The San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority can hit the road in Atascadero, now that the City Council unanimously approved merging its current public transit system with the Transit Authority.
By the end of June, what’s currently a Dial-A-Ride route will be the SLO Regional Transit Authority (RTA) Route 9 through Atascadero, Public Works Analyst Ryan Betz told the council at its Feb. 25 meeting.
Betz said that it was getting increasingly more expensive to maintain and operate the city’s Dial-A-Ride public transit system and that costs had gone up by 30 percent since last year despite ridership decreasing by 57 percent since 2019.
Dial-A-Ride has provided public transportation for Atascadero since the city’s incorporation in 1979 and is targeted for the city’s seniors, students, and residents with disabilities.
The city has had challenges with retaining and replacing bus drivers, which has impacted riders and the bus schedules, she said.
Dial-A-Ride was funded primarily by riding fees, as well as state and federal funding, and Betz said it was expensive to operate the Dial-A-Ride system. It also took staff a lot of time to ensure the city was meeting “more stringent” requirements from the state and federal government, he said.
Under these conditions, Betz suggested that the council consolidate the Dial-A-Ride program with RTA at a cost of about $650,000 for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which would be no more than what the city already pays.
“It is very similar to our current budget right now for transit services,” Betz said, mentioning that the funds would be transferred from the city to RTA.
What would be different for the city, Betz said, is RTA would handle administration, operations, and maintenance of the transit system, while the city retains local control over service, and users would have safe, reliable, and accessible public transportation.
“They have an entire team, I would call an army, to manage state and federal porting and compliance requirements,” Betz said, “and they actively participate in regional transportation plans and studies.”
In addition, Betz said RTA has the means to offer bus drivers higher pay and better benefits than the city, providing riders with more reliable transportation.
“Their retention … is not as in dire need as ours,” he said.
Atascadero is following other SLO County cities by consolidating with RTA, including Morro Bay, Paso Robles, Arroyo Grande, and Pismo Beach, and will now have a fixed route that could transport riders from Atascadero up to Paso and down to AG.
With the council’s unanimous approval, Betz said the merge will go to the RTA board in March and the SLO Council of Governments board in April to ensure the Atascadero routes are set by June 22. Δ
This article appears in Weddings 2025.
