We have a unique opportunity to use our rail line for clean, affordable, and fast transit across our county because:
Most people live within easy walking distance of the rail line and proposed stops.
The rail line connects key destinations in a straight line, making travel times competitive and faster than driving in traffic.
Our rail service will connect directly to the state rail system, connecting us to San Jose, Sacramento, LA and beyond.
When we Design for Everyone, Everyone Benefits
We’ve been going over design best practices, grant requirements, and demographic and transportation data to make sure the new rail service will serve the most people, and also be fundable. Here are some of the design choices that will have the largest impact on user experience, neighborhood impact, and grant eligibility.
Design stops for Accessibility: Ensuring Everyone has Easy Access
Accessibility and walkability are key indicators of ridership because the vast majority of transit ridership will come from residents and visitors who start their journey a 5 to 10-minute walk from their nearest station.
We'll be looking to see that each stop is designed with the best practices for universal design, which ensures that it's easy and safe to access our new transit system for people of all ages and abilities. Each stop should:
Prioritize walking and ADA access, including direct routes and convenient, low-delay pedestrian crossings with immediate platform access.
Ensure a feeling of safety for all users with proximity to all-hours activity, human-scale lighting, and transparent shelters and structures.
Make room for bike-share, bike parking, bus connections, and loading zones directly adjacent to the rail stop.
Choosing Great Stops
Choosing where to put stops will include a complicated matrix between meeting federal grant guidelines and meeting our local transit needs.
Here's a review of possible stops and why we might include them:
Service Priorities: Maximizing Ridership with Great Service
“Since passengers place 2.5 times more value on a shorter wait than on a shorter amount of time spent in motion or a shorter walk to transit, a small improvement in wait time can provide a larger benefit to passengers and a greater boost to ridership than a similar improvement in speed.” - NACTO Transit Street Design Guide
If we want reliable service, then we need:
Accessible stations with low-level Boarding.
Multi-door boarding, with easy tap, pre-boarding fare collection.
Transit Signal Priority.
Protected Intersections.
If we want more frequent service, then we need:
More passing sidings and more double tracked stops.
If we want a travel time that beats traffic, then we need:
An average speed of just 35 mph with low dwell times will give a 44 minute end to end travel time.
Neighborhood Impact: Beach Access and Quiet Zones
Informal beach access might be an important aspect of some Santa Cruz neighborhoods like Seascape, La Selva Beach and the Beach Flats/Boardwalk. In these areas each neighborhood may want to weigh in on whether they prefer to have signalized and controlled access across the tracks or have the train go at slower speeds. This desicion will effect overall increases in travel time
versus preseving casual pedestrain access.
Many neighborhoods may prefer to have quiet zones so that the train is not required to use it's horn at crossings. This will require a CPUC application and additional protections to be installed at each intersection included in the zone. Neighborhoods that want to request a Quiet Zone should start contacting the RTC now. Quiet Zones will involve additional costs at each intersection for the project.
Catching-up: About the Project
The Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line is a 32 mile rail line owned by the County of Santa Cruz. The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, California office of Rail Transportation and Federal Rail Administration are working together to implement new passenger rail service from Santa Cruz to San Jose via Salinas. In December 2023 the Santa Cruz to San Jose route was accepted into the Federal Corridor ID program, a Federal sponsorship program to fast track and fund new intercity rail projects. The new 22 mile service between Santa Cruz and Pajaro with stops in Seabright, Live Oak, Capitola, Aptos and Watsonville is being designed now.
Rail service will benefit everyone
70% of Santa Cruz County both lives and works in the County and most commuting is done in the narrow North-South corridor between the Santa Cruz mountains and the Coast of the Monterey Bay. This happens to be the exact corridor that the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line serves. In fact, Santa Cruz County grew up along and around the rail line, which is why it’s no surprise that it serves the densest neighborhoods and job centers in addition to over 40 schools and 92 parks.
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