The 20 brand-new, blue-striped Fresno-Area Express buses are a part of the new FAX 15 bus routes.
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The new buses will travel along Shaw and Cedar Avenues with buses arriving at stops every 15 minutes instead of every 30 minutes.
"As we looked at our service, we looked at how many people we were actually leaving on Shaw and on Cedar," Fresno Transportation Director Brian Marshall explained. "There was a need for us to insert another bus. It was common sense."
Marshall says those two routes have a high demand for riders. The two routes also meet right in front of the Fresno State campus in northeast Fresno.
University president Dr. Joseph Castro says nearly 25,000 students are on campus every day. He believes the new service will help ease congestion and free up parking at Fresno State.
"Our students, our faculty, and our staff will be able to utilize an even better transportation option to get them to get their classes on time and ready to learn and to teach," he said.
FAX 15 will also help riders catching a bus transfer on Blackstone Avenue. Along Blackstone, buses operate every 10 minutes. A project to add a bus rapid transit (BRT) route is moving forward with many bus stations under construction.
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Marshall says improvements will also be made to stops on the FAX 15 routes.
"We will do premium shelters," Marshall said. "These 'tin can' kind of shelters that we have right now will go away on Cedar and on Shaw. They will be replaced with some really high-quality glass shelters."
Construction will soon begin and will be complete by August.
Several grants funded the purchase of the new buses for FAX 15 routes. Each new bus can accommodate over 50 passengers at a time.
When compared to other buses in town each one stands out. "The big difference is that the windows aren't framed," Marshall said. "The frames are covered. Inside has a wheelchair securement system that's electric, and that's completely automated."
FAX 15 services will operate every 15 minutes Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m.