Unitrans

Unitrans is the name for the transit system which operates in Davis, California. It takes its name from an abbreviation of the words "University Transport". Excepting several managerial and maintenance positions, Unitrans is managed and operated entirely by students of the University of California, Davis who usually work part-time while attending school. The system is well known throughout the area for its use of several distinctive ex-London Transport double decker buses, as well as its fleet of modern natural gas single-decks. Ridership exceeds 3 million passenger-trips per year on 16 weekday and 4 Saturday routes. Current (2004) fares are $1.00 for the general public and free to undergraduate University students.

History

In the late 1960s, members of the Associated Students of U.C. Davis (ASUCD) realized the need for a transit system to transport students between the City of Davis and the University campus. In the Spring of 1966, providing a transportation system became an ASUCD presidential promise. Newly elected in the fall, the President helped start experimental service in October 1966. This service was initially run using a private charter service. The estimated cost at the time was $2000/quarter. The service ran for several months, but ASUCD officials decided that the service needed to be changed. These students approached Davis' Mayor Skinner (the mayor at the time) and appealed for support both politically and financially. With the mayor's endorsement, the University Transport System, or Unitrans, began to take shape.

To be unique, get the system noticed, and encourage ridership, Unitrans made arrangements to purchase two London Double Decker buses for $3000 each in the middle part of 1967 and use them on "East" and "West" perimeter routes in Davis. The two RTL type double decker buses were shipped to the Gulf of Mexico and driven the remainder of the way to Davis. After being modified with features like clearance lights and larger left side mirrors, service began in February of 1968. More than thirty years later, RTL 1014, the oldest functioning example of its type in the world still operates in revenue service on a regular basis. These first two lines operated from what is now a parking lot behind Young Hall, until 1970 when expanded service forced the terminal to move to its current location near Hickey Gym.

In 1972 the service dropped its remaining full-time drivers, and started running the service with a full staff of part-time student drivers. Since then, Unitrans has remained a student operated organization, employing students as drivers, conductors, supervisors, driver trainers, maintenance shop assistants, bus washers and office clerks. Career positions, the only non-student positions at Unitrans, currently include General and Assistant General Manager, Maintenance Shop Manager, Maintenance Shop Mechanics, and the Safety and Training Supervisor. Unitrans is believed to be the only transit system in the United States to operate double deck buses in regular service, and has one of the best safety records of any transit system in California.

Through the 1970s and 1980s, Unitrans added six more double deck buses and expanded its fleet several times over the years with diesel single deck buses. The 1970s saw the addition of a 40 foot GMC bus and a number of 35 foot single deck GMC buses from San Diego, California. The fleet also acquired two "Old-Look" GMC's, affectionately nicknamed "Prison Buses". In the 1980s, Unitrans tacked on another 40 foot GMC, a few more 35 foot GMCs, and its first all new, never before used, buses when it purchased five 35 foot Gilligs from the manufacturer in Hayward, California.

With an increasing demand for service fueled by the expanding size of the University and the City of Davis, Unitrans continued to gear up for larger passenger loads by adding more buses and more routes through the City of Davis. At the end of the 1980’s, nine Flxible buses (four 40 foot and five 35 foot) were purchased from Sacramento Regional Transit (Sac RT). Three 30 foot Gilligs were provided by UCD’s Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS) for the intracampus and UCD Medical Center shuttle to be operated by Unitrans drivers. (This service is now run by the Medical Center.)

Greater ridership in the 1980s prompted the writing and passing of a student referendum that added a $13 fee to registration costs to create the fare-less system. Students who paid their registration fees could ride the bus by simply showing their registration card with a valid registration sticker, or board for the absolute bargain fare of $0.50. This referendum made Unitrans an even more convenient method of transportation for students attending UC Davis.

The 1990s saw Unitrans operating 13 routes, with yearly ridership expected to top 2 million in fiscal year 1997-98. The addition of 15 brand new natural gas powered Orion buses from Oriskany, New York allowed Unitrans to modernize and clean up by retiring the Flxible fleet and portions of the GMC fleet. Two 40 foot Gilligs purchased from Yolobus have been re-born as Unitrans buses. In 2000 the Maintenance Shop completed its retrofit of RT 2819 to use a brand-new John Deere natural-gas powered engine. This bus is believed to be the only one of its type in the world to be powered by such an engine.

External link

• Unitrans Homepage (http://unitrans.ucdavis.edu)