SacRT
The State of California, through the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Round 9 program, has awarded SacRT three grants totaling $25.8 million, according to the transit agency, which operates approximately 43 miles of light rail serving 53 stations; 82 bus routes (fixed-route, dial-a-ride and microtransit); and ADA paratransit services all within a 440-square mile service area throughout Sacramento County.
In total, SacRT and the cities of Sacramento and West Sacramento and AMCAL Multi-Housing, Community Housing Works, and E. Smith & Company have secured more than $126 million from this round of awards, the agency reported Dec. 11.
The funding, it said, will support the following transportation projects:
- Purchase of four new low-floor LRV, increasing SacRT’s new fleet from 59 Siemens Mobility S700s to 63, including two vehicles dedicated to the future Downtown Riverfront Streetcar project.
- Florin Station improvements that serve the Blue Line, to accommodate the height requirements of the new low-floor vehicles.
- Transit signal priority upgrades at 33 intersections along the Meadowview corridor and J and L streets in downtown Sacramento “to improve service reliability and rider experience.”
- Support for construction at the Sacramento Valley Station (SVS) Transit Center, building on $30 million already secured for this multimodal hub.
In addition, SacRT said, these investments will directly support 546 new affordable housing units across three developments, expanding on more than 1,000 units of transit-oriented housing already under way along SacRT’s Blue and Gold lines.
The new developments are:
- I Street Apartments – Downtown Sacramento: Led by Community HousingWorks, this 84-unit affordable housing project “will transform a vacant site near the Sacramento Valley Station into a model of climate-resilient, transit-integrated development,” according to SacRT. The project includes Class IV bikeways, sidewalk repairs, and transit signal priority upgrades.
- Clover Apartments – South Sacramento: Developed by AMCAL Multi-Housing, Inc., this 348-unit transit-oriented development near the Meadowview Light Rail Station will include sidewalk upgrades, bikeways, and transit signal priority infrastructure. SacRT said it will add two low-floor LRVs to the Blue Line to support increased service demand.
- MOSA Apartment Homes at Gateway – West Sacramento: In partnership with E. Smith & Company and the City of West Sacramento, this 114-unit affordable housing project will benefit from two new low-floor LRVs and station improvements on SacRT’s light rail extension into the City of West Sacramento (the Downtown Riverfront Streetcar project). It also includes new bikeways, walkways, and bus shelters, along with workforce and housing stability programs through the city’s Home Run initiative.
“This funding is a game-changer for our region,” SacRT General Manager/CEO Henry Li said. “It allows us to close critical funding gaps, expand our clean transit fleet, and support the kind of walkable, affordable communities that make Sacramento a more sustainable and inclusive place to live.”
Separately, SacRT late last month reported investing $1 million in its safety and security program. Also, the agency earlier this year broke ground on the future Dos Rios Station on the Blue Line.
DART
DART and Integral Group on Dec. 10 hosted the grand opening of the EVIVA Trinity Mills Station apartments and Esplanade Park, the first phase of redevelopment of a 25-acre site that once housed a big box home improvement store and the former DART Carrollton Transit Center. DART and the City of Carrollton teamed with Integral to turn the property into a transit-oriented development.
EVIVA Trinity Mills Station features 436 studio and one- and two-bedroom units; a parking garage; and 10,000 square feet of retail space facing the three-acre Esplanade Park. The development connects to the City of Carrollton’s Furneaux Blue Creek trail and includes a pool with cabanas, a pet spa, and dog run.
According to DART, Integral cleared the 25-acre site (10 acres owned by DART and 15 acres by the City of Carrollton) for Trinity Mills Station, planned to include construction of a 325,000-square-foot hotel with a 700-space parking garage; a six-story, 125,000-square-foot office tower; an additional 10,000 square feet of retail space; a second parking garage that can hold 500 vehicles; and a 5,000-square-foot restaurant space.
The buildout of the entire site will be completed in phases, DART said, with the second phase focusing on entertainment space and additional retail, as well as the 500-space parking garage. Construction on DART-owned property is expected to continue into 2027.
Transit-oriented development within a quarter mile of DART light rail stations has generated $18.1 billion in direct economic impact to North Texas over the past 25 years, according to the University of North Texas (UNT) Economic Research Group, DART reported last month. This includes a $1.0 billion direct impact from 2022 to 2024 based on 37 development projects.
“While commercial and residential rent premiums vary from year to year, UNT’s research showed that proximity to transit generates higher monthly rents,” DART said. “The analysis showed residential properties had an average rental price of $1.85 per square foot when they were located a half mile or more from a DART rail station. Those same one- bedroom/one-bathroom units increased to $2.04 per square foot, over 10% more per month, when located a half mile or less from a DART rail station. Commercial properties with similar dimensions and amenities within a half mile or less from a DART rail station saw an increase of over 12%, or $0.21 per square foot, than those located between a half mile to a mile. That equaled a $1.83 per square foot monthly charge to be closer to a DART rail station.”
“Developments like EVIVA demonstrate exactly how we achieve the DART mission of our being North Texas’ first-in-mind mobility partner,” DART President and CEO Nadine Lee said. “This project goes beyond housing or commercial space, representing access and opportunity. Studies of transit-oriented development in our region and elsewhere show that households located near transit often reduce their vehicle miles traveled by about 15%, or roughly 3,500 miles per person per year. Fewer cars on the road, less congestion, cleaner air, and a better quality of life. Sounds like utopia.”
Separately, DART in November released its first Point B Strategic Plan Annual Report.
BART
BART on Dec. 10 joined the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and 23 regional transit partners in celebrating the launch of Next Generation Clipper, the Bay Area’s electronic fare payment system administered by MTC. Next Generation Clipper, it said, will make fare payment “faster, simpler, and more integrated.”
MTC has begun the eight- to 12-week process of transitioning Clipper card customers to the next generation system. According to BART, “Tap and Ride has been rolled out to all Bay Area transit agencies that use Clipper, meaning riders can pay adult fares using contactless credit and debit cards and mobile payment methods, in addition to Clipper cards.” It said that Clipper’s transition to a cloud-based system allows for instant availability of added value or passes on plastic and mobile cards no matter how value is added, and enables families to manage multiple registered Clipper cards through the Clipper app. Additionally, an improved auto-reload function allows customers to customize both the reloading amount and the schedule of reloading, it said. Riders who use more than one transit agency in a single trip (e.g., BART to Muni) will only be charged full fare on the first operator. A transfer discount of up to $2.85 will apply on any additional transit agency the rider uses within a two-hour window. While this feature will be immediately available for contactless bank cards, BART said, Clipper card users must wait for their cards to be upgraded to the new system for this feature to apply, a process customers can initiate. Lastly, the new Clipper system will give youth and senior riders the option to apply for their respective discount program online, in addition to applying in person or by mail.
Because of transition period needed to upgrade individual Clipper cards to the next generation system, not all features will be immediately available to all customers, BART said.
BART earlier this month announced that fares will increase Jan. 1, 2026, to keep pace with inflation and help pay for service. Additionally, the agency in October had the highest average weekday ridership since the pandemic.
