Start the Presses: Why more Napa residents still aren't taking the bus despite $6 gas
Dan Evans
Dan Evans
The other day, I walked from the Register's offices at Third and School streets to the Soscol Gateway Transit Center to do something I hadn't done in my four years living here - take the bus.
Given that gas prices are now at or approaching the $6-a-gallon range, I wondered whether more people might abandon their vehicles for more cost-efficient methods of getting from Point A to B.
Answer: Not really, at least not yet.
I jumped on the Route 10 bus going north at 1:40 p.m. on a recent Monday, exactly at the published time, paid my $2 and settled in. There were five people on the bus when I got on and seven when I got off in Calistoga at 2:57 p.m., a journey of just shy of an hour and 20 minutes.
Traffic was a bit tougher going south, given that it was getting toward evening when I headed home. Though more of a high-commute time, there were still plenty of seats on the Napa-bound 10 - three when I jumped on, and six when I got off. That journey, again costing $2, took a bit more than an hour and a half.
Driving the same distance takes about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the traffic, meaning it costs you about 45 minutes to take public transit to Calistoga. But it saves you wear and tear on your car, the gas you use to get there, and the stress of having to pay attention to the road.
But there are also financial savings. About 30 miles separate Napa and Calistoga. For the sake of argument, let's say you get 30 miles per gallon for your car. Anytime gas is more than $2 a gallon, it makes basic financial sense to take the bus. Should you buy a pass, it's even cheaper - considerably so. (And, in case you're wondering, the last time gas was under $2 in Napa County appears to have been, briefly, in 2016. It's probably not ever happening again.)
This, however, is not how people think. Time itself has value, of course, and though you may be relieved from the stress of driving when taking the bus, there is the non-negotiable factor of having to deal with your fellow patrons, for good or for ill. You get all types on a bus: the friendly, the surly, the doom-scrollers.
And, sigh, those who neglect to use their inside voices.
On my way north to Calistoga, two women carried on a fairly in-depth (and occasionally profane) conversation regarding work and personal issues - from opposite ends of the bus. There were plenty of seats, mind you. They just wanted to both spread out and converse. I'm not complaining, exactly, as those types of folks are on every public transit system I've ever been on. They just exist here too.
Now, wait, you may be thinking. You got on a bus in the middle of the afternoon. Wouldn't most people take it in the morning?
Funny, I thought that too. So last Friday morning, I headed back to the Soscol Gateway Transit Center, speaking to both drivers and riders. Despite it being what I would have considered prime-commute time, the station only had about a half-dozen patrons. It's just not a lot of people, people, no matter the time of day.
One driver told me the number of people on one of his routes has increased a bit. But that's only on the most popular one, which heads south to Napa Valley College and the Vallejo Ferry. The Napa city routes remain pretty slow, he said. Another driver told me her Calistoga-bound bus will regularly leave without a single passenger. (Both asked not to be named, saying they were unsure if they were permitted to talk to the media.)
"Are people taking the bus more?" she said, responding to my question. "Not as far as I can tell. But they should!"
The Napa Valley Transportation Authority's executive director, Danielle Schmitz, said ridership comparing the first three months of 2026 to the same period last year had increased by about 10% – not remarkable, but not nothing, either. (Schmitz added that the NVTA has no prohibition about its staff talking to the media, though the drivers are contractors and might have separate policies they have to adhere to.)
And Libby Payan, a senior program planner and administrator for the authority, graciously crunched some numbers to make my deadline, comparing the last few weeks to the same time period in 2025 - when gas was a "reasonable" $5 a gallon. Nothing in the data showed, she said, that ridership has increased due to gas prices.
This would intuitively make sense. None of the regular bus riders I spoke to have cars, so the price of a gallon doesn't enter their consciousness much. They also confirmed the stats: the number of people on the bus, as far as they could tell, has remained pretty constant in the last couple of months.
Issac Tekle, who works in IT for Napa Valley College, just moved here from New York. He's only taking the bus until he gets settled enough to get a car.
"I mean, in New York, the buses take you everywhere," he said. "It's not like that here."
Now, to be fair, the NVTA's routes are pretty good for our small county. There are numerous routes throughout the city of Napa, and getting to the Vallejo Ferry Terminal, Calistoga or even a BART line is fairly straightforward, cheap and convenient. There's a $1 fare for an on-demand bus in St. Helena and Calistoga - providing door-to-door services - and in Yountville the same service is free.
The local transit folks and city officials are clearly trying to make it easy to use. The growth here, then, is to get people who can drive to take the bus instead. Few in Napa County - or the larger Bay Area - do.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission - the Bay Area's regional transit planning and funding authority - produced a detailed ridership study about 18 months ago. It's a bit dated, but some of the data still seems relevant.
According to the survey, about a third of all transit riders have consistent access to a car. In Napa, it's a bit less - about 25%.
Now, clearly, I'm just as guilty as most folks. There is a bus stop about a block from my front door, but I have yet to take it. I think I'll start.
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