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 Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most popu ...

since 1979, including

Coalinga Coalinga ( or ) is a city in the Pleasant Valley in Fresno County and the western San Joaquin Valley, in central California about 80 miles (128 km) southeast of Salinas. It was formerly known as ''Coaling Station A'', ''Coalingo'', and ' ...

, Firebaugh, Fowler,

Huron Huron may refer to: Native American ethnography * Huron people, who have been called Wyandotte, Wyandot, Wendat and Quendat * Huron language, an Iroquoian language * Huron-Wendat Nation, or Huron-Wendat First Nation, or Nation Huronne-Wendat * N ...

Kerman Kerman (; ) is a city in the Central District (Kerman County), Central District of Kerman County, Kerman province, Kerman province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. History Kerman was founded as a def ...

, Kingsburg, Mendota,

Orange Cove Orange Cove is a city in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was at the 2020 census, up from at the 2010 census. Description Almost all of Orange Cove's residents are Hispanic, many of them farmers. Orange Cove is locate ...

Reedley Reedley may refer to: *Reedley, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom *Reedley, California Reedley is a city in Fresno County, California, Fresno County, California, United States. It is located in the San Joaquin Valley, east-southeast of Fresno ...

, Sanger, San Joaquin, and Selma. FCRTA riders may transfer to

Fresno Area Express Fresno Area Express (FAX) is a public transportation operator in Fresno, California. The system had over 100 buses, 1,606 bus stops, and 18 routes as of August 2022. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . FAX fixed ro ...

service within the county seat of

Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, and FCRTA has additional transfer points connecting to neighboring agencies in Fresno,

Kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Kings: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations. *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'', an 11th-century epic Persia ...

, and Tulare counties, including Clovis Transit Stageline,

Kings Area Regional Transit Kings Area Regional Transit (KART, previously Kings Area Rural Transit) is the primary bus service serving residents and visitors to the cities of Avenal, Hanford, and Lemoore in Kings County, California. KART is the branded service operated by ...

, and Dinuba Connection.

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: # Firebaugh–Mendota–Kerman (implemented as ''Westside Transit'') # Kingsburg–Selma–Fowler (implemented as ''Southeast Transit'') # Orange Cove–Reedley–

Parlier Parlier may refer to: * Parlier, California, city in Fresno County, California * Charles Jules Parlier (1827—1888), French general officer * Eugène Parlier (1929–2017), Swiss football goalkeeper * Yves Parlier Yves Parlier (born 14 Nove ...

–Sanger (implemented as ''Orange Cove Inter-city Transit'') # Coalinga–Huron– Riverdale– Caruthers– Easton (implemented as ''Coalinga Inter-city Transit'') The Fresno County Rural Transit Agency was formed under a

joint powers authority 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 e ...

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. 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.

Sub-systems

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

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. Most inter-city and inter-community services operate as deviated fixed routes.

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.

Transfers

FCRTA connects to

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 The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

San Joaquins The ''San Joaquins'' is a state-supported passenger train service operated by Amtrak in California's San Joaquin Valley. As of 2025, the service operates seven daily round trips between its southern terminus at Bakersfield and Stockton. Of the ...

'' trains and

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. is an American operator of Intercity bus service, intercity bus services. Greyhound operates the largest intercity bus network in the United States, and also operates charter and Amtrak Thruway services, as well as interci ...

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 BYD or Byd may refer to: Companies * BYD Company, an automobile and rechargeable battery producer in China ** BYD Auto, a subsidiary automobile manufacturer in China * Boyd Gaming, a gaming and hospitality company (NYSE ticker symbol: BYD) Other ...

References

External links

* * * {{Valley Transit Public transportation in the San Joaquin Valley Area Bus transportation in California Public transportation in Fresno County, California Transit agencies in California 1979 establishments in California