Department Overview

The Planning & Development department’s mission is to develop and maintain an efficient and robust network of transit service for Santa Cruz County.   The mixture of rural and urban areas, the dynamic geographic and topographical landscape, and the diverse needs of our community poses a unique set of challenges for METRO.  To utilize all resources available, METRO partners with the Regional Transportation Commission, the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, UC Santa Cruz Transportation and Parking Services, Cabrillo College and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority to assist in overall transportation improvement planning.

Department staff includes:

• Director of Planning and Development
• Capital Planning & Grants Program Manager
• Grants and Legislative Analyst
• Schedule Analyst
• Transportation Planner
• Planning Analyst

METRO provides 23 different routes which carry over 5 million passengers and operates over 200,000 hours and 2.8 million miles of service annually. METRO maintains over 4 transit centers and 825 bus stops, almost 500 of which have benches and 220 of which have shelters.

Recent History (2016 – 2022)

• METRO Service Planning Status for an overview of the Planning Department recent history and current priorities and projects.
• FY2020-23 Transit Fact Sheet
• 2019 Onboard Survey for a report of the agency's on-time performance and ridership by route with rider responses to questions about METRO's service.
• 2015-16 Comprehensive Operational Analysis (COA) which led to the September 2016 service reduction, including links to structural deficit history and the public process.

Ongoing Planning Projects

For more details on the projects identified below please read METRO Annual Service Planning Status staff report.

• Service Planning Quarterly Status Report

  • FY24 Fourth Quarter Ridership Report

• Caltrans Reliability Study: Soquel-Freedom Corridor

• Feasibility Study: Transit Enhancements along Soquel Drive Corridor

• 2022-23 Comprehensive Operational Analysis COA)

• Contactless Fare Payment

• Pacific Station

• Computer-Aided Dispatch / Automatic Vehicle Location (CAD/AVL)

• Fare Restructure

• Bus Replacement Plan

• Zero Emission Bus Analysis and Rollout Plan

• Installation of Automated Paassenger Counter (APC)

• Grants

  • METRO Annual Budget
  • Bus Replacement, including electric buses
  • Other capital and operating grants

• Participation in other regional planning activities
  • RTC
    • Unified Corridor Study
    • Highway 9 San Lorenzo Valley Corridor Transportation Plan
    • Cruz511 “In Your Neighborhood”
    • Measure D
      • Measure D 5-Year Program of Projects
      • FY22/23 Measure D Projects
      • Measure D Audit
• AMBAG
  • Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy
  • Monterey Bay Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP) - Draft Version
    
    • Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to submit comments on the MTIP draft

  • The Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) invites the public to comment on the Draft Monterey Bay Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP): FFY 2024-25 to 2027-28. The Draft Monterey Bay MTIP: FFY 2024-25 to 2027-28 is the region’s short range transportation programming document that contains transportation improvement projects including public transit, highway, bridge, local road, bicycle and pedestrian projects proposed for funding based on anticipated available federal, state and local funding over the next four years (FFY 2024-25 to 2027-28).
    The public review and comment period starts August 1, 2024 and ends August 30, 2024. For further details please visit https://www.ambag.org/.

Historical Documents

• Watsonville Transit Planning Study(2012):
  
  • Chapters 1-3
  • Chapters 4-5
  • Chapters 6-Appendix

Regional Planning Partners

• SCCRTC - Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission
• AMBAG - Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments
• VTA - Valley Transit Authority (Santa Clara County)
• MST - Monterey - Salinas Transit (Monterey County)
• TAPS - Transportation and Parking Services (UC Santa Cruz)

Customer Communication

METRO thanks you for your valuable input to the 2016 COA service reduction process and your ongoing comments through Customer Service Reports on issues you may have with the METRO system.

Please continue to use the Customer Service Report for issues related to service and stop issues. However, if you’d like to provide comments about current or future service or facility planning, please email the Planning Dept at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or write to the Planning Department at 110 Vernon St, Santa Cruz CA 95060.

last updated: 3/15/2019