{{Unreferenced, date=December 2009
PENTRAN, was formerly the
public transit
Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of wh ...
service that covered the cities of
Hampton, Virginia
Hampton is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 137,148 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, seve ...
and
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News () is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the List of c ...
from 1975 to 1999, both located within the
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...
metropolitan area, on the
Virginia Peninsula
The Virginia Peninsula is the natural landform located in southeast Virginia outlined by the York River, James River, Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay. It is sometimes known as the ''Lower Peninsula'' to distinguish it from two other penins ...
.
In January 1974, the Newport News City Council discussed entering into a mass transit authority with Hampton so they could acquire the privately owned Citizens Rapid Transit (CRT) and run a bus operation for the cities. Within a month, the Newport News and Hampton city councils had voted to form the Peninsula Transportation District Commission (PTDC), also known as PENTRAN.
The PTDC purchased CRT, and by April 1975 the new public bus company, PENTRAN, was providing service in Hampton and Newport News.
PENTRAN merged with
Tidewater Regional Transit in 1999, to form
Hampton Roads Transit
Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) is the regional public transit provider for Virginia's Hampton Roads metropolitan area, including the cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Williamsburg, and the town o ...
.
Transit agencies in Virginia