The new low-floor rail cars, used on the SacRT Gold Line, continue to have issues with door function.

One a single trip today, Dan observed three instances of the ramp deployment for handicapped users not working properly. In the first, rider with a mobility device pressed the ramp button (the one with the wheelchair symbol), and the ramp did not deploy and the door did not open. Riders already on board noticed, and pressed the button inside, still not deployment. The ramp eventually deployed, after at least a minute, probably deployed by the operator.

In the second instance, a person with a cart tried to deploy the ramp from the inside. Neither of two handicapped buttons worked, and the yellow call strip did not work. The ramp eventually deployed, again, I think the operator deployed it.

In the third instance, a rider attempted to open the ramp door with the regular button. It did not open. Riders on board pressed the button, and the door did not open. The rider ran to another door and boarded.

Three times on just one trip, the door and ramp mechanisms did not work as it should. We have to assume that this is a common occurrence. At every instance, many riders on the train, both with and without devices, shook their heads in acknowledgement. Apparently these issues are well known to riders.

The light rail operations people continue to report to the Mobility Advisory Council that problems with doors and ramps are minor and quickly resolved. We doubt that this is true.

The new low-floor trains seem to be routinely a few minutes late, both from schedule and from old trains running on the same Gold Line route. It may be that ramp deployment is delaying these new trains. Ramp deployment and retraction seem to be slower than the boarding from mini-high platforms, which required the operator to put down and pick up a bridge plate for level boarding. Of course it is good that people with mobility devices or otherwise needing a ramp rather than step up now have four doors to board on a two-car train, but apparently SacRT did not consider that the new cars might have delayed by ramp deployment.

All of these issues of course stem from the SacRT decision to buy new cars with low-floor boarding, step-up and ramps, not level-boarding. This is an unusual configuration. STAR has criticized this decision from the beginning, and will continue to criticize it until SacRT someday in the distant future modifies the platforms to be level boarding.

• SacRT light rail modernization