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Agenda Report
July 20, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
THROUGH: Municipal Services Committee (July 14,2026)
FROM: Transportation Department
SUBJECT: PASADENA TRANSIT AND PASADENA DIAL-A-RIDE 2026 SHORT
RANGE TRANSIT PLAN ADOPTION
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council:
1. Find that the proposed action is not a project subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 21065 of CEQA and Sections 15060 (c)(2), 15060 (c)(3), and 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines and, as such, no environmental document pursuant to CEQA is required for the project; and
2. Adopt the Short Range Transit Plan and recommendations, including the modified Route 10 recommendation.
TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMISSION (TAG) RECOMMENDATION:
On May 28, 2026, after reviewing and discussing the draft Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP), the Transportation Advisory Commission voted unanimously to support staff's recommendation for adoption of the Plan by City Council.
MUNICIPAL SERVICES COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:
City staff presented the SRTP to the Municipal Services Committee on July 14, 2026.
Committee members supported the plan and requested staff include policy language that all notifications for City-organized or City-sponsored events accessible by transit include transit information to enhance accessibility and support sustainable transportation choices. This language has been added to the recommendations section of the SRTP. This practice will help residents and visitors understand their full range of travel options and encourage the use of public transit.
I
MEETING OF07/20/2026AGENDA ITEM NO.11
Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP) Update
July 20, 2026
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The 2026 Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP) is the City's formal planning document that establishes priorities for transit operations and service improvements over the next five years supporting the policy goals for the City's public transit services. The SRTP recommendations have been developed with the goal of maximizing ridership and meeting the community's needs within the Pasadena Transit and Pasadena Dial- A-Ride service area to maintain a responsive, reliable transit system that reflects current travel patterns and supports regional mobility goals. Updating the SRTP also ensures that Pasadena remains eligible for various federal, state, and regional transit funding.
The SRTP outlines the extensive analysis that informed the development of the recommendations including evaluation of existing transit conditions and demographic and market analysis in the Pasadena service area, peer comparisons with similar Southern California agencies and feedback collected through broad community outreach conducted between 2023 and 2026. Public feedback played a significant role in shaping the final recommendations, particularly regarding service frequencies, span of service and proposed routing changes on Routes 10 and 40. The report also contains an overview of bus stop amenity prioritization Key recommendations include expanding the hours of service during weekdays and weekends and providing holiday service, frequency updates for several Pasadena Transit lines, route re-organization including elimination or consolidation of low- performing routes, and introduction of a new, unfunded, Route 710. The plan also recommends a new unfunded pilot for same-day Pasadena Dial-A-Ride service to an expanded service area. Finally, a new Bus Stop Amenities Prioritization Framework was developed to ensure that infrastructure improvements such as bus stop furniture, passenger information, lighting and other enhancements are applied consistently across the network and tailored to the specific needs and context of each bus stop type.
Following adoption of the SRTP, the Department of Transportation (DOT) will develop a phased implementation plan to ensure that the implementation is cost-neutral. Each phase will include public outreach to ensure riders and nonriders are informed regarding the service change timelines. DOT will continue to pursue grant opportunities, partnerships, and cross-departmental efforts to advance unfunded recommendations and those requiring further study.
The SRTP will serve as a roadmap for maintaining and enhancing mobility options for Pasadena residents, workers, and visitors while supporting broader citywide goals related to sustainability, accessibility, and multimodal transportation.
Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP) Update
July 20, 2026
BACKGROUND:
This Agenda Report outlines the SRTP (Attachment A) and final recommendations.
The SRTP serves as the City's formal planning document that establishes priorities for transit operations and service improvements over the next five years, supporting the policy goals for the City's public transit services. Federal and regional authorities require transit agencies to develop an SRTP to receive federal, state, and regional transit funding. In addition, this is a specific requirement by Metro for the City to receive certain regional transit funding.
The final recommendations have been refined to reflect feedback received through an extensive public outreach process. Following adoption of the SRTP, DOT will develop a phased implementation plan to ensure that the implementation is cost-neutral. Each phase will include public outreach to ensure riders and nonriders are informed regarding the service change timelines. The City will continue to pursue grant opportunities, partnerships, and cross-departmental efforts to address the unfunded recommendations or those that need more study.
Outreach Process
The SRTP update process began in June 2023 with a comprehensive evaluation of Pasadena Transit and Pasadena Dial-A-Ride services conducted by City staff and project consultant. Onboard surveys and ridership counts were conducted in fall 2023, resulting in more than 1 ,300 surveys from Pasadena Transit riders and 150 from Dial- A-Ride members.
To further assess community priorities, five in-person open house meetings and one virtual meeting were held in April and May 2024. Feedback from these efforts informed the development of priorities and draft recommendations. Throughout the meetings, which were attended by a total of 67 community members, participants were presented with background on the project and initial findings from the existing conditions review and from the onboard and mail in surveys, and had the opportunity to provide feedback through interactive activities designed to understand transit priorities and the types of improvements participants would like to see at bus stops in the city.
A second round of events, held in November 2024, included two open houses and a virtual meeting to discuss the draft recommendations and collect feedback. General feedback from the meetings included discussion of the importance of Route 10 service frequency, the Route 40 reroute onto Orange Grove Boulevard, and support for weekend and holiday service on multiple routes.
Due to the impact of the Eaton Fire, additional outreach was paused while the draft report was completed. The draft SRTP was finalized in February 2026 and made available online at PasadenaTransit.net for public review. Staff presented the SRTP and recommendations to the Accessibility and Disability Commission, the Northwest Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP) Update
July 20, 2026
and recommendations to the Accessibility and Disability Commission, the Northwest Commission, and the Transportation Advisory Commission. The presentation and recommendations were also provided to the Senior Commission for review and feedback. Additional public comments were received from 39 individuals through the SRTP website. Feedback on the recommendations gathered during the outreach in late 2024 and early 2026 was incorporated into the final recommendations presented below.
SRTP Goals and Recommendations
Three overarching SRTP goals guided the development of recommendations:
Reflect new travel patterns including extending the hours of service during the week and standardizing Saturday and Sunday service hours • Integrate with Metro NextGen including integrating Metro routes into the Pasadena Transit service, coordinating service with the incoming North hlollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit project, and reducing duplicative service on corridors well serviced by Metro
Enhance the customer experience including improving frequencies, adding holiday service and easier to read schedules
The recommendations apply to the City's ten fixed routes and Dial-A-Ride service, as well as a new Route 710, and all were developed around these three goals.
A summary of the route and service recommendations are summarized below:
Route
10 Route Recommendation Summary
Re-route connecting Old Pasadena and Sierra Madre Villa (SMV) Station. 40-minute frequency.
20No route change recommended.
Increase frequency (recommendation is unfunded)
31/32
Eliminate Route 32 due to low ridership.
Coordinate schedule with Route 33 (formerly Metro Line 256) to provide 20- minute frequency on Washington Blvd. (implemented in December 2024, Routes 31/32/33 operate every 18 minutes along Washington Blvd. between Fair Oaks Blvd. and Altadena Dr.).
33• Assume operations of Metro Line 256 at increased frequency (implemented in December 2024, running every 35 minutes).
40 • Move part of alignment to Orange Grove Blvd. between Lake Ave. and Alien Ave.
• Increase weekday frequency.
Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP) Update
July 20, 2026
51/52
Create one alignment between JPL and Old Pasadena operating Monday through Sunday, discontinue service to ArtCenter.
Provide service on all days at 60-minute frequency.
53• Assume operations of Metro Line 177 at same frequency (implemented in December 2024).
60Eliminate route (Proposed Route 10 will serve parts of the discontinued route).
710
New route from JPL to Huntington Hospital via Fair Oaks Ave., Lincoln Ave. & Woodbury Rd.
Recommendation is unfunded.
10,20,
31,40,51
• Extended weekday evening hours, extended Saturday morning hours and extended Sunday evening hours
• Implement holiday service
Dial-A-
Ride
• Same day service in an expanded service area.
Increase fare to $1 for regular service.
Charge $2 for same day appointments and expanded service. • Recommendation is unfunded.
Bus Stop Amenities Prioritization
The SRTP also contains a bus stop design framework developed to ensure that infrastructure improvements such as bus stop furniture, passenger information, lighting, and other enhancements are applied consistently across the network and tailored to the specific needs and context of each bus stop type defined as Enhanced, Standard, or Basic. Feedback was gathered through the public outreach process described above, which informed the development of this framework to ensure it aligned with rider priorities.
The City is currently developing a procurement strategy to implement new advertising and bus furniture program and anticipates releasing a Request For Proposal in the fall.
The bus stop amenities prioritization will guide the implementation of the program.
Other recommendations:
The SRTP contains four further directives:
1. Conduct a fare study for Pasadena Transit
2. Continue to pursue efforts to improve Pasadena Transit travel times
3. Continue to explore funding and partnership opportunities for the Mt. Wilson Express
4. Continue to explore funding and partnership opportunities for service to the Huntington Library.
SRTP Updates
To respond to public comments gathered during both phases of outreach, the Route 10 recommendation has been modified from the original draft recommendations. The Route 40 route alignment recommendation also generated several comments, which Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP) Update
July 20, 2026
are discussed below. The Route 40 recommendation has not changed, but will require additional study before implementation. All other route recommendations remain the same:
Route 10
A new alignment for Route 10 is recommended which replaces the initial recommendation. Due to significant public concern regarding the previously proposed 60-minute frequency, and the desire to retain service between business districts, and to PCC and Caltech, a more streamlined route is recommended. The new alignment would maintain connections between Old Pasadena on the west and SMV Station on the east. To enable 40-minute frequencies while maintaining the originally proposed span of service, the route has been modified to stay on Colorado Blvd. except between Lake Ave. and Hill Ave., where the route will run on Del Mar Blvd. to continue to serve Caltech. The revised Route 10 will improve east-west connectivity to East Pasadena along Colorado Blvd.
Route 40
A route deviation is also recommended for Route 40 to have it travel along Orange Grove Blvd. between Alien Ave. and Lake Ave. While staff supports the proposed Route 40 deviation due to its potential to improve transit access in central Pasadena, public comments to date have been split. Before determining whether to implement this recommendation, staff will engage in additional community outreach to discuss the trade-offs of the proposed change and review possible bus stop locations. The final implementation will ultimately be shaped by the community's feedback.
Next Steps
Following adoption of the SRTP, DOT will develop a phased implementation plan to ensure that the implementation is cost-neutral. Each phase will include public outreach to ensure riders and nonriders are informed regarding the service change timelines.
DOT will continue to pursue grant opportunities, partnerships, and cross-departmental efforts to advance unfunded recommendations and those requiring further study, including initiatives to improve transit service reliability and travel times through transit-priority enhancements.
The rollout of the Bus Stop Amenities Plan will also include a public outreach process.
The City is currently redesigning its outdoor amenities program and will begin procurement for a new program in 2026. Expanding the range of bus stop furniture to meet diverse needs will be a priority, and public input will guide selection and placement.
Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP) Update
July 20, 2026
COUNCIL POLICY CONSIDERATION:
This project supports the City Council Guiding Principle 5 of the General Plan: Mobility Element, to promote Pasadena as a city where people can circulate without cars. The project will allow the City to provide reliable public transportation by ensuring that the current services meet the community's needs or recommending changes for greater efficiency. This project is also consistent with the City's priority of moving Pasadena decisively toward a carbon free future, by providing a zero emission transportation mode for Pasadena residents, employees and visitors.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
The action proposed herein is not a project subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in accordance with Section 21065 of CEQA and State CEQA Guidelines Sections 15060 (c)(2), 15060 (c)(3), and 15378. The adoption of the Short Range Transit Plan is an activity that would not cause either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. Therefore, the proposed action is not a "project" subject to CEQA, as defined in Section 21065 ofCEQA and Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines. Since the action is not a project subject to CEQA, no environmental document is required.
Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP) Update
July 20, 2026
FISCAL IMPACT:
This action will not require additional budget appropriation and there is no impact to the General Fund.
Respectfully submitted,
JOA^UIN T. SIQUES
Director, Department of Transportation
Prepared by:
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Britt Cafrd
Planner
Approved by:
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MATTHEW ^.'HAWKESWORTH
Interim City Manager
Attachments:
Attachment A - Short Range Transit Plan