I wrote reactions to the policy suggestions that will be presented today at the SacRT board meeting: SacRT board 2026-11-09 4.1 customer service. What I did not write about is how the board should approach this.
These rider-facing policies are too important to leave to staff. Though it has never been verbalized, it seems that staff intent is that staff develop and implement the policies without board approval. The implementation of a zero-tolerance policy for all violations, without board knowledge or approval, supports this concern.
SacRT develops extensive documents, with approval by legal counsel, for a huge number of board decisions. Most of these end up on consent agenda, but some are the subject of public hearings. The current topics on strollers, carts, and bicycles are far more important than most of what is addressed by the board.
No policies on strollers, carts, and bicycles should be implemented without approval by the board.
The policies must include:
Clear language about what the policy is.
Clear language about what the potential penalties for violation are.
Clear information about what will be communicated to riders about the policy. This would include signs posted on light rail and buses, verbal announcements at light rail stations and on buses, and public outreach efforts designed to reach all riders.
Clear information about what Transit Ambassadors and other SacRT staff will communicate to riders about the policy, and appropriate responses to perceived or actual violations.
Documentation of actual safety or customer issues that justify the policy.
Documented review by the SacRT Mobility Advisory Council.
Let me be blunt. I do not trust SacRT staff to develop and implement policy on strollers, carts, and bicycles without board approval. Agenda item 4.1 is ‘for information only’, and nothing indicates that board approval will be sought for these suggestions.
Though these policies have been on the SacRT Mobility Advisory Council meeting agendas for several months, it was deferred all but one of those months, and the discussion on the remaining month was very brief. Again, this is on the board agenda when it has not previously been on the MAC agenda in any meaningful way. The next MAC meeting is November 19.
Correction: I misidentified this agenda item as 3.1. It is 4.1.
The Customer Response and Feedback slides continue to use incorrect terminology, including the words ‘modification’ and ‘medication’. The correct disability term is ‘accommodation’. Please see SacRT Board 2026-11-09 for the full agenda.
Strollers – family hostile
The chart of other transit agency policies on strollers shows three major agencies (SFMTA Muni, LA Metro, and AC Transit) that allow the child to remain in the stroller.
Slide 2 of Customer Response & Feedback presentation
The suggested policy for strollers is an improvement over the apparent existing policy that requires the child be removed and the stroller folded before boarding, allowing be child to be removed and the stroller folded after boarding. However, this is still a family-hostile policy.
Why does SacRT feel that it must be more restrictive than major transit agencies? Does it have any actual safety informations to present? Or is this just a continuation of archaic policies that no one gave any thought of to begin with, and are now being defended?
Slide 3 of Customer Response & Feedback presentation
Added info on LA Metro code of conduct. Buses: Strollers: may be kept in the wheelchair securement area when available. Riders with wheelchairs will be given priority. Rail: Strollers: Look for the decal on the outside of the car denoting the designated space for passengers with strollers.
Added AC Transit stroller policy (for buses, AC Transit does not have rail), since SacRT staff decided to remove the AC Transit element from the slide: When boarding with a stroller, the passenger has the option of leaving the child in the stroller. At the passenger’s request, the driver will operate the lift to allow the passenger with a stroller to board more easily. Drivers are not to assist with baby strollers. While on-board, the child may remain in the stroller provided that the passenger maintains control of the stroller at all times, keeping at least one hand on the stroller while the bus is moving and the stroller doesn’t pose a safety hazard to any passenger. In no case is the stroller to be allowed to remain in a position that blocks aisles, doors, steps or emergency exits. The stroller’s brakes should be set so that the stroller will be secured and prevented from rolling and becoming a safety hazard.
Carts and Wagons
This policy seems reasonable.
Bicycles
LA Metro, BART, and SFMTA Muni Metro rail cars were designed to accommodate bicycles. SacRT Siemens S700 US (ultra short) rail cars were designed to NOT accommodate bicycles, because San Diego MTS, which SacRT had a joint order, specified rail cars designed to not accommodate bicycles. This is mistake that will last as long at the S700 cars last. SacRT has made no real effort to mitigate this issue.
Slide 7 of Customer Response & Feedback presentation
The suggested policy of no bikes at first doorway of first rail car is odd, since the first doorway is not the accessible ramp doorway. The board presentation may explain the rationale.
The ‘2 bikes per other doorways’ suggestion is actually a change from current policy of four bikes per railcar, since there are four sets of doorways on each car, meaning eight bikes. Policies must be clear and understandable by all riders, but this one is not.
The request of transit and bicycle advocates that one seat by each accessible door pair be removed in favor of a bike hook, increasing capacity by two bikes per rail car, has apparently not been considered.
Slide 9 of Customer Response & Feedback presentation
Bicycle Lockers
Bike Lockers (slide 11) mentions bike lockers.
Slide 4 of the 2026-09-28 agenda 3.1 presentation mentions ‘bike lockers’ but without any additional information. I have not found any other mention of bike lockers in board agendas. I assume the SacRT count of about 48 lockers at 12 stations is the rental lockers which are very lightly used. It is not clear what ‘This project: 4 lockers at University/65 St Station (Route 30) and 10 at UC Davis (Route 138)’ refers to. I have not found any mention of purchasing and service agreements for bike lockers in board agendas. If there are to be new BikeLink e-lockers at University/65th St and Davis, that is great, but it would be useful to have more information. It isn’t clear why just Route 30 is mentioned, when University/65th St is a transit hub with light rail and multiple buses.
The front bike racks on buses work well. It would be great to have a policy that bikes may be brought on-board if the front bike rack is full, for the last bus of the day only.
Slide 11 of Customer Response & Feedback presentation
Technology
Modernizing SacRT: Technology, Fares & Mobility Innovation (slide 12) mentions several enhancement. Real-time GTFS has been requested for years, and almost every major transit agency has had this capability for years. Yay! Transit app, the most commonly used transit planning app, depends on real-time GTFS. CAD/AVL = Computer-Aided Dispatch/Automatic Vehicle Location. WiFi access on light rail will be great. Acceptance of the Transit Connect app by all regional transit agencies will be great (only SacRT and Yolobus accept at this time). No timeline for any of these enhancement has been provided.
Mobility advocates have expressed concern about the transition from UZURV to Via, but I don’t understand enough to comment.
Slide 12 of Customer Response & Feedback presentation
‘LED Electronic Message Signs’ (slide 13) are great. However, the sample shown is only one of many types of information. These signs can also offer next arrival for light rail trains and buses, which is the information most useful to riders. They can show bus connections at light rail stations, for example LA Metro rail cars. They can, less commonly, show maps with current train and bus locations. It is not clear what the vendor, hardware, and software selected by SacRT will offer. A contract has been awarded, for at least some signs, but SacRT has not offered a timeline. The second image below shows a SFMTA Muni real-time bus stop display. These signs also show maps in alternation.
Slide 13 of Customer Response & Feedback presentationSFMTA Muni real-time display at bus stops, with arrival and capacity information
As noted in a previous post (SacRT ambassador escalation, family hostility), SacRT has a regressive policy on strollers on transit, which is a family-hostile policy. I mentioned some progressive policies, but here are more details on four transit agencies. In most cases these policies were adopted after pressure from parents with young children and transit advocates, and it will likely take the same to change SacRT’s regressive policies.
SacRT often compares itself to TriMet (Portland) because the cities are similar in size. TriMet’s policy is first below.
It is apparently illegal under ADA and FTA guidelines for any transit agency to deny access to adaptive strollers for children with disabilities, or to parents whose disabilities make it impossible or unsafe to hold their child.
You’re welcome to bring a stroller on buses and trains, but there may not always be room on board.
We recommend using a folding “umbrella” style stroller. Large and double-wide strollers are not practical for use on TriMet.
You can board the bus with your child in the stroller, and your baby or toddler may remain in the stroller if there is space in the priority seating area.
The stroller should be positioned so that the child faces the rear of the bus and any applicable wheel locks must be secured. Make sure your stroller is not creating an obstacle for other riders. You must keep your stroller with you and it can’t block the aisle, stairs or doorway.
Children in open strollers are welcome on CTA, however we encourage parents to be considerate of other customers and adhere to these rules when traveling with a stroller.
Keep strollers clear of aisles and doorways aboard buses and trains.
If a bus or train becomes crowded, please fold your stroller to make room for others. Also, if a bus or train is crowded, a CTA employee may ask you to fold your stroller or wait for another vehicle—please follow their instructions. During certain periods of high ridership, we may require that all strollers be folded before you board.
Seniors and riders with disabilities have priority use of the Priority Seating area aboard buses and trains. If these seats are not in use, open strollers may be parked in this area to help you to keep from blocking the aisle. On buses, you may also request use of the access ramp or lift to help you board and exit.
Please yield Priority Seating areas if a rider with a disability, a senior, or a person using a mobility device wishes to board.
Children in an open stroller should be seated and secured in the stroller before boarding the bus or train. If traveling with an open stroller in a multi-level facility, please use elevators or ramps where available (strollers are never permitted on escalators). On train station platforms, position your stroller parallel to the platform edge (not facing it), use wheel locks/brakes and stay with the stroller at all times.
SEPTA supports families, caregivers and our youngest riders by allowing open strollers onboard buses and trains. Strollers may be in the open position while riding, boarding and exiting SEPTA vehicles. Please follow the instructions of crew members as they attempt to accommodate your need for space while prioritizing everyone’s safety.
The priority seating area must be vacated to allow a person with a disability to board and ride.
Park open strollers in the area identified with Stroller Spot signage, when available. (Note: SEPTA has modified buses on popular routes to actually provide a spot designated for strollers.)
In vehicles without a Stroller Spot, park open strollers in priority seating areas and use flip-up seats.
Yield priority seating spaces to persons with mobility limitations.
Secure the child within the stroller.
Engage stroller brakes.
Hold the stroller while on board.
Keep the aisle and doorways clear.
Strollers on the Bus
In a crowded bus (full seated load), operators may ask that a stroller be moved or folded.
You may request the driver to kneel the bus or use the access ramp at stops that permit curb access. Not all bus stops permit curb access.
To avoid tipping your child out of the stroller, board the bus forward and leave the bus backward.
Make sure your stroller is 26” or less. Double strollers cannot be accommodated.
In priority seating areas, use flip-up seats by pulling the yellow handle of the seat toward you.
Strollers on the Train
When possible, board at doors with ADA signage.
Boarding trains from a low platform require strollers to be folded.
Metro’s youngest customers and those traveling with them now have one less barrier to a stress-free ride on Metrobus. Metro today announced that effective immediately, open strollers are welcome on Metrobus, replacing a policy that required strollers to be folded before boarding.
“Metro is committed to making transit accessible and convenient for everyone, and that includes those traveling with young children,” Clarke said. “This family-friendly initiative relieves a hardship many parents told us they face when riding Metrobus, and we hope it encourages more families to choose Metro.”
Those traveling on Metrobus with strollers should utilize the priority seating area with the stroller brakes locked while the bus is in motion. Strollers must not block aisles or doorways, and should be held on to at all times.
People with disabilities and seniors will continue to have first priority in the priority seating area. Metrobus operators will maintain discretion to ask that a stroller be moved or folded if they determine it is compromising the safety of other passengers.
This morning I rode SacRT Gold Line light rail from 16th Street to Sunrise. A SacRT Transit Ambassador (see Safety and Security page for info on the program) escalated a minor issue into a major issue, for no good reason. A woman boarded with a baby in stroller. The stroller was small, and the train car mostly empty, about eight people on board. The woman and stroller were not causing any safety problem for anyone. The woman and the stroller were not blocking an aisle, a doorway, or a handicapped area (see SacRT regulations below).
The ambassador insisted that the woman fold her stroller, and said “its the law”. After some discussion, the ambassador, said, well, you are going to get a warning. Immediately after saying this, the ambassador got on her phone to ask for law enforcement backup. Of course this sent the woman into anger, since she had just been told she would get a warning, and now was being threatened with law enforcement action.
The woman and stroller were not causing any issue whatsoever for any other passenger. It was the ambassador that decided there was a problem, and created a problem. The escalation of this incident was by the ambassador, not the rider.
Law enforcement officers boarded at Sunrise. I stated to an officer that the ambassador had escalated the situation. I do not know the outcome because that was my destination, so I got off.
So what is the regulation that the woman was supposedly violating? The sign posted is below.
So, what is PUC 99170 (6)(d)? There is no such thing. You can look at the PUC code yourself (DIVISION 10. TRANSIT DISTRICTS, PART 11. PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO ALL PUBLIC TRANSIT, CHAPTER 3. Miscellaneous). Perhaps the sign was intended to say (a)(6) ‘Violate a notice, prohibition, instruction, or direction on a sign that is intended to provide for the safety and security of transit passengers, or the safe and secure operation of the transit system’. Since the sign does not refer to a valid PUC code, the sign is illegal, and if any citations were given based on this sign, they should be dismissed.
What this PUC code does is allow a transit district to create regulations and supporting signs IF for the ‘safety and security of transit passengers’. Given that SacRT has not made any finding, so far as I am aware, that strollers are a safety hazard for other passengers, why did SacRT suddenly decide that this was necessary? The signs are fairly new, though I’ve been out of town for much of that last two months, so I’m not sure when they were installed. I’m pretty sure they were installed because SacRT has become an enforcement-first agency, not really concerned with riders at all.
The regulation that I found, not findable through SacRT website search, but with external search, on the Laws and Rules page, “Riding in a Vehicle with Stroller/Utility Cart unless, prior to boarding, the children or goods are removed and the Stroller/Utility Cart is folded and/or stored so that it does not block the aisle or the areas reserved for persons in wheelchairs or who use mobility aids.”
I have certainly seen large strollers that don’t fit within any area on the train (by the way, SacRT made the decision to purchase ‘US ultra-short’ versions of the Siemens cars, knowing that they did not have sufficient space for bicycles or other devices).
Where does this law-enforcement-first attitude and action come from? Lisa Hinz is the SacRT Vice President for Security, Safety and Customer Satisfaction, which includes the Transit Ambassador program. She is a former police officer with the City of Sacramento Police Department. Her view of everything is authoritarian and rule-bound. Her presentations to the board have hidden information, given wrong impressions, and included outright lies. Why SacRT put a former police officer in charge of ‘customer satisfaction’, I have no idea.
Some background. When I got on the train with my bicycle, the ambassador was standing in the space reserved for bicyclists. She refused to move. So I stood with my bicycle the entire way. The ambassador had earlier talked to a woman with a shopping cart about folding. I did not hear all of that conversation, but the other woman was not threatened with a warning, nor forced to fold her shopping cart, nor removed from the train, nor subject to law enforcement. Apparently shopping carts are not considered the threat that baby strollers are.
I did not observe the ambassador to have a positive interaction with any rider. Apparently the change from ‘fare inspector’ was just a change in terminology, not a change in approach to public service. The lead illustration on the SacRT Safety and Security page is of four officers with full gear and frowning at the camera. What message does that send to riders?
Progressive transit agencies across the US have liberalized stroller policies in order to meet the needs of parents traveling with strollers. See
While other transit agencies move forward, SacRT moves backward. This policy is family-hostile. No good reason. No surprise.
CTA (see above link) has the following text. This is what a real transit agency would do.
Traveling with strollers
Children in open strollers are welcome on CTA, however we encourage parents to be considerate of other customers and adhere to these rules when traveling with a stroller.
Keep strollers clear of aisles and doorways aboard buses and trains.
If a bus or train becomes crowded, please fold your stroller to make room for others. Also, if a bus or train is crowded, a CTA employee may ask you to fold your stroller or wait for another vehicle—please follow their instructions. During certain periods of high ridership, we may require that all strollers be folded before you board.
Seniors and riders with disabilities have priority use of the Priority Seating area aboard buses and trains. If these seats are not in use, open strollers may be parked in this area to help you to keep from blocking the aisle. On buses, you may also request use of the access ramp or lift to help you board and exit.
Please yield Priority Seating areas if a rider with a disability, a senior, or a person using a mobility device wishes to board.
Children in an open stroller should be seated and secured in the stroller before boarding the bus or train. If traveling with an open stroller in a multi-level facility, please use elevators or ramps where available (strollers are never permitted on escalators). On train station platforms, position your stroller parallel to the platform edge (not facing it), use wheel locks/brakes and stay with the stroller at all times.
