CPH cuts two Arcata evening bus routes to save money

• Three Arcata bus routes used by students have been cut for the fall 2026 semester: the evening Arcata Red and Gold lines no longer run and the “Green and Gold” line has been completely discontinued. The evening Arcata Orange route will cover these routes.
• The Arcata day routes on the Red and Gold lines will continue as usual.
• Due to conflicts with federal funding laws, the Humboldt Transit Authority will no longer provide shuttle services between campus and the HHM dorms after December. The university is currently looking for a replacement.

Cal Poly Humboldt cut funding for multiple bus services used by students this fall semester. Two of Arcata’s evening transit routes (the Red and Gold lines) plus the “Green and Gold” line are gone, according to the Humboldt Transit Authority.

What routes are affected?

Students who need to ride the bus between 7-10 p.m. in Arcata are now left with two options: the Arcata Orange line and the long-distance Redwood Transit System, which has limited stops in Arcata. The evening Arcata Orange route loops around Arcata and covers most of the stops from the Red and Gold lines. As a result, evening bus services around Arcata will be less frequent. Both CPH and the HTA confirmed the evening Orange route will continue until the end of this semester.

The day routes on the Red and Gold lines will continue operations as normal. The “Green and Gold” line, which mostly acted as a supplemental line to the Gold line, is completely gone. CPH’s changes do not impact other cities’ routes such as Eureka and McKinleyville with HTA.

Why were changes made?

The cuts were originally announced in an HTA Board of Directors meeting agenda from early August, stating that CPH “did not plan to continue any of their public transit services.” CPH Vice President of Administration and Finance, Mike Fisher, said in an Associated Students (AS) meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 18 that the university was looking for ways to reduce university costs with the HTA.

“We were up on a three-year term with HTA to negotiate what we can do. We were in the red,” Fisher said. “We’ve been using reserves for the past two and a half years to provide services and so we had an open conversation with HTA about what can we do to control our costs a little bit. That’s where we’ve been trying to get to.”

At the Associated Students meeting, the university said it spent $674,932 fully funding these routes during the 2025-2026 fiscal year.

HHM shuttle changes coming

Due to issues with federal funding regulations, the HTA will also be discontinuing shuttle services between the Hinarr Hu Moulik (HHM) dorms and CPH after mid-December. As a recipient of funds from the Federal Transit Administration, the HTA told El Leñador it is not permitted to compete with private industry by providing charter services.

Representatives from CPH administration confirmed in the Associated Students meeting that the university is actively working with third-party contractors to obtain quotes to get a shuttle system ready for the spring 2027 semester.

Impact

Colin Fiske, a member of the non- profit transit-advocacy group Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities (CRTP) in Humboldt County, has concerns about the cuts.

“I’d say there’s a lot of folks who can’t drive who rely on the bus, and the number of people who for whom driving is prohibitively expensive is growing as gas prices are kind of skyrocketing and all the other costs of living are increasing,” Fiske said. “So this is really a moment when more and more people are going to be relying on transit and really, for that reason, a really bad time to be cutting service.”

What happens after December?

CPH said that it is working with the HTA to determine what services can be offered after December. Cris Koczera, associate vice president of CPH’s Department of Transportation and Parking Services, said “Based off what the costs will look like for that [HHM Shuttle] we will be able to determine if we have funding available to continue to support the evening Orange
routes.”