Commuter buses' popularity puts Placer agency in mass-transit pickle

No more riders, please!

It's not a message you'd expect to hear from a transit agency, but it's exactly what Placer Commuter Express bus officials are pleading.

With gas prices mounting and the economy slowing, commuters from Colfax, Auburn and other foothill communities have been filling bus seats so fast that operators this week said no more.

The little agency, which runs three leased buses on Interstate 80 to and from downtown Sacramento, announced it will sell tickets only to current riders.

Anyone else will have to go on a waiting list.

That's because of reports piling up in recent weeks that Placer's green and white buses have had to turn riders away, Placer County public works official Will Garner said.

"We need to control the amount of tickets we sell before it gets any worse," he said. "This came on rapidly."

The agency temporarily leased a fourth bus, which will follow the most popular morning and afternoon buses to pick up any riders left behind.

But agency officials say they don't have the money to expand service beyond their three-bus, 150 daily rider capacity.

News of Placer's predicament surprised other local transit officials. Many, however, said they also have seen ridership increase on their lines.

Capitol Corridor trains from Auburn to Sacramento are now about 75 percent full, and saw a notable bump in February, train operators report.

City of Roseville transit supervisors report their own commuter express buses have become so popular they've had to order a half-dozen more. Delivery isn't until next year.

Sacramento regional transportation planner Mike McKeever said he has even noticed more riders on the short-hop Regional Transit bus he takes between downtown and Curtis Park.

"I think people are recalibrating what is the smart economic choice for them," McKeever said.

Waiting at Fifth and P streets Tuesday evening for the Placer bus, state worker Gloria Henson of Roseville said she made that financial – and emotional – recalibration when she decided last year to stop driving to work. The state subsidizes about half of her monthly $125 bus pass.

"It's the gas," she said. "Plus, I was exhausted when I got home."

The Placer Commuter Express problem highlights an issue many transit agencies face: More people are interested in riding, but service remains skimpy, and the budget prognosis isn't great.

Despite an infusion of Proposition 1B transportation and transit funds, the state has cut other transit money, and local sales and property tax revenues are in a slump.

The region's biggest agency, Sacramento Regional Transit, cut bus service in January in an ongoing struggle to stay out of the red.

Placer officials say they never expected to find themselves with a surplus of riders. Truth is, they are pleased.

Until recently, Garner said, "transit services couldn't get enough riders."

Placer County started the I-80 commuter bus service in conjunction with several foothill cities in late 2004 amid doubts that people would ride.

The transit line was designed as a supplement to the Capitol Corridor train and Roseville commuter bus services.

Last year, the agency had to add a third bus in the morning and evening.

By last month, reports came in, Garner said: The first and second buses were leaving riders behind.

Garner said Placer officials now are talking about limiting ticket transfers from the Capitol Corridor and Roseville services.

Train and bus rider Joan Jernegan of Auburn, who left Los Angeles partly because she hated freeway car commutes, said this is a clear sign transit needs better funding.

"I was shocked," she said, by the agency's message: " 'We're out of space, and no fourth bus!' More people are taking public transit and there is no money for public transit."

Placer transit officials said they could ask the Board of Supervisors about funding a fourth bus, but that would require the county and cities to take a financial hit.

The service costs the county and participating cities $600,000 a year, Garner said. Rider fares cover 42 percent of that cost – a high return by transit standards – but the localities would have to dig up the rest of the money.

Placer riders, meanwhile, are left wondering not whether the bus will show, but whether there's a seat on it for them.

"Nobody's been left behind yet on our bus," Henson of Roseville said. "But we're getting a little nervous."

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's Tony Bizjak, (916) 321-1059.