B-Line buses line up during a community event. The Butte County Association of Governments is seeking public input on local bus service in Chico and Oroville as part of its Chico-Oroville Bus Network Study. Photo courtesy of Butte Regional Transit

CHICO, CA (MPG) - The Butte County Association of Governments is asking residents and transit riders to weigh in on how B-Line bus service should operate in Chico and Oroville.

BCAG, working with transit consulting firm Jarrett Walker and Associates, has launched a community survey as part of the Chico-Oroville Bus Network Study. The study examines where local routes travel, when buses run and how well the system serves riders.

"The survey gives our communities a real voice in how transit takes shape here," BCAG Transportation Analyst Amy White said. "The choices we're asking about now will guide what a future Chico-Oroville network can look like. We want people to walk away understanding not just what we're asking, but why it matters."

The study covers local routes in Chico and Oroville as well as Route 20, which connects the two cities. It does not include regional routes, paratransit or service to Paradise, Magalia, Biggs and Gridley. BCAG is reviewing those services separately.

The survey asks the public to consider two approaches to operating the bus network.

Under what BCAG calls a Ridership Concept, buses would concentrate on the busiest streets and run more frequently. The trade-off would be less or no service in some lower-density areas.

A Coverage Concept would spread service across more neighborhoods, placing more residents near a bus stop but resulting in buses running less frequently.

BCAG said neither concept represents a proposed or final network. Instead, the agency developed the two approaches to show the choices involved in deciding whether available service should focus more on frequent buses or reaching more neighborhoods.

The agency expects any final network to fall somewhere between the two concepts, with survey responses helping guide that process.

The survey takes about five minutes and is available in English and Spanish. Anyone interested in transit service in Chico or Oroville may participate and can provide feedback for one or both cities.

Paper surveys will be available at the Chico transit center and partner locations in Chico and Oroville. Hmong speakers and people who need assistance accessing or reading the survey may contact BCAG at [email protected].

The English survey is available at http://surveymonkey.com/r/TransitSurvey2026. The Spanish survey is available at http://surveymonkey.com/r/Transit2026ES.