WestCAT is a public transportation service in western Contra Costa County (north of Alameda County). It is a service of the Western Contra Costa Transit Authority. Contra Costa County has four public bus transportation services, divided geographically into western (WestCAT), central (County Connection), and eastern (Tri Delta Transit) territories. Bayshore cities and communities along the western edge of Contra Costa and Alameda counties are served by the bi-county AC Transit, which is headquartered in Oakland, California.

History and governance

The Western Contra Costa Transit Authority was established in August 1977 as a Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement between Contra Costa County and the cities of Hercules and Pinole. It was created with the purpose of owning, operating and administering a public transportation system serving the area between the Richmond/El Sobrante border to the west and the Carquinez Bridge to the east. The service territory covers approximately . WestCAT also uses 45-foot Motor Coach Industries D4500 and Prevost X3-45 over-the-road coaches and 43-foot Alexander Dennis Enviro500 double-decker buses for the LYNX Transbay service.

Fixed-route service

As of September 2013, WestCAT provides a network of local and express bus routes throughout western Contra Costa County. In addition, WestCAT operates regional service between Martinez (Route 30Z) and the Hercules Transit Center and between the Hercules Transit Center and Contra Costa College (Route C3).

The (Local) routes are 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19.

Express routes include JX, JL/JR (referred to as the "J" by most riders, the "L" designates via Lakeside Drive, and the "R" designates via Richmond Parkway), JPX (serves Pinole Valley residents wanting to go to the Hercules Transit Center or BART). These routes previously were provided by BART as "BART Express" bus service through a contracted bus operator; WestCAT assumed operations in 1998.

Major transfer points for WestCAT routes connecting with other local transit agencies include:

  • Hercules Transit Center in Hercules
  • Hilltop Mall Shopping Center in Richmond
  • Richmond Parkway Transit Center in Richmond
  • El Cerrito del Norte BART in El Cerrito
  • Martinez Amtrak Station in Martinez
  • Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco

Routes

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+WestCAT fixed routes

! rowspan="2"|Route Number

! rowspan="2"|Direction

! colspan="2"|Terminals

! colspan="3"|Days of Operation

! rowspan="2"|Notes

|-

! North/East Terminal

! South/West Terminal

! Weekday !! Saturday !! Sunday / Holiday

|-

| colspan=8 style="font-size:125%;background:#fee;" | Local Routes

|-

! style="background:#88c96f;color:#000;" | 10

| Loop ||colspan="2"| Hercules Transit Center - Turquoise || || colspan=2 ||

|-

! style="background:#188dc6;color:#fff;" | 11

| Loop ||colspan="2"| Hercules Transit Center - Crockett || colspan=2 || ||

|-

! style="background:#ed008d;color:#fff;" | 12

| Loop ||colspan="2"| Hercules Transit Center - Mandalay/Bonaire || || colspan=2 ||

|-

! style="background:#b4b92b;color:#000;" | 15

| Loop ||colspan="2"| Hercules Transit Center - Viewpointe Blvd || || colspan=2 ||

|-

! style="background:#047f40;color:#fff;" | 16

| Loop ||colspan="2"| Richmond Parkway Transit Center - Wright Ave/Doidge Ave || || colspan=2 ||

|-

! style="background:#672d93;color:#fff;" | 19

| Loop ||colspan="2"| Hercules Transit Center - Hilltop Mall Shopping Center || || || || <small>[19]</small>

|-

| colspan=8 style="font-size:125%;background:#ffe;" | Regional Routes

|-

! style="background:#00a751;color:#fff;" | 30Z

| East-West || Martinez Amtrak || Hercules Transit Center || || colspan=2 || <small>[30Z]</small>

|-

! style="background:#005cac;color:#fff;" | C3

| East-West || Hercules Transit Center<br /> || Contra Costa College || || colspan=2 ||

|-

| colspan=8 style="font-size:125%;background:#efe;" | Express Routes

|-

! style="background:#57a849;color:#fff;" | J<br /> (JR/JL)

| North-South || Hercules Transit Center<br /><small>Weekdays</small><br /> Willow/Viewpointe <br /><small>Weekdays after 8pm & Weekends</small>|| El Cerrito del Norte BART || colspan=3 || <small>[J]</small>

|-

! style="background:#f38221;color:#fff;" | JX

| North-South || Hercules Transit Center || El Cerrito del Norte BART || || colspan=2 ||

|-

! style="background:#f38221;color:#fff;" | JPX

| North-South || Hercules Transit Center || El Cerrito del Norte BART || || colspan=2 || <small>[JPX]</small>

|-

| colspan=8 style="font-size:125%;background:#eef;" | Transbay Routes

|-

! style="background:#8b0303;color:#fff;" | Lynx

| North-South || Willow Avenue<br/><small>Commute trips</small><br/>Hercules Transit Center<br/><small>Non-commute trips</small> ||Salesforce Transit Center

(San Francisco)

| || || || <small>[Lynx]</small>

|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+WestCAT discontinued fixed routes

! rowspan="2"|Route Number

! rowspan="2"|Direction

! colspan="2"|Terminals

! colspan="3"|Days of Operation

! rowspan="2"|Notes

|-

! North/East Terminal

! South/West Terminal

! Weekday !! Saturday !! Sunday / Holiday

|-

! style="background:#975ca6;color:#fff;" | 17

| Loop ||colspan="2"| Richmond Parkway Transit Center - Cypress/Broadmore || || colspan=2 ||

|-

! style="background:#00aded;color:#fff;" | 18

| Loop ||colspan="2"| Richmond Parkway Transit Center - Tara Hills || || colspan=2 ||

|-

! style="background:#22b24c;color:#fff;" | 705

| North-South || MacArthur BART || Temporary Transbay Terminal || || colspan=2 || <small>[Early Bird]</small>

|-

! style="background:#0096da;color:#fff;" | 708

| North-South || El Cerrito del Norte BART || 19th Street Oakland BART || || colspan=2 || <small>[Early Bird]</small>

|}

  • [JPX] Richmond Parkway Transit Center service only during midday from 9:40am to 2:30pm, route also serves Hercules Transit Center.
  • [J] JR Via Richmond Parkway and Blume Drive and JL Via Lakeside Drive.
  • [Lynx] Route serves Hercules Transit Center, and most peak period services also serve Bio-Rad, all terminating at Victoria By The Bay. Also operates midday (non-commute) trips between San Francisco and Hercules Transit Center, and it does not serve Bio-Rad or Victoria By The Bay.
  • [Early Bird] These routes were part of the BART Early Bird Express service, which provides a limited number of weekday bus trips in the early morning before regular BART rail operations begin. These routes were discontinued by 2024.

Service Area

alt=AC Transit and WestCAT LYNX buses at Salesforce Transit Center|thumb|A WestCAT Lynx fixed route bus, alongside an AC Transit bus, at the [[Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco.]]

WestCAT provides service to the communities of:

  • Bayview
  • Crockett
  • El Cerrito
  • Hercules
  • Martinez
  • Montalvin Manor
  • Pinole
  • Port Costa
  • Richmond
  • Rodeo
  • San Francisco
  • San Pablo
  • Tara Hills

The local transportation demand management organization 511 Contra Costa also provides information for intermodal transfers throughout Contra Costa County, and works closely with WestCAT to help transit users make regional connections beyond their immediate service area.

References

  • WestCAT