Bus stops are the humble, but important, front door to a transit system. Sacramento Regional Transit (SacRT) wants them to be comfortable, accessible and safe.

So, we are partnering this year with Civic Thread, a local nonprofit with a mission to elevate institutionally underserved voices and priorities, on a Bus Stop Improvement Plan to assess which of our stops are most in need of upgrades, and what those improvements should be.

Our goal is to put SacRT in position to make smart fixes quickly each time new grant funding arrives in the coming years. Our focus is on bus stops on major high-use corridors, and in disadvantaged neighborhoods with underdeveloped infrastructure.

The project is progressing. For months, our partner Civic Thread (formerly WalkSacramento) has been sending two dynamic young interns, Sravya Dandamudi and Vanesa Donangtavanh, into the field to take notes about rider access and experience with bus stops, especially for people with physical and mobility issues.

“They are coming back with all kinds of detailed observations about stops, including how many school kids are walking there,” said James Drake, SacRT’s Bus Stop Improvement Plan project manager. “It’s cool to see their observations.”

SacRT and Civic Thread want your thoughts as well.

We are hosting two open house public meetings this month, one on Tuesday, October 11 and another on Tuesday, October 25. We are offering free bus rides to those meetings.

• October 11: Carmichael Library, 5605 Marconi Avenue, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Bus routes 23 and 25 serve the library.
• October 25: Belle Cooledge Community Center, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Bus routes 61 and 106 serve the center.

Another meeting will be scheduled in Rancho Cordova the second week of December. There will be a virtual meeting as well that same week. Dates and times of those meetings will be published soon.

We plan to have our list of bus stop improvements ready to go by next spring, putting us in position to compete for federal, state and local transportation grants.

“We want to create a plan that helps us get the money to make investments and apply them equitably where there is the greatest need– and in particular for the people who are most reliant on transit,” said Kathryn Canepa of Civic Thread who is overseeing that group’s collaborative work with SacRT.

Drake, SacRT’s bus stop improvement plan manager, said the goal isn’t to make elaborate or expensive changes. Instead, it’s about basic “work-a-day” improvements that will make access to transit easier and more comfortable at hundreds of the system’s bus stops.

SacRT has 3,100 bus stops in its service area, which includes the cities of Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Folsom, Rancho Cordova and Sacramento, and Sacramento County.

Drake said the review includes determining which bus stops need sidewalk curb cuts nearby to allow wheelchair access. Which ones need wider sidewalks or concrete pads to allow space for riders to stand or sit. And which bus stops are in areas that don’t have sidewalks at all.

“This project will put SacRT in position to have digestible competitive project packages ready to compete for grant funding,” Drake said.

For more information about the bus stop improvement project, go to:

Civic Thread project page: https://civicthread.org/our-work/sacrt-bus-stop-improvement-plan/

SacRT project page: https://www.sacrt.com/sacramento-regional-transit-district-bus-stop-improvement-plan

For access to flyers that allow you to ride free to the meetings: https://www.sacrt.com/sacrt-free-ride-flyers