Gold Coast Transit

Gold Coast Transit, formerly known as South Coast Area Transit (SCAT), is a municipal bus operator in western Ventura County, California, serving Ventura, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Ojai, and the adjoining areas of unincorporated Ventura County.

History

Gold Coast Transit was founded in 1973 as South Coast Area Transit with the merger of the Ventura City Transit Lines and the Oxnard Municipal Bus Lines.

Until 1994, SCAT also served Santa Paula. Service to Santa Paula has since been replaced with VISTA routes and a dial-a-ride service within the City of Santa Paula.

The system adopted the name Gold Coast Transit effective July 1 2007. [Announcement on front page of official site: http://www.goldcoasttransit.org/] This accompanied a change in bus livery and the acquisition of 26 new buses. [cite web
title = Transit service gets new name, colors
work = Ventura County Star
date = July 2 2007
url = http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/jul/02/transit-service-gets-new-name-colors/
accessdate = 2007-07-08]

Routes

Routes were unnumbered until August 1991. Most routes serving Oxnard have a timed transfer at the Oxnard Transportation CenterRoutes serving Ventura (except #12) stop at the Pacific View Mall, where there is a bus transfer facility.

;Line 1 - Port Hueneme: Runs from the Oxnard Transportation Center south to Port Hueneme via Oxnard Blvd, Fourth St, C Street, Channel Islands Blvd, Saviers Road, Bard, Ventura Rd, Pomona, Scott, Market, Hueneme, Surfside, Hueneme, Perkins, Pleasant Valley and Saviers. Alternate trips (A and B) serve the Port Hueneme loop in clockwise and counter clockwise directions, respectively.

;Line 2 - Colonia: Runs from the Oxnard Transportation Center via Fourth, B St, Third, Garfield, Colonia Rd, Camino Del Sol, San Gorgonio, Gibraltar, Santa Lucia, Rose, First, Garfield, Third, B St, and Fourth to the Oxnard Transportation Center. Most of this route is a one-way loop.

;Line 3 - Southside: This route runs southward from the Oxnard Transportation Center along Hobson to the "C" Street Transfer Center, then loops via Teakwood, Ventura Rd, and Channel Islands Blvd.

;Line 4 - North Oxnard: A bidirectional loop route serving the Oxnard Transportation Center, Gonzales Road, and Rose Avenue. St. John's Medical Center is on the route.

;Line 5 - Parkwest: Operates west of the Oxnard Transportation Center via Fifth, Ventura Rd, and Wooley Road, looping via Novato, McLoughlin, Victoria Ave, and Wooley.

;Line 6 - Oxnard/Ventura Main Street: An "intercity" route between Oxnard and Ventura, Line 6 starts at the Oxnard Transportation Center, then travels via Fourth, "C" St, Citrus Grove, Oxnard Blvd, the Esplanade Shopping Center and US-101 (Ventura Freeway) and Johnson Drive. At Bristol, the route splits, with 6A operating via Bristol, Grand, Moon, Victoria Ave (passing the Ventura County Government Center), Telegraph Road (serving Ventura College), Mills (transfer point at the Pacific View Mall), Loma Vista, Main and Ventura Ave, terminating at Dakota St. 6B uses Johnson, Telephone, Market, Callens and Main between Bristol/Johnson and the Pacific View Mall, but is otherwise similar to 6A

;Line 7 - South Oxnard: Runs between the "C" St Transfer Center and Oxnard College via Saviers, Pleasant Valley, Rose and Bard

;Line 8 - Oxnard College: Starts at the Oxnard Transportation Center and "stairsteps" to Oxnard College via Fifth, Richmond, Pacific, Westar, Rose, Ives, San Mateo, El Dorado, Rose, Bard, and Saviers, ending at the "C" Street Transfer Center.

;Line 9 - Lemonwood/Gisler: Operates along Channel islands Blvd between the C Street Transfer Center and the area near Channel Islands High School.

;Line 10 - Telegraph-Saticoy:;Line 11 - Telephone-Saticoy:These two routes interline to form a box-shaped loop roughly between Mills Road (Pacific View Mall transfer point) and Saticoy (Wells Center).

;Line 12 - Ventura Downtown/Harbor: This route runs between Downtown Ventura and the Ventura Harbor area.

;Line 15 - El Rio/Northeast: This route serves the unincorporated areas of El Rio and Nyeland Acres, just north of US 101. Connections to other routes can be made at either the Esplanade Shopping Center or Rose/Gonzales (St. John's Hospital)

;Line 16 - Ojai/Ventura-Main St: This route starts at Loma Vista and Mills (Pacific View Mall transfer point) and continues to Downtown Ventura via Loma Vista, Main, Ventura Bl, Loma Drive (Mira Monte), La Luna ave, Roblar Drive (Meiners Oaks), Maricopa Hwy, and Ojai Ave to Downtown Ojai.

;Line 18 - Northside Parkwest Tripper: This route provides peak hour service to/from Oxnard High School. There are two branches (18A and 18B) serving different areas in Oxnard.

Fares

Gold Coast Transit was one of the last public transit agencies anywhere in the US that madechange for passengers. Coin changers were mounted above the fareboxes, and driverscould give up to $5 in change. This practice ended with the fare increaseof July 1993.

Cash Fares:
Adult (18-64): $1.25
Youth (up to 18 with proof of age): $1.25
Senior (65+): $.60
Disabled: $.60
Children under 45" tall: Free when accompanied by paid fare
Transfer (to other Gold Coast routes): Free

10-, 20-, 30- and Monthly tickets are also available.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.goldcoasttransit.org/ Gold Coast Transit homepage]

ources

Various bus schedules, maps, and brochures dated 1984-2001