Sacramento Regional Transit District

Infobox Public transit
name = Sacramento Regional Transit District

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imagesize = 100px
locale = Sacramento, CA
transit_type = Light rail, bus
system_length = 37.42 mi (light rail)
began_operation = March 12, 1987
ridership = 110,600 [cite web |url=http://www.sacrt.com/rtataglance.stm |title=RT at a Glance |accessdate=2007-01-23 |format=stm |work= Combined 43,600 light rail and 67,000 bus ]
track_gauge = RailGauge|sg (standard gauge)
operator = Sacramento Regional Transit District
website = http://www.sacrt.com/The Sacramento Regional Transit District, commonly referred to as the RT, is the agency responsible for public transportation in the Sacramento, California area. It was established on April 1, 1973, as a result of the acquisition of the Sacramento Transit Authority.

The RT operates a large light rail system and connecting bus service in the Sacramento area, covering 418 square miles.

Bus service

The RT system operates 80 bus routes, as of 2005, with service between 5:00 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. daily. Frequencies range between every 15 and 80 minutes (some express buses run only a few times a day).Since light rail has opened, buses have generally acted as feeders to light rail routes.

The RT system does not provide service to Sacramento International Airport. Service between downtown Sacramento and the airport is instead provided on an hourly basis by the Yolobus system. [ [http://www.yolobus.com/menu-to-from-airport.html Yolobus.com Sacramento Airport Routes and Schedules] ]

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Bus Operations (February 2008)

*40 foot Amount: 233
*31 foot Amount: 15
*Replica Streetcars Amount: 8
*Shuttle Vans Amount: 16
*Total 272

Most popular bus routes

The numbers provided are average weekday boardings.
*Route 51 Broadway/Stockton 3,750 [ [http://www.sacrt.com/rtfactsheets.stm#Bus%20Operations RT Fact Sheets - Sacramento Regional Transit ] ]
*Route 81 Florin/65th 3,400 [ [http://www.sacrt.com/rtfactsheets.stm#Bus%20Operations RT Fact Sheets - Sacramento Regional Transit ] ]
*Route 67/68 Florin/Arden 3,300 [ [http://www.sacrt.com/rtfactsheets.stm#Bus%20Operations RT Fact Sheets - Sacramento Regional Transit ] ]

Light rail

RT operates a 37.42-mile (60.21 km) light rail system, with two lines, 45 stations, and 76 vehicles (Siemens AG Duewag U2A vehicles and more modern CAF Light Rail Vehicles (LRV)). [cite web |url=http://www.sacrt.com/documents/RT%20Fact%20Sheets/Light%20Rail%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf |title=Sacramento Regional Transit Light Rail FACT SHEET |accessdate=2007-01-23 |format=pdf |work= ] There are 76 vehicles in the entire fleet. Lines on the system operate from 4:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. daily, with service every 15 minutes in the day and every 30 minutes at night. The light rail system, with 49,800 daily riders, is the tenth busiest in the United States.

Most popular light rail stations

Numbers provided are average weekday "on & offs"
*St. Rose of Lima Park 10,100 [ [http://www.sacrt.com/rtfactsheets.stm#Light%20Rail%20Operations RT Fact Sheets - Sacramento Regional Transit ] ]
*16th Street 6,500 [ [http://www.sacrt.com/rtfactsheets.stm#Light%20Rail%20Operations RT Fact Sheets - Sacramento Regional Transit ] ]
*Watt/I-80-29th Street 4,600 [ [http://www.sacrt.com/rtfactsheets.stm#Light%20Rail%20Operations RT Fact Sheets - Sacramento Regional Transit ] ]

fontcolor|blue|Watt/I-80-Downtown-Meadowview Line ("Blue Line")

The first line, which opened in 1987, was an 18.3-mile (29.4 km) route between Watt/I-80 station in North Sacramento, through downtown, and continuing east on Folsom Blvd. to Butterfield Way station. It was built at a cost of $176 million USD (1987), including the cost of vehicles and maintenance and storage facilities. Much of the line, when it was first built, was single-tracked, though improvements over the 1990s allowed much of the original system to be double-tracked. The line was built mainly using a railroad right-of-way, coupled with use of structures of an abandoned freeway project. A limited portion of the route runs on streets, mainly in downtown Sacramento.Surprisingly, the line became more popular than anyone anticipated--in fact, so popular that further expansions and improvements were necessary. Two new stations at 39th and 48th streets opened in 1995, and a 2.3-mile (3.7 km) extension to the Mather Field/Mills station opened in 1998. In June 2004, a further extension from Mather Field/Mills to Sunrise was opened.

On September 26, 2003, the South Line opened for 6.3 miles (10.1 km) between the 16th Street station on the Watt/I-80-Downtown-Mather Field/Mills line and a station at Meadowview Road in the south end, which is the first phase of a planned longer 11.2-mile (18.0 km) line to Elk Grove. Much of the extension follows a railroad right-of-way. When it opened, 7 new stops were added to the system. Following a June 2005 reconfiguration of the light rail lines, the South Line merged with the Watt I-80/Downtown line (formerly part of the previous Watt/I-80-Downtown-Sunrise line) effectively combining the old line with the new.

Listing of stations on the Blue Line

fontcolor|gold|Downtown-Sunrise Folsom Line ("Gold Line")

In June 2005, following a reconfiguration of the light rail system, the Sunrise-Downtown Line (Gold Line) was created (it formerly continued beyond the downtown St. Rose of Lima Park station to Watt/I-80); it runs from St. Rose/K-Street to Sunrise with an extension to the Folsom area that opened on October 15, 2005. On December 8, 2006 it was extended even further to the downtown Amtrak depot (a.k.a. the Sacramento Valley Station); connecting the light rail system to the national rail system for the first time.

Listing of stations on the Gold Line

Future projects

Future plans include a light rail line from the Sacramento Valley Station to the Sacramento International Airport via the neighborhood of Natomas. A planned extension to Roseville, once a top priority, has been on the back burner for years. Extensions to Davis, Elk Grove, Woodland and other locations are shown on the 20-year plan. In December 2007, Regional Transit committed to completing the extension from the Sacramento Valley Station to Richards Blvd by 2010 which would take it through the planned Railyards project and extend it to the also planned Township 9 development.

Meadowview to Consumnes River College extension began fall 2007

Construction on the Phase 2 plan for the South line extension has begun. It will go as far south as Consumes River College. Construction began ahead of schedule and could be finished as soon as 2009. Originally a planned extension all the way to the city of Elk Grove, the line will end at the college due to 4 costly changes made by public demand. These changes include a new station at Morrison Creek (half-way between Meadowview and Franklin), improved pedestrian access to Franklin and center parkway stations, the elimination of certain design options, and a 2000 car parking structure to replace previously planned surface parking at Cosumnes River College.

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 shuttles are smaller buses (approximately 35 feet 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.
* Reservations must be made at least one day in advance. To request a route deviation on The Neighborhood Ride, please call the NEW Phone # [phone]. The reservation line is open Sunday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
* Passengers pay only $1.00 per trip (50 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 $1.00 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.

ee also

*List of rapid transit systems
* Light rail in North America
* Light Rail

References

External links

* [http://www.sacrt.com/ Sacramento Regional Transit District official website]
* [http://www.friendsoflightrail.org/ Friends of Light Rail, a Sacramento light rail advocacy group]
*
* [http://world.nycsubway.org/us/sacramento/ Pictures of LRT System at NYC Subway]
* [http://www.sacrt.com/systemmap/systemmap.stm System Map of the Sacramento Regional Transit]