MENDOCINO CO., 11/12/26 — The rail authority that oversees the Amtrak bus through Mendocino County plans to put off a study of possible cuts after people along the route objected.
A recommendation to look at reductions “had kind of set people off in the corridor,” Dan Leavitt said in an interview Oct. 28. Leavitt is manager of regional initiatives at the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, the staff for the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority. The authority oversees the Gold Runner trains and the buses that connect to them.
A draft study listed that review among the jobs to move ahead by the end of 2026. The authority now plans to wait until the second half of 2027, Leavitt said, “so we have more time to work with the communities in advance of even doing that study.” The authority’s board is to vote Nov. 20 on a revised version.
The bus is Route 7. It makes two daily round trips between Martinez and Arcata, through Santa Rosa, Ukiah, Willits, Laytonville and Leggett. It carried 45,000 riders in fiscal year 2025, the study says. Leavitt said Greyhound has pulled out along the route.
The study gives two examples of what a review could lead to. One trip could end at Santa Rosa on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Or a full round trip could be dropped midweek. State law measures each route’s ticket money against its cost, and Route 7 is one of the few that fall short, Leavitt said.
“At this stage, we’re not considering dropping any stops,” Leavitt said.
Some stops already get less service. Since September 2024, one of the two daily round trips has skipped Laytonville, Leggett and Garberville. Leavitt said the change came from a federal limit on driver hours. From March 2025 through February 2026, the study counted 1,691 people getting on or off at Laytonville and 92 at Leggett.
The study also says the authority should work toward ending Route 7 at Ukiah, with Humboldt Transit Authority running the north end. Leavitt said there’s no certainty that will happen. “Not that we would stop service at Ukiah, but that the Humboldt Transit Authority might be able to be our operator north of Ukiah,” Leavitt said.
None of the authority’s 10 board members comes from the North Coast. State law sets who sits on the board, Leavitt said. Nephele Barrett, executive director of the Mendocino Council of Governments, wrote Oct. 30 that the authority hadn’t contacted the council, Mendocino Transit Authority or Lake Transit Authority about the study. “We did not comment but might before November 20,” Barrett wrote.
Mendocino County Supervisor John Haschak, who rides the bus from Willits to Arcata at times, met with Leavitt Oct. 28. Authority officials “plan on studying the schedule starting in mid-2027,” Haschak wrote.
The board meets Nov. 20 at 10 a.m. in Stockton and online. Public input will be accepted until the board approves the final study, the authority’s website says. Leavitt said the revised study and comments received by Oct. 21 will be posted by Nov. 16.