Ride Gwinnett (formerly known as Gwinnett County Transit or GCT prior to 2023) is the

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

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 ...

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Gwinnett County, Georgia Gwinnett County ( ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It forms part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, being located about northeast of Atlanta city limits. In 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the ...

, United States, one of

metro Atlanta Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the sixt ...

's three most populous

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an counties. It was formed in 2000, with express buses starting in November 2001 and local buses in November 2002. Routes connect to the most

populated Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

areas of the county, including Norcross and Lawrenceville. With the assistance of the

Georgia Regional Transportation Authority The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA, "Greta") is a government agency that addresses mobility and air quality in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was set up under former governor of Georgia Roy Barnes, in order to address mobility ...

(GRTA), express services are available to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, connecting with

MARTA Marta may refer to: People * Marta (given name), a feminine given name * Märta, a feminine given name * Marta (surname) * Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer Places * Marta (river), an Italian river that flow ...

at the Doraville,

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, and Five Points stations. Transfers are free between MARTA and Ride Gwinnett, with use of a Breeze card or ticket.

History

Along with Cobb, Gwinnett voted against MARTA in 1971 and thus was left out of a system. The lack of

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...

from the two counties stunted the growth of MARTA; however, GRTA, created by former

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Roy Barnes Roy Eugene Barnes (born March 11, 1948)Cook, James F. (2005). ''The Governors of Georgia, 1754-2004, 3rd Edition, Revised and Expanded.'' Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. is an American attorney and politician who served as the 80th governo ...

, has been seeking to create other solutions, such as transit for the entire Atlanta and surrounding areas. The Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District (GPCID) along with

are seeking alternative, such as

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

to Gwinnett through the Gwinnett Place area. Ride Gwinnett allows payment via Breeze cards, tickets & passes, the Breeze Mobile 2.0 app, cash/card with fareboxes equipped on all buses, and the Ride Gwinnett app for paratransit users. In 2015, Ride Gwinnett was investigated by local news for overcharging some patrons of the GRTA Xpress bus routes when using Breeze cards to pay transit fares. GRTA has acknowledged the issue in a few printed handbills advising patrons to purchase multiple Breeze cards (one for each type of bus or rail fare) to pay transit fares and record transfers between the GRTA, CobbLinc, and

transit systems. In 2016, Ride Gwinnett started a new express route, 110, that serviced the Indian Trail Park and Ride area to the Emory/CDC employment center. Some service was expanded to Sugarloaf Park and Ride Lot in May 2017. In September 2018, MARTA's board of directors and the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners gave conditional approval to an agreement which would see the county to contract with MARTA for the operations of the service. This included county designed and built projects, significantly expanding bus service in the county and clear the way for a long-sought-after extension of MARTA's rail system into the county from its current terminus at Doraville. The contract with MARTA would go into effect only if a public vote, scheduled for March 2019, succeeds. The agreement calls for a new one-cent sales tax that would be collected in Gwinnett County until 2057. The transit referendum failed on March 19, 2019. In July 2020, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners called for another transit referendum, this time through the House Bill 930/ATL mechanism. Projects would have been designed, built and operated all by Gwinnett County. The referendum failed on the November ballot with a final vote total of 198,514 for yes and 199,527 voting no. In January 2023, Gwinnett County Transit officially changed its name to Ride Gwinnett. In September 2023, Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a new Transit Plan which focused heavily on microtransit zones, simpler local routes, and direct airport rides. This plan notably does not include any rail components or MARTA expansion into the county. On June 4, 2024, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners approved, 4-1, another transit referendum to be placed on the ballot for the November 5, 2024 General Election. It would impose a one percent sales tax for 30 years, funding up to 75 projects from the 2023 Transit Plan, and would shift all existing operational expenses off of property taxes onto the new sales tax. The referendum failed to pass 47-53%.

Routes

Ride Gwinnett has 9 local bus routes. The Gwinnett Place Mall Transit Center Hub houses the transfer point for local routes; 10A/10B, 30, and 40. Gwinnett County Transit has 5 express bus routes. The express routes are 101, 102, 103, and 110. There is also a reverse commute route 103A, which are used by reverse commuters on the AM and PM trips.

Local

*10A/10B: Sugarloaf Mills (formerly Discover Mills) Mall to Gwinnett Place Mall to MARTA Doraville station via portions of Buford Highway, Beaver Ruin Road, and Satellite Boulevard. Route runs about every 30 minutes, with 15 minute frequency in the early mornings and late afternoons. *20: North Norcross-Tucker Road to Tech Drive via McDonough Drive, South Norcross-Tucker Road and Singleton Road, with frequency on the weekdays is 30 minutes peak. No service to Gwinnett Transit Center but connects to MARTA at Doraville. * 25: Gwinnett Place Transit Center to Stone Mountain *30: Connecting Duluth to Lilburn via South Berkely Road to Gwinnett Transit Center via Indian Trail - Lilburn Road. This portion is one-way only and is known as the "Lilburn Loop." It runs Burns to Pleasant Hill to Lawrenceville Highway to Rockbridge to Dickens back to Indian Trail-Lilburn Road. Frequency on the weekdays is 30 minutes peak. *35: Technology Parkway and Spalding to Buford Highway and North Norcross-Tucker Rd. No service to Gwinnett Transit Center. Frequency is hourly. It goes from the Forum on Peachtree Parkway to the MARTA Doraville Station. Frequency on the weekdays is 30 minutes peak. *40: Connecting Gwinnett Place Transit Center to the City of Lawrenceville via Old Norcross Rd. Atkison Road "Gwinnett Tech" through Old Norcross and Historic Downtown Lawrenceville and through portions which are only One-Way Sugarloaf Parkway. Frequency on the weekdays is 30 minutes peak. *45: Connecting Sugarloaf Mills with Georgia Gwinnett College and servicing points north in Lawrenceville. This bus connects with the Route 40 bus near the hospital. Frequency on the weekdays is 50 minutes peak. *50: Buford (near Coolray Field) to Sugarloaf Mills. 50 minute cycle on weekdays. Provides transit access to residents of Suwanee and other locations previously not connected to Ride Gwinnett. * 70: Snellville to Indian Creek Transit Station Gwinnett County Transit Express Buses

Express

*101: I-985 @ Buford Drive Park & Ride to Downtown *102: Indian Trail Park & Ride to Downtown *103: Sugarloaf Mills-North Brown Park & Ride to Downtown *103A: AM:

Georgia State Capitol The Georgia State Capitol is an architecturally and historically significant building in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The building has been named a National Historic Landmark which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As t ...

to Midtown, ending at Sugarloaf Mills Park & Ride via Steve Reynolds Boulevard, Breckingridge Road, and North Brown.
PM: Sugarloaf Mills via Steve Reynolds Boulevard, Breckinridge Road, and North Brown to Midtown ending at the

*110: Indian Trail & Sugarloaf Park and Ride to CDC/Emory

References

External links

{{Commons category, Ride Gwinnett
Ride Gwinnett website
Bus transportation in Georgia (U.S. state) Transportation in Gwinnett County, Georgia