University of Massachusetts Transportation Services

University of Massachusetts Transportation Services

UMass Transit/PVTA bus #3401 makes a stop at the UMass Fine Arts Center on N. Pleasant Street, operating the Pink 31 line.
Parent	University of Massachusetts Amherst Five College Consortium Pioneer Valley Transit Authority
Headquarters	255 Governors Drive Amherst, MA 01003-9266
Locale	Five Colleges of the Pioneer Valley
Service area	Five Colleges campuses plus Amherst town, Belchertown, Deerfield, Hadley, Northampton, South Hadley, and Sunderland
Service type	Local bus transit, campus shuttle, field trip charter
Alliance	Five Colleges
Routes	9
Hubs	UMass Fine Arts Center Haigis Mall North Pleasant Street
Fuel type	Diesel, hybrid electric
Operator	University of Massachusetts Amherst students
Director of Transportation Services	Jeri Baker
Website	UMass Transit Five College buses PVTA.com

University of Massachusetts Transportation Services, abbreviated to UMass Transit Services or UMass Transit, is a department within the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) that provides mass transit services to the UMass Amherst campus and other members of the Five Colleges Consortium in eastern Hampshire County, as well as outlying towns. Similar to other large campus transportation systems, such as UGA Campus Transit in Georgia and Unitrans in California, UMass Transit buses are driven by students attending UMass Amherst.

Services

Fixed-route services

UMass Transit operates as a contractor for the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA), headquartered in Springfield, the largest municipality in the region. This setup exists because PVTA, as a regional transit authority established under Chapter 161B of the Massachusetts General Statutes, is forbidden under Section 25 of the same statute from operating routes directly. PVTA thus contracts with the school to operate certain routes (other routes in the system are operated by First Transit employees). UMass Transit buses in fixed route service are owned by the PVTA and are painted in their standard livery. These buses are numbered in the 3000 series, and are between 35 and 60 feet in length. The 60-feet buses were acquired in 2013 to accommodate student crowds on the North Pleasant Street through routes Gold 30 and Pink 31.^[1]

Field trip services

In addition to operating tendered services for the PVTA, UMass Transit also maintains an activity fleet of buses of various types for charter by student groups within the UMass Amherst community. In keeping with the school colors of white and maroon, these buses are generally painted white with a maroon stripe.

Fixed routes

The following routes are operated by UMass Transit Services on behalf of the PVTA. Most buses only display the destination.

UMass and Five Colleges routes

Route	Terminals		Via	Notes
30[2]	N. Amherst Puffton Village Drive	Amherst Old Belchertown Road and Belchertown Road (before Harkness Road)	North Pleasant Street, Main Street, Belchertown Road	Serves the former Amherst Amtrak station. Evening service is supplemented by Outreach Route 45 along the entire route.
31[3]	Sunderland Sugarloaf Estates	S. Amherst The Boulders	South Pleasant Street, North Pleasant Street, Amherst/Sunderland Road	Bypasses the Crestview Apartments stop between 2 PM and 7 PM on weekdays. Crestview Apartments customers must use Route 30. Evening service is supplemented by Outreach Route 46 along the entire route.
34/35[4]	UMass Amherst Campus Shuttle		University Drive, Commonwealth Avenue, North Pleasant Street, East Pleasant Street, Eastman Lane, East Pleasant Street, Massachusetts Avenue	Both routes serve the same destinations, but travel in opposite directions. Route 34 travels east past Haigis Mall, north past the Studio Arts Building, south through Orchard Hill, west past the UMass Transit garage, and counterclockwise via the Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium. Route 35 travels west past Haigis Mall, south past the Studio Arts Building, north through Orchard Hill, east past the UMass Transit garage, and clockwise via the Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium. Both Routes 34 and 35 service Parking Lots 11, 12, and 13.
38[5]	Amherst Haigis Mall	S. Hadley Mt. Holyoke College	MA Route 116, North Pleasant Street	Via Amherst College, Hampshire College, and Eric Carle Museum.
39'[6]	Northampton Smith College	Weekdays: Hampshire College Evenings and weekends: Mount Holyoke College	From Smith College To Hampshire College only: Bridge Street, Bay Road To Mount Holyoke College only: Bridge Street, MA Route 47 To Mount Holyoke College via Hampshire College: Bridge Street, Bay Road, MA Route 116	Daytime Route 39 Smith-Mount Holyoke trips (bypassing Hampshire College) prior to 4 PM are operated by PVTA's Northampton contractor and not by UMass Transit. Fares are collected on these trips. Weekday Route 39 local buses only operate between Smith and Hampshire. Evening and weekend Route 39 trips operate Smith to/from Hampshire, then to/from Mount Holyoke.

UMass Outreach routes

These routes, operated by UMass Transit, are targeted not toward the UMass student body, but towards the year-round local population in the area.

Route	Terminals		Via	Notes
33[7]	Hadley Stop & Shop	Amherst Mill Hollow Apartments/Puffer's Pond	Amity Street, East Pleasant Street, Eastman Lane, Cushman Center, Survival Center, North Pleasant Street	A combination of the former routes 32 and 37.
45[8]	Amherst Graduate Research Center, UMass	Belchertown Belchertown Center	North Pleasant Street, Main Street, Echo Hill/Gatehouse Road, Belchertown Road	On southbound trips via Echo Hill/Gatehouse Road, buses do not stop to dropoff passengers along Main Street (between Amherst Town Hall and Amherst Glass). Local passengers must use Route 30. The last evening trip follows Route 30 to Old Belchertown Road via Colonial Village, servicing all Route 30 stops, then continues to Belchertown Center via Belchertown Road. Route 45 does not operate on weekends.
46[8]	Amherst Studio Arts Building, UMass	Whately Park and Ride	North Pleasant Street, Sunderland/Amherst Road, South Deerfield Center	Northbound Route 46 buses do not stop to dropoff passengers between UMass and North Amherst Center. Local passengers must use Routes 30, 31, 33, 34, or 35. The last evening trip follows Route 31 to Sunderland via Townehouse Apartments and Sugarloaf Estates, servicing all Route 31 stops, then continues to South Deerfield Center and Whately Park and Ride. Route 46 does not operate on weekends.

Notes:

• Connections are available to FRTA route 23 at Haigis Mall and along North Pleasant Street in Amherst and North Amherst, and to route 31 at South Deerfield Center and Whately Park and Ride.
• By order of the local Amherst Police and UMass Amherst Police, in an effort to curb student crowds and maintain order, the North Village bus stop in North Amherst, and the Fearing Street bus stop in Amherst are bypassed by all campus buses, along with the B43 route, after 10 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights during full service periods.

Fares

UMass Transit buses are not equipped with fareboxes or fare registers.

Students attending any colleges in the Five Colleges Consortium have a fee included in their tuition bills (service fee for UMass Amherst students and student activity fees for the other colleges) for each semester that prepays their bus fares for the semester and funds the Five Colleges bus system, along with fares on the M40 (Minuteman Express) between UMass and Smith College, and the B43 local route between Amherst College and Smith College via UMass. UMass Transit buses operate via a proof-of-payment system, in which there are random checks of student identification cards and bus passes and transfers.

Riders not affiliated with the Five Colleges must be prepared to show a transfer, ticket, or pass valid at the time upon random checks.

Holiday and school break service levels

While the population of Amherst is nominally 37,819 as per the 2010 census, that figure includes the student population of the Five Colleges, many of whom are only part-time residents and who account for approximately 60 percent of that figure. As such, when classes are not in session, service is greatly reduced and often suspended on many routes, and other routes will have service ending early.

All UMass Transit service is suspended on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. On other days when classes are not in session, the service levels for UMass Transit and UMass Outreach routes are available here, with only some routes running.

References

1. "UMass Transit Goes for Long Ride". September 12, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
2. http://www.umass.edu/transit/pdf/route30.pdf
3. http://www.umass.edu/transit/pdf/route31.pdf
4. http://www.umass.edu/transit/pdf/route34and35.pdf
5. http://www.umass.edu/transit/pdf/route38.pdf
6. http://www.umass.edu/transit/pdf/route39.pdf
7. http://www.umass.edu/transit/pdf/route33.pdf
8. http://www.umass.edu/transit/pdf/outreach.pdf

External links

• University of Massachusetts Transportation Services - official site
• Pioneer Valley Transit Authority - official site