Fresno Area Express

Fresno Area Express

Parent	City of Fresno
Founded	1887
Headquarters	Fresno, California
Locale	Central California
Service area	Fresno
Service type	bus service, paratransit, bus rapid transit
Routes	16
Fleet	100+
Daily ridership	41,993
Fuel type	Diesel, CNG
Operator	300+
Chief executive	Brian Marshall
Website	FAX

The Fresno Area Express or FAX, is a bus line in Fresno, California. The line has over 100 buses and 16 fixed routes as of December 2013.^[1] FAX offers free transfers as well as wheelchair lifts and bike racks on all buses.^[2]

FAX fixed routes run from as far south as Malaga to Children's Hospital Central California in the north. Lines also run as far east as Fowler Avenue in Clovis, and as far west as Polk Avenue near Highway 99 in western Fresno.^[3]

FAX has paratransit operations called Handy Ride. Handy Ride is operated by a private contractor.

FAX will begin a trial implementation of a Bus Rapid Transit system on the Blackstone and Ventura/Kings Caynon transit corridors after it receives funding from the Federal Transit Administration Very Small Starts grant fund.

History

The public transportation system in Fresno started in January 1889. This was a horse car line. By 1926 Fulton Street was the hub of Fresno's business section. It had replaced Fresno and Mariposa Streets for commercial buildings and in so doing eliminated Fresno's only Nob Hill, all four feet of it. The streetcar era, which began in May 1887, on J Street, was one of three streetcar lines in the young city. In 1901 the Fresno City Railway Company merged the three and in the spring of 1903 the Fresno Traction Company, then the owners, converted the lines to electricity. These electric streetcars operated on approximately 42 miles of track by the mid-twenties. The electric streetcars were used until 1939, when the transit company replaced them with buses.^[4]

Timeline^[4]

• 1887-1901 Fresno City, Belmont & Yosemite Railroad
• 1901-1915 Fresno City Railway
• 1915-1939 Fresno Traction Co.
• 1939 sold to National City Lines/streetcars discontinued
• 1939-1946 Fresno City Lines
• 1946-1961 Fresno City Lines, Inc.
• 1961 City of Fresno Takes over Municipal Bus Service
• 1961-1969 Fresno Municipal Lines
• After 1969 Fresno Transit
• 1989 Name Changed to Fresno Area Express or FAX

Route List

FAX

• Route 9 - Shields & Brawley / Shaw Crosstown
• Route 20 - N Hughes / N Marks
• Route 22 - N West Ave. / East Tulare
• Route 26 - N Palm / Peach / Clinton Crosstown
• Route 28 - FSU / MTC / Ventura / Community Regional Medical Center
• Route 30 - River Park / N Blackstone / West Fresno
• Route 32 - River Park / N Fresno / Manchester Center / SW Fresno
• Route 33 - Belmont Crosstown
• Route 34 - NE Fresno / N First / SW Fresno
• Route 35 - Olive Crosstown
• Route 38 - Chukchansi Park / River Park / N Cedar / SW Fresno
• Route 39 - Clinton Avenue Crosstown
• Route 41 - N Marks / Shields / MTC / Chestnut
• Route 45 - W Herndon / Fruit / Ashlan / Fowler
• Route 58 - NE Regular Service
• Route 58E - Children's Hospital Central California Express

Clovis Transit

• Route 10 - Fresno State University / Northwest Clovis
• Route 50 - Northeast Clovis / Southwest Clovis
• Route 70 - Reagan Education Center Express
• Route 80 - Buchanan Education Center Express

Roster

Current

Retired

References