The first of three new GreenPower EV Star shuttles has been put into service as part of Electrify America’s more than $40 million Green Cities investments in Sacramento, Calif. The vehicles are being integrated into SacRT’s highly popular SmaRT Ride on-demand micro-shuttle program servicing the Franklin-South Sacramento communities.
SmaRT Ride is the first on-demand micro-transit program in Sacramento with a service model that provides point-to-point transportation. SacRT began piloting the service in February 2018 in partnership with the Franklin Neighborhood Development Corp. using compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles. As of February, SacRT was recording more than 230 passengers per day – a sizable ridership that demonstrates the demand for public mobility options within the Franklin-South Sacramento community.
The GreenPower EV Star shuttles were assembled in Porterville, Calif., and retrofitted with a unique side door configuration added to facilitate shuttle access for those with special needs. Electrify America fully subsidized the costs of the shuttles, the DC fast-charging infrastructure to support them and the retrofit costs.
“The Electrify America Green City Initiative has prioritized investments that increase access to clean mobility options and technology, particularly in low-income and disadvantaged communities in Sacramento,” says Richard Steinberg, senior director of marketing, communications and Green Cities at Electrify America.
With ridership demand showing promising results in the south area, SacRT is expanding the SmaRT Ride Franklin-South Sacramento service zone to now include parts of Oak Park. SmaRT Ride will also service approximately one-square-mile into the south Oak Park neighborhood, an area historically challenged by limited public transportation options.
More information on SacRT’s SmaRT Ride microtransit service can be found, here.