SamTrans fleet
The San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans) fleet of buses has operated throughout San Mateo County since 1976, after county voters approved the formation of samTrans in 1974 to merge 11 predecessor municipal bus systems.
samTrans North Base, the primary maintenance and storage facility for the bus fleet near San Francisco International Airport (2010)
The San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans) fleet of buses has operated throughout San Mateo County since 1976, after county voters approved the formation of samTrans in 1974 to merge 11 predecessor municipal bus systems.
As of March 2018, SamTrans operates a total of 379 vehicles in revenue service. SamTrans has two maintenance facilities for its fixed-route bus fleet. SamTrans headquarters are in San Carlos, California, one block southwest from the San Carlos Caltrain station. In addition, two facilities are used by its paratransit operator, MV Transportation: one at Brewster Depot in Redwood City, and another facility in Half Moon Bay.
- Gillig Phantom with "linear patriot" livery
- Gillig BRT with "curvy patriot" livery
- Gillig BRT (background) with "curvy patriot" livery and New Flyer Xcelsior XD60 with "silver" livery
The samTrans livery is predominantly white with red and blue stripes. Early buses featured linear horizontal stripes, and starting with the 2009 Gillig BRTs, the stripes are curved along the sides. A new variant of the livery was introduced later; the base color is silver, instead of white, and the blue stripe extends from below the front door to the beltline at the rear, with a red stripe starting from the headlight and flowing up to the roof.
Under the California Air Resources Board Innovative Clean Transit regulation adopted in December 2018, public transit agencies in California will gradually transition to a zero-emission bus fleet by 2040. SamTrans has set a goal of transitioning to an all-electric fleet by 2032. SamTrans considers fixed-route vehicles to have a service lifetime of 12 years.
| Mfr & Model | Type | Fleet numbers | Year built | Qty | Image | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gillig BRT | 40-ft | 400-490 | 2009 | 91 | 446-490 are assigned to contract runs, operated by MV Transportation. | |
| Standard rear styling | ||||||
| 600-649 | 2017 | 50 | Standard rear styling | |||
| 40-ft Hybrid | 700-724 | 2013 | 25 | |||
| 40-ft | 900-920 | 2014 | 21 | |||
| 35-ft | 500-539 | 2010 | 40 | 535-539 are assigned to contract runs, operated by MV Transportation | ||
| Gillig Low Floor | 29-ft | 2910-2913 | 2013 | 4 | No rear door | |
| 2950-2961 | 2014 | 12 | ||||
| New Flyer XD60 | 60-ft artic. | 800-854 | 2019 | 55 | Intended to be the last purchase of diesel buses. Pilot bus 800 delivered April 2019. | |
| Full-roof spec |
| Mfr & Model | Type | Fleet numbers | Year built | Qty | Image | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Flyer XE40 (NG) | 40-ft | 1000+ | 2022 | Currently has 16, more to come | Currently mainly running on routes 120 & 130. Also running on several other routes, like the ECR, 112, 121, or EPX | |
| New Flyer XHE40 | 3000+ | 2023 | 10 | Currently mainly running on routes 120 & 130. Also running on several other routes, like the ECR, 112, 121, or EPX | ||
| Gillig BRT+ (battery-electric) | 5000+ | 2023? | 20 | Some in service as of January 2026. |
| Mfr & Model | Type | Fleet Numbers | Year Built | Qty | Preserved Unit(s) | Last Retired | Image | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Motors Old Look | 35-ft | 200-213; 215-218 | 1947 | 18 | TDH-4507 models acquired from various transit operators in 1976. | |||
| 37' 9" | 214, 219 | 2 | TDH-4801 models acquired from various transit operators in 1976. | |||||
| 30-ft | 242 | 1 | TDH-3501 model acquired from Northgate Transit in 1976. | |||||
| 28-ft | 243 | 1 | TGH-3102 model acquired from Northgate Transit in 1976. | |||||
| General Motors New Look | 35-ft | 100-137; 175-187 | 1960-67 | 51 | 1985 | TDH-4517, -4518, and -4519; T6H-4523N models acquired from various transit operators in 1976; replaced in 1985. | ||
| 40-ft | 151-167; 9801-9849 | 1960-63 | 17 | 1985 | TDH-5301 and -5303; TDM-5303 models acquired from various transit operators in 1976; replaced in 1985. | |||
| Flxible New Look | 40-ft | 150 | 1963 | 1 | 1983 | Acquired from Seattle Metro (ex-778). | ||
| AM General Metropolitan | 35-ft coach | 400-443 | 1977 | 44 | EQ1 (439), EQ2 (440) | 1990 | "Earthquake buses" EQ1 and EQ2 were retained in the contingency fleet, replaced by 2017. | |
| 40-ft coach | 500-529 | 30 | ||||||
| Crown-Ikarus 286 | 60-ft articulated | 700–709 | 1980 | 10 | 1992? | Placed in reserve fleet by 1985. | ||
| Flyer D900 | 35-ft coach | 300-359 | 1980 | 60 | 1994 | Some were transferred to Muni to serve in the reserve fleet. They retained the samTrans fleet number with an "R" appended. | ||
| 40-ft coach | 600-652 | 53 | ||||||
| Gillig Phantom | 40-ft coach | 400-437 | 1990 | 38 | 2004 | |||
| 600-665; 667-672 | 1998 | 72 | 635, DR1 (651), DR2 (637) | 2015 | 635, 637 (DR2), and 651 (DR1) retained in contingency fleet for marketing & outreach, replacing AM General EQ1/EQ2 (1977) and Gillig 852 (1984). | |||
| 800-821 | 1983 | 22 | 1998 | |||||
| 850-899 | 1984 | 50 | 852 | 2003 | 852 replaced as marketing/outreach bus by 635. | |||
| 900-972 | 1993 | 73 | 2010 | Overhauled and life extended to 2008/10. | ||||
| 9890-9895 | 1988 | 6 | 2006 | Initially designated for training service. | ||||
| 35-ft coach | 700-763 | 1993 | 64 | 2010 | Overhauled and life extended to 2008/10. | |||
| 40-ft suburban | 800-810 | 2003 | 11 | 2008 | Ordered without rear doors; originally intended for route REX (Regional EXpress). | |||
| Volvo B10M | 60-ft articulated | 100-114 | 1985 | 15 | 2002-03 | Scrapped | ||
| Neoplan USA AN460A | 60-ft articulated | 116-130 | 1985 | 15 | 2002 | Assigned to contract runs originally operated by Greyhound Peninsula Lines until 1990, Grosvenor Bus Lines until the early 2000's and finally MV Transportation. They sported "9" in front of their fleet numbers. | ||
| (9)129 was totaled in an accident in 1995 and was scrapped.[2][3] | ||||||||
| Retired circa 2002-2003. | ||||||||
| All units were scrapped. | ||||||||
| NFI D60 | 60-ft articulated | 500-539 | 1990 | 40 | 2004 | 500-529 were originally assigned to contract runs, operated by Grosvenor Bus Lines until the early 2000's and later MV Transportation. They sported "9" in front of their fleet numbers. Most units ranging from 509-529 returned to the district shortly before retirement. | ||
| Retired in 2003-2004. | ||||||||
| Equipped with Detroit Diesel Series 92 (6V92) engines. | ||||||||
| Gillig Low Floor | 40-ft coach | 300-359 | 2003-04 | 60 | 2017 | 300-359 equipped with Detroit Diesel Series 50 engines. | ||
| Currently used for training duty. | ||||||||
| NABI 436 (60-SFW) | 60 ft. High-floor Articulated bus | 100–154 (0200-0254) | 2002 | 55 | 2020 | Last NABI 436 buses built. | ||
| First units entered service on 11/4/2002 and the last units entered service in January 2003. | ||||||||
| 147-154 were operated by MV Transportation for contracted routes. | ||||||||
| Later 141-146 were assigned to contracted routes. | ||||||||
| 137-140 were temporarily assigned to contracted runs, but later returned to the district. | ||||||||
| Gillig Low Floor | 29-ft | 2900-2903 | 2009 | 4 | 2022 | Currently used for training duty. | ||
| Proterra Catalyst | 40-ft, E2 battery | 725–734 | 2018-20 | 10 | 2020 | First battery electric buses for samTrans. Replica #750 exhibited in Oct 2018. 2 of 2 "Lot 1" (400V) buses accepted, then retired due to technical issues; 6 of 8 "Lot 2" (800V) buses delivered, then returned due to door issues. Remainder of order canceled. |
Notes
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- San Francisco Municipal Railway fleet
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- Strauch, Michael (2015). "San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans)". streetcarmike.com.
- "San Mateo County Transit District". CPTDB wiki. 2018.
- NorCal Bus Fans Photo Archives. "samTrans - San Mateo County Transit District". flickr.