Fresno Area Express

Infobox Bus transit
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logo_size = 250


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founded = 1887
headquarters =
locale = Central California
service_area = Fresno
service_type = bus service, bus rapid transit
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routes = 20
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fleet = 100+
ridership = 37,000
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website = [http://www.fresno.gov/DiscoverFresno/PublicTransportation/default.htm FAX] The Fresno Area Express or FAX, is a bus line in Fresno, California. The line has over 100 buses and 20 fixed routes as of May, 2008. FAX offers free transfers as well as wheelchair lifts and bike racks on all buses.

FAX routes run from as far south as Malaga to Children's Hospital Central California in the north. Lines also run as far east as Fowler Avenue in Clovis, and as far west as Polk Avenue near Highway 99 in western Fresno.

FAX will begin a trial implementation of a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system on Kings Canyon/Ventura Avenues after it receives funding from the Federal Transit Administration Small Start fund.

History

The public transportation system in Fresno started in January 1889. This was a horse car line. By 1926 Fulton Street was the hub of Fresno's business section. It had replaced Fresno and Mariposa Streets for commercial buildings and in so doing eliminated Fresno's only Nob Hill, all four feet of it. The streetcar era, which began in May 1887, on J Street, was one of three streetcar lines in the young city. In 1901 the Fresno City Railway Company merged the three and in the spring of 1903 the Fresno Traction Company, then the owners, converted the lines to electricity. These electric streetcars operated on approximately 42 miles of track by the mid-twenties. The electric streetcars were used until 1939, when the transit company replaced them with buses. [http://atu1027.org/localatu.htm]

Timeline

*1887-1901 Fresno City, Belmont & Yosemite Railroad

*1901-1915 Fresno City Railway

*1915-1939 Fresno Traction Co.

*1939 sold to National City Lines/streetcars discontinued

*1939-1946 Fresno City Lines

*1946-1961 Fresno City Lines, Inc.

*1961 City of Fresno Takes over Municipal Bus Service

*1961-1969 Fresno Municipal Lines

*After 1969 Fresno Transit

*1989 Name Changed to Fresno Area Express or FAX