Chico to Sacramento Inter-City Transit Strategic Plan

Note: this study was updated in late 2025, see below. In February 2022, BCAG developed the Chico to Sacramento Inter-City Transit Strategic Plan to guide the integration of Butte Regional Transit with the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority’s Route 3 (Stockton–Sacramento–Chico–Redding), creating a unified commuter service between Chico and Sacramento.

The Plan outlines strategies for a regionally significant transit connection, analyzing routing, schedules, costs, fare structures, park-and-ride options, fleet requirements, and marketing.

In response to population shifts from the Camp Fire and service changes due to COVID-19, the Plan reassessed ridership trends and proposed a coordinated approach to merge Route 3 with B-Line services. The Final Chico to Sacramento Inter-City Transit Strategic Plan is available here:

BCAG Chico to Sacramento Draft - Final Report

2025 Update

In late 2025, BCAG updated this study to eliminate the segment between Sacramento and Stockton, focus service between Chico and Sacramento only (with stops in Oroville, Marysville and Plumas Lakes), and provide updates to key elements of the study.  BCAG hopes to establish this service in late 2026/early 2027.

2025 update Chico to Sacramento Inter-City Bus Service Plan - clean version, redline version, appendix G.

Contact Us

If you have comments or questions regarding the Chico to Sacramento Plan, please contact Sara Cain at 530-809-4616, or by email at scain@bcag.org.