STAR has been exploring methods of providing service to Sacramento airport (SMF) that are less costly and might provide better service than the $2B plus Green Line to the Airport. So far we have focused on enhancing the existing Yolobus hourly service (42B) to 15-minute service with more hours of coverage. The Los Angeles FlyAway service is an alternate model.

FlyAway is operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a department of the City of Los Angeles, rather than by the transit agency Metro. It offers six routes into the airport, with one-way fares ranging from $8 to $10. Some starting points are parking lots with $4/day parking, some are at or near transit stations, and some just have pick-up points. FlyAway is operated to “mitigate traffic congestion and air pollution in the area surrounding LAX airport,” and it also reduces pressure on limited parking at the airport. LAX is the second-busiest airport in the country. Routes use both full size buses with under-coach luggage storage and small bus/vans with smaller capacity and more limited luggage storage. FlyAway used to have three more routes, but these were dropped for low ridership.

Public transit has been creeping closer and closer to LAX over the years, as light rail is extended, but even when the Crenshaw line is completed, there will still be a transfer necessary to reach the terminals, via a connector that has not been completely designed.

Sacramento is the 42nd busiest airport, and does not overall suffer from parking supply. Would Sacramento Airport (SMF), operated by Sacramento County, even be interested in providing service?

There are arguments to be made for airport service operating independently of the transit system, the main one being that it can serve or not serve areas depending on whether the ridership demand is there, or not. A key issue for the Sacramento region is service from the Roseville area (and beyond: Rocklin, Auburn, etc.). There is poor connectivity at present between Roseville Transit, Placer County Transit, and SacRT, so a service that does not depend upon existing systems might make real sense.

• SacRT