Sacramento Regional Transit District

The Sacramento Regional Transit District, commonly referred to as SacRT (or simply RT), is the agency responsible for public transportation in the Sacramento, California area. It was established on April 1, 1973,[1] as a result of the acquisition of the Sacramento Transit Authority. In addition to operating over 60 bus routes with connecting bus service in the Sacramento area covering 418 sq mi (1,082.6 km2),[1] SacRT also operates a large light rail system, which ranks currently as the sixteenth busiest light rail system in the United States.[3]

Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT)
FoundedApril 1, 1973[1]
HeadquartersSacramento, CA, 1400 29th Street
LocaleSacramento, California
Service areaSacramento and Sacramento County
Service typeBus and Light rail
Routes66 (Bus)[1]
3 (light rail)
Stops>3,100 (bus) 52 (LRV) [1]
Hubs31 transfer centers
18 park and ride lots[1]
Stations53 [1] (14 Planned Future Stations and 4 Optional)
Fleet205 buses[1]
97 LRVs[1] 23 shuttle vans[1]
Annual ridership31.5 million (2012)[2]
Fuel typeCNG, Diesel-electric hybrid
OperatorRT
WebsiteSacramento Regional Transit District

In addition to the city of Sacramento, SacRT serves Sacramento International Airport,[4] much of the northern portion of Sacramento County which includes the incorporated cities of Citrus Heights and Rancho Cordova. The unincorporated areas of Sacramento County under the SacRT service area include Arden Arcade, Carmichael, Fair Oaks, Florin, Gold River, North Highlands, Orangevale, Rio Linda and Rosemont.[5] The system formerly provided express bus service between Downtown Sacramento and Elk Grove until the mid-2000s when that city took over bus operations under the newly created e-tran; SacRT now operates e-tran as a contractor to the City of Elk Grove after signing a five-year contract to operate its service in June 2019, replacing MV Transportation. It also provided contracted bus service to neighboring Yolo County (covering West Sacramento, Davis and Woodland); those routes and operations were later taken over by Yolobus after its formation on January 3, 1982.[6] Yolobus have retained the RT assigned route numbers for their routes as they continue to service Downtown Sacramento and e-tran has since revised its route numbering scheme when they completed their comprehensive operational analysis in 2018.

Bus service

Since 2004, with the exception of some neighborhood shuttle vans (see #The Neighborhood Ride below), the bus fleet consists exclusively of Orion 07.501 (VII) and Orion VII Next Generation buses powered by compressed natural gas. In 2015 RT will add a fleet of Gillig BRT Plus CNG to the lineup to replace buses that reached its 12-year run.

The RT system operates 67 bus routes, as of 2013, with service between 5:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. daily, and ending much earlier on weekends. Frequencies range between every 15 and 80 minutes (some express buses run only a few times a day). There has been proposals in the past to expand the service hours to late nights to accommodate passengers, businesses and communities, but have been slow to implement these ideas. The most recent changes were announced in August 2012, and is gradually making plans to improve and expand bus services system-wide by 2017.[7] Since light rail has opened, buses have generally acted as feeders to light rail routes.

The RT system originally excluded service to Sacramento International Airport, as it was operated between downtown Sacramento and the airport on an hourly basis by Yolobus.[8] On January 5, 2020, RT introduced Express Route 142[4] that services the airport and downtown on a 20/30 minute interval basis, acting as a supplementary service to Yolobus’ route 42, which will continue to operate a local schedule.

The numbers provided are average weekday boardings.

  • Route 51 Broadway/Stockton 4,162[9]
  • Route 81 Florin/65th 3,338[9]
  • Route 1 Greenback 2,921[9]

Transit centers
Transit Center Location Bike lockers Transfers
American River College Location No 1, 82
Arden Fair Mall Location No 13, 23, 67/68, 129
Cosumnes River College Location Yes Blue Line, 56, 67/68,, SmaRT Ride Franklin/South Sacramento, E-Tran, South County Link
CSUS Location Yes[10] 30, 82, 87, 134
Florin Towne Centre Location No 51, 61, 68, 81, SmaRT Ride Franklin/South Sacramento
Louis and Orlando Location Yes[11] 21, 25, 93, and 193, SmaRT Ride Citrus Heights, Roseville Transit, Placer County Transit
Pocket No 56, 61, 62, 102, 106, 107
Sunrise Mall Location No 1, 21, 23, SmaRT Ride Citrus Heights

Light rail
Main article: Sacramento RT Light Rail
Light rail stop at K Street Mall, Downtown Sacramento.

The Sacramento RT Light Rail system (reporting mark SCRT) is a 42.9 mi (69.0 km)[1] system, consisting of three rail lines, 54 stations, and 97 vehicles. Service operates daily from 4:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. 4:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.

Sacramento's light rail system, with an average of 48,400 weekday daily boardings in Q1 2013,[3] is the eleventh busiest in the United States.

The creation and maintenance of the light-rail system is pushed by the advocacy group Friends of Light Rail and Transit.

Paratransit

To meet the requirements of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, the RT established a Paratransit service in 1993, which is a door-to-door service for the disabled.

The Neighborhood Ride

In 2006, RT created a new division internally known as "Community Bus Service". Known to the ridership as "The Neighborhood Ride"

The Neighborhood Ride
  • The Neighborhood Ride shuttles are smaller buses (approximately 35 feet (11 m) or less in length) that offer residents greater mobility and new transit options on local intra-community trips.
  • The Neighborhood Ride shuttles have regular, pre-designated, pre-scheduled routes, but offer special curb-to-curb service (not to be confused with ADA/paratransit door-to-door service). The shuttles are able to "deviate" travel off route up to ¾ of a mile to pick up and drop off seniors, age 62 and older, and disabled passengers who have a valid ADA/paratransit pass
  • Passengers pay only $1.10 per trip (55 cents for passengers paying a discount fare). RT monthly passes, daily passes, and transfers are also accepted. Passengers with valid ADA/paratransit passes ride free.
  • All passengers (except for Lifetime Pass holders), including those with valid ADA/paratransit passes, must pay an additional $1.10 for a route deviation.
  • Marked bus stops are located along the route and printed schedules are available at several locations around Sacramento and on Regional Transit's Web site.
  • Each shuttle can transport 12-17 passengers and up to two wheelchairs.

Fleet images
  • Archives Plaza Station
  • CAF LRV at Archives Plaza Station
  • A CAF LRV Interior
  • A Watt/I-80 Bound
  • A Watt/I-80 Bound
  • A Siemens Duewag U2A bound for Downtown at Sacramento Valley Station
  • Orion V
  • Orion VII Next Generation
  • Tourist trolleys
  • Sacramento Transit Bus at Mather Field/Mills LRT Station
  • Siemens Duewag U2A Interior

Accidents and incidents

On April 9, 2010 at about 10:20 a.m. a Blue Line train struck a vehicle at the 47th Ave. crossing. The vehicle, a green Honda Accord was dragged about 100 feet (30 m). Inside the vehicle was a woman about the age of 40, She was pronounced dead at U.C. Davis Medical Center. The cause was revealed to be the woman who drove her car around the crossing gates which were down.

A man was hospitalized April 26, 2010 after he was hit by a light rail while talking on a cell phone. The crash happened near the Iron Point Station in Folsom at about 10 a.m. Investigators said the pedestrian was walking on the tracks and not paying attention to what was coming toward him. The pedestrian on the tracks never looked up at all throughout the entire incident. The operator told investigators that he had spoken to the injured person, and the guy said that he was walking on the tracks because he didn't want to be walking on the roadway while talking on his cell phone. The pedestrian was in serious condition at UC Davis Medical Center. Passengers on the train had an hour delay.

Deputies were called shortly after 9 a.m. on April 27, 2010 to the Zinfandel station. Sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran said one person shot the victim in the leg and then fled. Investigators said a fight broke out on a light rail train, culminating in a shooting once the train reached the station platform. The alleged shooter was seen running across the parking lot outside a nearby Ross store, Curran said. The victim was expected to survive, authorities said. RT service did not appear to be affected.

On November 11, 2010 a pick up truck ran into the side of a moving Regional Transit Light Rail Train at 10:15 a.m. at Starfire Drive and Folsom Boulevard in Sacramento County. The train was only scratched in the collision. Only one passenger received medical attention for minor injuries; the two people in the truck were not hurt.

A Siemens light rail vehicle on a Gold Line train caught fire and started to smoke on December 23, 2010 at approximately 7:30 p.m. near the College Greens station. A communications issue between the Sacramento Fire Department and the Regional Transit light rail operator occurred when the train began to move from the station where the fire was being doused to the Watt/Manlove station over a mile away. The fire caused service disruptions to Gold Line trains traveling in both directions for up to an hour. The car (#136) was towed out of service to the Regional Transit maintenance facility on Academy Way. The fire was likely caused by an overheated generator and battery located on the bottom of the train.

On January 28, 2012 three people died after their vehicle collided with a light rail train. The accident took place at the crossing near the intersection of 25th Street and 26th Avenue just before 4:45 p.m, when black Pathfinder SUV was hit by a southbound Blue Line train. The gate arms were determined to be functioning properly. All three fatalities were occupants of the vehicle. At least 17 injured victims were taken to the hospital for treatment.

See also

References
  1. "RT Fact Sheet" (PDF). Sacramento Regional Transit District. June 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-09.
  2. "APTA Ridership Report - Q4 2012 Report" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association (APTA) (via: http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Pages/RidershipArchives.aspx). March 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-13. External link in |publisher= (help)
  3. "APTA Ridership Report - Q1 2013 Report" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association (APTA) (via: http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Pages/ridershipreport.aspx). May 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-22. External link in |publisher= (help)
  4. "142 - INTERNATIONAL". Sacramento Regional Transit. Sacramento Regional Transit District. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  5. "System Map - Sacramento Regional Transit". Sacramento Regional Transit District. Archived from the original on 2013-08-02. Retrieved 2013-07-30.
  6. YOLOBUS To Turn 30! from Yolobus (October 2011)
  7. "Calif.’s Sacramento RT expands light rail, bus service" from Metro Magazine (August 29, 2012)
  8. Yolobus.com Sacramento Airport Routes and Schedules Archived 2008-10-15 at the Wayback Machine
  9. pg6 RT Fact Sheets - Sacramento Regional Transit
  10. "Bike Locker Rentals". www.peakadventures.org. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
  11. "Renovated Louis Orlando Transit Center now open". www.roseville.ca.us. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
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