Bus Rapid Transit is moving forward in the East Bay
After a period in the slow lane, AC Transit's proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project is again moving forward. AC Transit has revived two committees important for shaping the final plan, and the federally funded Small Starts program has given the project its rarely awarded "high" ranking.
The proposed 17 miles of dedicated bus lanes, along the busiest bus route in the East Bay, is designed to link San Leandro, Oakland, and Berkeley via International Boulevard, East 14th Street, and Telegraph Avenue. BRT will be like "light rail on rubber wheels". It will have many of the advantages of light rail - frequency, reliability, and convenience - at a fraction of the construction cost.
Slow progress in 2007 - 8
The release by AC Transit of the project's Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) in May 2007 led to several months of controversy, mostly in Berkeley, where several neighborhood groups and merchants close to the proposed Telegraph Avenue route began to organize in opposition. Meetings and discussions dragged on. Timelines for project decisions began to seem like mere guesswork.
The Sierra Club's Northern Alameda County Group, which includes all three cities affected by the proposal, has been a strong supporter of the BRT concept - with a commitment to continue studying the DEIR and observing the public review process before possibly taking a position on specific route choices and alternatives.
Before preparing a final plan and EIR, AC Transit asked each of the three cities to provide a Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA), a set of specific recommendations about routings and other design considerations. These, however, were not quickly forthcoming. Instead, the project became mired in politics, particularly in Berkeley. Northern Alameda Group chair Kent Lewandowski expressed the frustration of many in a May 2008 letter to Berkeley's mayor and City Council, nearly a year after the release of the DEIR: "With UC Berkeley and [Lawrence Berkeley Lab] expecting over 10,000 additional students and staff by the year 2020, and downtown Berkeley expecting to gain 2 - 3,000 new residents, it is imperative that the City of Berkeley comes up with a mass transportation strategy that gives us choices besides using the private automobile." UC has even agreed to defer 500 of 2,300 proposed additional parking spaces on campus - if construction of BRT begins by 2010.
A potential further delay came in the form of Measure KK on the November 2008 Berkeley ballot. Developed by several of the most outspoken BRT opponents, Measure KK would have created an elaborate and expensive voter-approval process for any proposed city street lane dedicated to exclusive transit-only, bus-only, or high-occupancy-vehicle uses. Supporters of BRT feared that Measure KK had the potential to kill the project, not just for Berkeley but for the entire East Bay.
The logjam breaks
Recently cracks have appeared in the ice that was holding back the BRT project for the previous 18 months.One threat lifted in November, when nearly 77% of Berkeley voters said no to Measure KK.
Further, AC Transit has revived two separate groups that had been dormant for nearly two years: a technical advisory committee (TAC) composed primarily of transportation and planning staff from each of the three cities, and a policy steering committee (PSC) comprised primarily of elected officials from the three cities. The TAC has been meeting regularly for several months, and the PSC will hold its first meeting in January.
"The TAC is a forum for the cities to talk to each other," says AC Transit project manager Jim Cunradi. "We're starting the new year by sitting down with staff in each city, looking at the BRT corridor, segment by segment and neighborhood by neighborhood, and tackling every controversial issue and environmental impact to create the best possible project."
A high ranking
Last summer the federally funded Small Starts program, which supports projects costing between $75 and $250 million (this is small only in the expensive world of transportation infrastructure), gave the AC Transit project a ranking of "high". The ranking encourages the project to begin developing detailed designs. "It's a big milestone," says Cunradi. "They rank projects based on their cost-effectiveness and benefits. In the previous round, out of 32 projects that were submitted, only one had a high ranking. We're ahead of the pack in terms of competitiveness." Cunradi is hopeful that the cities, working in collaboration, will be ready to submit specific proposals for routings and other design elements (i.e. their LPAs) to AC Transit by June.
The project's price tag was originally estimated at $400 million. Cost-saving measures initiated by AC Transit have reduced that to $250 million, primarily through more efficient roadway construction methods that recycle existing pavement rather than removing it. "Agencies are switching money around right and left," says Cunradi. "The project is fully funded right now, but who knows what will happen? A big advantage of the project's high Small Starts ranking is that it makes us more competitive for whatever funds are available. It's indicative of the importance of this corridor and transit use in the East Bay."
WhatYouCanDo
Real progress is being made with the BRT project, but given the continuing fiscal crisis facing all California cities, it's important to remind local officials of the project's importance. Contact your mayor and city councilmembers at:
Berkeley City Hall
2180 Milvia St.
Berkeley, CA 94704;
Oakland City Hall
1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Third Floor
Oakland, CA 94612;
San Leandro City Hall
835 East 14th St.
San Leandro, CA 94577-3767.
Urge them to make planning for BRT, especially choice of a Locally Preferred Alternative, a priority.
Check out the on-line video produced by AC Transit showing a simulated trip on the BRT route. It provides a vivid idea of what BRT will look like.
To work on BRT with the Sierra Club's Northern Alameda Group, contact conservation organizer or call (510) 848-0800, ext. 312