Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) DBE Program: How to Get Certified & Win Contracts (2026)

1. What SacRT Is and Its Role in DBE Contracting

The Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) is the public transit agency for the Sacramento region, serving Sacramento County and parts of the greater Sacramento area with bus and light rail service. To build, maintain, and operate its system, SacRT receives financial assistance from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and federal money carries federal civil-rights obligations under 49 CFR Part 26.

It is important to be precise about SacRT's role, because not every California transit agency plays the same part in the DBE system. SacRT's role is that of a non-certifying, goal-setting (contracting) agency:

For how the statewide system is organized, see California's DBE certifying agencies and the role of Caltrans as the CUCP lead agency.

2. How SacRT's DBE Program Works

SacRT administers the federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program under 49 CFR Part 26 as a condition of receiving USDOT/FTA financial assistance. The program is designed to create a level playing field on which DBEs — and small and local businesses — can compete fairly for SacRT contracts and subcontracts relating to construction, procurement, and professional services, and to ensure that contracts and solicitations are administered without discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, or national origin.

A DBE is a small, for-profit business that is at least 51% owned and controlled by individuals who are both socially and economically disadvantaged under USDOT eligibility criteria. SacRT pursues its DBE participation through:

• An overall (triennial) DBE goal for its FTA-funded work, which SacRT publishes in an Overall DBE Goal and Methodology document.
• Contract-specific DBE goals, where SacRT may assign a DBE participation goal to an individual federally funded solicitation. The exact scope of SacRT's contract-specific goal-setting practice should be confirmed against each solicitation's terms.
• Non-discrimination in solicitations and awards, so that contracts and solicitations are administered without discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, or national origin.

3. SacRT's DBE Goal

SacRT sets an overall triennial DBE goal for its FTA-funded contracts and documents how it expects to achieve that goal. SacRT publishes a triennial Overall DBE Goal and Methodology, and a final FFY 2024-2026 version of that document exists on sacrt.com.

Note that under the October 2025 USDOT Interim Final Rule, the federal DBE framework — including how recipients set and apply goals — has been in transition nationally. Treat any goal figure you find as provisional until you verify it against SacRT's current published methodology on the official SacRT DBE page.

4. How to Get DBE-Certified to Bid on SacRT

Because SacRT does not certify firms, you become DBE-certified through the California Unified Certification Program — one application, recognized statewide. There is no separate "SacRT DBE certification." Here is the path:

1. 1

   Confirm you are not already certified

   If you already hold a DBE certification from Caltrans or any other CUCP member, you do NOT re-apply for SacRT. Your statewide DBE certification is already recognized for SacRT's federally funded contracts.

2. 2

   Apply through the California UCP (ucp.dot.ca.gov)

   Submit one application to a CUCP certifying member agency at ucp.dot.ca.gov. Caltrans is the largest certifying member and the most common route. Once approved, your DBE certification is recognized statewide by all USDOT recipients in California, including SacRT.

3. 3

   Cover the right NAICS codes

   Make sure your certification covers the NAICS code(s) that match the scope of work you want to perform on SacRT contracts. Your certified NAICS codes determine which work counts toward DBE participation.

4. 4

   Prepare for the current federal standard

   Under the October 2025 USDOT Interim Final Rule, group presumptions of disadvantage were removed: every applicant must now prove individual social and economic disadvantage through a Personal Narrative, subject to a personal net worth cap of $2,047,000. Verify the current application steps and forms on the official CA UCP / Caltrans DBE site.

For the full document checklist, eligibility tests (ownership, control, size, personal net worth), and how the Personal Narrative works, see our DBE certification guide and the Caltrans DBE guide (the most common CUCP route). You can also review who qualifies and the application steps.

5. SacRT's Small & Local Business Support

Alongside its federal DBE program, SacRT references support for small and local businesses. This is outreach and vendor-education activity rather than a separate federal certification — and it is distinct from a CA UCP DBE certification.

Full details on SacRT's outreach and business programs live on SacRT's official procurement page and its DBE program page.

6. How to Find & Bid on SacRT Contracts

SacRT advertises its contracting opportunities through an online eProcurement portal. To see solicitations and bid, you generally need to register as a vendor first:

7. Verify & Look Up DBE Firms

Because DBE certification is unified statewide through the CA UCP, you do not need a SacRT-specific directory to confirm a firm's DBE status for SacRT work. A firm certified by any CUCP member — Caltrans or another agency — is listed in the same statewide DBE directory and is valid for SacRT's federally funded contracts.

Use our DBE Directory page for how to search the statewide CA UCP directory by firm name, work code, or county, and to verify a firm's current certification before relying on it for DBE participation on a SacRT contract.

8. Frequently Asked Questions

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