StarTran

StarTran is the public transit bus system in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. It operates 18 regular bus routes and a downtown circulator service on weekdays from 5:15 a.m. to 9:55 p.m. and Saturdays from 5:55 a.m. to 7:05 p.m. There is no service on Sundays.^[1] There is a special Handi-Van transportation service for those who have a disability that prevents them from riding a regular city bus.

StarTran's 2005-2006 annual operating budget was $8,585,826, 65.75% of which was funded through the city, 16.64% from user fees, 16.06% federally, and 1.55% through the state of Nebraska. The total ridership for StarTran in the 2005-2006 year was 1,826,289 riders. StarTran's nearly 70 full-size coaches and handi-vans traveled 1,740,148 miles in the 2005-2006 year.

Ridership in 2004-2005 was 1,648,744, 97% of which were riders on fixed routes. 1,715,530 collective revenue miles were traveled by the fleet in the same year, 82.02% of which were on fixed routes.^[1]

In August 2012, StarTran announced it had 2 million rides for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, for the first time in 20 years.

StarTran traveled 1,857,689 revenue miles in the 2013-14 fiscal year and provided 2,495,206 rides. The annual operating budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year is $12,252,632.

StarTran had a budget of $13,067,600 for fiscal year 2015–2016.^[3]

StarTran has a variety of fare payment methods. Fares may be paid while boarding or passes may be purchased before boarding. Children under 4 years old ride free. Transfers are free. Passes may be purchased at the StarTran 710 "J" Street, at a retail outlet, or using the Token Transit mobile ticketing app.^[4]

Additionally, the following pass types are available:

• 31 Consecutive Day Pass: $17.00. Low Income available for $8.00, Handi-van for $34.00 and Low Income Handi-Van for $16.00
• 20 Ride Pass: $33.00. Handi-Van 20 Ride Pass available for $66.00.
• Senior Saver/Go For Less 20 Ride Pass: $16.00.
• Star Pass - Summer Youth Bus Pass: $20.00.

On November 1, 2016, StarTran implemented a new route structure from a Transit Development Plan.^[5] Almost all routes were reconfigured with the exception of University of Nebraska-Lincoln funded services. Three routes (13, 27, 44) now run all day until 9:55 PM with 30 minute headways on weekdays. Several changes occurred in December 2016, and more in January 2017 to refine the plan. Changes included removing the 46 Arnold Heights from being interlined, and creating a 3-way interline between routes 40 Heart Hospital, 42 Bethany, and 49 University Place due to on time performance issues with routes 40 & 49. Most routes now run until at least into the early evening hours.

For the first time in its history, StarTran implemented a policy of only stopping at designated bus stops instead of its traditional flag stop system where customers could flag down a bus on any corner along the route. Stops have improved on time performance and driver/customer confusion on what an appropriate place to stop is.

StarTran does not operate on Sundays, and weekday service used to end early in the evening. During the summer of 2014, the 55 Star Shuttle was piloted to run until midnight on Thursday, Friday, & Saturday, but after low ridership on nights without events at Pinnacle Bank Arena, the service was not renewed after the 3-month trial ended.

All routes operate on a "spoke" arrangement from the downtown, adding to travel time for cross-town trips, and creating unnecessary detours for some routes, such as the former "27th Street Shuttle", which bypassed a densely populated neighborhood.

During the summer of 2014, StarTran received 5 New Flyer CNG buses that began operations on routes 24 Holdrege and 25 Vine.^[6] StarTran received several more during 2015 with a plan to convert a third of the fleet to CNG by 2016. As of late 2024, the bulk of the StarTran fleet consists of CNG-powered New Flyer XN35 buses. There are also a handful of electric New Flyer XE35 buses, as well as older diesel-powered 29 feet (8.8 m) and 35 feet (11 m) Gillig buses.

Much of the current StarTran fleet can be referenced in the table below. In addition to the buses below, StarTran also operates a number of small cutaway buses.

The ridership and service statistics shown here are of fixed route services only and do not include demand response. Per capita statistics are based on the Lincoln urbanized area as reported in NTD data. Starting in 2011, 2010 census numbers replace the 2000 census numbers to calculate per capita statistics.^[9]

• List of bus transit systems in the United States

• Official website
• History of StarTran
• Online Bus Tracker