SITRAS

Sistema Integrado de Transportación del Sur

Part of the SITRAS Fleet on display
Slogan	Subete!
Founded	14 February 2012
Headquarters	Ponce, Puerto Rico
Locale	Ponce, Puerto Rico
Service area	Ponce Metropolitan Area
Service type	Public Transit
Alliance	Red de Porteadores SITRAS (22 independent Públicos)
Routes	3 (as of Feb 2012); 4 (as of Sept 2012)
Stops	95(Feb 2012) 95+ (Sept 2012)
Destinations	28(Feb 2012) 28+ (Sept 2012)
Hubs	1 Centro de Informacion, Cancha Salvador Dijols, Avenida Hostos, Playa, Ponce, PR
Stations	4 (Terminal Públicos Carlos Garay plus 3 outpost stations)[Feb 2012] 5 [Sept 2012]
Depots	1 Terminal Públicos Carlos Garay, Ponce, PR
Fleet	11 buses (Feb 2012) 22 independent publicos
Daily ridership	3,900
Annual ridership	50,000 (estimated) 820,000 (actual)
Operator	Autonomous Municipality of Ponce
Manager	Jessica Sinigaglia García
Website	http://www.visitaaponce.com/

SITRAS, officially, Sistema Integrado de TRAnsportación del Sur (Southern Integrated Transportation System), is the mass transit system in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It was inaugurated on 14 February 2012.

As "a large city that feels like a small town", Ponce's public mass transportation system consisted only of a shared taxi service providing public cars and vans known as públicos.

Since the 1940s, the network of públicos, numbering some 20 "lineas" (lines), had emerged and positioned itself along various downtown city streets. The 20 or so lineas served both intra-city and inter-city transportation needs. Lineas providing inter-city service, that is, those heading to other towns such as San Juan,Mayaguez, Guayama, Peñuelas, Adjuntas, and Juana Diaz, were stationed around the perimeter of Plaza Las Delicias and numbered eight, with a fleet of 38 vehicles. Intra-city lines, namely those heading to various communities in the city of Ponce (Jardines del Caribe, Cantera, Glenview, etc.) or to its barrios, including, Guaraguao, Anón, Coto Laurel, etc., projected further out from the city center, were located mostly in the area surrounding Plaza del Mercado de Ponce, and numbered 12 lineas, with a fleet of 109 vehicles.

The entire shared taxi network covered some 8-10 city blocks of downtown Ponce. This decentralized system changed in 1990 when all these líneas scattered throughout downtown Ponce were centralized at the 3-story high Terminal de Carros Públicos Carlos Garay upon the Terminal's inauguration. When at its peak, the Carlos Garay terminal accommodated over 100 públicos. Yet, while the 1990 públicos centralization at the Carlos Garay Terminal building relieved congestion in some downtown streets, it did little to provide relief from other públicos-related problems: the system continued to be plagued by unpredictable and sporadic service, limited or no service on weekends, no evening service, and similar weaknesses.