Though this post and the maps refer to this as the Green Line extension, it is likely that the Green Line will be interlined with the Gold Line at Sacramento Valley Station, and the entire route would be called the Gold Line.

The Green Line to the Airport seems to be the top priority of SacRT and local politicians. Many point to other cities that have light rail to airports, and claim that we must have this in order to be a ‘world class city’. The fact is, light rail to airport in the US is not highly productive except for a few cases, and in all cases it takes a long time for ridership to develop.

Transit service to airports can be useful, but transit that serves low-income workers and high-income travelers is hard to design. Many high-income riders won’t use transit if it is being used by low-income people. The work schedules or airport workers and the flight schedules of airlines don’t match very well, so it is difficult to figure out frequencies and spans of service.

STAR’s position on light rail extensions is that all likely extensions should be considered at the same time, and the next extension selected on productivity and ridership. Putting Green Line to the Airport in front of all others is a mistake. It might or might not be the best, but we don’t know because the extensions have never been evaluated on the same criteria at the same time.

The maps below divide the extension into three segments: 1) Township 9/Richards station to San Juan Road, San Juan Road to Del Paso Road (East Town Center), and Del Paso Road to the Sacramento Airport. This division is arbitrary. SacRT has all along talked about phases, primarily because the entire project is so expensive, well over $1B (and that is a very, very conservative estimate), but the phases keep changing. We feel that it is useful to view each segment since they have significantly different benefits based on population density, median household income, and environmental justice.

The projected alignment is shown on the following map. There are currently no hospital facilities close to the alignment, though one is proposed for the former ARCO arena site. There are no employment centers of significance, though development near the airport might create some. There is one higher education facility, the American River College Natomas Center, on Del Paso Road west of Truxel Rd/Natomas Blvd. There are two high schools, Natomas HS and Inderkum HS. (pdf)

Population density indicates that the Green Line might serve some areas of moderate density, but it also passes through areas of very low density, including habitat areas that will never be developed. The first segment, to San Juan Road, best serves moderate density areas, while the other two segments do not. (pdf)

Environmental justice, as documented by the SACOG environmental justice (low income high minority LIHM) dataset, indicates that the first segment to San Juan Road serves these areas well, the second segment to Del Paso Road somewhat, and the last segment to the airport not all. (pdf)

Median household income (ACS MHI 2019) dataset indicates the first segment to San Juan Road, and part of the second segment to Del Paso Road, serve low and very low income neighborhoods. The third segment to the airport only serves high income census tracts. (pdf)

This is the last of the posts on light rail extensions. The next few posts will analyze light rail infill, putting light rail (or bus rapid transit) on high ridership corridors within the urban area.

• Green Line to the Airport
• SacRT