Monterey County, CA - September, 2005 - Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) is introducing “a new way to taste Carmel Valley!” Named the Carmel Valley-Grapevine Express, this additional service to the Line 24 Carmel Valley route will assist visitors and locals with a convenient opportunity to enjoy the many wine tasting venues and other amenities available throughout Carmel Valley.
Passengers can board at the Monterey Conference Center, the Monterey Transit Plaza, at bus stops along Munras Avenue, and at Carmel Rancho for a pleasant journey along Carmel Valley Road stopping at vineyards and wine tasting rooms along the way into Carmel Valley Village, where numerous wine tasting rooms are clustered. The Carmel Valley-Grapevine Express is unique in that instead of vehicles staying with passengers for a set time at each stop, they will continue to circulate on the entire route in 45-minute intervals. This allows for greater flexibility in the timing of passengers’ stays at each tasting room, and allows folks to return to Monterey whenever they like to. The 17-passenger vans that will operate on the Carmel Valley-Grapevine Express route will run every 45 minutes between 10:00 a.m. and 6:15 p.m. with the last return trip to Monterey at 6:20 p.m. The days of operation are Friday, Saturday and Sunday throughout the months of October and November. An all-day pass is $4.50 with discounted fares for seniors (65+) or disabled costing $2.25, which allows passengers to board the MST vehicles as many times a day as they like.
The Carmel Valley Grapevine Express is a project of Competitive Clusters: C2 – a public/private partnership for economic development in Monterey County sponsored by the Monterey County Office of Economic Development and the Monterey Business Council. If the two-month demonstration project is successful, MST would seek local partners in the business community to help permanently fund this exciting new service.
For more information about the Carmel Valley Grapevine Express or any of MST’s other services, call toll free 1-888-MST-BUS1 or visit MST Online at www.mst.org.
