Modesto’s public transit system seeing increased ridership. What’s behind the trend?

In Modesto, cars are king, but that has started to change as more locals take advantage of the public transit system in the city.

Being carless in Modesto usually means using the public transit buses known as the “S” and run by StanRTA.

Ariel Romero, who commutes from where she lives in northwest Modesto to downtown for work, said her experience has been almost entirely positive since ditching her wheels.

“I walk more. I’ve read like 21 books since I started,” Romero said. “It’s good to get outside and it’s more relaxing.”

Three years ago, Modesto Area Express, or MAX, merged with Stanislaus Regional Transit, or StaRT, to create a comprehensive transit system for the whole county.

“We’ve seen awesome growth in ridership over the last year,” Adam Barth, chief executive officer of the resulting Stanislaus Regional Transit Authority, or StanRTA. As of May, ridership is up 38% year over year, according to the StanRTA website .

There are several pleasant surprises that come with taking the bus instead of hopping in a car beyond eliminating wear and tear on your vehicle and the ever-increasing cost of gas. For example, StanRTA provides an entire month of free ridership in July and other free rider days paid for by grants.

“I don’t know how this system can work, because it’s only two dollars a day,” said Sarah Pisanu, a rider who works remotely for a non-profit, and uses the S to get around for errands and recreation.

Barth said StanRTA gets about half of its funding from the state. The rest comes from Federal funding with bus fares chipping in a little bit.

Lack of bus shelters

With the increase in ridership, some riders noticed inconveniences. In areas outside of downtown, finding stops with shelters and a place to sit can be challenging.

“Modesto is hot as hell almost all of the time,” said Atticus Stenson, a 33-year-old legal analyst who uses the bus to commute from where he lives in Northeast Modesto to downtown for work daily. “And a lot of these bus stops, especially in residential neighborhoods, are unsheltered.”

Barth said they plan to get at least one-person seats installed at all bus stops.

“We can’t put in a shelter and obstruct the sidewalk because then a wheelchair can’t get around it,” Barth said. “So if space exists, we definitely want to put in a shelter or a bench there.”

In the last year, Barth said they added 50 new blue bus shelters throughout the system.

Reliability

“Personally, I would prefer to do everything with public transportation, but I don’t see how here,” Pisanu said.

She has experienced some reliability issues, mostly during bus transfers.

“Because I can’t rely on the first bus, I can’t rely on my connection either,” Pisanu said. “Sometimes I take a route where I’m walking 20 minutes afterwards because I can rely on my feet more than the second bus.”

For areas of downtown Modesto, local buses can take as little as 15-20 minutes to arrive, but buses servicing areas outside of Modesto, like Patterson or Ceres, have an hour’s wait.

On top of the scheduled bus routes, StanRTA also operates a dial-a-ride service for people 65 and older or who are disabled. Riders can schedule in advance trips to most areas of Modesto within a three hour window.

A paratransit system is also available with advance notice for those whose disabilities prevent them from using the fixed-route bus system. It requires an ADA paratransit certification process which needs an in-person interview to be conducted in one of their three Stanislaus Eligibility Centers– Modesto, Patterson and Turlock.

Jaime Ortiz is a long time rider of the bus but stopped during lockdown due to concerns about exposure to COVID. Ortiz is a care worker, but said he hasn’t used the dial-a-ride or paratransit bus system with clients. He said it would be useful if more people understood the process for ordering a paratransit or dial-a-ride .

Whereas the regular fixed-route bus system sees around 10 thousand trips a day according to Barth, the paratransit system only sees 600.

“It’s definitely a critical service and a critical need for our community for those folks that need it,” Barth said. “But if you can ride the fixed route, that’s great too.”

Though the ridership is increasing, riders say outside of peak hours or around schools the bus is mostly empty. To improve the experience by adding more stops, better bus shelters, more reliability– the city and county would need to believe that there is an appetite for it.

Pisanusaid this is mainly a perception about the unreliability of the bus system.

“It’s a vicious circle where the public system is not used because people can’t rely on it, but because people can’t rely on it they have to have a car,” Pisanu said.

How much does it cost?

Free:

• Veterans or active duty military with military ID
• Modesto Junior College students with ID
• People 18 and under

Day passes: $2 for unlimited trips

7-day passes: $10 for unlimited trips

31-day passes: $40 for unlimited trips

People with disabilities using the fixed route bus service ride for half price.

Through the app, “Token Transit,” purchasing five day passes in a row will automatically upgrade the ticket to a 7-day pass. Notably, this convenience doesn’t extend to riders who use cash, and getting a ticket on the bus requires you to have exact change which may be hard for some riders. But cash riders can still go to the transit station and get change.

Paratransit: $2.50 per ADA certified passenger and another $2.50 for single companions. Youth 18 or younger and personal care attendants ride free.