Yolo County proposes fewer, more frequent West Sacramento bus routes; board to weigh funding scenarios in December

Yolo County Transportation District officials on Nov. 5 presented draft recommendations for a short-range transit plan (SRTP) that would reconfigure West Sacramento's local fixed-route network to prioritize frequency over geographic coverage and rely more on microtransit for low-ridership areas.

The draft plan, covering 2024 through 2031, would consolidate Routes 40, 41 and 240 into a single Route 38 running roughly every 30 minutes, leave Route 37 largely intact but limit its trips into downtown Sacramento to peak periods, and use microtransit to preserve coverage where fixed routes would be removed. "It is a detailed roadmap, pun intended, for YoloTD's operations, investments, and service improvements within about a 5 to 7 year time frame," said Lola Torni, senior transportation planner with YoloTD during the presentation.

Why it matters: planners said higher-frequency service can shorten total travel time by reducing waits and transfers. "We know that higher frequency leads to higher ridership," Torni said. YoloTD staff described the change as a move away from an hourly "coverage" model…