Everyone rides Manteca Transit free through Oct. 11.
The free rides on both fixed routes and dial-a-ride come not only on the heels of route expansions and tweaks that went into place Oct. 1, but also during the same week Manteca Unified students are on fall break.
As such, it provides an opportunity for families to see how teens can get around Manteca to popular places such as fast food places, coffee shops, The Thomas Toy Teen Community Center, movie theatre, bowling alley, library, Boys & Girls Club, and more — as well as high school campuses.
High school and middle school students ride Manteca Transit free year round thanks to a state grant. All that is required is showing a student body card.
In August, there were 2,046 high school and junior high students who took Manteca Transit to or from school or both.
That compares to 247 in August of 2019.
It is also a student ridership record.
Due to budget constraints, Manteca Unified does not provide bus service for high school students that reside within 2.5 miles from campus.
That has been a big issue south of the 120 Bypass where students going to Sierra or Manteca high schools have to use freeway crossings or an undercrossing to reach school. It’s an even bigger issue to reach Manteca High given the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.
The longer modified routes south of the Bypass reach the core of newly developed areas and includes new stops.
The routes couldn’t have been extended earlier due to extensive road closures and construction that made it impossible to make buses run on time.
The heaviest used route in terms of ridership — Route One — has been tweaked to complete the route on time to allow smoother transfers.
The new routes are posted on the Manteca Transit website.
A major revamp will be coming in two phases with a targeted start of July 2026 and 100 percent phase in by Jully 2027.
The city will be seeking community input.
Not only will a fifth route be added and the current ones reconfigured, but they will be modified to be timed with ACE commuter train arrivals at the Manteca Transit Center.
ACE service from downtown Manteca to San Jose and Sacramento is now expected to start in the next two years.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
