Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District

Santa Cruz METRO

METRO and Greyhound terminal in downtown Santa Cruz

Headquarters| 110 Vernon Street
Santa Cruz, California
Service area| Santa Cruz County
Service type|

* bus service
* paratransit
* express bus service

Stations| Amtrak – METRO Center/Pacific Station, 920 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz36°58′15.3″N 122°01′29.8″W﻿ / ﻿36.970917°N 122.024944°W﻿ / 36.970917; -122.024944
Daily ridership| 14,800 (weekdays, Q4 2023)[1]
Annual ridership| 3,650,300 (2023)[2]
Website| scmtd.com

Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (SCMTD), or simply Santa Cruz METRO, provides bus service throughout Santa Cruz County, California. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 3,650,300, or about 14,800 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2023.

Santa Cruz METRO also operates the Highway 17 Express service for Amtrak Thruway between the city of Santa Cruz and San Jose Diridon station, in partnership with Amtrak California and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.

## History[edit]

Highway 17 Express bus at San Jose Diridon

Santa Cruz METRO was created in 1968 as a special district within Santa Cruz County with taxing authority.[3] Service was initially to the cities of Santa Cruz, Capitola and Live Oak. Santa Cruz METRO extended service to Watsonville, Scotts Valley and the San Lorenzo Valley in 1974.

In 1979, voters approved a measure to change the financing of Santa Cruz METRO from a property tax to a 1/2 cent sales tax.

The Amtrak Thruway Highway 17 Express service between Santa Cruz and San Jose started as an emergency bus service after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake closed Highway 17.

A strike in September 2005 lasted for 35 days and stranded up to 23,000 riders.[4]

In 2011 fixed route service was severely cut then restored mere months later.[5]

In 2012 Santa Cruz METRO received grant funding to construct the Judy K. Souza Operations Facility.[6]

On February 12, 2024, METRO has relocated from the Pacific Metro Center to the new Riverfront Transit Center, which is serving as a temporary transit center until 2026. The existing transit center will be demolished and redeveloped into housing units with a new transit center underneath.[7]

## Routes[edit]

* Route 1 – Soquel/ Cabrillo/ Airport
* Route 2 – Capitola/ Cabrillo/ Main
* Route 3A/3B – UCSC/ Capitola Mall/ Live Oak
* Route 4 – Harvey West
* Route 17 – Highway 17 Express
* Route 18 – UCSC via Main Gate – Mission
* Route 19 – UCSC via West Gate – Bay
* Route 20 – UCSC via Main Gate – Delaware/Western
* Route 35 – Highway 9/Scotts Valley
* Route 35B – Highway 9/ Scotts Valley to Big Basin State Park
* Route 40 – Highway 1 - Davenport
* Route 41 – Empire Grade - Bonny Doon
* Route 42 – Davenport/Bonny Doon
* Route 55 – Cabrillo – Rio Del Mar
* Route 72 – Green Valley – Hospital
* Route 72W – Green Valley – Corralitos
* Route 73 – Soquel/ Freedom/ Cabrillo
* Route 74S – Pajaro Valley High School/Hospital
* Route 75 – Green Valley – Wheelock
* Route 78 – Ohlone to Hospital / Freedom Centre
* Route 79 – East Lake
* Route 90X – Cabrillo Express[8]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Transit Ridership Report Fourth Quarter 2023" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. March 4, 2024. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
2. ^ "Transit Ridership Report Fourth Quarter 2023" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. March 4, 2024. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
3. ^ "History of the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District". Santa Cruz Public Libraries. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
4. ^ "Strikes halts Santa Cruz bus service, strands 23,000 riders". Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
5. ^ "Just-enacted METRO route cuts may be revisited: Unexpected revenues may lead to restored services". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Retrieved 2012-11-06.
6. ^ "Final portion of METROBase pie to break ground Oct. 26". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Retrieved 2012-11-06.
7. ^ "Santa Cruz Metro Pacific Station set to close for redevelopment". Santa Cruz Sentinel. 2024-02-01. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
8. ^ "METRO's December newsletter is here!". us21.campaign-archive.com. Retrieved 2023-12-30.

## External links[edit]

* Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District

* v
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Public transit in the San Francisco Bay Area

Rail|

* ACE
* AirTrain
* Amtrak
* California Zephyr
* Capitol Corridor
* Coast Starlight
* San Joaquins
* BART
* Caltrain
* Muni
* Muni Metro
* E Embarcadero
* F Market & Wharves
* cable cars
* SMART
* VTA light rail
* Valley Link (planned)

Ferry|

* Alcatraz Cruises
* Angel Island–Tiburon Ferry
* Blue & Gold Fleet
* Golden Gate Ferry
* San Francisco Bay Ferry
* Red & White Fleet
* Ryer Island Ferry
* Treasure Island Ferry

Major bus|

* AC Transit
* County Connection
* FAST
* Golden Gate Transit
* Muni
* SamTrans
* Santa Rosa CityBus
* SolTrans
* Sonoma County Transit
* Tri Delta Transit
* VINE Transit
* VTA
* WestCAT
* Wheels

Minor bus|

* Bear Transit
* Commute.org
* Dumbarton Express
* Emery Go-Round
* Healdsburg Transit
* Kaiser Shuttle
* Stanford Marguerite Shuttle
* Marin Transit
* Petaluma Transit
* Presidio Go Shuttle
* Rio Vista Delta Breeze
* San Leandro LINKS
* Union City Transit
* Vacaville City Coach

Regional bus|

* Amtrak Thruway
* Highway 17 Express
* FlixBus
* Greyhound
* Lake Transit
* Megabus
* Mendocino Transit
* San Benito Transit
* San Joaquin RTD
* SolanoExpress
* StanRTA
* Yolobus

Entities|

* All Nighter
* Bay Area Rapid Transit District
* Bay Area Toll Authority
* Clipper card
* Commute.org
* Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District
* Market Street Railway
* MTC
* SFCTA
* SFMTA
* SolanoExpress
* Spare the Air

Major
stations|

| San Francisco|

* 4th & King
* Balboa Park
* Embarcadero
* Civic Center
* Ferry Building
* Montgomery
* Pier 41
* Powell
* SF State
* Transbay Transit Center
* West Portal

|

Oakland|

* 12th Street Oakland
* 19th Street Oakland
* Coliseum
* Eastmont TC
* Jack London Square
* MacArthur
* OAK

San Jose|

* Berryessa
* Diridon
* Eastridge TC
* Metro/SJC
* Milpitas
* Tamien
* Tasman

* Antioch
* Bay Fair
* Berkeley
* Downtown Berkeley
* Cloverdale
* Curtola Park & Ride
* Concord
* Daly City
* Dublin/Pleasanton
* El Cerrito del Norte
* Emeryville
* Fairfield TC
* Fremont
* Fremont-Centerville
* Gilroy
* Great America
* Hayward
* Hercules TC
* Hillsdale
* Larkspur Landing
* Martinez
* Millbrae
* Mountain View
* Novato Downtown
* Petaluma
* Palo Alto
* Pittsburg/Bay Point
* Richmond
* Richmond Ferry
* Richmond Parkway TC
* San Rafael TC
* Santa Clara
* VTA Santa Clara
* Santa Rosa
* Santa Rosa Downtown
* Sausalito
* SFO
* Tiburon
* Union City
* Vacaville TC
* Vallejo Station
* Walnut Creek
* Windsor

Major historical
services|

* East Bay Electric Lines
* East Shore and Suburban Railway
* Golden Gate Ferry Company
* Key System
* Market Street Railway
* Northwestern Pacific interurban lines
* Oakland Railroad Company
* Ocean Shore Railroad
* Richmond–San Rafael Ferry Company
* San Mateo interurban
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