Los Alamos County suspends Atomic City Transit Route 2M amid staff shortage
Route 2M will stop running June 1, leaving White Rock riders without a direct trip and cutting peak service on Routes 1 and 6 until further notice.
White Rock riders who depend on Atomic City Transit’s Route 2M will lose that service beginning Monday, June 1, as Los Alamos County suspends the line and trims peak trips on Routes 1 and 6 because of a staff shortage. The county said the changes will remain in place until further notice, leaving riders with no firm date for full restoration of service.
The loss hits a transit system that many Los Alamos County residents use for work, school, shopping, appointments and community events. Atomic City Transit is the county’s free public transportation network, and the June 1 cuts will be felt most by riders who do not have easy access to a private car. Route 1, the Downtown Circulator, and Route 6, North Mesa, will continue to run, but some of their peak-period trips will be suspended along with Route 2M, which serves White Rock via Main Hill.
Los Alamos County announced the change on May 21 and apologized for the disruption. The county’s routes page says Route 1 peak 15-minute service and Route 6 peak service are normally in operation, which makes the coming reduction a significant step down in frequency on the system’s higher-demand runs. The county also notes that Route 2M now includes an on-demand stop at La Vista Dr. & Mirador Blvd., a detail that may matter to White Rock riders adjusting travel plans around the suspension.
For riders trying to plan ahead, the county is directing people to ACTracker and the MyStop Mobile app for real-time transit information. Customer service is available through the Los Alamos County Transit Office Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at (505) 661-RIDE, or 7433.
The staffing problem is not new. A similar Route 2M suspension was reported in June 2024, underscoring how quickly service can be disrupted when the county does not have enough operators to cover fixed routes. That matters in Los Alamos County, where even a temporary cut can ripple through everyday routines in the townsite, White Rock and North Mesa.
Atomic City Transit began service on Oct. 1, 2007, and ridership quickly exceeded early projections. The system was expected to reach 100,000 annual one-way passenger trips, but it carried 254,502 in its first year. From 2012 to 2015, ACT averaged more than 545,000 annual passenger trips, peaking at 562,226 in 2012. Alongside fixed routes, the system also provides dial-a-ride, ADA complementary paratransit, seasonal Bandelier shuttle service, Fourth of July shuttle service and holiday safe-ride service, making the current shortage more than a single-route problem.
The county’s 2026 schedule also shows the Friday Night Concert Series Shuttle begins May 22 and runs through Aug. 28, giving some riders another option as summer travel picks up. For now, though, the immediate question is how long Route 2M stays down and how long the county can keep the rest of Atomic City Transit stable while it works through the shortage.
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