John Ando, CCTM Transit Director, YCIPTA

YCAT has many new innovations!

The Yuma County Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority (YCIPTA) is proud to provide Yuma County Area Transit (YCAT) fixed route, vanpool and YCAT OnCall (formerly known as Dial-a-ride) demand-responsive bus service throughout southwestern Yuma County.

YCAT destinations include the cities of Yuma, San Luis and Somerton, the Town of Wellton, the Cocopah Indian Reservation and unincorporated communities of Yuma County, including Gadsden, Fortuna Foothills and Ligurta. YCAT also provides service into Winterhaven and El Centro, Cal., and on the Quechan/Fort Yuma Indian Reservation.

Custom services

The YCAT fixed-route services in Yuma County operate at a one-hour frequency for the majority of the routes, with the exception of the Yellow Route 95 Monday through Friday. Some routes will even come to the passenger's door with an advance reservation. OnCall is a demand-response transportation service that provides door-to-door transportation for riders who, because of a disability, are not able to make use of a regularly scheduled fixed-route bus service, or who cannot access a fixed-route bus stop.

YCAT also has started a new program called YCAT Vanpool, which provides clearly marked vans to qualifying groups of 7-15 commuters, driven by one of the vanpool members. Passengers share the cost of operating the van by paying primary driver a monthly fee that covers gas, insurance and vehicle maintenance costs.

YCIPTA provides a $300 subsidy to vans on a first-come, first-served basis through its two contractors, Enterprise Rideshare and vRide. The van must originate, terminate or travel through Yuma County to be eligible for the subsidy and be branded as YCAT Vanpool through YCIPTA's contractors. YCAT Vanpool program will enable all residents and employees in Yuma County to save money and reduce the stress of their daily commute by starting or joining a vanpool. For more information and to see if you should form a YCAT Vanpool visit http://www.ycipta.org/vanpool.

Educate yourself

YCAT also has a program that teaches how to ride YCAT. This program allows someone who has never been on YCAT the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of the system. Some of the topics addressed include reading YCAT bus schedules/maps, identifying buses by route, fare information, requesting a stop and bicycle procedures, as well as general information about riding a public bus.

These sessions are held four times a year and can also be scheduled for specific organizations if needed. A typical session lasts one hour. Those interested in having a YCAT Workshop at their agency may contact Francisco Navarro at 928-539-7076, ext. 107. Upon completion of the YCAT Workshop, all participants will receive a 10-Ride bus pass to get to know the system.

In addition to the workshops on how to use the online tools, those tools are available 24/7. One tool, Google Trip Planner, allows a passenger to type in a start address (home, work, etc.) and a destination address (work, school, doctor's office, job interview, etc.). It then plans out the trip and displays which bus routes to use.

Google Trip Planner also allows the passenger the option of what time to arrive or depart as well as the choice of best route, fewer transfers and less walking. YCAT's catTRAX is also available, which allows the passenger to track a bus on its route in real time. This allows the passenger to plan accordingly if the bus is running late.

This GPS-based feature functions in real-time and can be utilized in various ways. A passenger can go to http://www.ycipta.org/NEXTbus and track the bus there, text "Yuma [stop id]" (example: Yuma 068) to 41411, or by calling 928-304-7537 and entering the bus stop number. This service is currently available on the Orange Route 2, but is also being expanded system wide.

Yuma and beyond

Traveling out of town? YCAT has partnered with Greyhound, and passengers can now buy Greyhound tickets and ship packages express from the YCAT Office located at 2715 East 14th Street in Yuma. Buses depart from 1275 Castle Dome Avenue next to Target. In addition, for traveling from a destination on YCAT to a destination on Greyhound passengers can buy one ticket direct between the two points.

Best of all, students ride the YCAT free by simply showing an AWC ID (available at Campus Life) along with the proper YCAT semester sticker, which can be obtained from the 3C Building at the time of semester registration. Employees and facility can purchase these stickers for only $5.00.

Don't forget to visit www.ycat.az.gov, or give us a call at 928-783-2235. See where it takes you!