Our local transit agency, Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (Santa Cruz METRO) celebrated the installation of a renovated, fully staffed Customer Service / Information Booth at their Watsonville Transit Center on Tuesday, June 27. The ribbon cutting ceremony took place at the Watsonville Transit Center, located at 475 Rodriguez Street, in Watsonville, CA.
The newly remodeled transit center is part of Santa Cruz METRO’s transportation system and was designed to meet the needs of transit riders. The Transit Center houses two Customer Service Representatives Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., transit rider waiting areas inside and out, public restrooms, a ticket vending machine and two retail food outlets.
Also, South County residents no longer have to travel to North County to attend a Paratransit assessment session. A satellite office for the Eligibility Coordinator will be available for assessments by appointment. The Transit Center is an intermodal station and also acts as a connecting hub with Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST), Greyhound, ParaCruz, a variety of taxi services, and Santa Cruz METRO Fixed Route buses.
METRO Board Chair Jimmy Dutra said, “We are pleased to bring this Customer Service to southern Santa Cruz County. The Watsonville Transit Center provides a dry, safe and comfortable place for riders and residents to wait for their bus. From here they can access either a Santa Cruz METRO bus, if they are traveling within Santa Cruz County, or a Monterey-Salinas Transit bus should they desire to travel to Monterey County.”
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METRO provides fixed-route and Highway 17 commuter service to Santa Cruz County, transporting about 5.5 million passengers a year.
METRO also provides Paratransit service to Santa Cruz County with its ParaCruz service, providing about 98,000 trips per year. METRO’s operating budget in FY17 is $47 million.