New express bus line to link Roseville hospitals and Galleria Mall to Lincoln, light rail

The Abridged version:

• Starting Thursday, the new weekday Rapid Link service will connect Roseville stops to Lincoln and the regional light rail with an electric bus fleet.
• Roseville Transit authorities hope the service will meet demands for more public transportation options and mitigate traffic on Interstate 80 and Highway 65.
• Travelers will ride for free until full services begin with a $2 fare in March 2027.

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Roseville and Lincoln locals looking to skip Interstate 80 traffic may find some reprieve, thanks to a new express line of sleek black buses.

Roseville Transit’s Rapid Link service, which begins Thursday, will connect popular Roseville stops to Lincoln and the Sacramento light rail system along the Interstate 80 and Highway 65 corridor. Buses will run weekdays from about 6:45 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. with a total of five stops.

Until now, transit options between Roseville and Lincoln have been limited. Local authorities say that the new routes will boost public transportation access throughout the region, giving Placer County residents an easier way to get to shops, hospitals and transit systems serving other parts of the region. They also hope that the new transit option will alleviate heavy interstate and highway congestion.

“This started just before COVID, so it’s been several years in the making,” said Roseville alternative transportation manager Ed Scofield. “The idea is to try and get people out of their cars and onto the buses, people going from Sacramento to key destinations, like the hospitals and the Galleria Mall, to Lincoln.”

Northbound and southbound routes will run from the Watt Avenue/I-80 light rail station to the Lincoln Park & Ride station. The three stops along the way will be located at the Kaiser Roseville Medical Center, Sutter Roseville Medical Center and the Galleria Mall transfer point.

Since these stops also connect to systems operated by Sacramento Transit, Placer County Transit and Yuba-Sutter Transit, Rapid Link riders will have access to dozens of other regional bus and light rail lines.

Commuter lines have long connected Roseville to Downtown Sacramento, but the Rapid Link service is a unique expansion of the existing system, Roseville spokesperson Helen Dyda told Abridged by PBS KVIE. Bus riders previously had only limited options to travel as far as Lincoln, and more people will now have access to the hospitals that make Roseville a major health care hub in Northern California.

As part of Roseville transit’s efforts toward a zero-emissions bus fleet, all buses traveling on the line will be fully electric. Roseville Transit acquired five new electric buses and installed several new electric vehicle chargers at its corporate yard and the Galleria Mall to support the project.

Rapid Link is being launched as a three-year pilot program, with future services depending on performance and ridership during this period. Scofield said that if the express line is a success, Roseville Transit could continue services or possibly expand into weekend services, among other potential paths.

“We’d have to secure additional regional operating funds, but there’s all kinds of things we could do, especially if we show there’s a demand,” Scofield said. “That’s exciting.”

The service comes as part of the greater Placer-Sacramento Gateway Plan, which local and state governments launched years ago to improve transportation access and safety along the I-80 and Highway 65 corridor.

The Oct. 1 debut will be a “soft launch” where riders can hop on free of charge, Roseville transit operations manager Rich Frost said, with a limited number of buses traveling on the route with 60-minute headways.

“This phased approach allows us to introduce the service in a controlled, reliable manner,” he said at a Roseville transportation commission meeting earlier this month.

Full services are expected to be phased in by March 2027, when buses are expected to run every 30 minutes and charge a $2 fare.