City of Santa Clarita Transit is a local

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 ...

service, administered by the City's transit division, that serves the City of

Santa Clarita, California Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-most populous city in Los Angeles County, the 17th-most popul ...

and nearby surrounding unincorporated areas. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . Daily operations and maintenance of the fleet are under contract with MV Transportation.Santa Clarita Signal- New Contractor on Board for Buses
/ref> City of Santa Clarita Transit routes connect with services operated by

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

and Metrolink. The

Los Angeles County Department of Public Works The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works (LACDPW) is responsible for the construction and operation of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County's roads, building code, building safety, Sewage collection and disposal, sewerage, an ...

contracts with City of Santa Clarita Transit to provide fixed route and Dial-A-Ride services in some unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County that are near the city limits of Santa Clarita. These areas include the communities of

Castaic Castaic () (Chumash: ''Kaštiq''; Spanish: ''Castéc'') is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 18,937. Ten ...

, Forest Park, Stevenson Ranch, Sunset Pointe, and Val Verde.

History

Santa Clarita Transit Gillig Phantom 132

The City of Santa Clarita assumed responsibility for local transit in 1991 from

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

, which had developed an embryonic transit network. A small City staff provides supervision over a contract operator. Over time, the local fixed route network and dial-a-ride service was expanded. Under City management, a number of new regional express services to various points in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

West Los Angeles West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped ...

Antelope Valley The Antelope Valley is a valley primarily located in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States and the southeast portion of Kern County, California, Kern County, and constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert. It is situated ...

, and downtown

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

were added or improved.

MV Transportation

In mid-2007 Santa Clarita Transit entered into a contract with

MV Transportation MV Transportation, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is the largest privately owned passenger transportation contracting services firm in the United States. The company can provide paratransit, fixed-route, campus and corporate shuttles, and student ...

and underwent a branding overhaul. The agency was renamed "City of Santa Clarita Transit" and buses received a new green and blue

livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol, or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery often includes elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...

which reflect the colors of the city logo.City of Santa Clarita, CA – Purchasing: Solicitations
The livery debuted in August 2007 on 2 brand new articulated buses. Also receiving an overhaul are the city's bus stops through a $2-million dollar Bus Stop Improvement Program. This included replacing 51 Clear Channel advertising shelters, benches, and trash cans. In addition, 40 additional stops will receive new non-advertising shelters, as well as a number of stops receiving new non-advertisement benches. An element of public art will be added to approximately 15 bus stops. The program's purpose is threefold, bus stops will become more uniform in look and features, the advertisement on benches will be eliminated, and public art will have a large expansion. The overhauls are major parts of the city's efforts to make transit more attractive to citizens. Starting in 2010, City of Santa Clarita Transit began Summer Beach bus service to

Santa Monica State Beach Santa Monica State Beach is a California State Park operated by the city of Santa Monica. The beach is located along Pacific Coast Highway. It is long and has parks, picnic areas, playgrounds, restrooms, as well as staffed lifeguard stations, ...

, from Canyon Country, and Newhall. Beginning in the 2023 Summer Season, the service exclusively services

Ventura Harbor Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city in and the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States. It is a coastal city located northwest of Los Angeles. The population was 110,763 at the ...

, starting and ending from Via Princessa station and stopping at the McBean Regional Transit Center in both directions. The beach bus is identified by route number, 103, only in operation from June to Labor Day in September, only on Saturdays and Sundays.

2023 Transit Service Workers Strike

On September 15, 2023, after over a year of negotiations with

, transit service workers represented by Teamsters Local 572 voted to go on strike until a fair contract is reached. MV Transportation was notified of the decision to strike on September 28. The strike officially began on October 9, halting all bus and paratransit services across the city. The strike forced Santa Clarita Transit and William S. Hart High School District to negotiate an emergency contract with charter bus company Transit Systems in order to provide limited school tripper services to select schools and infrequent bus services along routes 1, 2, 5, 6, and 12. Santa Clarita City Council declined to enter into contract negotiations as a third party. The strike ended on December 3rd, 2023. Teamsters Local 572 reached an agreement with MV Transportation. Buses returned to operation on December 4th, the strike lasted 55 days.

Fixed-route Service

Local routes

Santa Clarita Transit operates 38 bus lines: 9 Local routes, 2 Station Link routes, 20 School Tripper routes, and 9 Commuter Express routes.

Station Link routes

Station Link service provides service from the

Santa Clarita station Santa Clarita station is a Metrolink train station in the city of Santa Clarita, California. It is served by Metrolink's Antelope Valley Line between Los Angeles Union Station and Lancaster station. Because the City of Santa Clarita has thr ...

to local places of employment within the Santa Clarita Valley. Station Link service operates on weekdays peak periods (6-9am, 4-6pm) only except route 501, which as of February 2023, makes morning and afternoon trips excluding midday even on Saturdays and Sundays, select holidays included.

School Tripper routes

Supplemental School Day Service routes (also known as Tripper Service), provide service to and from local Junior High and High Schools from residential areas. Supplemental School Day Service routes are numbered in the 600's. This service is only operated on weekdays when schools are in session. Trips are timed with school bell schedule. Routes include: *Route 620 – Arroyo Seco Jr. High School & Saugus High School *Route 621 – Arroyo Seco Jr. High School & Saugus High School *Route 622 – Rio Norte Jr. High School *Route 623 – Rio Norte Jr. High School *Route 624 – Valencia High School *Route 626 – La Mesa Jr. High School *Route 627 – La Mesa Jr. High School *Route 628 – Golden Valley High School *Route 629 – Golden Valley High School *Route 632 – Canyon High School *Route 633 – Saugus High School *Route 634 – Rancho Pico Jr. High School & West Ranch High School *Route 635 – Ranch Pico Jr. High School & West Ranch High School *Route 636 – Valencia High School & West Ranch High School *Route 637 – Arroyo Seco Jr. High School *Route 638 – Arroyo Seco Jr. High School & Saugus High School *Route 640 – Arroyo Seco Jr. High School & Saugus High School *Route 641 – Placerita Jr. High School & Hart High School *Route 643 – Arroyo Seco Jr. High School & Saugus High School *Route 644 – La Mesa Jr. High School

Commuter Express routes

Commuter Express provides service to and from to major places of employment outside of the Santa Clarita Valley (Routes 796-799), and also provides service from areas outside of the Santa Clarita Valley to major places of employment inside the Santa Clarita Valley (Routes 791-794). All Commuter Express Routes run on weekdays only, except for Route 757, which runs seven days a week.

Transfer Stations

McBean Regional Transit Center McBean Regional Transit Center, also known by its acronym MRTC, is a transit center and bus station located at 24375 Valencia Boulevard in the Valencia area of Santa Clarita, California, near the intersection of Valencia Boulevard and McBean Par ...

Newhall station Newhall station is an intermodal hub in the Newhall neighborhood of Santa Clarita, California. The station is served by Metrolink's Antelope Valley Line operating between Los Angeles Union Station and Lancaster, Amtrak Thruway buses connecti ...

* Via Princessa station * Vista Canyon Multi-Modal Center (Future) *

North Hollywood station North Hollywood station is a combined rapid transit (known locally as a subway) and bus rapid transit (BRT) station in the Los Angeles Metro Rail and Metro Busway systems. It is the northwestern terminus of the B Line subway and eastern term ...

(757) * Chatsworth Metrolink station (791) *

Downtown Burbank station Downtown Burbank station is a passenger rail station near downtown Burbank, California. It is served by Metrolink's Antelope Valley Line to Lancaster and Ventura County Line to East Ventura with both terminating at Los Angeles Union Station. ...

(794) *

Union Station (Los Angeles) Los Angeles Union Station is the main railroad station in Los Angeles, California, and the largest passenger rail terminal in the Western United States. It opened in May 1939 as the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, replacing La Grande St ...

(794)

Transit Maintenance Facility

City of Santa Clarita Transit is housed in the City's Transit Maintenance Facility. The facility has been gold

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a Green building certification systems, green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating ...

certified. City of Santa Clarita has placed an order for eight (8) New Flyer XHE40’s, expected to be delivered by Q4 2025. These buses will be hydrogen powered.

Active fleet

References

External links

City of Santa Clarita Transit Website
{{Santa Clarita Public transportation in Los Angeles County, California Bus transportation in California 1991 establishments in California Santa Clarita, California