June 2014 – County Connection

New Buses Ready For Service

New Bus-Red.

Date: June 24, 2014

(925) 680-2050

For Release: Immediately

County Connection’s Newest Buses Ready for Service

CONCORD, Calif. – County Connection will roll out its newest buses next week.  Locally made in the Bay Area by Gillig Corporation, the seven newly acquired low-floor, 30-foot coaches will replace County Connection buses that have been in service for over 12 years.  Under the hood, the buses will be equipped with an elaborate catalytic reduction and gas recirculation system that makes the engines of these new buses 90-percent cleaner than the buses being replaced.

“It is exciting to offer our passengers next generation buses,” said Bob Simmons, County Connection Board Chair and City of Walnut Creek Council Member.  “The new coaches are also more environmentally-friendly, offering better fuel mileage and burning less emissions per gallon than the models they are replacing.”

A lower-floor bus means County Connection riders can easily enter and exit the vehicle and increases the accessibility for riders with disabilities because of its wide front aisles that contribute to better wheelchair maneuverability.  The new buses have cushioned seats that accommodate 23 people (with additional room for standees).

County Connection has a history of purchasing buses from Hayward-based Gillig Corporation. The investment in the new coaches not only complies with Buy America provisions, but also supports a local company and its employees.

About County Connection

County Connection operates a fleet of 112 clean diesel and 9 hybrid diesel buses in fixed-route service and 63 gas-powered vans in door-to-door service.  For assistance or for more information on bus routes, please visit www.cccta.wpengine.com or call Customer Service at (925) 676-7500.

 

Dump The Pump – Instagrams Wanted

2014 Logo

The 9th annual National Dump the Pump Day will be held this year on Thursday, June 19.  Show us how you “dumped the pump” by riding a County Connection bus. Send your photos to #countyconnection and be eligible for a $25 gift card.

Sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), in partnership with the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), this national public transportation awareness day encourages people to “dump the pump” by parking their car and riding public transit instead.

Route maps, schedules, fare information, and much more is available on County Connection’s website, www.cccta.wpengine.com. You’ll also find a trip planner, and a free downloadable app for real time bus arrivals.

County Connection customer service representatives are available from 6:30 AM to 6:30 PM Monday through Friday, and from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM on Saturdays to help with any questions you have about our system.

Summer Youth Passes Are On Sale Now

Hunter-cropped-1County Connection Summer Youth Passes are on sale now. The 20-Ride punch pass sells for $15, and is valid June 15 through September 30, 2014 for youth 6 to 18 years old.  Two or more children may use the same pass making it even more convenient for budget conscious families.

Passes may be purchased at one of our many ticket sales outlets, through the on-line ticket store, or through U.S. mail.

Serving Local Students

With the arrival of summer, County Connection once again is offering its Summer Youth Passes for youth ages 6 to 18 years old.  This special also allows two or more children to use the same pass making it even more convenient for budget conscious families.  County Connection has a long history of serving the youth in our area.

After the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, most school districts in California responded by reducing yellow school bus services.  This was one of the more popular ways for school districts to manage the declining tax revenues associated with Proposition 13.   School districts in Contra Costa County were among those that took this path.

However, students still needed transportation to and from school throughout the County Connection service area.  Thus, County Connection became a popular transportation option for many students.  On a typical school day, nearly 2,000 youth use County Connection for travel to or from school.

It is worth noting that providing this service was one of the main drivers behind the effort to create County Connection in 1980.

A Mutually Beneficial Relationship

To further facilitate this service, County Connection has well established working relationships with all the school districts and schools within our service area.  This helps us to provide smooth, efficient, and safe transportation for many students in our area.  In addition, most schools do a great job of marketing our services to their surrounding communities, which is beneficial to us, as it leads to additional County Connection usage beyond students going to school.

This just another example of how our partnering with the community is so vital to what we do at County Connection.  Ultimately, it’s the public that benefits from these partnerships.

Operation Restrictions

County Connection bus services geared toward students is not the same, however as a typical yellow school bus service.  In fact, the school districts have actually little say in how we operate these services.  In providing services that are used by students, County Connection has to adhere to some seemingly routine, but interesting federal regulations that most people are not aware of.

In short, federal law forbids public transit operators, like County Connection, from operating direct school bus service.  That means that we cannot operate on school property, that any and all services we offer must be available to anyone – not just the students going to a school, and that any service that serves a bus stop next to a school must also serve all other bus stops along that route.

What we can do is tailor schedules to school bell times and adjust routing to some degree.  The partnering with the schools also includes regular communications of various bell times and things like early outs, well in advance of each school year.

So, while we don’t operate school bus service per se, we do operate service that is very useful for many students to go to and from school.  This is gratifying for us to offer, and a service for which parents are very thankful.