Gold Coast Transit District, formerly known as South Coast Area Transit (SCAT), is a local bus operator in western
Ventura County
Ventura County () is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura.
Ventura County comprises ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, serving
Ventura,
Oxnard,
Port Hueneme,
Ojai, and the adjoining areas of unincorporated Ventura County. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .
History
Gold Coast Transit District was founded in 1973 as South Coast Area Transit with the merger of the Ventura City Transit Lines and the Oxnard Municipal Bus Lines. Until 1994, SCAT also served
Santa Paula. Service to Santa Paula has since been replaced with
VCTC Intercity fixed-route and dial-a-ride services. The system adopted the name Gold Coast Transit effective July 1, 2007. This accompanied a change in bus livery and the acquisition of 26 new buses.
In October 2013, California Assembly Bill 664 was chartered as the enabling legislation to transition Gold Coast Transit from 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 ...
to a
special purpose transit district. On July 1, 2014, the agency officially became Gold Coast Transit District. The district's founding member jurisdictions include the cities of Ojai, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, and Ventura and the County of Ventura. The bill allows other cities in Ventura County to subsequently join the district.
In 2014, GCTD leadership was recognized with the District being honored as the “Transit Agency of the Year” at the Small Operators award ceremony hosted by the California Transit Association (CTA)
as part of its 49th Annual Conference and Expo in Monterey, California.
On May 10, 2017 Gold Coast Transit District broke ground on a new operations and maintenance facility in Oxnard. The facility opened in July 2019.
Service area
Gold Coast Transit District provides bus service to these cities and communities:
*
Oxnard
*
Ventura
*
Port Hueneme
*
Ojai
*
El Rio
*
Saticoy
*
Oak View
*
Mira Monte
Routes
Local routes
As of May 2024, Gold Coast Transit District operates 18 local lines and 4 school trippers lines as well as
paratransit
Paratransit (also community transport in the United Kingdom, or intermediate public transport) is a type of public transport service that supplements fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. P ...
service.
School Trippers routes
Gold Coast Transit District operates five "school trippers" that supplement school bus service to local high schools. While intended to serve students with service only on school days, these routes are open to the general public.
References
External links
Official website
{{Coord, 34.2271, -119.1487, display=title
Bus transportation in California
Public transportation in Ventura County, California
Transportation in Oxnard, California
Special districts of California
Ventura, California
Ojai, California
1973 establishments in California