CA: Fresno has ‘unique opportunity’ for new transit. Could light rail fuel downtown growth?

Depending on what a study finds feasible for Fresno, and what future local elected officials decide, it’s possible a light rail system could one day connect downtown to various parts of the Fresno- Clovis metropolitan area.

There could be a line from downtown to the growing Fresno Yosemite International Airport. Or one along the Fresno Area Express Q route, the service’s highest-ridership bus line that already connects downtown to everything on Blackstone Avenue — all the way north to the River Park Shopping Center.

Would the connectivity help the growth and revitalization of downtown Fresno?

“There’s been a big debate around suburban sprawl in our community,” said Paul Herman, deputy director of the Fresno Council of Governments. “I think transit services in general help contribute to promoting inward growth.”

The COG is expected to begin a feasibility study this summer into an urban light rail system for the Fresno- Clovis metropolitan area. Identifying development opportunities along potential corridors will be a key component of the study, Herman said. That includes developments that are key to downtown Fresno’s revitalization, he said, such as ones that use existing city lots, serve more people and have multiple uses.

Another COG study already underway is also looking at the possibility of a light rail system that would use existing train tracks to connect downtown Fresno to multiple smaller cities in Fresno and Tulare counties — as far as Firebaugh to the west, Kingsburgh to the south and the Tulare County city of Dinuba to the southeast.

The idea is those traveling to Fresno via light rail would arrive at the downtown California high-speed rail station, which is slated to begin service by 2033.

Fresno has explored the potential for light rail systems multiple times in the last 60 years, though the city hasn’t had a street railcar service since the 1930s. The idea historically has run into resistance from the Board of Supervisors and those who favored financing freeway expansion rather than alternative transit, the nonprofit newsroom Fresnoland wrote last year.

But this time, the potential of the high-speed rail station’s arrival could provide an extra push for the effort.

“I think there is kind of a unique opportunity in Fresno to potentially improve our transit services in coordination with the high-speed rail project,” he said.

Various rail systems could feed downtown Fresno, connect to major activity centers
Mendota Mayor Victor Martinez told The Bee many of his constituents have to travel to Fresno for specialty healthcare. He said there are also young people from Mendota who are enrolled at Fresno City College and Fresno State — which could be determined as stops along an urban light rail service in Fresno.

Martinez said many in his community also do not own vehicles, and bus service to Fresno can be slow. He believes Mendota residents would use a light rail system that connected Fresno County’s smaller cities to downtown, if it were available.

“The better the transportation, the more people will utilize it,” he said.

Herman said the regional system being studied also would serve as a feeder service for high-speed rail. Vice versa, high-speed rail could feed passengers into a light rail service, especially a route to Fresno’s airport.

Fresno’s airport has added two new gates this year after serving a record 2.7 million travelers last year.

Herman said the airport is likely to expanding in the future, so there is potential for connecting it to downtown Fresno via light rail.

“High-speed rail could be seen as delivering more potential passengers to our airport,” he said. “It will make the airport a more attractive location to fly in and out of if you are someone who lives in Merced or Madera or Hanford.”

Fresno mayor says light rail ‘served to stimulate’ downtown Kansas City
Fresno has for several years been upgrading its downtown infrastructure in the future high-speed rail station area using state dollars. City leaders are hoping the station’s arrival boosts economic activity downtown, where they also want a new soccer stadium built in the coming years and a housing boom that triples the area’s population to 10,000 residents.

The city has started using state dollars to loan money to developers who have long-promised to build apartments downtown. At least one project — with 104 market-rate units and 70 affordable ones above ground-level retail — is expected to break ground later this year after receiving a loan from the city.

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer told The Bee in a statement that light rail could be a part of that future.

“I do believe there is a future in Fresno and Clovis for a light rail system, but it will be determined by population increases, density and demand,” he said.

He said the city of Fresno initiated the grant application that is paying for the study into the potential light rail system. Dyer said the inspiration for the study stems from a visit to Kansas City, Missouri, in 2024, when he saw “how their light rail system has served to stimulate their downtown area.”

Dyer said the Kansas City light rail system first spanned 2.2 miles but recently completed an expansion due to high demand.

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