‘Personalized’ bus shuttles launch next week in new Folsom, Carmichael, Arden and Natomas
Sacramento’s on-demand SmaRT Ride shuttle service expands April 5 in several areas across the county, with new service in the fast-growing subdivisions south of Highway 50 in the city of Folsom and in the Natomas community of Sacramento, where residents have complained for years of lack of transit.
Sacramento Regional Transit also will merge its existing Arden-Arcade SmaRT Ride service with the one next door in Carmichael to give riders in those two areas a larger geographic zone to travel in.
In doing so, SacRT is essentially doubling down on what it sees as a potential new transit business model in the post COVID-19 and new-tech era of transport. SacRT’s experimental three-year-old SmaRT Ride service already is one of the largest app- and phone-reservation based shuttle services in the country.
Unlike regular fixed-route bus and light rail service, the agency’s SmaRT Ride program operates more like a public Uber service, allowing people in some areas of the county to summon a shuttle bus via a phone app, get picked up at or near a spot of their choice and be dropped off near or directly at their destination.
The unusual app-based shuttles were the only type of public transit service in the capital region that did not see dramatic ridership losses during the pandemic. The shuttles typically have far fewer riders at a time, which appears to be one of the reasons that the still-developing new transit option has continued to attract riders during the pandemic.
SacRT requires riders to wear face masks to protect against COVID-19 virus spread.
SacRT’s executive Henry Li has pushed the app-based shuttles for several years, testing to see how they may integrate into the system’s existing fixed-route bus and light rail network, but also with an eye toward redefining transit.
“Our on-demand microtransit shuttles represent a mobility evolution and resurgence in public transit,” Li said in an email to The Bee. “With community shuttles in eight areas and more to come this summer, we are providing a lifeline for people to access jobs and other essential services in the region.”
As is the case with almost all transit service, riders pay a portion of the cost via a $2.50 per-ride fare. Groups of five or more riders together can ride for free.
The SmaRT Ride service pilot programs also have been relying on a five-year, $14 million grant, good through June 2023, from the Sacramento Transportation Authority, a group that uses local, state and federal funding sources to support transportation projects.
The new service in Folsom will allow residents south of Highway 50 to travel over the freeway into the central part of the city and the Broadstone and Palladio areas, being dropped off at their chosen destination.
The new Natomas service will allow residents of that area to get around within Natomas and North Sacramento, but does not extend to downtown Sacramento.
Sacramento Regional Transit has a SmaRT Ride service in downtown, midtown and east Sacramento.
Other existing SmaRT Ride areas include Citrus Heights-Antelope-Orangevale, Franklin-South Sacramento, Gerber-Calvine, and Ranch Cordova.
Transit officials said customers can download the free SacRT SmaRT Ride app, which is available at Google Play and the App Store. They can also set up a ride by calling 916-556-0100 or by going online to ondemand.sacrt.com. Trip requests must be made on the same day the person intends to travel.