Tulare County Regional Transit Agency

The Tulare County Regional Transit Agency is a joint powers agency formed by all the cities in Tulare County, California alongside the county government on August 17, 2020. It operates the public transportation systems within and connecting the respective member agencies, including the legacy systems Dinuba Area Regional Transit, Tulare InterModal Express, and Tulare County Area Transit. It is the largest single public transit agency in Tulare County.

History

The cities of Exeter, Farmersville, Lindsay, Porterville, Tulare, and Woodlake in partnership with the County of Tulare were the initial seven member agencies of TCRTA, which was formed by unanimously adopting the draft by-laws on August 17, 2020. In September 2020, Dinuba joined TCRTA as the eighth member. Collectively, these represent all the cities within Tulare County with the sole exception of Visalia, the largest city and county seat, which has chosen to retain its independent Visalia Transit agency. The consolidation is expected to result in uniform fares, more efficient routes, and easier intercity travel within Tulare County.
Memoranda of understanding were signed between TCRTA and the cities of Dinuba, Tulare, and Woodlake at the May 17, 2021 TCRTA Board of Directors meeting, transferring ownership, operation, and administration of public transportation systems in those cities to TCRTA. A similar MoU for Porterville signed at the same May meeting effectively allowed that city to provide transit operations and maintenance services for Woodlake. The first legacy system to transition to TCRTA administration was the bus service in Woodlake, starting on July 1, 2021. Porterville Transit loaned several minivans to Woodlake, replacing the minibuses that previously were operated by that city.

Services

Fixed routes

TCRTA has assumed operation of legacy fixed routes from Dinuba, Porterville, the City of Tulare, and Tulare County. Prefixes designate the legacy system from which the route was inherited.

Route	Name	Legacy system	Terminus	via	Terminus	Typ. headway	Notes / Refs.
DC	Dinuba Connection	DART	Dinuba Transit Center	Tulare WORKS, Reedley Shopping Center, Adventist Health Reedley, Reedley College, Palm Village, Reedley DMV	Dinuba Transit Center	60	Alternative name: Dinuba / Reedley Route
C10	North County	TCaT	Visalia	Seville, Cutler, East Orosi, Orosi, Sultana	Dinuba	60 120
C20	South County	TCaT	Tulare	Matheny Tract, Tipton, Pixley, Teviston, Earlimart, Delano	Richgrove	60–90 150
C30	Northeast County	TCaT	Visalia	Ivanhoe, Woodlake, Lemon Cove, Three Rivers	Visalia	30 70
C40	Southeast County	TCaT	Visalia	Tulare, Lindsay, Strathmore	Porterville	65 120	Free transfer to Visalia Transit Route 1, connects to Visalia Transit Center
C50	Dinuba – London – Traver – Delft Colony	TCaT	Dinuba	London, Traver, Delft Colony, Dinuba Transit Center	Dinuba	70–240 60–180
C60	Lindsay	TCaT	Lindsay	Savemart/McDonalds, Wellness Center, E. Tulare Rd & Lafayette Ave, City Hall	Lindsay	30
C70	Porterville – Springville	TCaT	Porterville	Springville	Porterville	360
C80	Porterville – Terra Bella – Ducor	TCaT	Porterville	Terra Bella, Ducor	Porterville	360
C90	Lindsay – Strathmore – Plainview – Woodville – Poplar – Porterville	TCaT	Lindsay	Plainview, Woodville, Cotton Center, Poplar, Strathmore	Porterville	90–270
D1	Dollar Tree – Tropicana Market – Viscaya Gardens	DART	Dinuba Transit Center	Surabian Dr, El Monte Way, Alta Ave	Dinuba Transit Center	60	Western segment of legacy "Jolly Trolley".
D2	Senior Center – Northpark Apts – Mercantile Row	DART	Dinuba Transit Center	Alta Ave, Nebraska Ave, El Monte Way	Dinuba Transit Center	60	Previously named "North Route".
D3	Jefferson School – Rancho Vista – DPW	DART	Dinuba Transit Center	El Monte Way, Road 88, Kamm Ave, M	Dinuba Transit Center	60	Abbreviated from "South Route".
D4	Walmart – Housing Authority – Delgado Park	DART	Dinuba Transit Center	Surabian Dr, El Monte Way, College Ave, Kamm Ave, Greene Ave	Dinuba Transit Center	60	Interior segment of "South Route".
P1	Sierra View District Hospital	PT	Porterville Transit Center	South County Justice Center, Porterville High School, Burton Elementary	Porterville Transit Center	40
P2	Monache High School	PT	Porterville Transit Center	Porterville Library, Wal-Mart Shopping Center, Porterville Adult School, Monte Vista Elementary	Porterville Transit Center	40
P3	East Porterville	PT	Porterville Transit Center	Vallarta Super Market, East Porterville, Alta Vista School, Granite Hills High School, Porterville Municipal Golf Course, Santa Fe Apartments	Porterville Transit Center	40
P4	Porterville College	PT	Porterville Transit Center	Porterville Heritage Center, Santa Fe School, LB Learning Center, Porterville Developmental Center, Golden Hills Mobile Estates, Vandalia Elementary, Pioneer Middle School	Porterville Transit Center	40
P5	Veterans Park	PT	Porterville Transit Center	Westwood Ave, Target Shopping Center, Government Plaza, Galaxy 9 Theaters, Zalud Park	Porterville Transit Center	40
P6	Family HealthCare Network	PT	Porterville Transit Center	Sierra View District Hospital, Lowes and Home Depot Shopping Center, Holiday Inn Express, Porterville Sheltered Workshop	Porterville Transit Center	40
T1	North Tulare	TIME	Tulare Transit Center	Regional Medical Center, Sports Park, Pleasant School, Maple School	Tulare Transit Center	30 60
T2	Southeast Tulare	TIME	Tulare Transit Center	Martin Luther King, Bardsley, Blackstone	Tulare Transit Center	30 60
T3	West Tulare	TIME	Tulare Transit Center	Westside Community Health Clinic, Senior Center, Skate Park	Tulare Transit Center	30 60
T4	Northeast Tulare	TIME	Tulare Transit Center	CVS, Target, Walmart	Tulare Transit Center	30 60
T5	Southwest Tulare	TIME	Tulare Transit Center	Bardsley, K St, Hillman Clinic, City Hall	Tulare Transit Center	30 60
T7	East Tulare	TIME	Tulare Transit Center	Mooney, Cos Tulare, Kohn School	Tulare Transit Center	30 60
T11X	Tulare to Visalia Express	TIME	Tulare Transit Center	J St, SR 99, SR 198	Visalia Transit Center	60

Legacy systems

Dinuba

Under Dinuba Area Regional Transit, Dinuba operated four routes, including one longer-distance route connecting Dinuba to Reedley in Fresno County, two flexible routes allowing deviations to serve dial-a-ride passengers between nominal fixed route stops, and a fare-free single fixed route serving popular businesses.

Exeter

The City of Exeter began operating a dial-a-ride intracity on-demand transit service in 1991. Service to its larger neighbor Visalia is provided by Visalia Transit. On July 1, 2017, Visalia Transit took over intracity dial-a-ride services within Exeter. The steep fare increase, from $1 under Exeter to $2.25 under Visalia, resulted in citizens berating the City Council.

Farmersville

The City of Farmersville also relied on Visalia Transit for public transportation connections to Visalia, with Farmersville compensating Visalia annually from its transportation funding allocation.

Lindsay

Dial-a-ride services within Lindsay were provided under annual agreements with Tulare County. TCaT also provided service for circulation within Lindsay and connections to Porterville and the neighboring unincorporated communities of Plainview, Poplar-Cotton Center, Strathmore, and Woodville.

Porterville

operates six fixed routes within Porterville; there were nine fixed routes prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, with one of the fixed routes providing service to the Tule River Indian Reservation.

Tulare

The City of Tulare operated the Tulare InterModal Express transit service, which provided six fixed routes within Tulare and one express route, jointly operated with Visalia Transit, that connected those two cities. The six fixed routes within Tulare were named for their geographical coverage ; all routes, including Tulare–Visalia service met at the central Tulare Transit Center. Sunday service was added in 2015.