Headquarters | 110 Vernon Street, Santa Cruz, CA |
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Service area | Santa Cruz County |
Service type | bus service, paratransit, express bus service |
Stations | Amtrak - METRO Center/Pacific Station, 920 Pacific Ave., Santa CruzCoordinates: 36°58′15.3″N 122°01′29.8″W / 36.970917°N 122.024944°W |
Website | scmtd.com |
Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (SCMTD), or simply Santa Cruz METRO, provides bus service throughout Santa Cruz County, California.
Santa Cruz METRO also operates the Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach Highway 17 Express service between Santa Cruz (city) and San Jose Amtrak Station, thanks to a partnership with Amtrak California, Capitol Corridor, and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.
Complete transit itineraries between Santa Cruz and San Francisco Bay Area cities and major airports are available from iridethebus.org.
Santa Cruz METRO was created in 1968 as a special district within Santa Cruz County with taxing authority. Service was initially to the cities of Santa Cruz, Capitola and Live Oak. Santa Cruz METRO extended service to Watsonville, Scotts Valley and the San Lorenzo Valley in 1974.
In 1979, voters approved a measure to change the financing of Santa Cruz METRO from a property tax to a 1/2 cent sales tax.
The Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach Highway 17 Express service between Santa Cruz and San Jose started as an emergency bus service after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake closed Highway 17.
A strike in September 2005 lasted for 35 days and stranded up to 23,000 riders.
In 2011 fixed route service was severely cut then restored mere months later.
In 2012 Santa Cruz METRO received grant funding to construct the Judy K. Souza Operations Facility.