Wheels (California)

{{As of|March 2024}}, Wheels operates 15 regular routes. This includes two Rapid routes (10R and 30R) with limited stops and frequent all-day service, and three express routes (20X, 70X and 580X) with limited peak-hour service. Fifteen additional routes, numbered 501–504 and 601–611, operate a small number of trips to serve schools.{{cite web |url=https://wheelsbus.com/routes-and-schedules/ |title=Routes & Schedules |publisher=Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority |access-date=March 24, 2024}} The primary transfer hubs are at Dublin/Pleasanton station (served by BART) and Livermore Transit Center (served by ACE).

• 1 Gleason/Hacienda
• 2 East Dublin/Fallon Middle School
• 3 Stoneridge
• 4 Central Dublin
• 8 Hopyard
• 10R Pleasanton-Livermore
• 14 Pleasanton-Livermore
• 15 Springtown
• 18 Granada
• 20X Vasco
• 30R Dublin-Livermore
• 53 Stoneridge
• 54 Hacienda
• 70X Pleasant Hill
• 580X Airway

File:Rideo bus at Alameda County Fair, July 2019.jpg

Rideo local bus service in Livermore began on August 7, 1978.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune/134650804/ |title=Not LART, it's 'Rideo' |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |date=August 2, 1978 |page=45 |via=Newspapers.com}} In 1984, Dublin and Pleasanton began planning a local bus system, which Livermore was initially apprehensive about joining.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune/134650888/ |title=Tri-valley bus plans get rolling |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |date=September 9, 1984 |page=29 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner/134651319/ |title=City won't join valleywide bus plan |newspaper=The San Francisco Examiner |date=April 24, 1985 |page=115 |via=Newspapers.com}} In May 1985, the three cities plus Alameda County formed the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority (LAVTA) as a joint powers authority.{{cite web |url=https://www.wheelsbus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Facts%20and%20Figures_Jan2013.pdf |title=Facts and Figures |publisher=Livermore/Amador Valley Transit Authority |date=January 2013}} The Metropolitan Transportation Commission provided initial funding in September 1985.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-peninsula-times-tribune/134650233/ |title=Transportation panel to kick around Kopp's merger idea |newspaper=The Peninsula Times Tribune |date=September 28, 1985 |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com}} The new bus service, branded as "Wheels", began operating in Dublin and Pleasanton on July 1, 1986. It initially had nine buses operating on hourly headways, which ran on weekdays and Saturdays but not Sundays.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune/134651772/ |first=John |last=Miller |title=Dublin–Pleasanton buses should be running by July |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |date=April 19, 1986 |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune/134650123/ |title=Tri-Valley Wheels to start turning with a communitywide celebration |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |date=June 25, 1986 |page=76 |via=Newspapers.com}} Rideo was merged into Wheels in July 1987.

A new maintenance facility was opened in September 1991, serving the 34 buses delivered the previous year. Paratransit service began in January 1996. Wheels began connecting to regional rail service with the introduction of BART service to Dublin/Pleasanton station in 1997 and ACE service to Livermore in 1998. Route 70X service between Dublin/Pleasanton and Walnut Creek began in January 1999. Until June 27, 2009, Wheels operated All-Nighter route 810 between Bay Fair station and Livermore.{{cite press release |url=http://www.wheelsbus.com/news/2009/pr090526.html |title=Wheels Announces Phase II Service Reductions Effective June 27, 2009 |date=May 27, 2009 |publisher=Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616122711/http://www.wheelsbus.com/news/2009/pr090526.html |archive-date=June 16, 2011}}

In 2004, the BART I-580 Corridor Transit Study found that a BART extension to Livermore would not be feasible. Instead, the report recommended a rapid bus network serving the Tri-Valley.{{cite report |url=http://www.wheelsbus.com/trivalleyrapid/images/BART%20I-580%20Study.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616130929/http://www.wheelsbus.com/trivalleyrapid/images/BART%20I-580%20Study.pdf |work=BART’s I-580 Corridor Transit Study Phase 2 Final Report |title=Technical Supplement 4: Livermore/Amador Valley "Rapid Bus" Plan |date=January 2005 |author=Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates |archive-date=June 16, 2011}} Construction on the "Tri-Valley Rapid" project took place from November 2009 to December 2010. Service on route R, which ran between West Dublin/Pleasanton station and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory via Dublin, began on January 24, 2011.{{cite web |url=http://trivalleyrapid.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208120924/http://trivalleyrapid.com/ |archive-date=February 8, 2011 |title=Launching Monday, January 24, 2011: A New Transit System for the Tri-Valley |publisher=Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority}} The weekday-only route operated every 10 minutes at peak and 15 minutes off-peak.{{cite web |url=http://www.wheelsbus.com/trivalleyrapid/routes.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616120314/http://www.wheelsbus.com/trivalleyrapid/routes.html |archive-date=June 16, 2011 |title=Route Map and Schedule |publisher=Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority}} It included some bus rapid transit elements like wider stop spacing, signal priority, and queue jumps.{{cite web |url=http://www.wheelsbus.com/trivalleyrapid/faqs.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616123330/http://www.wheelsbus.com/trivalleyrapid/faqs.html |archive-date=June 16, 2011 |title=Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority}} On August 13, 2016, local route 10 was converted to Rapid route 10R. It ran between Dublin/Pleasanton station and Livermore via Pleasanton. Route R was rerouted via Las Positas College and renamed route 30R at that time.{{cite press release |url=https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2016/news20160819 |title=Wheels increases bus service to Dublin/Pleasanton Station |date=August 19, 2016 |publisher=San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District}}{{cite press release |url=http://www.wheelsbus.com/news/wheels-bus-service-rolls-out-more-direct-and-frequent-routes-effective-august-13-2016/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816061043/http://www.wheelsbus.com/news/wheels-bus-service-rolls-out-more-direct-and-frequent-routes-effective-august-13-2016/ |archive-date=August 16, 2016 |date=August 13, 2016 |publisher=Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority |title=Wheels Bus Service Rolls Out More Direct and Frequent Routes Effective August 13, 2016}} By 2019, the two Rapid routes represented half of Wheels ridership.{{cite report |url=https://mtc.ca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023-01/LAVTA_FY2024-2028_Short_Range_Transit_Plan.pdf |title=FY24 - FY28 Short Range Transit Plan Prepared for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission by the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority |page=3 |date=November 2022 |publisher=Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority}}

{{Reflist}}

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• [https://wheelsbus.com/ Official website]

{{Livermore, California}}

{{San Francisco Bay Area Public Transit}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Bus transportation in California

Category:Public transportation in Alameda County, California