Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (SCMTD), or simply Santa Cruz METRO, provides bus service throughout

Santa Cruz County, California Santa Cruz County (), officially the County of Santa Cruz, is a county on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 270,861. The county seat is Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz County comprises the Sa ...

. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . Santa Cruz METRO also operates the Highway 17 Express service for

Amtrak Thruway Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transi ...

between the city of Santa Cruz and San Jose Diridon station, in partnership with

Amtrak California Amtrak California is a brand name used by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Division of Rail for three state-supported Amtrak regional rail routes in Californiathe ''Capitol Corridor'', the ''Pacific Surfliner'', and the ...

and the

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, more commonly known simply as the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), is a Special district (United States), special district responsible for public transit services, Congestion management agen ...

History

Santa Cruz METRO was created in 1968 as a special district within Santa Cruz County with taxing authority. Service was initially to the cities of Santa Cruz, Capitola and Live Oak. Santa Cruz METRO extended service to Watsonville, Scotts Valley and the San Lorenzo Valley in 1974. In 1979, voters approved a measure to change the financing of Santa Cruz METRO from a property tax to a 1/2 cent sales tax. The

Highway 17 Express service between Santa Cruz and San Jose started as an emergency bus service after the

1989 Loma Prieta earthquake On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. Pacific Time Zone, PST, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred at the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz Cou ...

closed Highway 17. A strike in September 2005 lasted for 35 days and stranded up to 23,000 riders. In 2011 fixed route service was severely cut then restored mere months later. In 2012 Santa Cruz METRO received grant funding to construct the Judy K. Souza Operations Facility. On February 12, 2024, METRO has relocated from the Pacific Metro Center to the new Riverfront Transit Center, which is serving as a temporary transit center until 2026. The existing transit center will be demolished and redeveloped into housing units with a new transit center underneath.

Routes

*Route 1 – Soquel/ Cabrillo/ Airport *Route 2 – Capitola/ Cabrillo/ Main *Route 3A/3B – Capitola Mall/ Live Oak *Route 4 – Harvey West *Route 4W – River/ Harvey West *Route 11 – UCSC via West Gate – High *Route 17 – Highway 17 Express *Route 18 – UCSC via Main Gate – Mission *Route 19 – UCSC via West Gate – Bay *Route 20 – UCSC via Main Gate – Delaware/Western *Route 35 – Highway 9/Scotts Valley *Route 35B – Highway 9/ Scotts Valley to Big Basin State Park *Route 40 – Highway 1 - Davenport *Route 41 – Empire Grade - Bonny Doon *Route 55 – Cabrillo – Rio Del Mar *Route 72 – Green Valley – Hospital *Route 72W – Green Valley – Corralitos *Route 73 – Soquel/ Freedom/ Cabrillo *Route 74S – Pajaro Valley High School/Hospital *Route 75 – Green Valley – Wheelock *Route 78 – Ohlone to Hospital / Freedom Centre *Route 79 – East Lake

References

External links

Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District
{{San Francisco Bay Area Public Transit Public transportation in Santa Cruz County, California Bus transportation in California Transportation in Santa Clara County, California