History
RT began operations on April 1, 1973, with the acquisition of the Sacramento Transit Authority. Later that year RT completed a new maintenance facility and purchased 103 buses.
Over the next decade RT continued to expand bus service to the growing Sacramento Region while a cooperative effort emerged among city, county and state government officials to develop a light rail system. In 1987 the 18.3-mile (29.5 km) light rail “starter line” opened, linking the northeastern (Interstate 80) and eastern (Highway 50) corridors with Downtown Sacramento. As light rail ridership increased, RT continued to expand the light rail system. RT completed its first light rail expansion along the Highway 50 corridor in September 1998 with the opening of the Mather Field/Mills Station. Five years later (September 2003) RT opened the first phase of the South Line, a 6.3-mile (10.1 km) extension to South Sacramento. In June 2004, light rail was extended from the Mather Field/Mills station to Sunrise Boulevard, and on October 15, 2005 a 7.4-mile (11.9 km) extension from the Sunrise station to the city of Folsom was opened.
In December 2006, the final leg of the Amtrak/Folsom project was extended .7-mile (1.1 km) to the downtown Sacramento Valley Station, connecting light rail with Amtrak inter-city and Capitol Corridor services as well as local and commuter buses. Within the next several years, RT plans to extend light rail beyond Meadowview in South Sacramento to Cosumnes River College and north to Sacramento International Airport. RT currently operates 97 bus routes in a 418-square-mile (1,080 km2) service area.
RT is governed by an eleven-member Board of Directors composed of members of the Sacramento, Elk Grove, Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova, and Folsom City Councils as well as members of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. The fiscal year 2006 operating budget is $148.54 million, with a capital budget of $15.4 million.
RT employs a work force of approximately 1,163 people, 80 percent of whom are dedicated to operations and maintenance of the bus and light rail systems. RT operates three maintenance and operations facilities – one for buses at 29th and N Streets, one for the Community Bus Service at McClellan Park, and one for the light rail system at 2700 Academy Way in North Sacramento.
Read more about this topic: Sacramento Regional Transit District
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