1993 headquarters u.s. bank center 101 north 1st avenue suite 1100 phoenix arizona united states 1 locale phoenix arizona service area maricopa county service type local express bus rapid transit shuttle paratransit routes 102 2 3 hubs 16 4 fleet 1 061 buses 5 annual ridership 56 482 963 6 fuel type diesel diesel electric hybrid cng lng operator city of phoenix rpta other various city governments website http www.valleymetro.org bus valley metro bus 7 is a transit bus system for public transport in maricopa county arizona united states . buses are operated by private companies contracted by valley metro and the city of phoenix . service currently operates throughout the broader phoenix metropolitan area . all buses have wheelchair ramps or lifts and with the exception of paratransit vehicles all buses have bike racks . contents 1 operations 1.1 route types and naming conventions 2 route list 3 customer service 4 passenger information systems 5 valley metro service providers 5.1 unification of tempe bus operations with the rpta 6 bus fleet 7 references operations edit there are over 100 bus routes contracted by valley metro including regular routes limited stop routes and community circulators . bus frequency hours and days of operation vary by route . the most heavily used routes have peak service frequency of every 12 minutes and run as late as midnight . the least used routes run once an hour and end service as early as 9pm . route types and naming conventions edit route 72 northbound stopped at loloma station there are currently 60 local bus routes that form valley metro s super grid bus system . they are numbered roughly according to the address on the phoenix area s street grid on which they travel . for example route 35 is a north south route which runs along 35th avenue which is the 3500 block west on the street grid . route 0 runs north south along central avenue which is the dividing street or zero point separating east and west phoenix on the street grid . route 50 runs east west along camelback road which is the 5000 block north on the street grid route 72 runs north south along scottsdale and rural roads which are the 7200 block east on the street grid . route 104 runs north south along alma school road which corresponds to the 10400 block east on the street grid but not in the city of mesa itself which uses a different street numbering zero point origin from the city of phoenix . routes 7 and 8 each run on 7th street and 7th avenue respectively . given that phoenix has numbered thoroughfares designated as avenues west of central and streets east of central route 8 is one digit higher to avoid confusion with route 7 which are both the 700 blocks . the community circulator routes are mostly a free service the exceptions being the glendale urban shuttle gus routes with a 25 cent fare and the avondale zoom with a 50 cent fare . they supplement the standard grid service with routes that connect neighborhoods to nearby business districts . circulator vehicles are typically minibuses . the naming convention varies by the communities they serve such as the scottsdale neighborhood trolley tempe orbit jupiter and phoenix smart . link routes are limited stop streamlined bus connections to transit centers served by valley metro rail . these routes use upgraded bus shelters that have led next bus signs and bus rapid transit styled vehicles with traffic signal priority . they are named after the street they travel on such as arizona avenue link . there are two routes in operation with three additional routes are planned as part of the maricopa association of governments 20 year regional transportation plan . the six rapid routes are limited stop commuter routes in the city of phoenix that travel from park and ride lots in outlying neighborhoods near major freeways to rapid stops in the downtown business core . these routes are mostly named for the freeway on which they travel such as rapid i 10 east two routes connect newly developed neighborhoods along baseline road with downtown via central avenue . they are unidirectional traveling toward downtown in the morning and out of downtown in the afternoons . these routes use nabi 45c lfw suburban buses with a special paint scheme . the express routes are also limited stop commuter routes . they operate in a similar fashion to the rapid routes from outlying park and ride lots and pick up points in suburban areas outside the city of phoenix with higher fares than standard routes but the same as rapid routes . they are numbered in the 500s with the last two digits indicating the area they serve using the following scheme 51x scottsdale 52x tempe 53x mesa and gilbert 54x chandler 56x southwest valley avondale goodyear buckeye and tolleson 57x northwest valley glendale peoria surprise and sun cities these routes use a mix of bus types ranging from transit style buses with hard seats to semi suburban buses with highback non reclining seats to full suburban buses with a single door luggage racks and personal reading lights ; a handful of the routes use the same nabi 45c lfw suburban buses used on the rapid routes but with the standard valley metro paint scheme . these routes are also unidirectional traveling into downtown phoenix in the morning using the major freeways after traveling on surface streets for part of the trip and out of downtown in the afternoons . route list edit color key color operator note blue transdev phoenix formerly veolia phoenix . operates the north and south phoenix facilities . orange first transit phoenix operates the west phoenix facility . pink first transit rpta operates the mesa and tempe facilities . replaced veolia rpta mesa and veolia tempe on july 1 2013 . purple valu trans contracted by the rpta . operated from the total transit discount cab facility in southeast glendale . turquoise city of glendale only non contracted routes in the system . also operates glendale dial a ride . olive ollie the trolley contracted by the city of scottsdale . formally known as dunn transportation . brown ajo transportation contracted by the rpta . no . name type operator facilities note main link valley metro link main street power road link first transit rpta mesa arizona link valley metro link country club arizona avenue link first transit rpta mesa 0 central avenue local transdev phoenix phoenix south 1 washington jefferson street local transdev phoenix phoenix south 3 van buren street local first transit phoenix phoenix west 7 7th street local transdev phoenix phoenix south 8 7th avenue local transdev phoenix phoenix south 10 roosevelt local transdev phoenix phoenix south 12 12th street local transdev phoenix phoenix south 13 buckeye road local first transit phoenix phoenix west 15 15th avenue local transdev phoenix phoenix south 16 16th 32nd street local transdev phoenix phoenix south 17 mcdowell road local first transit phoenix phoenix west 19 19th avenue local transdev phoenix phoenix south 27 27th avenue local transdev phoenix phoenix south 28 lower buckeye road local transdev phoenix phoenix south 29 thomas road local first transit phoenix phoenix west 30 university drive local first transit rpta mesa tempe 32 32nd street south local transdev phoenix phoenix south 35 35th avenue local transdev phoenix phoenix south 39 40th street north phoenix local transdev phoenix phoenix north 40 apache main street local first transit rpta mesa tempe 41 indian school road local first transit phoenix phoenix west 43 43rd avenue local first transit phoenix phoenix west 44 44th street tatum boulevard local transdev phoenix phoenix south 45 broadway local first transit rpta mesa tempe 48 48th street rio salado parkway local first transit rpta tempe 50 camelback road local transdev phoenix phoenix north 51 51st avenue local first transit phoenix phoenix west 52 roeser road local transdev phoenix phoenix south 56 priest drive local first transit rpta tempe 59 59th avenue local first transit phoenix phoenix west 60 bethany home road local transdev phoenix phoenix north 61 southern avenue local first transit rpta mesa tempe 62 hardy guadalupe local first transit rpta tempe 65 mill kyrene local first transit rpta tempe 66 mill kyrene local first transit rpta tempe 67 67th avenue local first transit phoenix phoenix west 70 24th street glendale local transdev phoenix phoenix south 72 scottsdale rural road local first transit rpta tempe 75 75th avenue local first transit phoenix phoenix west 77 baseline road local first transit rpta mesa tempe 80 northern shea local transdev phoenix phoenix north 81 hayden mcclintock drive local first transit rpta mesa tempe 83 83rd avenue local first transit phoenix phoenix west 90 dunlap cave creek road local transdev phoenix phoenix north 96 dobson road local first transit rpta mesa tempe 104 alma school road local first transit rpta mesa tempe 106 peoria avenue local transdev phoenix phoenix north 108 elliot 48th street local first transit rpta mesa tempe 112 country club arizona avenue local first transit rpta mesa tempe 120 mesa drive local first transit rpta mesa 122 cactus road local transdev phoenix phoenix north 128 stapley drive local first transit rpta mesa 136 gilbert road local first transit rpta mesa 138 thunderbird road local transdev phoenix phoenix north 154 greenway road local transdev phoenix phoenix north 156 chandler boulevard williams field road local first transit rpta mesa tempe 170 bell road local transdev phoenix phoenix north 184 power road local first transit rpta mesa tempe 186 union hills drive local transdev phoenix phoenix north 251 51st avenue baseline local valu trans southeast glendale 514 scottsdale express first transit rpta tempe 520 tempe express first transit rpta tempe 521 tempe express first transit rpta tempe 522 tempe express first transit rpta tempe 531 mesa gilbert express first transit rpta mesa tempe 533 mesa express first transit rpta mesa tempe 535 northeast mesa downtown express first transit rpta mesa 541 chandler express first transit rpta tempe 542 chandler downtown express first transit rpta mesa tempe 562 goodyear downtown express valu trans southeast glendale 563 buckeye express valu trans southeast glendale 571 surprise express valu trans southeast glendale 573 northwest valley downtown express valu trans southeast glendale 575 northwest valley loop 101 downtown express valu trans southeast glendale 685 gila bend regional connector express ajo transportation ajo gl grand avenue limited express valu trans southeast glendale provides express service but with a local fare . zoom avondale zoom circulator valu trans southeast glendale 0.50 fare to ride . gus 1 glendale urban shuttle 1 circulator city of glendale northwest glendale 0.25 fare to ride . gus 2 glendale urban shuttle 2 circulator city of glendale northwest glendale 0.25 fare to ride . gus 3 glendale urban shuttle 3 circulator city of glendale northwest glendale 0.25 fare to ride . buzz mesa downtown buzz circulator first transit rpta tempe alex phoenix neighborhood circulator alex ahwatukee circulator transdev phoenix phoenix south dash phoenix neighborhood circulator dash gov. loop circulator transdev phoenix phoenix south mary phoenix neighborhood circulator mary maryvale circulator first transit phoenix phoenix west smart phoenix neighborhood circulator smart sunnyslope circulator transdev phoenix phoenix north trolley scottsdale camelback trolley circulator ollie the trolley scottsdale trolley scottsdale downtown trolley circulator ollie the trolley scottsdale trolley scottsdale miller road trolley circulator ollie the trolley scottsdale trolley scottsdale neighborhood trolley circulator ollie the trolley scottsdale trolley talking stick trolley circulator ollie the trolley scottsdale seasonal runs from mid october through early april . trolley scottsdale resort trolley circulator ollie the trolley scottsdale seasonal runs from late december through the end of march . forward flash forward arizona state university circulator first transit rpta tempe back flash back arizona state university circulator first transit rpta tempe earth tempe orbit earth circulator first transit rpta tempe jupiter tempe orbit jupiter circulator first transit rpta tempe mars tempe orbit mars circulator first transit rpta tempe