Newly launched bus line will connect Shasta riders to Sacramento

For those Shasta residents without reliable access to a car, getting between point a to point b within the county can be challenging — let alone between towns hundreds of miles apart across the rural Central Valley. 

But as of this month, those community members have a new option to get to some of the major stops along Interstate 5 from Redding down to Sacramento. On Monday, transit representatives and local politicians celebrated the launch of a new intercity bus line called Route 5. It’s part of the Gold Runner transit service, operated by Amtrak. This new round-trip route will connect Redding, Red Bluff, Orland, Williams, the Sacramento Airport, and the city of Sacramento, with the same set of stops going in the opposite direction, 
at the same cost. 

“SRTA is pleased to finally see convenient and affordable interregional bus transportation along Interstate 5 come to fruition for the residents of Shasta County and the North State,” said Sean Tiedgen, the Executive Director of the Shasta Regional Transportation Agency (SRTA), in a press release announcing the new bus line. 

Jennifer Pollom, SRTA’s Senior Transportation Planner, told Shasta Scout that the original concept of a North State bus line that ran down I-5 began around a decade ago, when cuts to Redding’s airport resulted in fewer flights out of Shasta County. To fill the gap, local transit authorities began discussing developing a line that would connect Shasta locals to the airport down in the state capital.

She added that beyond the airport, Sacramento is a transit hub allowing passengers to easily transfer to other bus and rail lines, with destinations in the Bay Area or deeper in the Central Valley. Looking decades into the future, Pollom said that her team hopes eventually to connect Redding to the Gold Runner’s train service as well, which currently runs from Bakersfield up to Stockton before branching north to Sacramento and west to Oakland. 

But developing rail infrastructure is a years-long process, she noted, mentioning California’s proposed high-speed railway, which has been stalled by immense bureaucratic hurdles. She pointed out that even if that high speed rail project were to be completed, it’s only slated to link Southern California to Sacramento and the Bay Area, leaving the North State unconnected and emphasizing the need for the Gold Runner train service.

For now, RABA Interim Transit Manager Zachary Bonnin noted in the press release, bus Route 5 will expand “access to jobs, education, healthcare, and travel opportunities,” to Shasta’s rural riders.

A one way ticket from downtown Redding to Sacramento can be purchased on Gold Runner and Amtrak’s website, and is currently priced at $23 dollars. The schedule can be viewed here. Buses depart twice a day every day from Redding at 9.00 a.m. and 1:20 p.m., and take about three and a half hours to reach their final destination in Sacramento.

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Aug. 27, 2026 9:12 a.m.: We have updated this article to correct a job title and geographical locations. We have also added information about the return bus route.

Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.