LexTran is a public transportation bus

Transit bus

A transit bus , also known as a commuter bus, city bus, or public bus, is a bus used for short-distance public transport purposes...

 system serving Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...

. It runs bus routes throughout the city which all converge in downtown at the Lexington Transit Center

Lexington Transit Center

The Lexington Transit Center is a one-story public transportation facility with an underground parking garage along Vine Street east of South Limestone in Lexington, Kentucky. It features numerous bus stalls and several indoor waiting rooms, with buses running every 30 minutes for much of the day...

 located at 220 East Vine.

LexTran provides public transportation in the form of buses and lift vans. It operates seven days a week on eight bus routes from 5:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. In addition to mainline and paratransit, LexTran contracts with the University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky

The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...

 and operates four routes around the campus. It also runs two routes to the Bluegrass Community and Technical College

Bluegrass Community and Technical College

Bluegrass Community and Technical College , located in Lexington, Kentucky, is one of 16 two-year, open-admissions colleges of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System . It was formed from the consolidation of two separate institutions: Lexington Community College and Central Kentucky...

 campuses.

Even though Lexington and Fayette County are a consolidated government, LexTran does not provide service outside the Lexington city proper due to limited funding sources.

History

Prior to LexTran's current existence, Lexington was served by numerous private transit systems. The first such system was the Lexington Railway Company streetcars which began operation in 1874 that used horse-drawn stagecoaches. The name changed to the Lexington Street Railway Company soon after to avoid confusion with the steam railroads. In 1890, the system was upgraded to streetcars and was referred to as the Kentucky Traction and Terminal Company. The streetcars ceased operations in 1938 when they were replaced by motorized buses under the Lexington Railway System name, which later became the Lexington Transit Corporation.

By the early 1970s, expenses associated with the operation of the motorized buses soon outstripped revenue for the Lexington Transit Corporation. In April 1972, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government incorporated the system under the local government and renamed the system LexTran. In 1997, LexTran introduced the Lexington Bluegrass Mobility Office. It offers carpool

Carpool

Carpooling , is the sharing of car journeys so that more than one person travels in a car....

ing and vanpooling computer ridematching services and LexVan, a work commute vanpool leasing program.

In 2004, the system received additional funding from a successful ballot initiative to implement a new property tax

Property tax

A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...

dedicated to helping fund the LexTran system. Since the tax referendum passed, LexTran's system has grown by 50% and the number of passenger boardings and operators more than doubled. The bus fleet will increase from 53 as of May 2007 to 60 by August 2007 as well.

For 2007, LexTran is poised to receive several upgrades to its fleet of buses and facilities. A renovation and expansion of the main LexTran facilities on East Loudon Avenue, expected to cost $7.5 million, has $4 million already secured. LexTran is also seeking $3.1 million for new buses, $1.5 million for an Automated Vehicle Locator, and $800,000 to purchase new fare boxes. Phase one of the expansion project includes the construction of a new bus fuel and wash building at 109 West Loudon Avenue, along with upgrades to the restrooms and break room at the Lexington Transit Center.

Route list

• 1 Georgetown
• 2 Woodhill
• 3 Tates Creek
• 4 Newtown Pike
• 5 Nicholasville Road
• 6 North Broadway (formerly Russell Cave)
• 7 North Limestone
• 8 Versailles Road
• 9 Eastland
• 10 Hamburg Pavilion
• 11 Richmond Road
• 12 Leestown Road
• 13 South Broadway
• 14 UK Commonwealth Stadium
• 15 Red Mile (serving UK community)
• 16 Southland Drive/BCTC
• 17 Northside Connector
• 18 Centre Parkway Connector
• 19 Southside Connector (Discontinued as of 05/08/2011)
• 20 Masterson Station
• 21 Airport-Keeneland
• 22 Jobs Bus
• 23 Nicholasville Road Express
• 24 COLT Trolley Blue Route
• 25 COLT Trolley Green Route
• 26 Alumni Drive/Lakeshore
• 28 KY Horse Park Express