California’s capital city has grown by more than 10% in the past decade. As its population has expanded, a series of area agencies began meeting monthly to understand their shared goals. To help drive their work to improve active transportation and prepare for a zero-emission future, the team is using a $1.5 million grant from the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation’s Ride and Drive initiative to develop 52 mobility hubs within the Sacramento Region.
In 2018, the Brookings Institution partnered with Valley Vision, the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, Sacramento Metro Chamber, Sacramento Region Business Association, and Sacramento Area Council of Governments to evaluate how Sacramento was doing relative to the regional economy, evaluate its global competitiveness, suggest some future development goals, and promote a stakeholder agreement to drive investment and economic growth. Their study found that the Sacramento metropolitan area ranked “in the bottom-third of the 100 largest metro areas in composite rankings measuring improvements in growth, prosperity, and inclusion.” Further, the American Lung Association reported that the region had some of the worst air pollution in the US.
In response to these findings, the Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT), Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality District (Sac Metro Air District), Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) developed the Sacramento Region Zero Carbon Transportation Initiatives Zero Emissions Vehicle Deployment Strategy. The plan identified the need to develop first-mile last-mile solutions connected with transit.
“The Sac Metro Air District requested SacRT to identify opportunity sites that would benefit from improved multi-modal access. SacRT utilized demographic analysis to identify stations within Disadvantage Communities and then conducted field reviews on selected sites to propose improvements,” explained Jessica Gonzalez, SacRT’s Director of Marketing, Communications and Public Information in an email.
What is an e-mobility hub?
“An e-mobility hub is a location where users can access an e-bike, e-scooter, or EV shared vehicles,” wrote Gonzalez. “Hubs are meant to be the focal point of mobility transition, where a person can get there by transit and then take another mode (first-mile last-mile solution), e.g. e-bike, to their ultimate destination.”
The mobility hubs are usually located near regional public transit assets, like SacRT’s light rail stations. Because SacRT owns their light rail stations, they decided to develop the hubs themselves, rather than contract the projects to a third party. As the projects progress, SacRT will contract with vendors for necessary components like EV chargers.
Community Engagement
While the light rail ridership has returned to 70% of its pre-pandemic levels, the continued popularity of hybrid work has left stations and parking areas underutilized. “SacRT has been seeking ways to activate our light rail stations through partnerships such as development of a Transit-Oriented Development at Meadowview, car-share at Del Paso Heights, and a high-speed EV charging hub at Power Inn,” wrote Gonzalez.
The team hopes to further attract riders through amenities like food trucks, farmers markets and public art. As the project begins development, the team will solicit community input by attending local pop-up events and surveying riders at light rail stations.
Advice
Partnerships. Gonzalez identified that groundwork was needed to identify available resources and community needs. Teams needed to collaborate on a vision for a final project to understand its essential components.
Have a champion. Once common needs are identified and a vision for the future is identified, an organization needs to lead the effort. “The Sac Metro Air District has been the main champion and funding partner for developing SacRT’s Mobility Hub vision,” wrote Gonzalez.
