January 10, 2026, approx. 7:29 a.m. Issue: I called with a simple question about returning from Bakersfield to Tehachapi and whether the downtown station is the correct departure point. The representative repeatedly interrupted me, spoke with a dismissive tone, and answered questions I did not ask. When I asked whether Golden Empire Transit accepts student IDs for free rides, she refused to look up the information and told me to "Google it myself." She also cut me off when I asked whether routes serve shelters. I remained calm throughout the call. The representative was rude, unhelpful, and unwilling to provide basic transit information or referrals. read more

Horrible, especially the customer service, you call because the fucking buses are late (because they stop smoking, because they fall asleep on the bus or because furman boils, they are not even good drivers) and treat you like it's your damn fault? Horrible service each of them is rude, disrespectful, if our taxes are paid if they should remember the salary! read more

the drivers are very rude from there , once entering on the bus they start questioning you very rudely to where the destination you need to go to at and if not answered correctly. They get very annoyed and asked for you to get off their bus rudely or just tell you to go to another bus ... and if you chose to still stay and take their bus with them after being answered rudely and and telling them about it on being not being friendly they drop you off at your destination (yes) but won't pick you after to bring you back home on there saying there bus dosent go the route that you need to go to when it is the route to go for it and lying about it and have the other drivers going in in it. Very horrible experience. Do not recommend this bus transportation. read more

The drivers are always great, and so are the fares. Anything negative in this review applies to management, which seems struggle with practical solutions. I used to take route 130 quite often, and it was much better when the route only traveled between Bakersfield and Frazier Park. By stretching the route to cover Santa Clarita, the wait in for the next bus home has become way way too long. I had a 1pm doctor appointment in Bakersfield. The latest departure time from Frazier Park to reach my appointment was 8:40 am, which got me into Bakersfield 3 hours early. The earliest departure time for home was 5 pm. The money I saved taking the bus was spent at the businesses I had to camp in while waiting for my next trip home. It isn't ethical to sit in a restaurant or coffee shop for 3-6 hours without giving them business. This doesn't help someone trying to save his money for more necessary things. It was an 8 hour slot for a 1 hour appointment. Double the time if I drove, and the same cost. The money I saved on gas, I spent on food as rent during my very long wait. Good thing I brought several books. If Kern Transit either added a 2nd bus for Santa Clarita, or left it off the routes entirely, it would make more frequent trips to and from Bakersfield possible, and make me more inclined to use it again. read more

I am a regular user of kern transit from Taft because I work in Bakersfield, for three months the only problem I've had was that the bus driver didn't know his own stops so he dropped me off 4 miles from where I needed to go even though I asked to be dropped somewhere else...but tonight I'm waiting for the bus, and like every other night the 21 stops where it always does, and I wait for the 120 to come 5 mins later, but this time instead of stopping, they drive right past me and another person who was going to be a passenger. clearly they have no idea what they are doing. read more

Management and company do not follow Federal and state transportation guide lines. The company managing should be replaced or services should be back under Kern County. It's unfortunate that such small minded mentality is effecting the quality and professionalism of the service. With the right management it could be a really good service. read more

I am regular rider on the Kern Transit buses. I am from Frazier Park and unfortunately between my husband I we do not have a car, I have no other choice but to use the buses to and from work (at the outlets in Tejon). Living in a mountain town, everything is pretty spaced out, and walking anywhere can take hours, especially when you have a two year old daughter like we do, her legs get tired easily. Today I had the worst experience of my life using Kern Transits "Dial a Ride". The buses come between 2 to 4 hours of each other, sometimes longer depending on the day, so we have to plan our outings very careful to line up with the times we can get a ride. I called two days in advance to schedule a "Dial a Ride" back from the clinic after our appointment to get our daughter her last few vaccinations. The operator I spoke to got my name and number and assured me that a ride was scheduled for us from Lebec Clinica Sierra back to Frazier Park at 1:30 pm. When we came out of the clinic my daughter was exhausted from her long day out as well as the vaccines and it had started to rain, a storm was coming in. The advice from the doctor was to get my daughter home and let her rest as she might not be feeling well for a couple days; a weakened immune system is to be expected. Our "Dial a Ride" service did not show up. When I called the operator told me my name wasn't even registered for the service and that no rides had been scheduled for me. They told me there was no way my daughter and my husband and I could get a ride scheduled for us back at such short notice. I was told a manager would call me and register my name for future rides but would by no means be scheduling me for one today. I explained to them that I had scheduled a ride two days earlier and would not have taken a trip out if I had not been assured of our ride home. I also explained to them that I had a baby with me in a vulnerable state of health who was in no condition to be out in a storm. None of us were dressed warm enough to be walking 6 miles home in the freezing cold. The operator said there was nothing he could do and nothing his manager would be able to do either. I called back numerous times trying to speak to a manger and was informed my number had been given to her and she would call me back. Which never happened. My husband and I took off the sweatshirts that we had on and wrapped our daughter in everything we could (leaving ourselves with nothing but t shirts on) and began the long journey home along a dirt road with no side walks. Kern Transit put the health and safety of my daughter in jeopardy knowingly and did not care to repair the damage done by their operators who lack the simple ability to communicate properly and who are obviously not trained well enough to know the routes, times, and procedures, of their own bus system. This is not the first time I have been inconvenienced by Kern Transit and their incompetent operators. Several times I have been informed that the bus does not go to one location or another or run on a certain day of the week only to see them go there the next day. As soon as I "call them out" on their blatant lie then the operators change their mind and say I can take the bus to that area. This exact situation also happened to my brother who works in Gorman. I am exhausted with being treated like my business does not matter to Kern Transit. I think it is ridiculous that their customers have to "bust" them in order to get the truth on routes and schedules. The timing of buses is so limited that those who work outside of their own towns have to take less hours in their jobs (to avoid getting stranded at night), which prevents them from being able to save money for a car, keeping them forced to rely on an unreliable transportation company. And above all I am appalled that a company would care so little about their customers that they would treat the well being of a child in storm weather so flippantly. I have never had to deal with a company of poorer quality. I will be informing my family and friends of this experience and posting this review on as many sites as I can so that perhaps I can prevent other families from relying on Kern Transit; A company that puts its costumers needs and the training of their employees on the lowest of priorities. read more

What's the point of having schedules if your drivers are always between 10 and 30 minutes late?

I know that the regional transit faces a lot of difficulties, but they don't even seem to be trying as far as the North Kern Express is concerned. One of the morning drivers takes the opportunities to do her grocery shopping at Vallarta despite running way behind. As I write this, another driver who is 50 minutes behind is taking a break. Ridiculous. read more