Two and a half years ago, Fresno Area Express (FAX) created a “night bus” network by extending bus service past 9pm on the five busiest bus routes. This new service came with a major asterisk:
- Only Monday to Friday
- 1 hour wait between buses after 9pm
- Only 5 routes offering “night” service
- ….and only on select portions of those 5 routes
Starting November 16, at least one of those issues will be improved: service will be extended to include Saturday nights as well.
The bus routes affected include routes 1, 9, 28, 32, and 38, which are the same routes that saw a previous service expansion. Handy Ride, the on-demand paratransit service, will also follow the new extended hours.
Current weekend service in Fresno is abysmal, with even the “BRT” route (Route 1) starting the final runs around 6pm. This reality stands in contrast to the claims that Fresno government is invested in revitalizing downtown and attracting night life. Unfortunately, this news may have come too late for the Fresno Foxes.
As of this post point, the schedules haven’t been posted, but I think it’s fair to assume the new runs will be hourly as well.
I would wager that Route 1 will see new departures at 7:22pm, 822pm, 9:22pm, 10:22pm and 11:22pm, for example. This allows most of the routes to be managed by a single bus driver and bus.
Better than nothing?
As a reminder, this is the “night” network, which soon will apply to Saturdays from 6pm until midnight.
I am not sure where the added funding came from. Over the past 15 years, the only service improvements have come thanks to federal funding grants.
As a side note, a bunch of stops will be “temporarily closed” for construction – I’m also unsure why.
“Through Completion” is worrying when you consider Manchester Transfer Station has been closed for years and no one can explain why.
Any insights on this work?
Fresno is such a joke. Smh.
Considering that not too long ago buses in Fresno stopped running at 7 pm seven days a week, like it was Wichita or Lubbock, this is something.
It’s certainly better! Clovis buses still shut down at 3pm on weekends which is what youd expect in a town of 12,000 people