North State Express Connect Business Plan

Green DOT was contracted by SRTA as the prime consultant to develop a bus system which will connect rural northern California to the Sacramento region and beyond with battery electric coach buses. The NS Express, later named the Salmon Runner, will connect Shasta County to the City of Sacramento along I-5 as the backbone. Additionally, the system is designed to connect most of northern California’s rural counties to the backbone through electric feeder buses. The vision, developed in previous planning efforts, will utilize 45-foot electric coaches for the backbone service and smaller electric buses connecting 8 regional transit systems to the I-5 coach service. The project includes electric vehicle charging stations, transit stop/hub improvements, integrated ticketing, access agreements, and extensive coordination between entities. Additionally, our project team utilized progressive industry techniques such as mobile source data to develop the most accurate ridership projections.  The North State Express Connect Business Plan laid the groundwork for the development of a Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) grant proposal. The NS Express Connect was awarded $8.641 million for the new service.