Press Release: Phase I of Service Restoration for August 2021

NEWS RELEASE
June 22, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vallejo, CA – Solano County Transit (SolTrans) will increase transit service for the first time since the 2020 reductions caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Phase I of the Service Restoration Plan will go into effect on Sunday, August 1, 2021.

Phase I includes restoring local service on Saturdays on all local routes (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8). Routes 1, 7A and 7B are already in service on Saturdays, increase frequency on the SolanoExpress Yellow Line weekdays to hourly service to and from Walnut Creek BART, an additional trip on the Route 82 to the San Francisco Ferry Terminal in the a.m., and finally, the school trippers Routes 15, 17, and 38 that support the Benicia and Vallejo school bell schedules will be resorted. In addition, all the SolanoExpress Lines were adjusted to prepare for BART’s schedule changes effective Monday, August 30, 2021. New schedule timetables can be found at August 2021 Service Change page.

SolTrans Executive Director, Beth Kranda said regarding the service increase, “We’ve been waiting to restore some service to the cities of Benicia and Vallejo after this long year, our biggest objective with this phase was increasing access for our local riders on Saturdays, we hope to continue to build on this and restore service as quickly as possible.”

In May 2021, the SolTrans Board, after reviewing public feedback regarding the needs of current riders and those preparing to retune to transit, approved to move forward with service increases summarized above. This service increase is the first of what will ultimately be many phases to restore service to pre-pandemic levels, the agency is still financially recovering from the loss caused by COVID-19. SolTrans staff continue to monitor passenger travel patterns and regional and state guidelines, as well as apply for any available funding to support restoring service.

On June 16, 2021 thanks to ease in county restrictions SolTrans was able to lift capacity restrictions on all services, which will help accommodate the increase in ridership. Face masks are still required by federal law on planes, buses, trains & all other forms of public transportation.

Solano County Transit (SolTrans) has been the public transportation provider for south Solano County since July 2011. SolTrans provides local and SolanoExpress fixed routes, complementary paratransit, and subsidized Lyft programs. The agency is a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) that is governed by a six-member Board of Directors, composed of two representatives from the cities of Benicia and Vallejo, Solano County’s representative on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), and a representative from the Solano Transportation Authority.

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