UMass Transit operates as a contractor for the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority, which is headquartered in Springfield, the largest municipality of the region. This setup exists because PVTA, as a regional transit authority established under Chapter 161B of the Massachusetts General Statutes, is forbidden under Section 25 of the same statute from operating routes directly. PVTA thus contracts with the school to operate certain routes. UMass Transit buses in fixed route service are owned by the PVTA and are painted in their standard livery. These buses are numbered in the 3000 series, and are between 35 and 60 feet in length. The 60-feet buses were acquired in 2013 to accommodate student crowds on the North Pleasant Street through routes Gold 30 and Pink 31.
In addition to operating tendered services for the PVTA, UMass Transit also maintains an activity fleet of buses of various types for charter by student groups within the UMass Amherst community. These buses are generally painted to match the school colors of white and maroon.
Fixed routes
The following routes are operated by UMass Transit Services on behalf of the PVTA. Most buses only display the destination. Note: By order of the Amherst Police Department and UMass Police Department, in an effort to curb student crowds and maintain order, the Fearing Street bus stops in Amherst are bypassed by all campus buses, along with the B43 route, after 10 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights during full service periods. The North Village bus stop in North Amherst is bypassed after 11 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights during full service periods.
These routes, operated by UMass Transit, are targeted not toward the UMass student body, but towards the year-round local population in the area.
Fares
UMass Transit buses are not equipped with fareboxes or fare registers. Students attending any colleges in the Five Colleges Consortium have a fee included in their tuition bills for each semester that prepays their bus fares for the semester and funds the Five Colleges bus system, along with fares on the B43 local route between Amherst College and Smith College via UMass. UMass Transit buses are free.
While the population of Amherst is nominally 37,819 as per the 2010 census, that figure includes the student population of the Five Colleges, many of whom are only part-time residents and who account for approximately 60 percent of that figure. As such, when classes are not in session, service is greatly reduced and often suspended on many routes, and other routes will have service ending early. All UMass Transit service is suspended on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. On other days when classes are not in session, UMass Transit routes operate on a reduced service schedule.
