E-tran was the public transit system for the city of

Elk Grove, California Elk Grove is a city in Sacramento County, California, located just south of the state capital of Sacramento. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade– Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 Census, the population o ...

and parts of south

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

. Public transit in these areas was operated by

Sacramento Regional Transit District The Sacramento Regional Transit District, commonly referred to as SacRT (or simply RT), is the agency responsible for public transportation in the Sacramento, California area. It was established on April 1, 1973, as a result of the acquisition o ...

(SacRT) until 2005, when E-tran began operation under the City of Elk Grove, with bus operations contracted to

MV Transportation MV Transportation, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas., is the largest privately-owned passenger transportation contracting services firm in the United States. The company can provide paratransit, fixed-route, campus and corporate shuttles, and studen ...

; subsequently, SacRT took up the contract to operate E-tran in 2019 and then re-annexed E-tran in 2021.

History

SacRT provided local public transit service in Elk Grove until 2005. In 2003, the City evaluated the current contract with SacRT, which would expire in June 2004, and decided to operate its own public transit system, creating E-tran. E-tran began service on January 2, 2005 under a contractual service agreement with MV Transportation. In 2007, it was named as an "Outstanding Public Transportation System" by the

American Public Transportation Association The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit group of approximately 1,500 public and private sector member organizations that promotes and advocates for the interests of the public transportation industry in the United S ...

(APTA). APTA lauded the agency's deployment of the "better bus", fitted with high-back reclining seats, parcel racks, wireless Internet access, and bicycle racks, increasing transit access to its citizens, and maximizing connections to other agencies, including SacRT, Amtrak, Capitol Corridor, and Greyhound, providing a "truly viable alternative to the automobile". On July 1, 2019 SacRT resumed operations of bus service in Elk Grove, assuming the operational contract that was previously held by MV Transportation. On July 1, 2021, SacRT annexed E-tran.

Operations

e-tran was Elk Grove's own bus system. Routes were coordinated with SacRT buses and light rail and South County Transit/Link (SCT/LINK) to areas outside the city. Main transfer points are at the

Cosumnes River College Cosumnes River College is a public community college in Sacramento, California. It opened in 1970, taking its name from the Cosumnes River which flows just a few miles to the south. As of Spring 2017, enrollment was at 13,091 students at its main ...

, Meadowview Light Rail Station and Laguna Town Hall. Services were funded with Transportation Development Act (TDA) and

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...

(FTA) funds.

Route list

Commuter Routes

To
Downtown Sacramento Downtown Sacramento is the central business district of the city of Sacramento. Downtown is generally defined as the area south of the American River, east of the Sacramento River, north of Broadway, and west of 16th Street. The central business ...

*10 - Big Horn Blvd. & Civic Center Dr. (via Calvine Rd., Hwy. 99) *11 - Franklin High Rd. & Whitelock Pkwy. *12 - Big Horn Blvd. & Civic Center Dr. (via Laguna Blvd.,

I-5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

) *13 - Elkmont Wy. & Iron Rock Wy. *14 - Big Horn Blvd. & Bruceville Rd. *15 - Bond Rd. & Bradshaw Rd *16 - Elk Grove Blvd. & Clarke Farms Dr. *17 - Calvine Rd. & Armand George Wy.

From Downtown Sacramento (
reverse commute A reverse commute is a round trip, regularly taken, from an urban area to a suburban one in the morning, and returning in the evening. It is almost universally applied to trips to work in the suburbs from homes in the city. This is in opposition to ...
)

*18 - Longleaf Dr. & Laguna Blvd.

To Butterfield Light Rail Station

*19 - Laguna Blvd. & Harbor Point Dr.

Local Routes

* = route includes Saturday service *110* - Promenade Pkwy. & Kaiser to

*111 - Vaux Ave. & Laguna Main St. to Big Horn Blvd. & Civic Center Dr. (via Harbour Point Dr.) *112 - Vaux Ave. & Laguna Main St. to Big Horn Blvd. & Civic Center Dr. (via Franklin Blvd.) *113* - Vaux Ave. & Laguna Main St. to Elkmont Wy. & Iron Rock Wy. *114* - Vaux Ave. & Laguna Main St. to Armand George Wy. & Calvine Rd. *115 - Elk Grove Blvd. & Clarke Farms Dr. to

(via Bond Rd., Sheldon Rd. mong others *116* - Elk Grove Blvd. & Clarke Farms Dr. to

(via Elk Grove Blvd., Bruceville Rd.)

Fares

Fleet

e-tran previously operated older Gold Coast Transit (formerly South Coast Area Transit) CNG buses from

Oxnard Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...

, CA, and

Akron Metro Regional Transit Authority METRO Regional Transit Authority (METRO RTA), also known as Akron Metropolitan Regional Transit Authority, is the public transit agency serving Summit County, Ohio and the city of Akron. It operates a number of local routes, and also operates ...

CNG buses from

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

painted with the e-tran paint scheme. The first of the new CNG Orion buses began arriving in Elk Grove the fall of 2008.

Inoperational Fleet

In September 2008, the original 21 hybrid-electric buses that were used when the transit system opened on January 2, 2005 were pulled from service. This was due to bus fires that happened on several occasions with only the hybrid-electric buses. These buses are now parked in a field at the e-tran maintenance yard in southern Elk Grove while the Board Members try to get their money back ($10,000,000) to fix the buses.

Paratransit

E-Tran had its own

Paratransit Paratransit is the term used in North America, also known by other names such as community transport ( UK) for transportation services that supplement fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. ...

service called e-van. Vans were painted in e-tran paint scheme, but branded "e-van" instead of "e-tran" on side, and came door-to-door to pick up disabled/ADA certified passengers that had made reservations.

References

External links

e-tran Website

Elk Grove News Website

List of e-tran routes and descriptions
{{DEFAULTSORT:E-Tran Bus transportation in California Transportation in Sacramento County, California Elk Grove, California