Norwalk Transit District

Norwalk Transit District Gillig Advantage #167 at the WHEELS Pulse Point, on Route 13.
Founded	1978
Headquarters	275 Wilson Avenue Norwalk, CT 06854
Locale	Southwestern Connecticut
Service area	Norwalk, Danbury, Westport, Greenwich, and nearby communities
Service type	Local bus service
Routes	Norwalk: 18 Westport: 9 Greenwich: 2 Route 7 link to Danbury Coastal Link to Milford
Hubs	Norwalk WHEELS hub (for Norwalk routes)
Fleet	56[1]
Daily ridership	2005: 6,299 (weekday); 2,927 (Saturday); 523 (Sunday)
Operator	Norwalk Transit District
Chief executive	Louis Schulman (general manager)
Website	Official Website

The Norwalk Transit District is the primary provider of public transportation services in Norwalk, Connecticut and surrounding communities. The district's fixed-route bus transit system, known as WHEELS, is the primary service of the system linking Norwalk and its immediate suburbs as well as peak-hour service as far north as Danbury (with HART) and as far east as Bridgeport (with GBTA) as well as shuttles to Metro-North stations. Paratransit services are also available for residents in the service area unable to use regular transit services.

The city of Norwalk founded the Norwalk Transit District in 1978, seven years after The Connecticut Company ceased operations in Norwalk outside of their route linking Norwalk to Stamford (which continues as Connecticut Transit Stamford Route 41). Though an entity of its city, the district does also receive funding from the Connecticut Department of Transportation and has both its funds and transfers synched to those of the DOT-aligned CT Transit though it has not piggybacked onto that agency's bus orders.

Routes

WHEELS operates fixed routes throughout its service area. A "pulse-point" system is used with all routes meeting at the "WHEELS Hub" in downtown Norwalk to facilitate instant transfers between routes plus CT Transit Route 41 (though passengers on WHEELS routes 11 and 13 can transfer earlier/later during their shared area on U.S. Route 1). Fares as of 2012 are $1.50 (US) with a free transfer which can be used on WHEELS, CT Transit, HART, GBTA, or Milford Transit.

WHEELS Services

• 12 fixed route services, all in the city limits of Norwalk, which run as bidirectional loops from the transit hub, starting at approximately 5:00 am and ending at 8:00 pm weekdays and (most routes) 7:00 am–7:00 pm weekends. (NOTE : Norwalk Transit District will eliminate some routes in January 2017
  • Regular Routes (directions)
    • 1 (Fox Run)
    • 2 (Broad River)
    • 3 (Union)
    • 4 (West Rocks)
    • 5/6 (Newtown/Wolfpit)
    • 7 (Norden Park)
    • 8 (Shady Beach)
    • 9 (Woodward)
    • 10 (Wilson)
    • 11 (Norwalk Community College)
    • 12 (McKinley)
    • 13 (Richards)
• 2 "Evening Shuttle" routes which provide extra service alongside Main Street and Connecticut Avenue. These buses also meet arriving and departing trains at Metro-North Railroad's South Norwalk station.
• 2 "Sunday Shuttle" routes which run alongside Main Street and Connecticut Avenue which are similar to the Evening Shuttles.
  • Main Ave
  • Connecticut Ave
• 3 regional routes
  • The Coastal Link, a Daily regional route running to Bridgeport and Milford operated with the GBTA and Milford Transit District and funded by CDOT.
  • The Route 7 Link, a weekday route running between Norwalk and Danbury operated with HART and funded by CDOT.
  • Connecticut Transit Route 41, a weekday route running between Norwalk and Stamford operated with Connecticut Transit Stamford and funded by CDOT.
• 4 commuter shuttle routes
  • Norwalk Hospital/Belden Avenue
  • Merritt 7/Glover Avenue
  • Westport Road/Wilton
  • CT Ave/ NCC
• 2 School trip routes
  • Norwalk High
  • Brien McMahon High

Outside Norwalk, WHEELS offers several variable services including:

• Routes serving the town of Westport (Route 1- Downtown/Post Road West)
• Westport commuter service (Route G1- Coleytown to Green Farms Station, Route G2- Long Lots to Green Farms Station, Route S2- Old Hill to Saugatauck Station, Route S3- Riverside to Saugatauck Station, Route S4- Post Rd to Saugatauck Station)
• ADA and Paratrasit service for much of Fairfield County
• A commuter shuttle route serving Greenwich (Central Loop)

Fleet

References

External links

• Norwalk Transit District Homepage

Greater New York region bus transit
Transportation in New York City Mass transit in New York City
Operators	New York Public MTA Regional Bus Clarkstown Dutchess Long Beach Huntington Kingston Nassau Poughkeepsie Putnam Roosevelt Island Suffolk Rockland Ulster Westchester Private Academy Coach USA Community Olympia Rockland Short Line Suburban Hampton Jitney Hampton Luxury Liner Leprechaun Liberty Long Island Airport Monsey NYC Airporter Pine Hill / Adirondack / New York Trailways Spanish Veolia New Jersey / Pennsylvania Public NJ Transit Bus Rutgers Lehigh and Northampton Monroe County Private A&C Academy AmeriBus Broadway Coach USA Community Olympia Rockland Short Line Suburban DeCamp Greyhound Lakeland Martz Susquehanna Trans-Bridge Connecticut Connecticut Transit Stamford New Haven Waterbury Norwalk Bridgeport Housatonic Area Milford
Routes	New York Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Express within NYC Dutchess Nassau Putnam Rockland Suffolk Ulster Westchester New Jersey Bergen / Passaic Essex / Hudson / Union Mercer Middlesex / Monmouth / Morris North Jersey to NYC Special event and park-ride Suburban Connecticut Bridgeport Danbury New Haven Norwalk Stamford Pennsylvania Lehigh and Northampton Monroe
Defunct operators	New York Caravan Transit Varsity & Command Fifth Avenue Coach (earlier 5th Ave Transportation) Green Jamaica Liberty Madison Avenue Long Island New York Bus New York City Omnibus New York Transportation North Shore Queens Surface Soundview Steinway Surface Triboro Atlantic Express New Jersey PABCO Public Service / Transport of New Jersey
Transit centers	New York City 165th Street Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue Eltingville Fordham Plaza George Washington Bridge Jamaica Center Port Authority Ridgewood Intermodal St. George Victor A. Moore Williamsburg Bridge Plaza Long Island Mineola Intermodal Rosa Parks Hempstead Hudson Valley New Rochelle Petrillo Plaza White Plains New Jersey Broadway (Paterson) Exchange Place Hackensack Hoboken Terminal Irvington Journal Square Lakewood Passaic Red Bank Ridgewood Weehawken

Public transport in Connecticut
CTTransit buses	Hartford New Haven Stamford Waterbury, Meriden, and Wallingford New Britain and Bristol CTfastrak (BRT)
Other bus agencies	Bridgeport Enfield Estuary Housantonic Middletown Milford Northeast CT Northwest CT Norwalk Southeast Windham
Rail services	Metro-North-operated New Haven Line New Canaan Branch Danbury Branch Waterbury Branch Amtrak-operated Shore Line East New Haven–Springfield Shuttle Acela Express Northeast Regional Vermonter Under construction Hartford Line Proposed Central Corridor Rail Line
Other	Connecticut Rail Commuter Council Connecticut DOT Northeast Corridor