University of Massachusetts Transportation Services

University of Massachusetts Transportation Services

UMass Transit/PVTA bus #3401 makes a stop at the UMass Fine Arts Center on N. Pleasant Street, operating the Route 31.
Parent	University of Massachusetts Amherst Five College Consortium Pioneer Valley Transit Authority
Headquarters	255 Governors Drive Amherst, Massachusetts
Locale	Five Colleges of the Pioneer Valley
Service area	Five Colleges campuses plus Amherst, Belchertown, Granby, Hadley, Northampton, South Deerfield, South Hadley and Sunderland
Service type	Local bus transit, campus shuttle, field trip charter
Alliance	Five Colleges
Routes	10
Hubs	UMass Fine Arts Center Haigis Mall Amherst Center North Pleasant Street Amherst Post Office Cowles Lane
Daily ridership	8,400 (weekdays, Q3 2024)[1]
Annual ridership	2,280,500 (2023)[2]
Fuel type	Diesel, hybrid electric
General Manager	Glenn Barrington
Website	UMass Transit Five College buses PVTA.com

University of Massachusetts Transportation Services, abbreviated to UMass Transit Services or UMass Transit, is a department within the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) that provides mass transit services to the UMass Amherst campus and other members of the Five Colleges Consortium in eastern Hampshire County, as well as outlying towns. Similar to other large campus transportation systems, such as UGA Campus Transit in Georgia and Unitrans in California, UMass Transit buses are driven by students attending UMass Amherst. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 2,280,500, or about 8,400 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.

Services

Fixed-route services

UMass Transit operates as a contractor for the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA), which is headquartered in Springfield, the largest municipality of the region. This setup exists because PVTA, as a regional transit authority established under Chapter 161B of the Massachusetts General Statutes, is forbidden under Section 25 of the same statute from operating routes directly. PVTA thus contracts with the school to operate certain routes (other routes in the system are operated by First Transit employees). UMass Transit buses in fixed route service are owned by the PVTA and are painted in their standard livery. These buses are numbered in the 3000 series, and are between 35 and 60 feet in length. The 60-foot (18 m) buses were acquired in 2013 to accommodate student crowds on the North Pleasant Street through routes Gold 30 and Pink 31.^[3]

Field trip services

In addition to operating tendered services for the PVTA, UMass Transit also maintains an activity fleet of buses of various types for charter by student groups within the UMass Amherst community. These buses are generally painted to match the school colors of white and maroon.

Fixed routes

The following routes are operated by UMass Transit Services on behalf of the PVTA. Most buses only display the destination.

UMass and Five Colleges routes

Route	Terminals		Via	Notes
30[4]	N. Amherst Puffton Village	Amherst Old Belchertown Road (before Harkness Road)	North Pleasant Street, Main Street, Belchertown Road	Serves Amherst Valley Medical Center via demand response only Serves the former Amherst Amtrak station.
31[5]	Sunderland Sugarloaf Estates	S. Amherst The Boulders	South Pleasant Street, North Pleasant Street, Amherst/Sunderland Road	Connections are available to FRTA Route 23 at Sugarloaf Estates several times a day on weekdays. During full service periods, bypasses the Crestview Apartments stop between 2 PM and 6 PM on weekdays. Crestview Apartments customers must use Route 30.
34/35[6][7]	UMass Amherst Campus Shuttle		University Drive, Commonwealth Avenue, North Pleasant Street, East Pleasant Street, Eastman Lane, East Pleasant Street, Massachusetts Avenue	Only operates during full service periods. Both routes serve the same destinations, but travel in opposite directions. Route 34 travels east past Haigis Mall, north past the Studio Arts Building, south through Orchard Hill, west past the UMass Transit garage, and counterclockwise via the Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium. Route 35 travels west past Haigis Mall, south past the Studio Arts Building, north through Orchard Hill, east past the UMass Transit garage, and clockwise via the Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium. Both Routes 34 and 35 service Parking Lots 11, 12, and 13.
38[8]	Amherst Haigis Mall, UMass	S. Hadley Mt. Holyoke College	MA Route 116, North Pleasant Street	Only operates during full service periods and wintersession (January). No Sunday service during wintersession. Via Amherst College and Hampshire College.
39[9]	Northampton Smith College or Hadley Hampshire Mall	S. Amherst Hampshire College or S. Hadley Mt. Holyoke College	Smith–Hampshire College: Bridge Street, Bay Road Hampshire College–Hampshire Mall: Bay Road, South Maple Street Smith–Mt. Holyoke College (express): Bridge Street, Bay Road, MA Route 47 Smith–Mt. Holyoke College via Hampshire College: Bridge Street, Bay Road, MA Route 116	Only operates during full service periods and wintersession (January). Regular weekday trips only operate between Smith and Hampshire College. Weeknight and weekend trips operate between Hampshire College and Smith College or Hampshire Mall (alternating). Additional weekday evening express trips operate directly between Smith and Mount Holyoke College (bypassing Hampshire College). Weekday morning/afternoon Smith–Mt. Holyoke express trips are operated by PVTA's Northampton contractor and not by UMass Transit. Fares are collected on these trips. Wintersession weekday trips operate between Smith and Mount Holyoke College via Hampshire College (partly shared with Route 38). Wintersession Saturday trips operate the same as full service weekend trips. No Sunday service during wintersession.

UMass Outreach routes

These routes, operated by UMass Transit, are targeted not toward the UMass student body, but towards the year-round local population in the area.

Route	Terminals		Via	Notes
33[10]	Hadley Stop & Shop	N. Amherst Mill Hollow Apartments/Puffers Pond	Amity Street, East Pleasant Street, Eastman Lane, Cushman Center, Survival Center, North Pleasant Street	Operates in full service all year. A combination of the former routes 32 and 37.
36[11]	Amherst Olympia Drive/Mather Drive	S. Amherst Atkins Farms Market	North Pleasant Street, MA Route 116, East Pleasant Street	Only operates during reduced service periods (Thanksgiving, winter, spring, and summer breaks).
45[12]	Amherst Physical Sciences Building, UMass	Belchertown Belchertown Center	North Pleasant Street, Main Street, Echo Hill/Gatehouse Road, Belchertown Road	Route 45 does not operate on weekends.
46[13]	Amherst Studio Arts Building, UMass	S. Deerfield Whately Park and Ride	North Pleasant Street, Sunderland/Amherst Road, South Deerfield Center	Route 46 does not operate on weekends. Route 46 runs in combination with the Route 31, having one morning and one evening trip. Connections are available to FRTA Route 31 at South Deerfield Center, as well as FRTA Route 23 at Sugarloaf Estates in Sunderland.

Fares

See also: Pioneer Valley Transit Authority § Fares

UMass Transit buses are not equipped with fareboxes or fare registers.

Students attending any colleges in the Five Colleges Consortium have a fee included in their tuition bills (service fee for UMass Amherst students and student activity fees for the other colleges) for each semester that prepays their bus fares for the semester and funds the Five Colleges bus system, along with fares on the B43 local route between Amherst College and Smith College via UMass. UMass Transit buses are free.

Holiday and school break service levels

While the population of Amherst is nominally 39,263 as per the 2020 census, that figure includes the student population of the Five Colleges, many of whom are only part-time residents and who account for approximately 60 percent of that figure. As such, when classes are not in session, service is greatly reduced and often suspended on many routes, and other routes will have service ending early.

All UMass Transit service is suspended on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. On other days when classes are not in session, UMass Transit routes operate on a reduced service schedule.

References

1. "Transit Ridership Report Third Quarter 2024" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. November 20, 2024. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
2. "Transit Ridership Report Fourth Quarter 2023" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. March 4, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
3. "UMass Transit Goes for Long Ride". Office of News & Media Relations, UMass Amherst. 12 September 2013. Archived from the original on 14 September 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
4. "PVTA Route 30 Schedule" (PDF).
5. "PVTA Route 31 Schedule" (PDF).
6. "PVTA Route 34 Schedule" (PDF).
7. "PVTA Route 35 Schedule" (PDF).
8. "PVTA Route 38 Schedule" (PDF).
9. "PVTA Route 39 Schedule" (PDF).
10. "PVTA Route 33 Schedule" (PDF).
11. "PVTA Route 36 Schedule" (PDF).
12. "PVTA Route 45 Schedule" (PDF).
13. "PVTA Route 46 Schedule" (PDF).

External links

• University of Massachusetts Transportation Services – official site