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Ascara River Bus

The Ascara River Bus (Ventoran: Ómnibus Fluvial) is a system of water busses operating along the lower Lávar River and adjacent waterways in the municipality of Ascara, Montaña, Ventora. The system is overseen by Municipal Transport Ascara (Transporte Municipal Ascara, TMA) which has responsiblity for public transport in the region. As a result, river bus routes, schedules, and fares are integrated with other transit modes, including transit busses, trams, the Ascara Metro, and regional rail. The river busses are not ferries in that they operate along a multi-stop route rather than in a point-to-point mode as is typical for ferries. TMA has awarded operating concessions to six different companies to fulfill their assigned schedules. In 2019, the river busses carried over 1.9 million passengers.

History

As a river city, Ascara has long had waterborne transport, which, in part, facilitated the city's growth. The first regularly scheduled transit route dates from the early 19th century. As the city began to grew inland and away from the river, railroads began to provide transit services from the late 1800s. As a result, the numbers of steamboat passengers started to decline from their mid-century height of around 7,000 per year.

Beginning at the start of the 20th century, the city undertook to coordinate the various modes of transport to improve transit efficiencies and make the services, forming the TMA in 1901. The river busses were included in the scheme from June 5, 1904. The growing availability of automobiles had an effect on the trams, railways, and river busses, although they all remained viable means for the less affluent to travel through the city.

With the turn of the millennium, Ascarca undertook a renewed effort to coordinate its transit methods to improve services, coordinate schedules, and implement a common fare scheme across all modes. TMA's intent was, and remains, to increase usage, thereby reducing road congestion and vehicle emissions while also enhancing public infrastructure utilization and efficiencies. TMA initiated river bus schedules along designated routes with effect from 2000 and allocated the routes to private operators under concession. With these changes and other improvements, such as newer watercraft and benefits of technology, transit usage has gone up significantly, including for the river busses.

Service

River bus service operates 7 days on some lines, but only Monday through Saturday on others. The earliest run is 05:30 and the last scheduled departure is 23:10 weekdays, except the F2 Port route which runs 24 hours daily. There are six routes serving 29 stops. Some of the stops have a simple quay while others include a shelter. About half the stops include a station facility, one of which is the Gulfshore Railroad Station at Costa del Golfo, which connections to the T12 tram, several bus routes, and regional rail service.

There has been consideration about initiating an F5 route which would run hourly between all Lávar River stops, but there has been no invitation to tender thus far. Discussions about providing cross-river transit service to landings in Esharat have also taken place but the complexities of the international border have prevented the idea from being implemented. While the visa policy of Ventora permits Eshars visa-free travel into Ventora, establishing suitable border controls for other nationals remains an unresolved element of the scheme.

Routes

Route	Route name	Termini	Stops	Headways		Concessionaire
				Monday to Saturday	Sundays and holidays
F1	Upriver	Chení - Puerto Norte	12	05:30 - 09:00: 20 min 09:20 - 14:40: 40 min 15:00 - 19:00: 20 min 19:20 - 23:10: 40 min	06:30 - 21:00: 30 min	Ómnibus del río Lávar
F12	Upriver express	La Mecao - Pueblo	4	05:40 - 09:10: 20 min 09:40 - 14:20: 40 min 14:50 - 19:10: 20 min	—	Barcos Rápidos Ascara
F2	Port	Puerto Norte (loop)	7	05:30 - 08:30: 15 min 08:45 - 14:15: 30 min 14:30 - 18:30: 15 min 18:45 - 21:45: 30 min 22:00 - 00:15: 15 min 00:30 - 05:30: 30 min		Barco Portuerio
F3	Downriver	Pueblo - Costa del Golfo	9	05:30 - 09:00: 20 min 09:20 - 14:40: 40 min 15:00 - 19:00: 20 min 19:20 - 23:10: 40 min	06:30 - 21:00: 30 min	Marina del golfo y Lávar
F32	Downriver express	Pueblo - Costa del Golfo	4	05:40 - 09:10: 20 min 09:40 - 14:20: 40 min 14:50 - 19:10: 20 min	—	Sur Lávar
F4	Inland	Pueblo - Nalimes	8	05:30 - 09:00: 15 min 09:30 - 14:30: 30 min 14:45 - 19:00: 15 min 19:30 - 23:00: 30 min	06:15 - 22:30: 45 min	Barcos de la Ciudad

Fleets

Each concessionaire is responsible for their own fleets of river busses. The vessels must meet safety standards for passenger service and be able to adhere to the assigned schedules. They must also be able to transport at least 105% of standard projected demand for the scheduled run time. Most vessels vary in size from 24 to 112 passengers, with the largest having a capacity of 225. The average vessel speed is 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph), with the fastest being to reach 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph) operating on the express routes.

Fares

As with other transit overseen by TMA, passengers use a stored-value card, called ¡Viaje! Ascara, to pay fares. The cards may be purchased from any system farecard vending machine or from attendants in those stations that are staffed. Patrons can add value to their card online using sinapse or at a farecard vending machine or staffed station. Most river bus stations are only staffed 07:00 to 17:30 weekdays, but the Pueblo river bus station is staffed 24-hours daily and the Gulfshore Rail Station is staffed during opening hours.

Fares are based on distance traveled rather than a zone system. There is no charge to transfer from one mode of transit to another if done within one hour of exiting the previous mode. The base standard fare is 12.00 Ɇ off-peak or 15.00 Ɇ peak (Monday-Friday, 05:30 - 09:00 and 15:30 - 19:00, except holidays). The highest river bus fare is 22.00 Ɇ peak (20.00 Ɇ off-peak). Single- and multi-day passes (3, 5, and 30) may also be purchased at a discounted rate for the distance declared by the purchaser. While the passes offer unlimited use during their active period, if the user travels further than the declared distance, they will need to add value to the fare card before exiting the system. Students, seniors (persons over age 65), and the disabled pay half-fare and are exempt from peak-period pricing.

River bus regatta

Begun in 2012, the river bus regatta has become a popular event held on the last Saturday of September. Beginning early in the morning, the regatta features several events:

• Riverine maneuvering – ability to transit a set, non-straight course on the river
• River bus race – each concessionaire may enter one vessel in one or all of the classes: ≤ 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph), 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph) – 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph), > 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
• Dwell-time races – ability to dock quickly, disembark a set number of volunteer passengers, embark a new set of volunteer passengers, and resume transit
• Seamanship skills course – usually conducted on the Gulf of Eshar, participants must exhibit their seamanship skills in navigating between points, tying up to another vessel or buoy, and executing various life-saving drills, such as man overboard, simulated fire, and abandon ship drills
• Customer appreciation picnic and awards ceremony, held at Gulf of Eshar Beach

Gallery

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  River bus on F1 route

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  River busses at the Gulfshore Rail Station

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  Hovercraft river bus on F32 route

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  Older and newer river busses near Pueblo terminal

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  River bus under bridge

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  River bus at pier, F2 route

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  River bus at pier, F12 route

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  River bus terminal at Gulfshore Rail Station

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  River bus residential quay, F4 route

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  River bus interior

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  River bus commercial quay, F3 route

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  Réria Park quay (flag stop), F4 route