Memphis Area Transit Authority - System Background

System Background

The system was formed in 1975 to service the greater Memphis and Shelby County Tennessee area and nearby West Memphis, Arkansas. MATA is run by a general manager and an eight member board of commissioners, appointed by the Mayor of Memphis and approved by the Memphis City Council. The system has been operated by First Transit (initially Ryder Transit) since its inception.

The transit agency operates 244 buses, mostly Neoplan USA articulateds, Gillig Advantage low-floors (both diesel and diesel/electric hybrids), and NovaBus LFS low floors buses on 39 routes. In the past, its roster included GM TDH-5300 and TDH-4500 "New Looks" and Flxible 40-102 New Look series (carryovers from its predecessor prior to MATA's formation), AM General 40 ft., MAN articulateds and the RTS series from GM, TMC and NovaBus. The RTS series were MATA's preferred fleet of choice, having been used in its lineup from February 1980 until its retirement in April 2010, when the six remaining 1994 NovaBus versions were replaced with the Gillig Advantage Hybrids. MATA hopes to shift to a hybrid fleet in the future.

In August 2008 MATA introduced three new express routes from the Whitehaven, southeast and northeast areas into the central city. In September 2007, MATA offered free transportation on fixed route bus service, trolley and MATAplus service for persons from Louisiana and Southern Mississippi areas affected by Hurricane Gustav.