Quick Take:
Santa Cruz Metro is set to begin rolling out the first phase of its Reimagine Metro initiative aimed at more direct, frequent routes and 15-minute all-day service. The changes will begin as a three-year pilot program, and civic leaders will work toward transitioning the pilot into a permanent fixture.
Santa Cruz Metro is starting to roll out sweeping changes to its transit system, including efforts to run buses every 15 minutes along major cross-county routes and plans to make bus rides free for all riders as early as next year.
The changes are part of a three-year pilot project the agency calls Reimagine Metro, with the goal of adding more direct, frequent service, better transfers and no additional fares to boost Metro’s transit ridership from 3.5 million to 8 million a year.
On Thursday, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) approved a plan to spend more than $61 million in state and federal funds on regional road, bike, pedestrian and transit projects, including Reimagine Metro with Wave Service.
Phase 1 of Reimagine Metro is slated to begin Dec. 21. It mostly entails adjusting bus routes, including a new Route 3 connecting the UC Santa Cruz campus to Live Oak, buses every 10 to 20 minutes at Cabrillo College on Routes 1 and 2, and more frequent service between Santa Cruz and Watsonville.
Phase 2 involves rolling out Metro’s Wave Service, the agency’s name for a program that will run buses every 15 minutes, all day, on major cross-county corridors serving Watsonville and Mid-County, a service extension from the Eastside through downtown to the UCSC campus, and all-day service on a Watsonville to Santa Cruz express route. More frequent buses could be coming to those routes as early as June.
Another major component of the initiative is making transit financially accessible. Santa Cruz Metro CEO Michael Tree said the agency will be getting rid of fares and allowing all riders to ride free during the three-year pilot period, thanks to about $2.5 million per year built into the program budget and contributions from UCSC and Cabrillo College. Tree said Metro expects fare-free Wave Service to begin in July.
“So, the fare-free component is really about replacing the fares that are collected from people who ride without things like student passes,” he said. “It’ll allow us to board out of both doors and won’t make people fumble for change — you just get on and ride.”
Tree said that the project will begin as a three-year pilot to give local leaders a chance to see how well the more frequent buses and works, and identify ways to secure future funding in hopes of eventually making the service improvements permanent.
“That could be a potential sales tax or an increase of state and federal funding that comes in because of the increase in ridership,” he said.
The funding the RTC approved for Metro last week will also go toward technology that allows buses to communicate with traffic signals at the intersections of busy routes, changing the timing of the lights to make sure buses get through the intersection quickly.
The Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority implemented these kinds of signals when Tree was executive director of the organization. He estimates installing the technology here could save a bus up to nine minutes on cross-county routes and boost ridership by 525,000 rides a year – helping Metro achieve its lofty goals of 15-minute wait times and more than doubling ridership.
By June, the county could see a dramatically different transit system, and it might just be here to stay.
Latest news
Check out our Carmageddon road delay list here. This week, pay particular attention to:
Northbound Highway 1 will see pavement work at several on- and off-ramp closures in South County at the exits for Route 129, Route 152, Airport Boulevard and Buena Vista Drive from Monday through Thursday between 9:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. the following morning.
The on-ramp at northbound Soquel Drive and northbound Highway 1 will be closed from Wednesday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. for roadway excavation necessary to begin construction on the bicycle/pedestrian overcrossing along Highway 1.
There will be a closure of Highway 9 between Henry Cowell Redwoods Vista Point and Glengarry Road on Monday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. as crews work on a number of things, including paving and tree work. One alternating lane of traffic will remain open during work hours.
In Boulder Creek, Highway 236 east of Big Basin Redwoods State Park will see one lane closed between Hazel Avenue and Redwood Drive, First Avenue and High Bridge Creek Bridge, and Oak Avenue and Acorn Drive next week as crews perform tree and utility work. The road will be travelable, but with one alternating lane of traffic open between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.