what STAR has been up to

We started compiling a list of issues and activities that STAR has been involved in over the last year and a half, 2024-2025. The list amazes even us! Not bad for an all-volunteer organization. STAR is the most prominent advocacy organization for transit in the region, though certainly not the only one.

Major initiatives in 2024-2025 include:

  • rejection of the initial SmartRide program replacement with Uber vouchers, and proposed a service targeted at disabled, low-income and senior riders, which was the model for SacRT Flex
  • attends and usually speaks on agenda items at each SacRT Board meeting
  • tracking of usability and safety issues with deployable ramps on the new Siemens S700 low-floor light rail cars, working with the disability community and SacRT Mobility Advisory Council
  • was a strong voice at SacRT Board and SACOG Board for the Dos Rios Light Rail Station, resulting in SacRT reversing their abandonment of the project
  • participated in the SacRT Mobility Advisory Council meetings
  • tracking of potential transportation funding measures, including Sacramento Transportation Authority, SacRT, and a citizen initiative
  • recommended replacing existing Green Line light rail with enhanced bus Route 11 
  • raised concerns to the SacRT Board about the large number of mistakes that SacRT leadership has made over the last year, apparently without consequences
  • supported RydeFreeRT program for free transit use by K-12 students, and continued advocacy for stable funding
  • expressed strong concerns about SacRT’s wholesale commitment to hydrogen buses in the northern half of the service area, using grey hydrogen generated from natural gas
  • participated in the SacRT Comprehensive Operational Analysis (COA) stakeholder group
  • argued for, with some success, improvements to the SacRT budget document, particularly to amplify operations revenue and expense
  • worked with sister organization SacTRU (Sacramento Transit Riders Union) on a variety of transit issues
  • represented STAR in the SacMoves Coalition, and City of Sacramento Vision Zero Action Plan update
  • promoted Tap2Ride credit card payment system and readers, which are on buses but not yet light rail stations
  • tracking issues with the promised 15-minute service to Historic Folsom on the Gold Line, including the insufficiency of the short passing track at Glenn station
  • participated in City of Sacramento meetings and processes on Truxel Bridge, which SacRT had identified as a transit/walking/bicycling bridge, but the city insisted on including private motor vehicles
  • recommended changes to the SacRT governance structure for more equitable representation based on population and not on governmental entities

The list is not comprehensive. We will add important items as we think of them.

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