SacRT tells city council says it will study bus rapid transit, Blue Line Light Rail extension into Elk Grove
Hundreds of millions of dollars needed to extend light rail to Elk Grove
During last week's Elk Grove City Council meeting, Sacramento Regional Transit (Sac RT) representative Anthony Adams said that Elk Grove will be the main focus of the 2026 comprehensive operation analysis. As part of that analysis, the study will examine the feasibility of extending the Blue Line Light Rail from Cosumnes River College into Elk Grove.
"Elk Grove is going to be a major part of the focus of the upcoming COA. The COA Is comprehensive operations analysis," Adams, Sac RT's director of planning, said. "We recently got a one-million-dollar grant from SACOG (Sacramento Area Council of Governments) for a region-wide COA."
Adams said the Blue Line extension's feasibility study will be completed by early 2026.
"This is a feasibility study to see what makes sense, " Adams said. "Light rail is expensive. Hundreds of millions of dollars to come into Elk Grove, and it won't be done overnight."
Noting the high cost per mile of light rail construction, Admas said that rapid bus transit could be an alternative in the interim. BRT services typically offer high-frequency bus service in dedicated lanes.
"There is an exclusive right-of-way that has already been given along the corridor, Bruceville," he said. "We can use that right-of-way to do bus rapid transit, and when we have the money, we can maybe convert that into the light rail."
Adams said the study will determine whether bus rapid transit or light rail would be the best alternative for connecting Elk Grove. The findings will be used to pursue funding Adams said.
"We are going to use this as the foundation to go after funding to advance this project," he said. "It is something we want to happen in order for Elk Grove to be connected to the rest of the region; you need high-quality fixed-route transit."
For several years, Elk Grove elected officials have unsuccessfully pushed for the extension of the Light Rail. The city hopes the transit line can be extended to the proposed relocated Sacramento Zoo in south Elk Grove.
