V-Line (bus)

Orange Line route bus stops at Valparaiso University.
Slogan	Take the Bus, No Fuss
Parent	City of Valparaiso
Founded	2007
Headquarters	166 Lincolnway
Locale	Valparaiso, Indiana
Service area	Valparaiso, Dune Park.
Service type	Deviated fixed route
Routes	6
Hubs	1
Fleet	5
Annual ridership	179,378 (2013)
Fuel type	Gasoline
Operator	Ride Right (beginning September 2010)
Chief executive	Taylor Wegrzyn, Transit Manager
Website	V-Line

The V-Line is the local bus operation in Valparaiso, Indiana. Service began on October 1, 2007 making Valparaiso one of the smallest cities in the United States to have its own independent public transit system.

The V-line was originally operated by McDonald Transit, a national transit operator primarily serving universities. Ride Right took over the operations in Fall 2010. In Valparaiso, the bus mostly serves the elderly and students of Valparaiso University. Commuters within the city also use it, but it is secondary to personal vehicles as a mode of transit.

The system consists of 104 stops along 4 lines. The Green Line, Yellow Line, Red line, and Brown Line operate in the city of Valparaiso on weekdays and weekends. These three lines run as "flexible fixed" routes, meaning they have standard, scheduled stops which can be altered en route to meet the needs of those who cannot otherwise reach the bus. The fourth line, the Orange Line, operates express between Valparaiso University's student center and the Dune Park South Shore rail on Fridays-Sundays when Valparaiso University is in session and Fridays-Saturdays during the summer. The line does not operate when NICTD conducts track and catenary repairs. On May 18, 2009, V-Line introduced a shuttle service that runs from Dune Park station to Valparaiso’s Village Station on weekdays during evenings as a way to supplement ChicaGo Dash bus service. However, that service was eliminated on February 1, 2010 due to low ridership.

The system was started using a $615,000 federal grant. Until early 2008, the system used rented buses 16-24 person capacity minibuses. In Jan. 2008, new buses of similar capacity were delivered. A standard one-way fare costs $1.00 with one free transfer. Passengers are expressly forbidden from using the transfer on the same route. Senior citizens, students, children 5-18, and disabled persons can ride for half. Young children (under age 4) and Valparaiso University students ride for free.

In August 2009, Valparaiso officials announced a series of changes that went into effect at the end of the month. First and foremost, V-Line gained a new Red Line route, which began service August 28, 2009. It is essentially an alternate version of the Orange Line route – the buses that would previously sit idle during the scheduling breaks now travel around the city, overlapping with Green Line, Yellow Line and Brown Line buses. During Sundays, it serves as an alternative to Yellow and Green Line routes, which don't operate on the first days of the week. The Red Line route is added on experimental basis for three months – if it does well, it will be made permanent. Since then, the Red Line has become a permanent route for Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. It runs in a loop around the city before turning into the Orange Line route and running to the Dune Park NICTD trains station.