In this edition
  • SolanoExpress Health and Safety Plan & Transit Updates on COVID-19 Safety Protocols
  • SolanoExpress FY 2019-20 Annual Report
  • Countywide Transportation Electrification Update
  • Solano County Provides CARES Act Funds for STA to Assist Mobility Needs 
  • STA Comments on Four Quadrants of ABAG/MTC’s Plan Bay Area 2050 
  • STA to Initiate Micro Transit Pilots in Benicia and Rio Vista 
  • I-80 Corridor Update
  • Safe Routes to School Program Annual Report
  • Solano Mobility Programs Continue to Provide Mobility Options During COVID-19 Pandemic 
  • STA Chair for 2021 
  • Bike To Wherever Days
  • Vallejo CBTP Update
  • STA Staff Update
STATUS Newsletter

The STATUS Newsletter is published every month after the STA Board meeting to inform the public and our stakeholders of what’s happening with transportation in Solano County. 

Please sign up here to receive this newsletter directly in your inbox. 

  • Remote STA Board Meeting 10/14 at 6:00pm
SolanoExpress Health and Safety Plan & Transit Updates on COVID-19 Safety Protocols

As part of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC’s) Blue Ribbon Transit Recovery Task Force recent efforts, MTC recently released a health and safety plan collectively developed by the region’s public transit operators. This Plan provides the drivers and riders with a consistent health and safety plan for the region’s 25 plus transit operators, including the five transit operators that provide service in Solano County, to strengthen trust in riding public transportation (Solano County Transit/SolTrans, Fairfield and Suisun Transit/FAST, Vacaville City Coach, Dixon Readi-Ride, Rio Vista Delta Breeze). These commitments are also based on information from the California Department of Public Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization. The implementation of mitigation steps is based on best practices from peer agencies across the globe. MTC has requested that all of the region’s transit operators adopt “The Riding Together, Health and Safety Plan.”

Listed below are eight safety measures that have been layered together to reduce the likelihood that an individual would contract COVID-19 while riding on SolanoExpress:

  1. Face Coverings
  2. Physical Distancing
  3. Hand Hygiene
  4. A Quiet Ride Campaign
  5. Vehicle and Facility Conditions-Ventilation
  6. Touchless Fares
  7. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
  8. Infected Employees/contract tracing

The STA Board unanimously approved the Plan for Solano Express service at their September 9th Board meeting. The adherence to the above eight safety measures will be reported out monthly to MTC for SolanoExpress, along with all bay area transit operators, demonstrating alignment with the baseline health measures set forth in the Riding Together: Bay Area Healthy Transit Plan. Read the full plan at http://www.healthytransitplan.org/
SolanoExpress FY 2019-20 Annual Report

The Solano Express FY 2019-20 Annual Report identifies how the upgraded service was performing for the first half of the fiscal year and then the rapid loss of service, ridership, fares, etc., once the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic took effect. Both FAST and SolTrans, which operate the four route SolanoExpress service through a contract with STA, were under budget on vehicle revenue hours, fares, and ridership. These three variables fell below the forecasted amount which can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and mainly reduction in service. The STA Board recently approved the SolanoExpress budget for FY 2020-21 based on a partially restored service level of 45,000 hours, down from the pre-pandemic service level of 80,000 hours. A draft Solano Express budget for FY 2021-22 is scheduled to be brought to the Board in October for approval by the STA Board. To view the FY 2019-20 year-end reports for SolanoExpress, click here. 
Countywide Transportation Electrification Update

At the September 9th meeting, the STA Board approved committing $500,000 in FY 2020-21 Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP) funding towards SolTrans for inductive charging implementation at Vallejo Transit Center and Curtola Transit Facility. STA has been working proactively to advance three electrification initiatives to support reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including planning and implementing capital improvements to put in place charging infrastructure throughout the county.
 
Consumer Vehicle Chargers
With the State goal of five million electric vehicles on the road by 2030, more chargers will be needed to accommodate current and upcoming demand. In the past 3 years, STA has invested over $180k in charging infrastructure, which will result in 58 EV chargers being added to the County network. In January 2020, the STA Board approved $100k per year from Transportation for Clean Air (TFCA) Program Manager funds, provided by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to STA, towards electric charging infrastructure. STA is also reaching out to businesses and planned affordable multi-family housing developments.
 
Transit Electrification
STA adopted an Alternative Fuels Plan in 2013 which calls for the divestment away from fossil fuels to power Solano County’s transit fleets. Since the adoption of this plan, STA, Solano County Transit (SolTrans), and Fairfield and Suisun Transit (FAST) have been successful in obtaining a total of 6 competitive grants resulting in over $14M going towards electrification infrastructure or to purchase electric buses: STA’s $8M grant awards from the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) for electrification of the SolanoExpress fleet; SolTrans and FAST received Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grants in the amounts of $3.65M and $2.4M (respectively) for electrification infrastructure at their maintenance yards. To date each of Solano’s five transit operators are all moving forward with electrification at various stages.
Freight Electrification
The electrification of freight vehicles is still in its early stages, but has been garnering attention from both the private and public market. With the WB I-80 Truck Scales being located between the Oakland Port and distribution centers in Sacramento and Stockton, Caltrans, MTC, and STA are collaborating to plan, fund, and implement freight electrification at the I-80 WB Truck Scales and possibly as a retrofit at the existing I-80 EB Truck Scales in future years.
Solano County Provides CARES Act Funds for STA to Assist Mobility Needs

The Solano County Board of Supervisors recently approved their allocation of federal CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic) Security Act that included $150,000 to STA’s Mobility Programs to assist and ensure the provision of essential mobility services for older adults and persons with disabilities as part of several of the Solano Mobility Program. The STA Board approved STA’s recommendation to pilot a program expanding the Medical Trip Concierge (GoGo) Program to include the following:

  • Include participation of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Eligible Solano County residents for a pilot period through the end of FY 2020-21
  • Increase the number of rides for older adults age 60+ to 20 rides per person, per month (pre-pandemic limit was 10)
 
The Medical Trip Concierge (GoGo) Program serves Solano County Older Adult residents (60+) by providing subsidized Uber and Lyft rides to and from medical appointments. The riders pay either 20% or 40% of the cost depending on their income and, pre-COVID-19, are limited to 10 total trips per month. The Program, which began in April 2019 remains a popular mode of transportation for the older adult community (Attachment A). Recently, STA staff has received requests from transit dependent program participants asking to use the service to make essential trips, such as the pharmacy.
 
ADA Eligible individuals are currently eligible for the subsidized Taxi Card program. The program expansion will provide those ambulatory residents access to additional rides to medical trips, including pharmacies and other essential trips, that are currently being limited due to taxi availability.
STA Comments on Four Quadrants of ABAG/MTC’s Plan Bay Area 2050

For the past few years, MTC has been developing the Plan Bay Area 2050 that includes four components or quadrants. STA’s focus has been on the transportation quadrant and the agency has already provided comments regarding projects and programs to be included in the Plan. The Plan also includes quadrants on housing, the economy and the environment. With the final opportunity to provide comments drawing to a close, STA has also provided comments for these other three quadrants for Board review and approval. To meet requirements from the State California Air Resource Board’s Green House Gas Emission Reduction target, MTC had to offer bold and innovative strategies which include new funding strategies, housing initiatives and social policies. The draft Blue Print Strategies are going to be finalized by the MTC in October.
STA to Initiate Micro Transit Pilots in Benicia and Rio Vista

In partnership with the cities of Benicia and Rio Vista and their transit operators, SolTrans and Delta Breeze, STA Mobility and Transit staff are requesting qualified companies to submit qualifications for Micro-Transit pilots in the two cities. These pilots will be initiated later this year and staff will provide regular updates to the STA Board, the SolTrans Board and Rio Vista City Council. 
I-80 Corridor Update

The I-80/I-680/SR 12 Interchange Project has been a significant undertaking by the STA in partnership with Caltrans. STA continues to work proactively with Caltrans District 4 and MTC to pursue funding for and deliver improvements to the I-80 Corridor. 
 
The overall project has been environmentally cleared and envisioned to build in construction packages as the total Phase 1 Project is around $800 million. Package 1 was completed and the next package is 2A. This Project is fully funded with State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), Bay Area Bridge Tolls (as an advance of Regional Measure 3 funds) and SB 1 Trade Corridor Enhancement Program (TCEP) funding. Per a request from Caltrans, STA is delivering the right-of-way for the project, which is not yet complete due to COVID-19 delays in the court system.
Safe Routes to School Program Annual Report

STA Safe Routes to School (SR2S) Program completed their FY 2019-20 Annual Report, summarizing another highly productive year working with Solano County Public Health, the school districts and seven cities public safety and public works staff, reaching 154 events reaching 15,212 students prior to the countywide closure of in person education due to COVID-19. SR2S was successful in deepening relationships with schools through several education and encouragement programs.
 
Highlights of this Annual Report include:
  • Completion of the 2018-2019 Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) Grant
  • Pedestrian Safety Month Education and Outreach Campaign
  • Conclusion of the SR2S Evaluation and Intervention Project
  • SR2S Pilot Micro Grant Program
  • School Engagement and 2020-21 Transition Plan
Solano Mobility Programs Continue to Provide Mobility Options During COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 has severely impacted mobility across the region. Miles traveled is down 35% from pre-Covid averages in January. Several of the Solano Mobility programs were on track to meet the numbers from FY 2018-19, however, saw some decline in numbers in March as expected due to the pandemic. Overall, nearly all programs show an increase in usage/participation between May and June. Even with the pandemic, the Solano Mobility Call Center surpassed last fiscal year’s numbers. Click here to view PowerPoint slides with some quick highlights from the past fiscal year of various Mobility Programs.
STA Chair for 2021

With the recent announcement that Board Members Elizabeth Patterson and Vice-Chair Bob Sampayan will not be seeking reelection this November, the STA Board approved an adjustment to the rotation of Chair and Vice-Chair to enable the new representatives from Benicia and Vallejo the opportunity to get acclimated to serving on the STA Board for a year prior to rotating to serve as Chair and Vice-Chair in 2022. Current Chair, Vacaville Mayor Ron Rowlett will continue to serve as STA Chair in 2021.
Bike To Wherever Days

Bike To Wherever Days officially started as of September 1. The STA is encouraging everyone to participate in Bike To Wherever for the entire month of September as a healthy way to safely continue to get fresh air and exercise. To participate and for a chance to win prizes, sign up at the Love to Ride website.
 
To celebrate #BiketoWherever Days, here are a few Family Friendly Bike Rides from the Top 10 Bike Rides in Solano County, California Guide featuring rides in City of Benicia City of Fairfield, CA - Government and City of Vacaville Government. Be sure to social distance, wear a mask, stay hydrated, and have lots of fun!
Vallejo CBTP Update

One of a series of projects in the works for Vallejo. In 2019, Solano Transportation Authority (STA) in partnership, with the The City of Vallejo and SolTrans, undertook a Vallejo Community-Based Transportation Plan (CBTP), gathering feedback from residents of Vallejo on transportation gaps and challenges along with suggested solutions. Simme seats are getting installed at high-use stops, with limited room for a shelter or bench: these first two are on Springs Street.
STA Staff Update

Kathrina Gregana joined STA as the new Planning Assistant on September 16. Kathrina comes to STA from California Strategies, a lobbying firm in Sacramento, where she worked on state legislative and budget advocacy on issues related to housing, education, health, and human services. She graduated from UC Davis with a BS in Environmental Science and Management, with an emphasis on GIS. She will report to STA Director of Planning, Robert Guerrero.
2020 STA Board Members

  • Ron Rowlett, Chair, Mayor of Vacaville
  • Bob Sampayan, Vice-Chair, Mayor of Vallejo
  • Harry Price, Mayor of Fairfield
  • Thom Bogue, Mayor of Dixon
  • Elizabeth Patterson, Mayor of Benicia
  • Ronald Kott, Mayor of Rio Vista
  • Jim Spering, Solano County Supervisor
  • Lori Wilson, Mayor of Suisun City
    
707-424-6075