Lextran
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| Parent | Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government |
|---|---|
| Founded | April 1972 |
| Headquarters | 109 West Loudon Avenue, Lexington, KY |
| Locale | Lexington and Fayette County |
| Service area | Lexington Urban Service Boundary |
| Service type | bus, paratransit |
| Routes | 21 bus |
| Stops | 900 |
| Hubs | Lexington Transit Center |
| Fleet | 73 |
| Daily ridership | 17,265 (fiscal year 2012–2013) |
| Fuel type | Mixed fleet (diesel, hybrid-electric, and electric) |
| Operator | Transit Authority of LFUGC |
| Website | http://www.lextran.com |
Lextran (officially the Transit Authority of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government) is a public transportation bus system serving Lexington, Kentucky. It runs bus routes throughout the city which mostly converge in downtown at the Lexington Transit Center located at 220 East Vine.
Lextran provides public transportation in the form of buses and lift vans. It operates seven days a week with a total of 21 routes running from 5am until 12am. In addition to mainline and paratransit, Lextran contracts with the University of Kentucky and operates two routes around the campus. It also runs two routes to the Bluegrass Community and Technical College campuses.
Even though Lexington and Fayette County are a consolidated government, Lextran does not provide service outside the Lexington city proper due to limited funding sources.
Prior to Lextran's current existence, Lexington was served by numerous private transit systems. The first such system was the Lexington Railway Company streetcars which began operation in 1874 that used horse-drawn stagecoaches. The name changed to the Lexington Street Railway Company soon after to avoid confusion with the steam railroads. In 1890, the system was upgraded to streetcars and was referred to as the Kentucky Traction and Terminal Company. The streetcars ceased operations in 1938 when they were replaced by motorized buses under the Lexington Railway System name, which later became the Lexington Transit Corporation.
By the early 1970s, expenses associated with the operation of the motorized buses soon outstripped revenue for the Lexington Transit Corporation. In April 1972, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government incorporated the system under the local government and renamed the system Lextran. In 1997, Lextran introduced the Lexington Bluegrass Mobility Office. It offers carpooling and vanpooling computer ridematching services and LexVan, a work commute vanpool leasing program.
In 2003–2004 Lextran bought 13 low-floor Thomas 35 feet buses and 6 low-floor Gillig 40 feet buses in an attempt to make the system more accessible to those with physical disabilities.
In 2004, the system received additional funding from a successful ballot initiative to implement a new property tax dedicated to helping fund the Lextran system. Since the tax referendum passed, Lextran's system has grown by 50% and the number of passenger boardings and operators more than doubled.
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