Riverside Transit Agency

Riverside Transit Agency

Founded	1975
Headquarters	1825 Third Street Riverside, CA 92517-1968
Service area	Western Riverside County, California, United States
Service type	Bus service, paratransit
Routes	48
Fleet	339
Daily ridership	19,300 (weekdays, Q3 2024)
Annual ridership	5,584,200 (2023)
Fuel type	Compressed natural gas
Website	riversidetransit.com

The Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) is the main transit agency for western Riverside County, California, United States. RTA provides both local and regional services throughout the region with 32 fixed-routes ,3 CommuterLink routes, Micro Transit in the Hemet San Jacinto area, and Dial-A-Ride services using a fleet of 339 vehicles. In the cities of Corona, Beaumont and Banning, RTA coordinates regional services with municipal transit systems. In Riverside, RTA coordinates with the city's Riverside Special Services, which provides ADA complementary service to RTA's fixed-route services.

RTA was established as a joint powers agency on August 15, 1975, and began operating bus service on March 16, 1977.

In 2023, the system had a ridership of 5,584,200, or about 19,300 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.

Governance

RTA is governed by a board of directors composed of 22 elected officials from 18 cities in western Riverside County and four members of the County Board of Supervisors.

The member jurisdictions include the cities of Banning, Beaumont, Canyon Lake, Corona, Eastvale, Hemet, Jurupa Valley, Lake Elsinore, Moreno Valley, Menifee, Murrieta, Norco, Perris, Riverside, San Jacinto, Temecula, Wildomar and the unincorporated areas of Riverside County Supervisorial Districts I, II, III and V.

Rates

As of 8-30-2023:

Local and RapidLink Route Fares

Fare Categories	Base Fares	1 Day Pass	7-Day Pass	30-Day Pass
General	$1.75	$5	$20	$60
Youth (grades 1-12)				$45
Senior/Disabled/Veteran/Medicare	$0.75	$2.50		$30
Child (46" tall or under, up to 3)	$0.50

CommuterLink Fares

Fare Categories	Base Fares
General	$3.5
Youth (grades 1-12)
Senior/Disabled/Veteran/Medicare	$2.75
Child (46" tall or under, up to 3)	$0.25

CommuterLink + Local + RapidLink Fares

Fare Categories	1 Day Pass	30-Day Pass
General	$10	$95
Youth (grades 1-12)
Senior/Disabled/Veteran/Medicare	$7	$70
Child (46" tall or under, up to 3)

Dial-A-Ride

Fare categories	Base fares	Ticket books
Senior / disabled	$3.50	$35
Medicare Card Holder
Child (46" tall or under, up to 3)	$0.75	N/A

• Rates resume 9-01-2024. June through August 2024 rates are $0.25 per ride, except 6-19 (no service), 6-20 & Fridays in June, no charge.

College passes

In September 2006, RTA partnered with the University of California, Riverside (UCR) to provide their students with an all-access bus pass. UC Riverside students get free rides on all fixed-route and CommuterLink buses by swiping their valid university identification cards through any RTA bus farebox when they board. The program, called U-Pass, is designed to help ease traffic congestion around campus, reduce parking problems and encourage ride-sharing. Additionally, RTA operates a trolley service called the Crest Cruiser that is free to UCR students and travels around the university to off-campus housing and retail outlets. Students of La Sierra University have also benefited from U-Pass since January 2009, and California Baptist University joined the program in August 2009.

As of August 21, 2008, RTA has also partnered with Riverside Community College District (RCCD) to provide the same free transit services to students at the Riverside City and Moreno Valley college campuses. (The Norco campus failed to pass an initiative to fund the program, and currently only students at Riverside and Moreno Valley are eligible.) The program, called Go Pass, requires that students swipe their valid RCCD ID cards through the bus farebox when boarding. As of August 2014, the Go-Pass has logged more than 4.5 million RCCD student rides.

In August 2010, RTA expanded the reach of its Go-Pass program by partnering with the Mt. San Jacinto College District. Students at the Banning, Menifee and San Jacinto campuses who pay their student fees are allowed unlimited rides on all fixed-route and CommuterLink buses with the swipe of their ID card.

Fare subsidies

Under an agreement with the Riverside County Courts, anyone serving as a juror at the Riverside, Banning and Murrieta Courthouses is entitled to free travel on any RTA bus.

Any person who meets RTA active duty military, police or fire personnel requirements rides free on RTA fixed-route buses. Active duty military personnel must wear the appropriate uniform at the time of boarding or present to the driver a valid U.S. Uniformed Services ID card indicating active service or a Common Access card indicating uniformed services or active duty. Police and fire personnel must be in full uniform at the time of boarding. Customers must wear the appropriate uniform or show appropriate ID each time they board a bus to receive the discounted fare.

Transit centers

RTA maintains several transit centers throughout their service area. Downtown Riverside is served by the Vine Street Mobility Hub

The Downtown Perris station, located between 1st and 2nd Streets, east of C Street in Perris, opened on January 10, 2010, with six bus bays and a park and ride lot. The center is also a station for weekend excursion trains from the Orange Empire Railway Museum, and is a station on Metrolink's 91/Perris Valley Line.

The Corona Transit Center opened in September 2010, adjacent to the North Main Corona Metrolink station. The center has 8 bus bays, additional park-and-ride parking and a direct connection to the Metrolink station and its associated parking garage via a pedestrian bridge.

Major transfer points are also located at several shopping centers throughout the area such as The Galleria at Tyler, the Moreno Valley Mall, the Hemet Valley Mall, the Outlets at Lake Elsinore, and Temecula's Promenade Mall.

Routes

Local routes

RTA's service consists of 32 local fixed routes and three CommuterLink Express routes. The fixed-route service includes tourist trolleys (stylized rubber-tired buses, not to be confused with actual trolleys). The agency also provides dial-a-ride service in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Local college students ride free with the U-Pass program.

Route	Terminals		Via	Notes
1	Corona Smith Av & 6th St	Riverside UC Riverside (at Bannockburn Village)	Magnolia Av	Serves Corona–North Main Metrolink Station, Galleria at Tyler, Riverside City College and Vine Street Mobility Hub
3	Corona Corona Transit Center	Eastvale Amazon Eastvale	Main St, Hammer Av	Serves Norco College
8	Lake Elsinore Outlet at Lake Elsinore		Mission Trail, Grand Av	Clockwise and Counter-clockwise route
9	Lake Elsinore Outlet at Lake Elsinore	Perris Perris Transit Center	Central Av
10	Riverside Galleria at Tyler	Riverside Big Springs Rd & Watkins Dr	Lincoln Av
11	Moreno Valley Moreno Valley Mall		Frederick St, Cactus Av & Lasselle St.	Served Lake Perris
12	Corona Promenade Av & McKinley St	Riverside La Cadena Dr & Interchange St	California Av, Main St	Serves Galleria at Tyler and Riverside City College
13	Riverside Galleria at Tyler	Riverside Riverside–Hunter Park/UCR Station	Arlington Av	Serves Riverside City College
14	Riverside Galleria at Tyler	Loma Linda VA Hospital	Indiana Av, Washington St
15	Riverside Galleria at Tyler	Riverside Riverside-Downtown Station	Arlington Av	Serves Riverside–La Sierra Metrolink Station and Riverside City College
16	Riverside UC Riverside (at Bannockburn Village)	Moreno Valley Moreno Valley Mall	Canyon Crest Dr, Box Springs Rd
18	Moreno Valley Moreno Valley Mall		Sunnymead Ranch Pkwy	Loop route, Serves to Ironwood & Moreno Beach via Sunnymead Ranch Parkway.
19	Perris Perris Transit Center	Moreno Valley Moreno Valley Mall	Perris Bl	Serves Moreno Valley College
20	Riverside Magnolia Av & Elizabeth St	Moreno Valley Iris Av & Lasselle St	Alessandro Bl	Serves Moreno Valley/March Field Metrolink Station and Moreno Valley College
21	Riverside Galleria at Tyler	Jurupa Valley Jurupa Valley/Pedley Station	Van Buren Bl
22	Perris Perris Station Transit Center	Downtown Riverside University Av & Market St	Alessandro Bl, Old Elsinore Rd	Serves Vine Street Mobility Hub
23	Temecula Promenade Temecula	Wildomar Palomar St & Wildomar Trail	Murrieta Hot Springs Rd
24	Temecula Promenade Temecula	Temecula Temecula Pkwy & County Glen way	Pechanga pkwy
27	Perris Perris Transit Center	Riverside Galleria at Tyler	I-215, Van Buren Av
28	Perris Perris Transit Center	Valle Vista Florida Av & New Chicago Av	I-215, Florida Av
29	Eastvale Amazon Eastvale	Riverside Vine Street Mobility Hub	Limonite Av
30	Perris Perris Transit Center		Redlands Av	Loop route
31	San Jacinto Mt. San Jacinto College San Jacinto	Moreno Valley Moreno Valley Mall	SR 60	Serves to Ironwood & Moreno Beach and Beaumont.
41	Mead Valley Mead Valley Community Center	Moreno Valley Riverside University Medical Center	Ramona Expwy	Serves Moreno Valley College via Ironwood & Moreno Beach.
44	Hemet Hemet Valley Mall		State St, San Jacinto Av	Clockwise route
	San Jacinto Mt. San Jacinto College			Counter-clockwise route
49	Fontana Banana Av & Cherry Av	Riverside Vine Street Mobility Hub	Mission Bl
51	Riverside Iowa Av & University Village		Canyon Crest Dr	Clockwise route Serves UC Riverside
55	Temecula Village Rd & Harveston Way		Harveston Dr	Clockwise route Free Service Serves Promenade Temecula
56	Riverside Riverside–Hunter Park/UCR Station		Iowa Av	Loop route Serves UC Riverside
61	Temecula Promenade Temecula	Perris Perris Transit Center	Newport Rd	Serves Mt. San Jacinto College
74	Menifee Cherry Hills Bl & Bradley Rd	Hemet Hemet Valley Mall	Newport Rd	Serves Mt. San Jacinto College
79	Temecula Promenade Temecula	Hemet Hemet Valley Mall	Winchester Rd

CommuterLink routes

In 2003, RTA launched CommuterLink, its first bus service designed to serve Riverside County's growing number of commuters. The specially designed express buses have limited stop service to major transit centers and Metrolink stations in Riverside county. In 2005, RTA debuted free Wi-Fi Internet service aboard its Temecula-Riverside CommuterLink Route 202, making the agency among the first in Southern California to offer such amenities aboard public buses. By the end of 2016, Wi-fi was offered on all of the agency's fixed-route buses.

Route	Terminals		Via	Notes
200	San Bernardino San Bernardino Transit Center	Anaheim Disneyland	SR 91, I-215	Serves Vine Street Mobility Hub, Galleria at Tyler and Riverside–La Sierra Metrolink Station
204	Montclair Montclair Transcenter	Riverside UC Riverside (at Bannockburn Village)	I-10, SR 60	Serves Ontario Mills
206	Corona Corona Transit Center	Temecula Promenade Temecula	I-15

Bus fleet

Active fleet

Make/Model	Fleet Numbers	Thumbnail	Year	Engine	Transmission	Notes
[2]Hometown Manufacturing Villager	1-5		2018	Ford Triton V10	6-Speed Automatic with Overdrive	Used only on Route 55 Temecula Trolley
Gillig BRTPlus CNG 40	31301-31397		2013	Cummins Westport ISL G	Voith D864.5	31382-31397 are in the CommunterLink livery Soon to retire
Gillig BRTPlus CNG 40'	31401-31411		2014	Cummins Westport ISL G	Voith D865.5	31401-31405 are in the CommunterLink livery
Gillig BRTPlus CNG 40'	31601-31614		2016	Cummins Westport ISL G	Voith D866.7
Gillig BRTPlus CNG 40'	31621-31643		2017	Cummins Westport ISL G NZ	Voith D864.6
Gillig BRTPlus 35'	32001-32070		2020	Cummins L9	Voith D864.6
Gillig BRT 35'	32101-32170		2021	Cummins L9	Voith D864.6
Gillig BRT 29'	32201-32270		2022	Cummins L9	Voith D864.6
Gillig BRTPlus CNG 40'	32301-32370		2023	Cummins Westport L9N	Voith D867.8
Gillig BRTPlus HEV 60'	32371-32470		2024	Cummins L9	BAE Systems HDS 300 hybrid system

RTA's 40-foot and CommuterLink buses are powered entirely by compressed natural gas, with the agency's conversion to the fuel completed in 2001. They also operate CNG fueling stations at their Riverside and Hemet maintenance facilities that help fuel not only transit vehicles, but the alternative-fuel fleet of various government agencies.

In 2013, RTA began the process of replacing their old NABI 40 LFW fleet with newer 42-foot, Gillig Low Floor BRT Suburban buses. The traditional red, white and blue colors of RTA were updated to feature solid blue on the top portion of the bus, with a ribbon of blue and red around the bus's sides and rear. The modern buses also have a more spacious interior, padded and contoured seats, colored headsigns, USB charging ports for customers' mobile phones and tablets, and a design that allows for quicker wheelchair fastening and overall faster customer boarding.

Financials

RTA is largely funded by passenger fares, Local Transportation Funds (LTF), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), State Transit Assistance (STA), Riverside County Measure A, and Transportation Uniform Mitigation Fees (TUMF).

Transportation NOW

In 1992, RTA's board of directors created 'Transportation NOW' to promote the discussion of public transportation alternatives. Since then, the program has grown to include six chapters: Greater Riverside, Hemet San Jacinto area, Moreno Valley/Perris, Northwest, San Gorgonio Pass area, and Southwest. Each chapter meets monthly to discuss current issues surrounding public transit and ways to promote its usage and lobby for improvements.

External links

• Official website