Antelope Valley Transit Authority
 |
|
 |
|
| Parent | Cities of Palmdale, Lancaster and Metro. |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1992 |
| Locale | Antelope Valley |
| Service type | bus service, paratransit |
| Alliance | Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Metrolink (Southern California) |
| Routes | 14 |
| Operator | Transdev |
| Website | avta.com |
Antelope Valley Transit Authority is the transit agency serving the cities of Palmdale, Lancaster and Northern Los Angeles County. Antelope Valley Transit Authority is operated under contract by Transdev, and is affiliated with and offers connecting services with Metro and Metrolink.
The cities of Palmdale and Lancaster and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works jointly created the Antelope Valley Transit Authority in 1992 to meet the growing need for public transportation in the Antelope Valley. AVTA began local transit service on July 1, 1992 with three types of services: Local Transit, Commuter and Dial-A-Ride. The Local Transit service provided transportation around town while the Commuter Service provided an alternative to residents driving into Los Angeles on the heavily congested 14 Freeway. The Dial-a-Ride program, a curb-to-curb transportation service, was developed to improve mobility for the elderly and disabled. There was also a concern for residents who lived in the outlying regions with no access to public transportation. To keep up with the increased need for transit services, AVTA opened its new, larger facility in 2004 with state of the art equipment for maintaining its fleet. A solar canopy was built to cover a portion of the parking area and it continues to offset electricity costs for AVTA. The federally funded facility cost $21 million to construct and is located at 6th Street West just north of Avenue M in Lancaster. The facilities expansion began in 2011 with an $11 million expansion project featuring new maintenance bays, more solar canopies, a new community room and additional office space. The expansion was completed in January, 2013.
AVTA currently serves a population of over 450,000 residents in the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale, as well as the unincorporated portions of northern Los Angeles County. Its total service area covers 1,200 square miles and is bounded by the Kern County line to the north, the San Bernardino County line to the east, the Angeles National Forest to the south, and Interstate 5 to the West. The fixed route service area consists of approximately 100 square miles. AVTA operates a fleet of 73 buses for transit service with 45 buses dedicated for local service and 28 dedicated to commuter service. AVTA added 15 new diesel hybrid buses to its local transit fleet in 2012 as part of its commitment to promoting environmental responsibility. In 2014, the agency continued its efforts by adding 2 state-of-the-art electric zero-emission buses, manufactured by local company BYD. In 2015, AVTA began taking major steps to begin the conversion to a 100% battery electric bus fleet. The $40 million Electric Bus Fleet Conversion project will be funded through a $24.4 million CalSTA grant awarded to AVTA, plus matching AVTA and federal funds of $15 million, with the first electric buses slated to arrive by the summer of 2016.
...
Wikipedia