Ride Gwinnett

Last updated
Ride Gwinnett
Ride Gwinnett logo.png
Founded2000
Headquarters466 West Crogan St, Suite 410 Lawrenceville, GA 30046
Service areaGwinnett County
Service typeLocal, Paratransit, Micro/Dial-a-Ride and Express Bus Routes
Routes12
Hubs Gwinnett Place Transit Center
Indian Trail Park & Ride
I-985 Park & Ride
Sugarloaf Mills Park & Ride
Stations Doraville station
Indian Creek station
Fleet(43) MCI D4500, (38) Gillig Low Floor, Ford Transit Connect Vans
Daily ridershipAbout 5000 rides per day in 2016
Fuel type100% Clean Diesel buses
Operator Transdev
Website http://www.ridegwinnett.com/

Ride Gwinnett (formerly known as Gwinnett County Transit or GCT prior to 2023 [1] ) is the bus public transit system in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States, one of metro Atlanta's three most populous suburban counties. (The others are Cobb County, which operates CobbLinc, and Clayton County, which formerly operated Clayton County C-TRAN.)

Contents

It was formed in 2000, with express buses starting in November 2001 and local buses in November 2002, and has had greater-than-expected ridership since then. Routes connect to the most populated areas of the county, including Norcross and Lawrenceville. With the assistance of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA), express services are available to Atlanta, connecting with MARTA at the Doraville (NE10), Arts Center (N5), Midtown (N4), North Avenue (N3), Civic Center (N2), Peachtree Center (N1), and Five Points stations. Transfers are free between MARTA and GCT. On December 10, 2008, GCT began the official Breeze Card Pilot Launch on routes 10, 102, and 103A.

Along with Cobb, Gwinnett voted against MARTA in 1971 and thus was left out of a system. [2] The lack of sales tax revenue from the two counties stunted the growth of MARTA; however, GRTA, created by former Governor of Georgia Roy Barnes, has been seeking to create other solutions, such as transit for the entire Atlanta and surrounding areas. The Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District (GPCID) along with MARTA are seeking alternative, such as light rail to Gwinnett through the Gwinnett Place area.

In 2016, Gwinnett County Transit started a new express route, 110 that serviced the Indian Trail Park and Ride area to the Emory/CDC employment center. Some service was expanded to Sugarloaf Park and Ride Lot in May 2017.

Gwinnett County Transit has 6 local bus routes. The Gwinnett Place Mall Transit Center Hub houses the transfer point for local routes; 10A/10B, 30, and 40. Gwinnett County Transit has 5 express bus routes. The express routes are 101, 102, 103, and 110. There is also a reverse commute route 103A, which are used by reverse commuters on the AM and PM trips.

Recent news reports have documented a pattern and practice of overcharging some patrons of the GRTA Xpress bus routes when using Breeze cards to pay transit fares. GRTA has acknowledged the issue in a few printed handbills advising patrons to purchase multiple Breeze cards (one for each type of bus or rail fare) to pay transit fares and record transfers between the GRTA, CobbLinc, and MARTA transit systems. [3] [4]

In September 2018, MARTA's board of directors and the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners gave conditional approval to an agreement which would see the county to contract with MARTA for the operations of the service. This included county designed and built projects, significantly expanding bus service in the county and clear the way for a long-sought-after extension of MARTA's rail system into the county from its current terminus at Doraville. The contract with MARTA would go into effect only if a public vote, scheduled for March 2019, succeeds. The agreement calls for a new one-cent sales tax that would be collected in Gwinnett County until 2057. [5] The transit referendum failed on March 19, 2019. [6]

In July 2020, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners called for another transit referendum, this time through the House Bill 930/ATL mechanism. Projects would have been designed, built and operated all by Gwinnett County. The referendum failed on the November ballot with a final vote total of 198,514 for yes and 199,527 voting no.

In January 2023, Gwinnett County Transit officially changed its name to Ride Gwinnett. [1]

Routes

2002 Gwinnett County Transit Orion VII CNG on the 35 Bus on South Old peachtree Road. GCT OrionVII on 35 Bus DSCN1936.JPG
2002 Gwinnett County Transit Orion VII CNG on the 35 Bus on South Old peachtree Road.

Local

2 MCI D4500CL Express Buses on Beaver Ruin Road in Norcross, Georgia. Gwinnett County Transit Express Buses.jpg
2 MCI D4500CL Express Buses on Beaver Ruin Road in Norcross, Georgia.

Express

Planned route expansions and changes by fiscal year 2024

Source [9]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwinnett County, Georgia</span> County in Georgia, United States

Gwinnett County is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It forms part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. In 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the second-most populous county in Georgia. Its county seat is Lawrenceville. The county is named for Button Gwinnett, one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norcross, Georgia</span> City in Georgia, United States

Norcross is a city located in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population was 9,116, while in 2020, the population increased to 17,209. Norcross is part of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta metropolitan statistical area.

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The Gwinnett County Public School District is a school district operating in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. GCPS is the largest school system in Georgia, with over 120 school buildings and an estimated enrollment of over 188,000 students for the 2017–2018 year. GCPS is estimated to be the 14th largest school district in the U.S. The district has its headquarters in an unincorporated area near Suwanee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia State Route 13</span> State highway in northeastern Georgia

State Route 13 (SR 13) is a 49.5-mile-long (79.7 km) state highway in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Georgia, that travels through portions of Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Hall counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arts Center station (MARTA)</span> MARTA rail station

Arts Center station is a train station in Atlanta, Georgia, serving the Red and Gold lines of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) rail system. It is the northernmost of three MARTA stations that serve Midtown Atlanta, the others being Midtown and North Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midtown station (MARTA)</span> MARTA rail station

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindbergh Center station</span> MARTA rail station

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Five Points station</span> MARTA rail station

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doraville station</span> MARTA rail station

Doraville is a train station in Doraville, Georgia, and the northern terminus on the Gold Line of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) rail system. Doraville serves as the ground for the Doraville rail yard for the Gold line, with a capacity of 30 rail cars.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metro Atlanta</span> Metropolitan area in Georgia, United States

Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the state of Georgia and the eighth-largest in the United States. Its economic, cultural, and demographic center is Atlanta, and its total population was 6,144,050 in the 2021 estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Xpress is a regional commuter coach service operated as a partnership between the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) and Clayton, Cherokee, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Paulding, and Rockdale counties. As of 2015, 34 Xpress routes are in operation. Operators of Xpress are contracted through Professional Transit Management and American Coach. In Cobb and Gwinnett Counties Cobb Community Transit or Gwinnett County Transit provide Xpress service in addition to their own express services. Service hours are from roughly 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 pm weekdays, with most service being rush hours only. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 443,000, or about 1,900 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2023.

Sugarloaf Parkway is an at-grade and limited-access highway in Gwinnett County in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Georgia. The highway provides a cross-county route from Duluth to Dacula. In 2010, a freeway extension opened past the former eastern terminus at Georgia State Route 20 (SR 20), and the highway was extended to US 29/SR 316 in Dacula.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwinnett Place Transit Center</span>

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References

  1. 1 2 FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team (January 15, 2023). "Gwinnett County transit system re-branded to 'Ride Gwinnett'".
  2. ↑ Kruse, Kevin M. (14 August 2019). "How Segregation Caused Your Traffic Jam". The New York Times.
  3. ↑ "Fox 5 news initial report by Dale Russel". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-12.
  4. ↑ "Fox 5 news followup report by Dale Russel". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-12.
  5. ↑ Estep, Tyler (September 6, 2018). "MARTA board approves historic Gwinnett contract". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (ajc.com). Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  6. ↑ "Gwinnett back at square one after MARTA rejected in key vote | News | gwinnettdailypost.com".
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Routes & Schedules". www.gwinnettcounty.com. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
  8. ↑ "Gwinnett Place Transit Center in Duluth to Stone Mountain's Amazon Distribution Warehouse" (PDF). Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Connect Gwinnett: Transit Plan | Gwinnett County". www.gwinnettcounty.com. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
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