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SoulTrans outlines August service redesign and reports surge in youth rides from pilot program
Summary
SoulTrans told the Vallejo 2x2 committee it will implement a budget-neutral system redesign effective Aug. 2, increasing weekend and evening frequency and simplifying routes; the agency reported the youth ride-free pilot has grown from about 5,000 to more than 17,000 monthly rides and runs through June 2027 under a grant.
Mandy Renshaw, planning and marketing manager for SoulTrans, told the Vallejo 2x2 committee the agency will implement a systemwide redesign effective Aug. 2 that simplifies routes, improves transfer timing at the Vallejo Transit Center and increases weekend and evening service.
"One of the most important ones is increasing weekend service and evening service," Renshaw said. She described route changes that create north–south loops on Routes 1A and 1B, bidirectional connections on Route 3, a downtown Route 4 serving social services and the hospital, and a Route 6 link to Solano Community College. Routes 7A and 7B will run every 15 minutes in August, doubling current frequency.
Renshaw said the change is budget-neutral: "We don't have new funding…so there is some service that is discontinued throughout the city. Of course, there's data and public comment that supported that, or is why we're doing that. But anything that we've taken from the system, we invested into the system." She said schedules will be posted in early June and an online trip planner will show riders how trips change in the new network.
The presentation also updated the committee on SoulTrans's youth ride-free pilot, which began in spring 2024. Renshaw said initial monthly ridership was roughly 5,000 rides; more recently she reported "over 17,000 a month" — a figure she clarified referred to rides, not individual students. The pilot runs through June 2027 and, according to Renshaw, is funded by a grant that reimburses youth ridership.
Trustees asked how lost fare revenue is addressed. Renshaw said the grant refunds the agency for youth rides and that SolTrans will revisit funding and possible expansion when the pilot returns to the board in 2027.
Why it matters: The redesign aims to align service with post-pandemic travel patterns and to make transfers easier, which officials said could increase access to school, jobs and essential services. The youth pilot's ridership jump was cited by the school district as a possible factor in lower chronic absenteeism, and district representatives agreed to share attendance and barrier data to help SoulTrans argue for permanent funding.
What’s next: Public schedules will be available in early June; the trip-planning tool should be online mid-June. The board will review the pilot's results when SoulTrans returns in 2027 to consider permanent adoption or expansion.
