Sacramento Regional Transit seeks public input to improve safety near bus and light rail stops

New efforts are underway to encourage more people to use public transit in Sacramento. Sacramento Regional Transit is looking at ways to make it safer and easier to walk or bike to its bus and train stops.

Transit rider Janice Drew says it's risky trying to walk to a midtown lightrail station on 29th Street.

"I've seen somebody almost get hit right here and the car didn't stop. It kept going," she said.

Passengers have to cross three lanes of heavy traffic on 29th Street, using a crosswalk with no stoplight. Some people run across to avoid getting hit.

"I think there needs to be a stoplight right here to stop that from happening," Drew said.

It's just one of the problems identified in a new regional transit safety survey.

SacRT is holding a series of community workshops, asking people what needs to be done to reduce hazards on the way to bus and light rail stations.

There's also an online survey with a map, where people can pinpoint transit safety gaps. Red dots show areas of concern, like the Manlove transit station, where one rider says cars often turn right on a red light, putting pedestrians at risk as they cross Folsom Boulevard.

"This is an ample time for people to kind of speak out on what they need," said Pristina Zhang, senior project manager with the traffic safety group Civic Thread.

Zhang says it's important to gather this type of information so improvements can be prioritized.

"A lot of these improvements, unfortunately, do rely on grant funding, sometimes competing with the rest of the state to get a lot of these really important projects done," Zhang said.

SacRT will be using the data to perform field surveys of the danger spots and come up with potential safety ideas. A final improvement plan is expected to be completed by next January.

"It's people's well-being, and it is their lives and plans that are really the first step in making sure that on the ground solutions are happening," Zhang said.

Another community workshop is happening Wednesday night at the Belle Cooledge Library in South Land Park, and several others will be held in march.