Friday, 29 January 2010 00:48

ARTS Ugrades

slide5-arts_ugrades.pngAmador County - Streamlined routes, a commitment to on-time service, a new daily Jackson-to-Sutter Creek express line and new buses are part of the planned growth at Amador Regional Transit System. The new daily Jackson-to-Sutter Creek express routes start February 1 between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., Monday-through-Friday, making nine circuits that will last about 70 minutes each. “This is an ideal way to take care of shopping, business and appointments. Riders from either city can rely on regular service every business day.,” said ARTS executive director James A. Means. Means acquired the trolleys from the Riverbank Oakdale Transit Authority for no cost to ARTS. They were removed from service and Means learned about their availability from a source at the California Department of Transportation. The trolleys are custom-built coaches fueled by compressed natural gas. CNG offers a 90 percent reduction in emissions and is priced at about one dollar below the per-gallon cost of diesel. The ARTS fleet, except for the new trolleys, is currently fueled by diesel. On February 8, streamlined routes went into effect that will provide on-time service throughout the system. “We established a Steering Committee made up of interested public members last fall and have held two meeting so far,” explained Means. “The overwhelming comment to come from those meetings was the lack of reliability and problems with on-time service. We were told that these two issues were the biggest stumbling blocks for people not riding the bus.” “Our new route streamlining will address this,” he added. ARTS has 11 routes serving the Amador County public, including the new trolley line. Current fares are $2 for adults, $1 for seniors and students. The new schedule will be inserted into the Friday, February 5 edition of the Ledger-Dispatch and they are also available on buses and at ARTS headquarters. The service recently accepted delivery of a new bus for the daily Sacramento route, and this one is equipped with the latest technology including on-board WIFI. Commuters can go on line and work or read while they ride to work. Six new conventional buses have either arrived or are on their way for ARTS riders. TSPN TV Staff Report This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.