Jan. 25—Yuba-Sutter Transit released its 2023 annual report earlier this month, documenting an undertaking of major facilities projects and a steady increase in ridership, though still well below pre-pandemic levels.

During the 2019 fiscal year — the last full year before the COVID-19 pandemic — Yuba-Sutter Transit operated a combined 92,571 vehicle service hours and provided 931,951 one-way passenger trips with six local fixed routes via demand response service, intercity commutes to Sacramento and routes to Wheatland, Live Oak and Yuba City. Since then, the transit hub has seen a steady increase in ridership and vehicle service hours, but these rates still fall short of pre-pandemic statistics, the report said.

For the 2023 fiscal year, Yuba-Sutter transit saw a total of 74,156 service hours and 516,376 total passenger trips between all routes. This marks a 15% increase in systemwide ridership from 2022, which saw a 29% increase from 2021 in turn. However, there was also a slight decline in annual vehicle service hours of 3.5% over the same timeframe, the report said.

Transit officials are unsure if ridership will ever return to peak numbers from the previous decade given how the recent shift toward remote work negates the need for public transportation for many would-be commuters.

“Given continued work-at-home policies by the State of California and others; the embracing of remote or hybrid work as a long-term employment and education model; and the ever-increasing use of virtual health care and home goods delivery; there is no way of knowing when or even if ridership will return to anything approaching pre-pandemic levels. It is possible that this question may not be fully answered for several years at best,” the report said.

This shift has also impacted Yuba-Sutter Transit’s Sacramento commute service. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Yuba-Sutter Transit provided 10 morning and 10 evening schedules to downtown Sacramento with another three midday schedules. In order to rightsize the computer service in the face of fewer riders, these schedules were reduced down to six morning and evening trips and two midday schedules. These changes went into effect in November 2023.

Although ridership for the commuter service nearly doubled from the low reported in 2021, ridership remains just under 35% of the service’s pre-pandemic levels.

In 2021, Yuba-Sutter Transit purchased a 19.7-acre site in Linda in order to construct a replacement transit facility. This was spearheaded by the 2018 adoption of state regulations requiring the purchase of only zero-emission buses starting as early as 2026, the report said.

California now requires that 25% of all new buses purchased after 2025 be zero-emission battery electric or hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. This will increase to 100% electric vehicle fleets by 2028, officials said.

As of 2023, Yuba-Sutter Transit has secured approximately $41 million of the estimated $55 million project, and anticipates occupancy by the end of 2027, the report said. The transit hub’s current focus related to the project is on securing the remainder of the necessary funding.

Yuba-Sutter Transit’s current fleet consists of 22 local fixed route buses, 16 Dial-A-Ride demand response buses and 13 intercity commuter buses. According to the report, six replacement demand response buses are now on order for delivery later this year, but the next major fleet replacement project is not scheduled until 2025 per new state regulations.

With the overall reduced ridership compared to previous years, Yuba-Sutter Transit is looking toward its NextGen Transit Plan to be implemented over the next four years. According to the report, this plan will introduce a “largely re-imagined system” to better meet local transit needs while budgeting for the state’s mandate for zero-emission vehicles.

Officials project a 45% increase in ridership and 60% increase in coverage area by the time the NextGen Plan is fully executed. Starting in the 2024 fiscal year, Yuba-Sutter Transit will begin implementing an on-demand microtransit service; reduce the local fix route system from six routes to two; consolidate and reset the Sacramento transit service to reflect current ridership; create a Highway 65 service to the Roseville Galleria Transit Center; and develop a volunteer driver program to extend and enhance service in rural communities.

The NextGen Plan is already underway as the 2024 budget includes funding for new staff, technology, and the initiation of the environmental and design stages of the new transit facility.

“Despite the challenges, Yuba-Sutter Transit still operates among the widest range of services, at what is likely still among the lowest cost per vehicle service hour compared to other urban systems in California. However, the mix and level of these services must continually be evaluated in response to both demonstrated passenger demand as well as ever-changing federal, state, and local funding and policy priorities and mandates,” the report said.