Merced County Transit

The Bus was formed in 1996 by consolidating four local transit service providers.^[4]: 29

Located in the former Southern Pacific railway station at 16th and O Streets in Merced, the downtown transportation center (Transpo Center) serves as the hub for Merced's local, regional and national bus service.^[5] Greyhound provides bus service to Sacramento, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles. YARTS and VIA Adventures provide bus service to Yosemite National Park. Situated at the same location, the California Welcome Center carries souvenirs, maps, and brochures for visitors, as well as YARTS bus tickets.^[6]

Another transportation center for North Merced was recently constructed on M Street near Bellevue Road which is intended to serve as a park and ride lot for UC Merced students, staff, and visitors to easily connect with The Bus and UC Merced shuttle bus services.

The fleet consists of transit buses, cutaway buses, and vans. The fixed-route fleet primarily consists of Gillig Low Floor buses which range in size from 29' to 40', with most being 35', and both New Flyer XE40 and Gillig battery electric buses which are 35' and 40' in length. Another set of smaller cutaway buses and vans are primarily used to provide ADA paratransit service throughout the county and microtransit service in the city of Los Banos and the westside of the county.

The agency began the greening of their fleet in 2006 with the purchase of 9 "clean air" Orion VII models and planned the construction of a compressed natural gas fueling facility.^[1] In late 2019 and early 2020, The Bus was awarded grants to help begin the transition towards a zero-emission fleet. The first set of five 40' New Flyer XE40 battery electric buses arrived in late June 2023 and began service in early November 2023, and the second wave of four Gillig battery electric buses arrived in late September 2024 and began service in February 2025. The agency is also exploring other zero-emission bus options, including a pilot program for a hydrogen fuel cell powered bus, for future services to be on track to have a fully zero-emission fleet by 2041 in accordance to state guidelines.

Merced operates 15 fixed bus routes and 2 on-demand services are provided 7 days a week (with the exception of the UC route which operates Monday through Friday only) operate within the city of Merced and throughout the county, as well as to the city of Turlock in neighboring Stanislaus County. However, the unincorporated community of Hilmar-Irwin which has a combined population of over 5,000 does not to have any of The Bus services, even though it is located within Merced County, along with the town of Snelling.^[7]