Bus Rapid Transit will improve AC Transit's busiest line

AC Transit's new East Bay Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project is expected to greatly increase passenger convenience and could double ridership on the agency's busiest line. The Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the project was published in early May, with a review period that ended July 3.

The proposed BRT service on the Telegraph Avenue/International Boulevard/East 14th Street corridor between Berkeley and San Leandro will be a relatively inexpensive way to get people out of their cars. Light rail, another option for the same route, was rejected several years ago after an extensive study found it too costly. The BRT project has significant potential to conserve energy and lower greenhouse-gas emissions and toxic pollution.

The BRT service will use a combination of features to make bus service faster and more reliable:

• dedicated bus lanes for the entire BRT route, except for a part of downtown San Leandro where the street is too narrow and a short distance on Broadway in Oakland, where they would not be effective;
• transit-signal priority - mechanisms in the buses that will briefly delay signal changes to allow passage through intersections;
• stations more widely spaced than current local bus stops so that less time is taken up stopping;
• pre-paid ticketing to speed boarding;
• "NextBus" signs that will inform passengers at bus stops when the next bus will be coming.

The Sierra Club's Northern Alameda County Group supports, in particular, the fullest possible implementation of the dedicated "bus-only" lanes that are crucial to BRT's more rapid and reliable service. In anticipation of further input and discussion, however, the Group has not taken a specific position on any of the possible route configurations or other options described in the Draft EIR. Rather, the Group supports a consensus position developed through a broad-based decision-making process that will involve all the affected stakeholders.

The project's Draft EIR analyzes four alternatives, which vary depending on whether the southern terminus of the line would be Bay Fair or San Leandro BART and whether BRT and local service would be combined or kept separate. With combined service, BRT stations would mostly be spaced 1/4 - 1/3 of a mile apart; if separated from local service, BRT stations would be as much as 1/2 mile apart.

The Draft EIR finds that Alternative 3, which combines BRT and local service and ends at Bay Fair BART, would result in the greatest shift to transit by people who currently commute by car. Initial estimates presented by a team working on developing the city of Berkeley's climate action plan found that BRT Alternative 3 would reduce CO₂ emissions by 4.6 million pounds (2,307 tons) a year if diesel buses are used. If AC is able to employ zero-emissions vehicles, the reduction in CO₂ could rise to 20.4 million pounds (10,211 tons).

The Draft EIR does not specifically address CO₂ emissions. That was not required by the Environmental Protection Agency at the time the EIR was written. Given the significant potential for reducing vehicle miles traveled, however, the Northern Alameda Group is confident that lower CO₂ emissions will be an important benefit of BRT.

In July AC Transit launched an interim Rapid Bus service on the corridor (the new 1R line). It has more widely spaced stops than the former service, and it is expected to increase average weekday boarding by 21%. Because of the dedicated lanes, BRT will be a much smoother and more predictable service than Rapid Bus and is therefore expected to draw considerably more passengers. Any of the BRT alternatives would increase ridership, reduce travel time, and reduce CO₂ emissions by substantially more than the interim Rapid Bus.

Traffic and parking

Some opponents, especially in Berkeley, worry that BRT would create excessive congestion on Telegraph Avenue, causing traffic to spill over onto nearby streets. The Draft EIR predicts that such traffic diversion would be very small. Because of the concerns voiced in Berkeley, however, the Final EIR will analyze this issue in more detail. If any traffic diversion is revealed by that further analysis, AC Transit would propose mitigations such as traffic calming on local streets near Telegraph.

The Draft EIR also looks at the project's impact on parking. Along the 17-mile route, as many as 1,245 parking spaces, most on the narrowest sections of International Boulevard, 18% of the parking supply, would be displaced, but parking would be replaced where demand is heavy, as in Berkeley. Fare-free zones and employee eco-pass programs are other mitigations under consideration.

Club sees overall environmental benefits

Overall, the Sierra Club Northern Alameda County Group has concluded that the BRT project is a valuable investment of taxpayer money that will bring about significant long-term environmental benefits, in particular encouraging greater numbers of people to use mass transit as an alternative to driving. In addition to the increased reliability, BRT's streetscape improvements and well-lit stations will improve passenger safety. "BRT will make taking transit much easier, more comfortable, and safer to half of all the jobs and a third of all the housing in Oakland, reducing the need for Oakland's residents to depend on a car," said Joel Ramos of the Transportation and Land Use Coalition.

Next steps in the process

AC Transit is currently reviewing the comments on the Draft EIR as part of the process of preparing a Final EIR. The Final EIR, which is not expected for at least another six months, must then be approved by the many different agencies that have authority over the project, including the City Councils of Berkeley, Oakland, and San Leandro. Another part of the process currently under way is discussion of locally preferred alternatives. In Berkeley, for example, the Draft EIR offers several different options for both the Telegraph/Southside and Downtown areas. Discussion of final recommendations for the locally preferred alternatives, which will involve extensive input from a wide range of stakeholders, will take place throughout the fall.

WhatYouCanDo

Residents of Berkeley, Oakland, and San Leandro, please urge your City Council to approve BRT, including the dedicated lanes, prepaid boarding, NextBus signage, signal priority, and new stations. Send in the postcard enclosed in this Yodeler. Even better is a hand-written letter to your mayor and City Council, addressed to:

[Name of City] Mayor and City Council
c/o Sierra Club
2530 San Pablo Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94702.

We will deliver your cards and letters in groups to each Council.