Yuba-Sutter Transit, which was known as the Hub Area Transit Authority (HATA) until January 1993, was formed in 1975 by Sutter and Yuba Counties and the Cities of Marysville and Yuba City as a joint powers agency (JPA) for the provision of public transit services. Throughout its history, this charge has been carried out by contracting with private transportation companies for the operation of all services.

From 1975 to 1979, service was provided exclusively to seniors and persons with disabilities through a contract with the local taxi-company for the operation of the "Our Car" taxi subsidy program. As part of a legal settlement with California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA), this service was replaced and expanded in 1979 with the purchase of thirteen minibuses to implement a general public dial-a-ride (demand response) service. The system expanded again in 1982 to add a network of local fixed routes. Since 1979, a national transportation provider (currently Veolia Transportation Services, Inc.) has operated the agency's services.

In January 1988, following an independent operational analysis prompted by poor system performance, the service was significantly reduced through the elimination of the fixed route system, Sunday service and most rural area service while creating a general public zonal dial-a-ride system for the urban area. At the same time, Sutter County withdrew from the Authority to establish their own taxi subsidy program which provided transit service to the unincorporated urban areas of the county until January 1991 when Sutter County rejoined the JPA.

In response to the 1988 operational and organizational changes, CRLA again filed a lawsuit against the Authority, the four jurisdictions and the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. The resulting settlement agreement in 1990 led to the completion of both a fixed route feasibility study and a comprehensive marketing plan in 1992. Based on the recommendations of these studies, fixed route service was reinstated and the agency name was changed to the Yuba-Sutter Transit Authority effective January 1, 1993.

Yuba-Sutter Transit operates a wide range of services with its current fleet of 40 buses that range in capacity from 14 to 45 passengers. In FY 2008, 56 percent of the operation will be provided as urban fixed route service and 28 percent as urban Dial-A-Ride service. The local fixed route system now provides service every 30 to 60 minutes on six routes with twelve buses in peak service Monday through Saturday in Yuba City, Marysville, Linda and Olivehurst. Local fixed route service is provided each weekday from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturdays.

Fixed route ridership has grown rapidly over the years beginning with a 47 percent increase in FY 1996 followed by annual increases of 28, 17 and 18 percent through FY 1999. After slowing to a 4 percent growth rate in FY 2000 due in part to capacity constraints, fixed route ridership increased by 10 percent in FY 2001 and another 13 percent in FY 2002 after a significant service increase in April 2001. In the next four years, ridership continued to grow at a robust average annual rate of more than 5 percent despite only minor service changes. Following the addition of Route 6 and half hour Saturday service on Routes 1 and 3 in October 2006, local fixed route ridership jumped by 13 percent in 2007 and is projected to increase by another 11 percent or more to a total of 715,000 passenger trips in FY 2008.

This strong long term growth trend in local fixed route ridership is a reflection of the many service improvements that have been made to this system over the years. These include the introduction of larger and more easily identified fixed route buses along with a Marysville route in 1995; the expansion of the Marysville route and the start of Saturday fixed route service in 1998; the addition of half-hour service frequencies on two routes along with the initiation of a route in southwest Yuba City in 2001; the October 2006 addition of Route 6 in Linda and the extension of weekday service frequencies on Saturdays; the continued expansion of the bus stop shelter and bus stop bench programs; the provision of bike racks on all buses; and, successful discount summer and monthly youth pass programs.

Dial-A-Ride service is provided to all of the urban area during the same weekday and Saturday hours as the fixed route operation. During this period, Dial-A-Ride service is available by reservation to seniors age 62 and over, persons with disabilities and those with an origin or destination more than one-half mile from a fixed route. Since August 1999, the Dial-A-Ride service is also open to the general public each weekday evening from 6:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. The weekday evening service was established with financial support from a federal Job Access grant. Dial-A-Ride ridership is projected at 21,500 passenger trips in FY 2008.

Fifteen percent of the Yuba-Sutter Transit operation is now provided as service between Marysville/Yuba City and downtown Sacramento primarily as weekday commuter service. This service, which began in July 1990 with two 15-passenger buses, now provides nine morning and nine afternoon schedules operated during the peak commuter hours with another three schedules operated during the midday. This service is provided with a fleet of eleven specially equipped 41 and 45 passenger buses. The midday schedules are used by many daily or occasional commuters, but they are also popular with those traveling to Sacramento for medical, school and other non-work purposes. These combined Sacramento services are projected to provide 125,000 passenger trips in FY 2008.

Limited route deviation services to the Yuba County foothills and the Cities of Live Oak and Wheatland account for the remainder of the operation. The Foothill Route provides two round trips every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between the foothill communities from Challenge and Brownsville down to Marysville. The Live Oak Route provides one round trip every Monday, Wednesday and Friday into Yuba City and Marysville. The Wheatland Route now offers two round trips each Tuesday and Thursday. The Live Oak and Wheatland Routes operate under a fully allocated cost reimbursement contract with those cities.

In July 1999, the Medi-Car Non-Emergency Senior Medical Transportation service was transferred to Yuba-Sutter Transit following the sudden closure of Yuba-Sutter Senior Services. This program offers door-to-door service for seniors to medical and dental appointments on a donation basis. The Medi-Car program was transferred to a local non-profit operator in July 2001 though Yuba-Sutter Transit remains the registered owner of the single minivan that is used for this service. The service is funded primarily by the Area 4 Agency on Aging supplemented by passenger and community donations.

From September 1999 through January 2004, Yuba-Sutter Transit operated a commuter service in the Highway 65 corridor of southern Placer County serving what once was a major regional employment center of high technology employers in the Lincoln Airport Industrial Park. Like the weekday evening Dial-A-Ride program, this service was funded in part through a federal Job Access Grant. The Lincoln service, which enjoyed considerable early success, was ultimately terminated due to prolonged poor performance brought on by dramatic employee reductions at the industrial park over a period of about two years. Initially offering a high level of service including a late night schedule, the service was gradually reduced to provide just one round trip each weekday before it ceased operation.

In FY 2008, Yuba Sutter Transit will operate a projected 80,000 vehicle service hours systemwide. While this is a 16 percent increase over the 68,855 operated in FY 2003, vehicle service hours were relatively unchanged until the last two of these five years. During this same five year period, systemwide ridership will have increased by 44 percent from 627,770 passenger trips in FY 2003 to a projected 905,000 in FY 2008. For a long-term perspective, systemwide ridership has increased by 390 percent since FY 1993 following the reintroduction of fixed route service in January 1993 while systemwide service hours have increased by only 145 percent over the same 15 year period.

Fare revenues have also increased dramatically in the last five years from $658,795 in FY 2003 to a projected figure of $1,025,000 in FY 2008 - an increase of 56 percent. During this period, passenger fares were increased on the Sacramento services in August 2002 and July 2007; on the Dial-A-Ride service in July 2004; and, on the weekday evening Dial-A-Ride service in July 2005. During this period, a monthly local fixed route youth pass was first offered in September 2003 when the price for fixed route monthly passes for the general public, seniors and persons with disabilities were actually reduced by nearly 17 percent. Also, since September 2005, the regular $15 monthly youth pass has been discounted to just $5 using a series of grants from the Feather River Air Quality Management District (FRAQMD) to off-set the lost fare revenue.

Yuba-Sutter Transit is governed by a Board of Directors composed of two elected representatives from each of the four member entities. The Authority is staffed with the three positions of Transit Manager (21 years), Administrative Analyst (14 years) and Administrative Secretary (12 years). Since March 1988, the Yuba-Sutter Transit staff has also served as administrative staff for the Regional Waste Management Authority concurrent with their transit duties. Approximately one-quarter of the available staff time is budgeted for waste management responsibilities. Through this shared staffing relationship, both agencies are able to experience a reduction in administrative overhead expenses.

The year-end FY 2008 operating budget for Yuba-Sutter Transit is now projected at $4,350,000. The budgeted funding mix for operations is 28 percent federal (Federal Transit Administration); 46 percent local (Transportation Development Act); 23 percent fares; and, 3 percent miscellaneous income from leases, special grants, interest, advertising, and contract service payments. Major capital expenditures for such items as facilities and buses are typically funded on a matching basis using 80 percent federal and 20 percent local funding.

Facilities:  Yuba-Sutter Transit relocated in May 1996 to its own facility at 2100 B Street in Marysville. Formerly a Seven-Up Bottling Company plant, this remodeled building replaced a leased facility in Yuba City which was then unable to accommodate the operation. Assuming additional future remodeling and facility improvements, the Marysville site is expected to meet the needs of Yuba-Sutter Transit for many years to come. A currently unused portion of the site remains occupied by Seven-Up thereby providing additional revenue to Yuba-Sutter Transit through December 2009. That space is scheduled to be converted to transit use in 2010 as part of a project to expand the capacity of the site to its ultimate build-out for the operation of as many as 70 buses. The preliminary planning and design work for this project should begin in 2008.

The only dedicated park and ride facility in Yuba and Sutter Counties opened in August 1997 under the sponsorship of Yuba-Sutter Transit using federal and state revenues. Caltrans constructed this 88-space lot on the northeast corner of Bogue Road and Highway 99 south of Yuba City and they continue to own and maintain the facility. Planning for the expansion of this facility, now packed to overflowing every weekday, is underway with federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funding secured by Yuba-Sutter Transit as the project's financial centerpiece. Caltrans is expected to again be the lead agency for this project to double the on-site parking capacity while providing room for future expansion. This project is now projected for completion in 2009.

Yuba-Sutter Transit has been working since 1997 to site a park and ride in Yuba County near the intersection of McGowan Parkway and Highway 70. While not a Caltrans project, a new park and ride is scheduled to be completed on Powerline Road at McGowan Parkway in 2008 using development impact fees collected by Yuba County from projects in the North Arboga Study Area and Plumas Lake. Yuba County will retain ownership of this facility, which is expected to replace the existing commuter bus stop on North Beale Road, using Community Service District revenue for its ongoing maintenance. Another Yuba County park and ride is planned near the intersection of Feather River Boulevard and Highway 70 in south Yuba County using a mix of development impact fees and state funding.

Yuba-Sutter Transit currently serves 287 local bus stops. Thirty-nine bus stop shelters have been placed at key points and high boarding locations throughout the system. Eleven are agency-owned or controlled and 28 are provided by a private company (Stott Outdoor Advertising) in exchange for the right to sell and place advertising on those shelters. Another six contracted advertising shelters are scheduled for placement in 2008. Stott also assumed responsibility for the bus stop bench program in 2006 installing 70 commercial benches throughout the service area. Like the shelter program, Stott owns and maintains these benches at no cost to Yuba-Sutter Transit in exchange for the exclusive right to sell and place advertising on them. Enclosed bike lockers are also available for rent at all local commuter bus stops.

Vehicles:  In 1995 and 1996, eight 28 passenger fixed route buses were delivered to replace six 16 passenger 1985 buses that had previously been used in this service. The move to larger and more traditional appearing buses greatly improved the quality and visibility of the fixed route service which contributed to a tremendous increase in ridership over the next few years. Six 35 passenger fixed route buses were delivered in February 2001 allowing for the last major expansion of this service and bringing the fixed route fleet to fourteen vehicles. Twelve modern low floor buses are now on order to replace the eight original fixed route buses in 2008 for the next planned major increase in the local route system.

In 1999, ten 19 passenger Dial-A-Ride vehicles were delivered to replace nine 1989 buses. Five of these 1989 models were retained to support the federal Job Access Grant funded Highway 65 and weekday evening Dial-A-Ride services. The five older buses were finally replaced in 2004 with five 14 passenger buses using the Job Access program as a key funding source to bring the Dial-A-Ride fleet to fifteen vehicles. In addition to Dial-A-Ride service, these versatile little buses are also used on rural routes; to augment the local fixed route fleet; and, to provide supplemental capacity for the Sacramento Commuter service as necessary. The 1999 model Dial-A-Ride buses are now scheduled for replacement in 2008.

Yuba-Sutter Transit took delivery of four 45 passenger commuter buses in 1994 to replace and expand a mix and match fleet of buses that had been operating that service since its inception in 1990. A fifth commuter bus was purchased in 1997 and three more were added in 2002. Three of the four 1994 model buses were replaced in 2006 with the delivery of six new 41 passenger buses to bring this fleet of specially equipped buses to eleven. A seventh new bus will be delivered soon to replace the last of the four 1994 model buses. The next expansion of the commuter bus fleet is a planned three bus purchase that is now scheduled for completion in 2010.

Services:  The last thirteen years have been full of activity following the adoption of the 1994, 1998 and 2003 Yuba-Sutter Short Range Transit Plans. The 1994 plan resulted in expanded Sacramento Commuter and Midday services; Marysville's Route 4; the former subsidized vanpool and weekday evening taxi subsidy programs; new fixed route buses; bus stop shelters; bus bike racks; and, an annual summer youth bus pass program.

The 1998 update resulted in the expansion of the Marysville route, the operation of fixed route service on Saturdays and further expansion of the fixed route system including the operation of half-hour service frequencies on two highly used routes in April 2001. In addition to these other improvements, Yuba-Sutter Transit also implemented experimental Beale AFB and Sutter services in 1998 along with a one-year Downtown Trolley demonstration service using two historic trolley replica buses that were purchased and operated primarily with funding from the Feather River Air Quality Management District.

The 2003 plan resulted in the implementation of a monthly youth pass; more deeply discounted monthly fixed route passes; additional Saturday service; expanded Sacramento services including the addition of a noon hour Sacramento Midday schedule; and, fixed route service to the new Yuba City Marketplace and River Valley High School.

Service improvements for 2008, assuming continued ridership growth, include the introduction of the new low-floor local fixed route buses; implementation of half-hour weekday service frequencies on Route 2; the opening of the McGowan Park & Ride facility in Olivehurst; and, additional expansion of the Sacramento Commuter service as necessary. The 2008 update of the five year plan, which is likely to be more modest in terms of service recommendations compared to recent versions, is expected to be adopted by April.

After nearly 33 years of service, the future of public transit in Yuba and Sutter Counties is brighter than ever. The successful implementation of recent transit plans, the August 2005 reauthorization and expansion of federal transportation funding; and, the November 2006 passage of California Propositions 1A and 1B have established a strong foundation for the future. As a result, agency attention over the next few years is expected to be focused on fine-tuning and maintaining the existing system while gradually expanding when feasible in response to demonstrated service demand from the recent and expected future population growth and demographic changes in the region.

Funding for the future expansion of transit services will continue to be a critical issue especially in light of the large scale developments now under construction, recently approved or being considered in Yuba County, Yuba City and Sutter County. The vast majority of these projects are in areas that are not served by Yuba-Sutter Transit at this time. The resulting demand for services of every kind will severely stretch what is still just a lifeline service in most cases. In addition, future growth in operating revenue sources may not keep pace with expected increases in both service demand and operating costs. To compound the problem, impact fees are not being collected from these new developments for the transit capital or operating costs necessary to expand service. Plumas Lake is the only partial exception as Yuba County is collecting fees in this area for the development and operation of two park and ride lots.

The Plumas Lake development in southern Yuba County is the most problematic of those that are now under construction in the region because of its size (12,000 units), location (entirely outside the existing service area), design (low density, single-family residential) and primary target market (out-of-area commuters). The recently approved Yuba Highlands project northeast of Beale Air Force Base is similar to Plumas Lake in most respects only it is much more distant from our existing service area.

Another major growth area is Edgewater in East Linda though this and a number of neighboring developments are at least within the existing service area. While lacking the concentration of these large Yuba County developments, thousands of new homes along with many hundreds of thousands of square feet of new commercial projects have recently been constructed, approved or under consideration in Yuba City as well. Planning is also well underway in both counties for a number of major projects including Woodbury in Yuba County; the Lincoln East Specific Plan in Yuba City; and, Sutter Pointe in south Sutter County.

In recent years, Yuba and Sutter Counties have both been among the fastest growing counties in California and all indicators suggest that this may be the case for years to come. This sudden population boom will fast become a significant problem because little funding has been identified in Yuba-Sutter Transit's multi-year capital and operating plans for transit service expansion. Many of these new residents, attracted by the lower cost of living and proximity to other employment centers in the Mid-Valley, will commute to work in Placer, Sacramento and Yolo Counties and beyond to further complicate the issue.

Even without this expected population boom, the demand for specialized services for seniors and persons with disabilities will continue to grow in the future. The dedicated specialized service now provided through the Alta California Regional Center for the developmentally disabled is severely limited and subject to annual funding cuts; the Area 4 Agency on Aging sponsored senior Medi-Car program is severely under funded in comparison to current and potential demand; and, Yuba-Sutter Transit's own Dial-A-Ride service already operates at or near capacity levels during certain peak periods. The need for increased specialized services will become more acute as the population grows (especially outside the current service area) and ages in the future. This situation will become much worse if one or more local providers are unable to continue operating for any reason.

Another continuing issue is the ongoing refinement of Yuba-Sutter Transit's role in the local welfare to work effort. For many years, Yuba-Sutter Transit has been an active partner with both counties in this effort taking the lead on related public transportation issues and successfully competing for numerous federal Job Access grants. County matching fund contributions for these grants ended in 2004 to shift the local financial burden for any grant funded services exclusively to Yuba-Sutter Transit. While Yuba-Sutter Transit will continue to play a key role in assisting those seeking pre-employment training and entry level employment, the scope and sustainability of these grant funded services are certainly in question. The 2005 reauthorization of the Job Access program resulted in much lower federal funding levels for existing grant-funded services and a much less secure outlook for the future.

In summary, Yuba-Sutter Transit has undergone an amazing metamorphosis since January 1993 to where the agency is now a vital component of the local service network. It must still be prepared, however, for further adjustments as the region continues to grow and change in the future because Yuba-Sutter Transit now has an important role to play in the continued renaissance of Yuba and Sutter Counties. While Yuba-Sutter Transit operates what is certainly among the widest range of services at among the lowest local cost of any urban area in California; the mix, level and priority for these services must continually be evaluated in light of local funding and policy priorities as well as passenger demand.

• Yuba-Sutter Transit System Fact Sheet (January 2008) & Summary of Key Events (January 2008)
• Yuba-Sutter Transit Rider's Guide and Service Brochures
• FY 2008 Operating and Capital Budget
• FY 2008 - FY 2012 Transportation Improvement Plan Program of Projects (Revised 12-20-07)
• FY 2035 Capital Improvement Plan (Revised 12-20-07)
• Web site: www.yubasuttertransit.com