SacRT to end its SmaRT Ride service, will introduce rideshare voucher program

(FOX40.COM) — SacRT announced on Thursday that it will discontinue its SmaRT Ride bus service at the end of this year, saying it was too expensive to operate considering the low number of riders who used it.

The transit agency said it is working on a pilot program that will use rideshare vouchers, but that the funding and final details on this are still being worked out.

SacRT said in a statement that its long-term plan includes reviewing less efficient ridership services. The agency said the operating costs per passenger were over $47, much higher than for the traditional bus system, and only carried less than 1% of the entire system’s riders.

A staff report from the agency said it is working to have SmaRT Ride employees transferred to other departments, but that “a handful of positions will be eliminated and require a layoff.”

SmaRT Ride was introduced in 2018 in different parts of Sacramento’s metropolitan area, offering riders an on-demand ride similar to how Uber and Lyft work, but for the standard price of SacRT’s buses and light rail trains, $2.50. The Yolobus Beeline in Yolo County works similarly.

The only caveat was that rides had to start and end in the same zone, so a rider in the South Sacramento zone could not necessarily order a ride to get to downtown Sacramento or Elk Grove, but the service zones included plenty of bus and light rail stops so that a user can continue on their journey.

SmaRT Ride currently operates in the following zones : Elk Grove, Florin-Gerber, Franklin-South Sacramento, Downtown-Midtown, Natomas-North Sacramento, Arden/Carmichael, Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights-Antelope-Orangevale and Folsom.

SacRT’s rideshare voucher program should have a lower operating cost than SmaRT Ride and will maintain the same service zones and hours, the agency said. The service will provide discounts to rideshare users, although the final details are still being refined.

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