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Thursday meeting set on proposed bus route changes
• Proposed changes to four routes to affect riders living in Ceres
Route 29 changes
Route 29 is proposed to travel between Modesto Transit Center and Ceres Walmart, via Howard Prep. Service west of Hwy 99 would be served on a new Route 42. Some stops in the Bret Harte neighborhood would no longer be served and may require riders to walk up to 0.35 mile to access service. The change should allow the bus to run every 30 minutes all day.

Those who depend on or occasionally ride the transit bus that runs through Ceres and Stanislaus County could be impacted by changes considered to the various route schedules.

Following the merger of the Ceres Area Transit (CAT), Modesto MAX, County StART bus systems into one, a review of the overall operation has been underway. 

A series of public meetings is scheduled to lay out the new vision, with a community meeting set to take place in Ceres at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 21 at the Ceres Community Center. Any interested residents may attend and learn about the changes coming to the routes.

Significant changes are proposed for routes 15, 29, 36 and 44 which serve Ceres.

“I hope the riders in Ceres will be able to attend the meeting and learn about what is proposed,” said Steven Morrow, a Keyes resident who was recently appointed as a director on the Stanislaus Regional Transit Authority Board. “We are trying to build the best system possible for our riders (I am a frequent rider.)”

Maps of the routes and proposed changes in store for the S Vision 2032 project are available for viewing on the website stanrta.org

Route 15 is proposed to run between the Turlock Transit Center and the Walmart Supercenter in Ceres, with local stops in Keyes. Connections within Ceres would be made by transferring to the proposed routes 29, 36, or 44. Connections to downtown Modesto could be made on proposed Route 29. One change is to add weekend service. The bus would run every 60 minutes at its worst on all days.

Route 29 is proposed to travel between Modesto Transit Center and Ceres Walmart, via Howard Prep. Service west of Hwy 99 would be served on a new Route 42. Some stops in the Bret Harte neighborhood would no longer be served and may require riders to walk up to 0.35 mile to access service. The change should allow the bus to run every 30 minutes all day.

Route 36 is proposing no change between the Modesto Transit Center and Carpenter Road but the bus would then travel south to Hatch Road to Mitchell Road in Ceres. It would travel along Mitchell Road terminating at the Walmart in Ceres. No changes in time or frequency are proposed.

Route 44 now operates hourly on weekdays but is not without issues. The transfer location at the Herndon Ave/Hatch Road is not ideal for bus operations and the deviations off of Hatch Road onto Glaslow Drive and Calcagno Street are confusing for riders. The route is proposed to serve the south side of Ceres between the CSA in Modesto, to downtown Ceres, and to the Ceres Walmart. Connections to Mitchell Road or Hatch Road would be made at Walmart by transferring to the proposed Route 36. Connections to downtown Modesto would be made on the proposed 29 in Downtown Ceres. Weekend service is proposed but no changes to the frequency.