The County Connection (officially, the Central Contra Costa Transit Authority, CCCTA) is a Concord-based public transit agency operating fixed-route bus and ADA paratransit (County Connection LINK) service in and around central Contra Costa County in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Contra Costa County has four major public bus transportation services, divided geographically: three mostly serve destinations within the county, covering western (WestCAT), central (County Connection), and eastern (Tri Delta Transit) regions, and one (AC Transit) serves Bayside cities along the western edges of Contra Costa and Alameda counties.
Established in 1980 as a joint powers authority, CCCTA assumed control of public bus service within central Contra Costa first begun by Oakland-based AC Transit as it expanded into suburban Contra Costa County in the mid-1970s (especially after the opening of BART). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .
History
thumb|left|An AC Transit bus at Orinda station prior to the County Connection takeover
AC Transit began operating local bus service under contract in central Contra Costa County in the 1970s after the coming of BART. Service began in Concord on September 8, 1975; in Pleasant Hill on December 8, 1975; and in Moraga and Orinda on September 13, 1976. Walnut Creek began operating a downtown shuttle route connecting to BART in December 1974.
On March 27, 1980, the Central Contra Costa Transit Authority (CCCTA) was created by a joint powers agreement between the cities of Clayton, Concord, Lafayette, Martinez, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, and Walnut Creek, plus the County of Contra Costa. The CCCTA originally planned to take over the other services in its district from AC Transit in August 1981. However, slow delivery of the buses and heavy rains that slowed construction of a maintenance facility delayed this until 1982. The CCCTA took over local bus service in its district from AC Transit on June 7, 1982, with a fleet of 24 new Gillig buses. (AC Transit continued to operate express bus service that functioned as feeder service for BART.) At that time, the Walnut Creek routes had 2,500 daily riders, while the routes taken over from AC Transit had 8,000 daily riders. Several routes were consolidated with the takeover, while a new Martinez–Concord–Clayton route was added.
Transfer discounts are only offered when using a Clipper card. A single free transfer from bus-to-bus within two hours of initial boarding is given. This free transfer is also valid for a transfer to neighboring systems (SolTrans, Tri Delta Transit, WestCat, Wheels). BART-to-bus transfers give a $1.00 fare discount upon boarding ($0.50 for discounted fare holders). In addition, ACE passengers can ride the 92X for free with a valid ACE ticket. Amtrak passengers can also ride any County Connection bus for free with either a paper ticket for the date printed as well as the following day or with a valid digital transfer.
Service
As of May 2020, the County Connection operates 25 weekday routes (three of which also operate on weekends), seven weekend-only routes, and 19 school tripper routes within central Contra Costa County. All routes, with the exception of some of the 600-numbered series select service trips, connect with regional train service, primarily BART, in addition to ACE in Pleasanton and Amtrak, including Amtrak California's Capitol Corridor and Gold Runner services in Martinez. Among its 30 weekday routes, the County Connection operates seven express routes (Routes 91X—98X). With support from the city of Walnut Creek, the County Connection also operates a free downtown circulator with trolley livery (Route 4) with service between Walnut Creek and Broadway Plaza.
The fleet consists of 121 accessible buses and 63 paratransit vans.
Bus service does not operate on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
Route overview
Weekdays
Weekday service is provided on all routes except 300-numbered series routes, which operate only on weekends. 600-numbered series routes are select service trips convenient to area schools and operate on school days, with service timed to school bell times.
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| 715 || East-West || BART North Concord/Martinez || BART Lafayette || Concord, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek || Early Bird Express route with limited early-morning trips