	SR 33, Whitesbridge (Mendota, Kerman, Fresno Courthouse Park)	Fresno Amtrak/Greyhound	2 RT Mon–Fri	[11]

Fares

Fares vary depending on the type of service and distance traveled. Intra-city fares range from free (for qualified individuals) to $0.75, one-way. Inter-city fares range from $0.75 to $6.00, one-way, depending on distance. Some sub-systems offer discounted monthly passes.^[12]

Transfers

FCRTA connects to Fresno Area Express on certain inter-city routes at stops in downtown Fresno. Many of the same routes also stop at the Fresno Santa Fe train station, which is a stop for both Amtrak San Joaquins trains and Greyhound Lines bus service.

Fleet

The transit fleet used primarily cutaway passenger vans powered by unleaded gasoline and CNG; in addition, there are several larger (21 to 33 passengers) battery-electric buses from Proterra and BYD.^{[2]: III-10}