University of Massachusetts Transportation Services
University of Massachusetts Transportation Services, abbreviated to UMass Transit Services or UMass Transit, is a department within the University of Massachusetts Amherst that is contracted by the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA) to operate fixed-route transit services on the UMass Amherst campus and surrounding area, including some services to other members of the Five Colleges Consortium in eastern Hampshire County. Similar to other large campus transportation systems, such as UGA Campus Transit in Georgia and Unitrans in California, PVTA fixed-route buses operated by UMass Transit Services are driven by students attending UMass Amherst. In, PVTA fixed-routes operated by UMass Transit had a ridership of, or about per weekday as of.
Background
UMass Transit is a student-based organization with more than 90% of the employees being UMass students, with the remaining employees falling under University 03 employment status or full time administrators. UMass Transit Services operates 10 PVTA routes with a fleet of 40 transit vehicles.PVTA service operated by UMass Transit runs 12 months a year, 20 hours per day, seven days per week.
Service began in 1969 as an intra-campus shuttle. A federal grant allowed expansion to nearby towns in 1973. It joined the PVTA in 1976. Daily ridership reached 24,000 by 1982.
Route B79 was originally operated by the Quaboag Valley Community Development Corporation and the Town of Ware, through its Quaboag Connector partnership. PVTA reassigned operation of this route to UMass Transit Services, starting on January 5, 2025.
Services
Fixed-route services
UMass Transit operates as a contractor for the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority, which is headquartered in Springfield, the largest municipality of 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. PVTA owns all fixed-route buses that operate its services and are painted in their standard livery across the PVTA service area. The buses assigned to UMass Transit are numbered in the 3000 series, and are between 35 and 60 feet in length. UMass Transit operates two of the articulated buses in the PVTA fleet; they were acquired in 2013 to accommodate crowding conditions on routes 30 and 31.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. These buses are generally painted to match the school colors of white and maroon.Accessible Van Service
operates a fleet of paratransit vans which services members of the UMass Amherst community who have mobility impairments, whether they are permanent or temporary. The service has a range that extends 3 miles from the center of campus.Fixed routes
The following routes are operated by UMass Transit Services on behalf of the PVTA.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.Fares
PVTA buses operated by UMass Transit are not equipped with fareboxes.Students attending any colleges in the Five Colleges Consortium have a fee included in their tuition bills for each semester that prepays their bus fares for the semester and funds the Five Colleges bus system, along with fares on the B43 local route between Amherst College and Smith College via UMass.
Holiday and school break service levels
While the population of Amherst is nominally 39,263 as per the 2020 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 PVTA fixed-routes operated by UMass Transit are suspended on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. On other days when classes are not in session, these routes operate on a reduced service schedule.