Santa Cruz Metro

A comprehensive rider's guide and photo + video archives.

A little bit about Santa Cruz Metropitan Transit District (SCMTD)

The Santa Cruz Metropitan Transit District, better known as Santa Cruz Metro, is a bus transit agency that serves the greater Santa Cruz including Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Capitola, Soquel, Aptos, and smaller census-designated areas within. Their fleet comprises of mostly CNG buses, but there are still diesel buses still in service. In addition, zero-emissions battery and hydrogen buses were introduced to push closer towards a zero-emission fleet in 2040. This agency has a huge variety of buses, with build years ranging from 1998 to 2025. As a person who has ridden this agency everyday and continues to stay update to date with the fleet, below is a list of every bus model in the fleet.

Current Bus Roster for Santa Cruz Metro

Click on the model name to learn more about its history. * Must See. (S) Second-hand purchases.

Year & Model Engine Transmission Fleet Numbers Active Fleet Numbers Special notes
*1998 New Flyer D35LF Detroit Diesel Series 50 Allison B400R 9801-9818 9810, 9818
  • 9801, 9811, 9816, 9817 have been retired.
*1998 New Flyer D40LF Detroit Diesel Series 50 Allison B400R 9819-9830 9824
  • Only one unit remaining. 9820 and 9827 have been retired.
*2002 New Flyer D60LF Cummins ISL Allison B500R 2316, 2318, 2322, 2333 2318
  • These were bought second-hand from Santa Clara VTA.
  • 2318 has not ran since November 2025.
  • #2322 and #2333 have been retired.
*2003 New Flyer D35LF John Deere (CNG Converted) Allison B400R 2210-2224 2210, 2212, 2215, 2218, 2220, 2223
  • 2212 and 2218 were re-powered with Cummins.
  • #2211, 2214, 2216, 2217, 2224 have been retired.
*2003 New Flyer D40LF John Deere (CNG Converted) Allison B400R 2225-2238 None
  • All units have been retired. 2226 was the last active bus.
2006 New Flyer C40LF Cummins Westport ISL Allison B400R 2601-2602 2601-2602
(S) 2007/8 New Flyer C40LFR Cummins Westport ISL Allison B400R 5503, 5529, 5530, 5531, 5535, 5541, 5544, 5550, 5553, 5566, 7503, 7511, 7519 5503, 5529, 5530, 5531, 5535, 5541, 5544, 5550, 5553, 5566, 7503, 7511, 7519
  • Ex-Orange County Transportation Authority.
  • 5530 and 5550 were the first to enter service.
  • To replace remaining 1998 D35/D40LFs, 2002 C35/C40LFs, and 2020 Proterras.
2008 New Flyer C40LF Cummins Westport ISL Allison B400R 2801-2813 2801-2809, 2811-2813
  • 2801-2805 are former highway 17 buses, but still retain their suburban configuration.
  • During the 2024 bus shortage, 2801-2805 temporarily ran on the Highway 17 route. These will occasionally be used as additional buses in the event of unusually high demands.
  • 2810 has been retired.
2010 New Flyer C40LFR Cummins Westport ISL Allison B400R 1001-1005 1001-1005
  • Primarily used on Highway 17 Express.
2012 New Flyer C40LFR Cummins Westport ISL Allison B400R 1201-1211 1201, 1203-1211
  • 1202 has been retired.
2013 New Flyer XN35 Cummins Westport ISL Allison B400R 1301-1306 1301-1306
(S) 2013 New Flyer XN60 Cummins Westport ISL ZF EcoLife 11012, 11016, 11018, 11019, 11022, 11023, 11025, 11026, 11027, 11028 11012, 11016, 11018, 11019, 11022, 11023, 11025, 11026, 11027, 11028
  • Ex-San Diego MTS XN60 1100 series buses.
  • It was formerly agreed that Santa Cruz would obtain 1111, 1113, 1115-1122, but the units have since changed since actual dates of transfer.
  • 11027 has white LED signs.
(S) 2014 Gillig Low Floor HEV 40' Cummins ISB BAE HybriDrive 4201-4210 4201-4209
  • Bought from Santa Clara VTA.
  • Primarily used on the Highway 17 Express.
  • 4210 is currently out of service as it was involved in a crash involving 6 other vehicles going northbound to San Jose on 5/31/24.
(S) 2016 New Flyer XN40 Cummins Westport ISL Allison B400R 1610-1612 1610-1612
  • Bought from Paul Revere Transportation.
2019 Gillig BRT CNG PLUS 40' Cummins Westport L9 Allison B400R 1901-1905 1901-1905
2020 Proterra ZX5 40' BEV Parker (Direct Drive) 0120-0420 (None)
  • These have been prematurely retired due to lack of parts from now-bankrupt bus manufacturer Proterra.
2020 Gillig BRT CNG PLUS 40' Cummins Westport L9 Allison B400R 2001 2001
2021 Gillig BRT CNG PLUS 35' Cummins Westport L9 Allison B400R 0121-0321 0121-0321
2021 Gillig BRT CNG PLUS 40' Cummins Westport L9 Allison B400R 0421-0621 0421-0621
2022 Gillig BRT CNG PLUS 35' Cummins Westport L9 Allison B400R 0122-0422 0122-0422
2023 Gillig Low Floor EV 40' Cummins Electric Drivetrain (Direct Drive) 0123-0523 0123-0523
  • 0223-0523 are primarily used on the Highway 17 Express.
  • 0123 is local configured with a rear door.
2024 New Flyer XHE40 Siemens ELFA3 Electric Drivetrain (Direct Drive) 0124-4424 0124, 0224, 0324, 0424, 0624, 0724, 0824, 0924, 1024, 1124, 1224, 1324, 1424, 1724
  • 44 Buses to be delivered.
  • Entered service on August 2025.
New Flyer XHE60 Siemens ELFA3 Electric Drivetrain (Direct Drive) TBD TBD
  • 9? buses to be delivered starting in 2025.

To track any of these buses, I recommend using Transee. It is a network friendly app relying on basic HTML elements to load vechicle tracking

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