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	City of Fresno Department of Transportation
Website	FAX

The Fresno Area Express (FAX), is a public transportation operator 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 as far south as Malaga to Valley Children's Hospital 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 operates a Bus Rapid Transit system on the Blackstone and Ventura/Kings Canyon transit corridors.

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]

Routes

Roster

References