SacRT Flex ‘curb-to-curb’ service to launch Jan. 2 for eligible riders

By Sara Beth Williams–
In an email to community members, Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) announced beginning Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, SmaRT Ride will transition to a new “subsidized neighborhood shuttle service” which will require participants to meet certain eligibility requirements to ride.

SacRT announced its on demand SmaRT Ride program will be ending due to a lack of funding, low ridership, and high costs of operation averaging over $47 per passenger. SmaRT Ride services are being discontinued as of Jan. 1, 2025, according to the agency’s website.

What’s staying the same?

SacRT Flex will operate in the same nine SmaRT Ride service zones during the same hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays.

What’s changing?

Eligible riders must apply to use SacRT Flex and meet certain eligibility criteria in order to qualify to ride.

SacRT listed several qualification groups that are eligible, including seniors, low-income riders, and riders with disabilities. Minors who are between 13 and 17 who are part of a low-income household also qualify.

Seniors must be 62 years or older. Disabled riders must carry a SacRT disabled ID card or participate in the SacRT GO paratransit services, which have their own eligibility requirements. Low-income riders are those who receive services from CalFresh or SNAP, CalWorks, TANF, or Medi-Cal, or hold a SacRT DHA pass. Proof of eligibility is required.

Children ages 13 to 17 in low-income households may ride alone if registered by an adult parent or guardian under one of the low-income categories, according to SacRT’s application page. Those who want to participate with SacRT Flex can apply for ridership here.

The new SacRT Flex rideshare program will cost riders $2.50 per ride. Passes, including RideFreeRT student passes, which allow all students attending public school to ride for free, are not accepted. However, all minors under 18 can ride for free as long as they are accompanied by an adult guardian.

Similar to SacRT Go paratransit services, in January anyone who wishes to ride with SacRT Flex must book their ride in advance.

The SmaRT Ride program was introduced in 2018 as an on-demand rideshare option for regional transit customers servicing several specified zones within cities and unincorporated areas in Sacramento County. The pilot program utilized smaller, neighborhood-friendly “City Ride” buses, which were also wheelchair friendly.

The new SacRT Flex program is being funded as a pilot program for 18 months, using Measure A sales tax funds. The program is managed by a private transportation vendor, Via, which “manages the app, schedules the trips, maintains the vehicles, provides the drivers, and collects the fare revenue,” according to SacRT.