October 19, 2026
Dan Leavitt
Manager of Regional Initiatives
San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission
949 East Channel Street
Stockton, CA 95202
RE: Gold Runner Thruway Bus Study Report
The Rail Passenger Association of California and Nevada has reviewed the Gold Runner Thruway Bus Study Report and has the following comments. First a small typo – page ES-2, first sentence, it is the Rail Passenger Association of California and Nevada. There is no “s” on the end of Passenger. That is the national rail advocacy organization.
Overall, RailPAC found the report very comprehensive, with overviews of each of the Thruway Bus routes as well as detailed information on ridership, passenger miles, ticket revenue, operating costs. The value and importance of the statewide network is clearly apparent to readers of the report.
Also, RailPAC applauds the many initiatives proposed to enhance the Thruway bus services. In particular, the proposed strategic partnerships not only have the potential to increase ridership by attracting new local riders, but to increase the visibility of the Thruway network to additional stakeholders.
However, RailPAC does have concerns with the report. The biggest is structural in nature and is a result of what RailPAC sees as governance shortfalls now thirty years into the Joint Powers Authority governance model. California’s Thruway bus network is a statewide network and should be managed as such, preferably by the state. Also, RailPAC has concerns about this report being done in isolation without a joint analysis of the intercity motor coach network in California and potential synergies between the two networks.
Each Thruway bus route represents a continuum between two distinct roles – direct connection to rail service on the one hand and basic rural access service on the other hand. For example, Emeryville – San Francisco and Bakersfield – Los Angeles are examples of a service nearly 100% focused on train connection service compared to routes serving the Redwood Empire, northern Sacramento Valley, Salinas Valley, and Coachella Valley, which provide transportation service vitally important for these rural areas. So, on the one hand, the San Joaquin JPA is tasked with funding a social service, basic lifeline rural access transportation to northern California areas and in years past to the Coachella Valley, while for the LOSSAN JPA, Thruway bus service and especially rural access service is a far lower priority. The undervalued role of key Thruway bus routes and their role in providing a critical social service, rural access, needs to be given greater recognition in the report so its importance can be recognized by the Caltrans, legislators, and local officials.
While RailPAC applauds the initiative to develop strategic partnerships, the proposed strategy has an Achilles heel that needs to be discussed in greater detail. That issue is on-time performance. The issue was briefly mentioned in the Route 5 overview, but unless addressed it will undermine the entire strategic partnerships initiative.
On-time Thruway bus departures are important not only to train riders but for bus only riders as well. Holding for a late train means a late bus substantially reducing the value of the service for bus only riders. For a rider who has spent the last five hours flying from the East Coast to Sacramento, they do not want to hear that their Route 5 bus is late because of holding for a late train. They will likely never ride again. On-time performance is also important for partnerships involving onward local travel on transit service. In this case a missed connection is disruptive for both train connection and bus only riders. As Doug Kerr has noted, this was an issue with the Route 7 Ukiah transit connection.
The report should provide strategies to address the on-time performance issue. The best strategy would be to improve the on-time performance of the Gold Runner service. If that cannot be achieved, then additional protect schedules need to operate to provide the back-up train connection as well as protecting the original schedule for bus only riders. Alternatively, on-call van service needs to be arranged to protect the train connection. The cost of the last two options, unless sparingly used, will undermine the financial benefits of the partnership which puts the focus on the first option. In summary, unless Gold Runner on-time performance is substantially improved the financial potential of partnerships will not be achieved.
Thank you for involving the Rail Passenger Association of California and Nevada, an all-volunteer rail advocacy organization whose members work and travel throughout California, participate in this study.
Sincerely.
Steve Roberts, President Rail Passenger Association of California and Nevada
