Sacramento Transit Advocates and Riders (STAR) has long been concerned that the Green Line to the Airport project was placed at the top of the project list for the region, without a public process, nor, so far as we can determine, a decision of the SacRT Board of Directors. The Green Line is a very expensive project, far more costly than any other project under consideration, and does not seem to be supported by data on ridership, the population served along with the equity implications of that population, and potential funding. Though the federal government does fund very expensive projects, there is extreme competition for such funds. Many of the transit advocacy organizations including STAR have expressed doubt that enough funding could ever be obtained to construct light rail to the airport.
We have advocated for a study of all reasonable light rail extensions, including the Green Line to the Airport, almost since our founding in 2016, and we formalized our ideas with the Light Rail and Bus Framework in 2022 (https://star-transit.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/lightrailbusframework.pdf).
The Green Line to the Airport has been brought to the foreground again with two recent actions.
- The City of Sacramento is planning for a bridge across the American River in alignment with Truxel Road, to include private motor vehicle traffic. This contradicts the policy of the county in the American River Parkway Plan and the decision of the SacRT board that this would be a transit-walking-bicycling bridge that would not include private motor vehicles. The Truxel Bridge for light rail probably makes sense for its direct alignment with Truxel Road and Richards Blvd/Township 9 station. However, if the solution is instead bus rapid transit (BRT), there is only a small benefit to a direct alignment over slightly longer alignment on existing bridges.
- Two city council members, Lisa Kaplan representing District 1, largely North Natomas, and Karina Talamantes representing District 3, largely South Natomas, have stated in public that they don’t want to wait decades for light rail to serve their communities, but instead want bus rapid transit as soon as possible.
Since bus rapid transit (BRT) serving Natomas, and perhaps the airport, is now under discussion, STAR would like to see BRT on Truxel added to SacRT’s High Capacity Bus Service study (2021), using the same criteria used on the other potential routes. Though Stockton Blvd BRT (in part, Route 51) is now under study and seems to have the unified support of both SacRT and the City of Sacramento, may remain at the top of the list, Truxel Road should be considered along with the four BRT corridors in the study (Sunrise Blvd, Watt Avenue, Florin Road, and Arden Way).
Since a study of all potential light rail extensions, and light rail infill including the same BRT corridors, has never been done, and would be expensive, it might require grant funding to complete. Therefore, we feel that adding Truxel Road to the existing High Capacity Bus Service study is the immediate next step.
The map below is from the SacRT High Capacity Bus Service Study (2021). It does not show light rail extensions to the airport (Green Line), Elk Grove, or Citrus Heights/Roseville since at that time those corridors were not being considered for bus rapid transit. SacRT is recommending that the study be updated and revised with the addition of these routes.
Sacramento Transit Advocates and Riders (STAR) 