All-Electric Shuttle Service Between UC Davis And Sacramento Faces Rider Resistance

Sacramento Regional Transit and the Yolo County Transportation District will vote Monday on whether to take over the UC Davis shuttle system connecting Sacramento with the main campus.

The system has been in place for a few decades and is solely available to those with university ties. In early April, the transit districts in each county will likely take it over and expand service to everyone, using 12 California-built, all-electric busses paid for with money from the Volkswagon emissions-cheating settlement.

But some daily riders, like assistant professor Jason Moore, say they're not happy about new stops added during midday hours, which means it will take commuters longer to get to their destinations.

"I think there are quite a few people that may stop taking the transit, revert back to cars. In other extreme cases, people may quit their jobs," said Moore, who believe the change would have a negative outcome for everyone.

"Right now, we are taking 500 cars off of the freeway and out of the parking lots of UC Davis campuses," Moore added.

But Matt Dulchich with UC Davis says that's not the intent of the new plan.

"With our existing service, we know that the ridership is pretty high during the peak periods, and pretty low during the midday. With our expansion ... we'll be able to also serve the public and attract — we think — more riders to that midday service," Dulchich said.

He says service will triple during the peak hours, with three busses throughout the hour instead of just one. He also believes the transition will take place as planned in the spring.

The rider group hopes the transit boards will postpone approval and reconsider its route requests.