Los Alamos County transit switches to special July 3 holiday schedule

Anyone planning to catch a normal Atomic City Transit bus in Los Alamos on Friday, July 3, will need another ride: the county says no fixed routes and no Dial-a-Ride service will run that day. Regular transit service is scheduled to return Monday, July 6.

The county is keeping one narrow window open for evening traffic tied to the summer concert season. The July 3 Concert Series service runs from 6:30 p.m. to 9:40 p.m., with the last buses set to leave for North Mesa and North Community at 9:35 p.m. and for White Rock at 9:40 p.m. That gives concertgoers only a short ride-home window after activities around Ashley Pond end.

County transit pages say the Friday Night Concert Series shuttle started Friday, May 22, and runs through Aug. 28. The service is built around the Ashley Pond concerts, which run from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., and it is set up to carry riders on North Community and North Mesa every 30 minutes and White Rock every hour. For workers, seniors and holiday visitors who usually depend on the bus, July 3 is not a routine weekday schedule and should be treated as a transit exception from the start of the day.

Riders who need an on-demand trip can use ACT MyRide, Atomic City Transit’s reservation service, through the app or by calling 505-661-RIDE, or 7433. The county also identifies ACT MyRide Assist as its ADA complementary paratransit service, but the July 3 notice makes clear that Dial-a-Ride will not operate that day. People who rely on the county’s regular fixed routes, or on paratransit for medical visits, errands or holiday travel, will need to arrange another option before Friday.

The Bandelier Shuttle will continue to run during the holiday period, giving visitors another way to move around Bandelier National Monument and Frijoles Canyon. The National Park Service says Bandelier began using a mandatory shuttle in summer 2012 to ease parking congestion, and the monument protects more than 33,000 acres. The 2026 shuttle season began March 19, adding another layer of summer transit service while Los Alamos County shifts its own system into holiday mode.

The July 3 notice also lands after the county said June 1 that a staff shortage would suspend Route 2M and some peak trips on Routes 6 and 1 until further notice. For anyone counting on Atomic City Transit during a busy holiday week, the safest assumption is simple: check the schedule before leaving home, because normal service will not be there.