Vallejo Transit

Was in a carpool for the past several months… now back to taking Sol Trans to BART, I’ve been doing it for almost 2 weeks and the bus has been late EVERY SINGLE DAY! Why don’t they just drive straight to North Concord BART, miss the 680 traffic. The thing that drives me the craziest (?) is that the drivers do not utilize the car pool lane… a few take it for a mile or so after the bridge but then they all get all the way to the right lane, miles before the exit. The reason I take the bus to BART is supposed to be because it can get their faster by TAKING THE CAR POOL LANE!!! The morning drivers change almost daily and most are rude, the evening drivers (don’t even get me started on that schedule) are nicer! NOT a good transit system… I took the Transbay bus in Oakland to San Francisco for years… you could set your watch by them. SOL TRANS pretty much SUCKS… I think I’ll probably be driving myself to North Concord BART which is a pain in the ass… but not as much as being late everyday!

Unprofessional, ratchet, non educated and ghetto ass bus driver with no class. Made me hold up the line of bus riders to struggle with this selective bill collector they just recently installed. The old one took all bills this new one is horrible. And there was a silver box that use to be in stalled for when the machine was down but I guess it no longer works. But the bus driver tried to refuse service to me because she didn’t want to here my opinion! She finally took the bill and told me to go sit down shewing me away like nobody. I’m the reason you have a job if you didn’t have customers you would be without a job right or wrong. She then told me I could get off HER bus I said this is not your bus and you can not refuse public services to anybody told her I was reporting her as she went back and forth with me.(how tacky) and told me she didn’t care, I think she would care if she was unemployed.

Soltrans/​Vallejo Transit is really pretty typical of mass transit in the suburban U.S. –rather dismal, unfortunately. I am currently in this area for a few months sans automobile and am finding it quite inconvenient to get around. Just today I waited in vain for a bus that never arrived so I had to reschedule a trip.
It’s also impossible to get from San Francisco/​Berkeley to areas such as Benicia at night without taking a very costly taxi. It’s probably pointless to post this review as this is really more an indictment of a widespread social policy (i.e. lack of funding for transportation in suburbs and small towns) rather than one particular entity such as Soltrans.
In the event that anyone is researching the viability of living in an area like this without a car, I’d say you’re better off staying or moving to the big city or waiting until you can buy a car –unless you’re satisfied with staying close to home and not venturing very far after dark.

im sorry to say this vallejo transit is bull shit, because they ass backwards, they buses are constantly, repeatedly late, the boss doesn’t do anything about it obviously. the route 4 totally late that bitch be late literally a hour they have to take one out the yard, like dude come on how does a bus be a hour behind, these bus drivers obliviously don’t wanna work because they take they slow ass time too, some do. some bus drivers are rude af then when you wanna slap them they quick to kick you off the bus, but when you call and make a report on that ass, the head quarters say «i a give it to the boss», they never do. never do i called 5x on this one trick name sonja she has dreads. yes beware bitch i don’t like you, hope you get fired. bus drivers that know there late doesn’t even make a effort to not take they break they still try to take one like wtf drive your dam route, if i was the boss and your late obviously you had your break since your late, you don’t deserve one honestly. btw that bus driver sonja really threatened me and my boyfriend saying we cant get on her bus when she see us she gonna keep going. she in the wrong we were coming from school we left school for important reasons, she gonna say i didn’t have to pick yal up yal leaving first off we had permission, and who is you to tell us even if we did. do your job slave and drive the god dam bus, then she got mad when we cussed her ass out. i don’t care who tf has her back but she getting her ass beat when my mother in law get out, that bitch got real mouth. also why put new bus drivers on the important routes they make us people late specially going to oakland direction with bart and shit. alameda county towards across the bridge stay busy and they buses are on time that’s sad for real vallejo transit is pitiful i prefer to have a car if you live in vallejo folks.

They should rename it to troltrans, because this bus company is trolling everyone. Used to be my favorite mode of transportation that has turned into a nightmare. The route ‘schedules’ are bogus. Buses in the morning often come earlier than the scheduled time and leave me waiting 45 minutes for the next one. They used to give out transfers to get back home but now riders must pay two one-​way fares or are forced to spend a one way fare to Vallejo transit center just to buy a day or month pass. They completely changed the routes and then charged riders more while claiming to save us money. What a joke. I can’t get anywhere in the city except down to Vallejo transit center because of where I live. I’m so sick of the new business and their planning. I keep asking for them to revert to the old routes. Whoever redesigned the bus routes must not have to ride the bus, because it certainly shows.

Like another reviewer I was bitten by arbitrarily expiring passes in October 2012. I purchased 4 10-​ride passes through my employer’s transit program, all marked «Expires January 2013.» Then my schedule changed putting me on transit at the worst possible times. I rode my motorcycle to work all summer, then decided I’d better start using the passes since they’d expire in a few months. I was pretty shocked when the driver told me my pass had expired and wouldn’t let me on. I called Vallejo Transit to ask if I could exchange my passes and they said no, their exchange program ended 2 days ago, and they’d posted flyers alerting riders about the deadline. I was pretty angry about that. I spent the money, they took it, I got nothing. That’s called stealing. It would’ve been no trouble for them to either exchange my passes or let me use them up. The new passes are printed on different paper with a different design and that’s the only difference I can see, besides that my new pass says «Expires 07/​31/​2013.» Should I believe that? Anyhow my attempt to be environmentally friendly and save wear & tear on my commute vehicle ended up costing $ 180 in passes I threw out, or 6 weeks of gas money looking at it another way. What a rip! I would’ve been better off riding the motorcycle.
As far as the service itself, it’s reasonably timely and on schedule at 6am heading to El Cerrito Del Norte BART. In the mornings it’s easy to relax, read a magazine, and think, «this is way better than driving, why did I hate public transit so much?» In the evenings it’s late, crowded, and it can take over an hour to travel the 16 miles between BART and the Transit Center. That’s longer than it takes me to ride home from work on the motorcycle. And it can be a very, very long hour on a crowded bus with kids playing loud hip-​hop in the seats behind you. There are a few things that could be done to expedite evening service, such as not waiting in the cash lines at the toll gates (isn’t the bus a carpool?), or not pulling into the Curtola park-​n-​ride lot to let everyone off, then getting stuck in traffic as everyone who just got off the bus tries to leave the lot at the same time. It also seems like there are too many stops for an «express» service.
Other quibbles: it costs $ 7.50 in gas and bridge toll for me to ride my motorcycle to work in Oakland. It costs twice that to take Vallejo Transit and BART to work and it takes an *extra* 30 — 60 minutes each way. Even as an alternative transportation advocate it’s hard to recommend public transit when it COSTS MORE and TAKES MORE TIME than taking my own vehicle. Granted, that vehicle is a motorcycle. As another reviewer mentioned, a front-​loading bicycle rack like every single other transit bus has would be nice. I put my bicycle in the cargo hold once and only once. Laying it on its side and having it bounce around in there is no way to transport a bike you care about. But really the fare is ridiculous. Round trip to BART on WestCAT is only $ 2.75. Why is it 10 bucks to take the 80?
The two-​star rating is for BikeLink lockers at the Vallejo Transit Center. That is oddly progressive for Vallejo and I applaud the effort even if it costs an extra 50 cents a day to park my bike there, bringing my round-​trip commute total to $ 15.20. Without the BikeLink lockers I wouldn’t be able to ride the 80 at all. I’m hopeful service will improve. If they could just stick to the published schedules and make it affordable that’d go a long way.

It’s unfortunate that Soltrans (formerly Vallejo Transit) is basically the only game in town. They need competition, which would either improve service, or replace them, and either would be an improvement. Their freeway bus service for commuters who go to work early in the morning and come home at the end of the day is basic, but for people who have other hours or ride during hours other than traditional commute hours, service is hit or miss. Most drivers recognize their jobs depend on riders, but some are machines who leave people behind. I’ve seen it happen a few times, with different drivers.
There is the occasional competition of The Vine, the bus from Calistoga/​Napa to get to El Cerrito del Norte BART, but usually Soltrans is the way «off the island» if you want to get to BART or Walnut Creek, Pleasant HIll, or El Cerrito del Norte, its stops south and west. I can’t speak about the Fairfield route, never having ridden it.
You’d think that if its customers are going to ride with them 20 mins (to El Cerrito del Norte), 30 mins (to Pleasant Hill) or 40-​ish (to Walnut Creek), that Soltrans would have the professionalism as purveyors of public transportation to factor in other public transportation connections, particularly BART. In major cities where large numbers of people use public transportation, transit agencies often attempt to make things easier for riders by facilitating connections. Otherwise, as happens when you ride Soltrans, it can take an hour and a half by public transportation connections to get to a location that can take 45 minutes by car, because you missed your first connection.
With Soltrans, your connections to other buses or BART are basically your good fortune or bad luck. There’s a good chance you will miss your train right as the bus arrives at the BART station. The next train can be 7 to 20 minutes later. Getting out of Vallejo can mean a very long trip to your destination.
And on your way home, when the train pulls in a couple of minutes late, that could mean you will miss your bus home to Benicia or Vallejo, even the last bus home, when if the bus driver waited a few minutes, you’d get home half an hour, 45 mins, or even an hour and a quarter earlier.
Yes, they’ll hold it for the requisite 3 minutes if you call «dispatch» and ask them to hold the bus. But If your train is two minutes late and they held the bus for 3 mins, they could be inflexible, and you’ll get home much, much later, after your long day.
Or if the dispatcher didn’t call the bus driver to ask him/​her to wait those 3 minutes, you could pay $ 60 to get home by taxi, as people have told me they had to do.
Make no mistake about it: Soltrans is not about getting you home quickly, comfortably and safely, they’re about keeping to the schedule. Normally this would be professional service, except when the bus runs sporadically and there’s a long wait between buses, e.g., once a half hour, once an hour (weekdays to Pleasant HIll/​Walnut Creek; once every two hours (Saturdays to Pleasant Hill/​Walnut Creek); or three times in the earlier part of the day and three times in the later part of the day (Sundays), as well as if the train is running a couple of minutes late.
It is truly unfortunate that in this day of high gas prices and public awareness of the ecological issues surrounding private cars, Soltrans is a poor choice, but the only choice.
You’re better off taking your own car if you can than having a bus driver look right at you and ride off, or not wait for your train.
Like I said, Soltrans needs some competition.
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Where do I start…
FIRST of all I just rode the 80 bus yesterday AND for about the 4^th time the stench of urine on this bus ’bout knocked me out! (Not all have this stench but 4 times is 4 x too much).
Secondly a bus driver was way rude when I asked why the 7:32 AM bus was leaving late. He said «Was I supposed to crap my pants instead of taking a break!?» I pointed out that it’s possible to take a break and for us get to work on time! I called and complained about this one.
PS Some of the drivers are very professional and kind hence 1 star.
THEN I’ve contacted them 2 times suggesting they COORDINATE the El Cerrito del Norte 80 route with the BART schedule (What a concept! WHY would I have to suggest this when it should help their bottom line if more of us can ride in a timely manner?) Too many times I’m seeing a bus JUST pull away after the BART arrives at this station causing me to get stranded up to 30 minutes and have to walk from the station in the dark of night.
More in March:
Again the 80 bus left Del Norte BART station in El Cerrito EARLY (by 5 minutes: (The bus driver admitted this — I found out when I called again and complained) leaving me and other riders waiting 30 minutes until 9 pm at night in the cold after a LONG work day!
Also one #2 driver was too busy socializing to drive her bus on time (She’s done this before as I’ve observed and as confirmed by another rider). When 2 or 3 of us riders commented we’d like to get to work on time she just yelled «Don’t start with me!» (Another rider told me she’d called in about this.)
Oh and Mr. Crap My Pants?! He arrived late at Del Norte one evening and was again rude when I politely asked why stating «I’m just Late!!» He refused to give me his name.
I’ve left repeated messages with SolTrans and with the Operations Manager Elizabeth Stayner and never ONCE been called back as requested. It’s sad when a business is so overtly non-​consumer friendly to the point where they’re not only systemically mismanaged & apparently just plain don’t care. As a 3^rd generation educator and Counselor it’s truly shocking to run into this level of lack of professionalism in such a backwoods manner. I’d gotten so spoiled by San Francisco & East Bay transportation where this doesn’t occur in this way.
Oh one more gripe: I’ve now asked 3 times if there’s buses running on Easter Sunday and not gotten a clear answer. Oh, I didn’t tell you?! They left me stranded on Christmas and New Years Day even tho’ they managed to have a «Turkey Trot» bus to the sales at Walmart T-​Day evening.
There are still some excellent drivers so still one star…
I’m done for now… Please do call in to SolTrans (707) 648‑4666 and add your voice so perhaps they’ll listen.
In the meantime perhaps I’ll see what can done from a State level with the Department of Transportation: but overall?! I plan to get a CAR ASAP. I’m sure I’m not alone on this which will affect SolTrans bottom line!
PS I finally talked to Elizabeth Stayner… She says she’ll speak to the bus driver (Mr Crap My Pants) & that they’re monitoring bus departures being timely (and not early) more per GPS. Perhaps there will be a change.

Oh Vallejo transit, you really ARE highway robbers!
My mom earlier this year bought 6 bay link bus passes for the 80 bus. On the tickets, it was written that the tickets expired January 1, 2013. The total? $ 270.
My mom, after a few months of not riding the bus, hops on the 80 to have the bus driver tell her that her bus passes were no longer good and that she had to go to the Vallejo transit center to get a refund. My mom was confused (for good reason, considering that the tickets were supposed to expire in 2013), paid her fare cash, and we went to the transit center to get a refund/​explanation as to why the passes were no longer good.
We headed to the transit center today and was told by the Vallejo Transit Center representative that the 80 had been taken over by a different company. She then said that they had been doing exchanges for the tickets from July to October only, and that Vallejo transit would NOT be issuing anymore exchanges or refunds.
Ummmm what?
The tickets my mom had for the 80 bus route have written on them that they expire January 1, 2013. Why Vallejo Transit arbitrarily decides to have the tickets expire in October while refusing to give refunds or exchanges through the posted expiration date on the ticket of January 1, 2013 is not only completely ridiculous but ROBBERY! Both the representative at the transit agency and the woman I spoke to on the phone for the Vallejo transit agency said that they had posted signs on the bus the last 3 months that the tickets were not going to be exchanged past October 1, therefore they could not offer a refund.
UMMMM WHAT?
So it’s MANDATORY that my mom has to ride the bus every 3 months in order to see a sign that her tickets (that have clearly written on them that they EXPIRE JAN 1, 2013) expiration date have been arbitrarily changed to October 1^st? That is ridiculous!
Vallejo transit took my mom’s $ 270 and sold her $ 270 worth of tickets that they told her would expire January 1, 2013. Now, it’s October 12, 2012 and Vallejo transit still has my mom’s $ 270 but is saying that they have decided her tickets expired October 1, 2012 and they will not be giving her any type of refund or exchange.
Vallejo Transit is deceptive and stealing people’s money by refusing to refund tickets they sold that «expired» well before the stated expiration date.
If you need to take the bus in Vallejo, I suggest you pay cash. SKIP buying any type of pass from Vallejo Transit, they will steal your money in a heartbeat!

(I rode this Sunday, April 22) Update your web-​based maps more often than every four years… Minus one star; fifteen minutes late/​no show on an hourly Sunday route… Minus one star; bury a message online that you’re planning on eliminating Sunday service… Minus two stars; having to walk all the way to York/​Marin bus depot to ask for info… Minus two stars…; have the driver take a route that doesn’t stop at the posted Ferry Terminal stop, minus two stars…; loud bus driver’s friends yelling on the bus… then… wait for it… playing with a stun gun… minus fifty stars… I exited the bus as soon as the driver’s friend thought about shocking the metal handrail that everyone was holding…

I am one of those people who LIKE the convenience of public transit over driving. Even tho I have a car and it had a full tank of gas, I was planning to take the Vallejo 80 bus to El Cerrito del Norte and then to Berkeley, my ultimate destination. However, the bus schedule that I picked up (from the 200 bus) was a bit unclear about some info, so I checked the Vallejo Transit website. My version and the web version were both dated 2008, and included a reference to the York & Marin transit center but a year 2000 NEWS item on the Vallejo Transit website seemed to indicate the latter was closed. Hmmm… what else was out of date on my schedule?
Since it was a weekend and no info available via phone, I decided it was too risky to rely on an outdated bus schedule, and just drove to Berkeley.
Continuing to distribute outdated information is way worse than no information, as people will rely on bad information but don’t know it’s bad.

$ 5? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? Just to ride a bus costs $ 5 one way? RIP-​OFF! Shit, it’s $ 4 on the Bridge ONLY GOING EAST! Vallejo Transit is stealing from people!
Bus Drivers are okay, some look a little rough around the edges.
Unfortunately, it’s the only way out to Vallejo until BART is eventually extended.
Oh, and the Route 80 would be so much better if they had a bicycle rack on the front of their Baylink Buses. You know how much of a bitch it is for both the driver and passenger to load and unload into the storage bin under the seats?

This bus gets you where you need to go… out of the V