Dumbarton Express


Dumbarton Express is a regional public transit service in the San Francisco Bay Area connecting Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties via the Dumbarton Bridge. The Transbay bus service is provided under a consortium of five transit operators. Dumbarton Express is administered by AC Transit. It was also operated by AC Transit through 16 December 2011; MV Transportation assumed operations effective 19 December 2011.
AC Transit also operates bus service across the Dumbarton Bridge on Route U, which connects Fremont BART and Stanford University. Route U is not part of the Dumbarton Express system.

Service area

Dumbarton Express serves the cities of Menlo Park, Newark, Palo Alto, and Union City.

Hubs

Service is provided to two major transit hubs: Palo Alto Caltrain, Union City BART. Both lines additionally serve Ardenwood Park & Ride.

Routes

As of 12 December 2012, Dumbarton Express operates two bus lines.
Dumbarton Express has an "open door" policy that allows local service in the East Bay and Peninsula.

Fares and transfer policies

Fares

Fares can be paid with cash and Clipper cards.
Fare categoryLocal one wayTransbay one wayTransbay one way upgrade from local fare
Adult$2.10$4.20$2.10
Youth $1.05$2.10$1.05
Senior, disabled, and Medicare$1.05$2.10$1.05

Note: Local travel is within the East Bay or Peninsula; Transbay travel is across the Dumbarton Bridge.

Transfers and passes

Dumbarton Express accepts transfers and passes from several connecting transit agencies for full or partial fare.
VTA Express Eco Passes and AC Transit Transbay 31-Day Passes are accepted as full Transbay fare.
The following are accepted as full local fare or partial Transbay fare:
BART-to-bus transfers are accepted as full local fare but not as partial Transbay fare. As of 1 January 2013, BART Plus tickets are not accepted.
Transfers issued by Dumbarton Express are valid for 2 hours and are accepted by AC Transit, SamTrans, Union City Transit, and VTA. Union City Transit has a $0.25 surcharge, payable on board Union City Transit. Transfers to SamTrans are valid only for passengers using Clipper cards.

Future expansion

On August 2, 2017, SamTrans, one of the five transit agencies that jointly operate the Dumbarton Express, released a study that examined the feasibility of adding additional bus routes to the service. The study recommended two new bus routes: an express bus route traveling between the Union City BART station to the Redwood City Caltrain station, and a local bus route between the Union City BART station to job centers in northern Mountain View and Sunnyvale, the introduction of which would lead to a 34% increase in ridership. The study also reiterated SamTrans' ultimate goal of reintroducing rail service across the Dumbarton Rail Bridge, ultimately connecting the Redwood City Caltrain station to the Union City BART station via conventional passenger rail.