When Interstate 5 through downtown Sacramento closes for repairs in late May, the public will brace for monumental traffic jams. Even with the shortened time frame for the freeway fix – 42 days of land and ramp closures instead of the 300 initially announced – the partial closure of the major north-south artery through the heart of downtown will be disruptive.
But there is plenty of time both for the public and various transportation agencies involved to prepare. Transit agencies, in particular, need to gear up for the coming problems.
Counting the Capitol Corridor Intercity Rail Service, there are at least 10 public transit agencies that bring riders into downtown Sacramento. They have been meeting with Caltrans officials and among themselves for several weeks to coordinate their systems in a way that will best meet the needs of the public when I-5 closes. Transit leaders recognize the challenges. They also see tantalizing opportunities.
Even before the coming freeway closure was announced, local transit agencies were experiencing big surges in ridership. Last month, YoloBus saw a 12 percent increase in riders compared to the year before. Some of its commuter buses from Woodland and Davis into Sacramento ran at standing-room-only levels. As The Bee noted last week, Placer County Transit has had to turn riders away because it did not have enough capacity on express buses into Sacramento. Transit officials attribute increased ridership to record high gas prices and a slumping economy. People looking for ways to economize are leaving their cars at home.
To deal with the increased demand that was already building and to meet the special challenge of the I-5 closures, transit districts will need help from each other and the state. The state needs to provide help in getting more buses to the transit agencies that desperately need them. Placer County needs extra buses now. So does Yuba- Sutter transit.
An extra round trip Capitol Corridor Train into Placer County between Auburn and Sacramento would help ease strain on roadways in the coming weeks. Capitol Corridor has the rolling stock but lacks permission to use the tracks. Caltrans should be pushing Union Pacific to allow access to its tracks for another passenger train.
Finally, all of these agencies will need more operating money. The delays anticipated on I-5 and on the major detour routes are expected to slow commuter traffic throughout the region, increasing overtime pay for bus drivers.
Transit districts are already having difficulty funding normal levels of service. So if the state can find money to reward C.C. Myers, the Rancho Cordova contractor who promised to complete the I-5 fix in record time, it also should find the funds to reward transit districts who are being asked to come to the rescue of motorists at this difficult juncture.
Finally, everyone involved in this effort must look beyond the I-5 closures. If the state is lucky, the current surge in transit ridership won't be a temporary thing. With gas prices continuing to increase and the economic outlook cloudy, transit usage may continue to rise. The transit districts and the state would be smart to look for strategies and funding to sustain the increase in transit ridership even after I-5 is repaired.
