Make eBART electric, not anachronistic; tell BART to reject polluting diesel engines
BART has just released the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for its proposed eBART service, along the center median of Highway 4, from Bay Point to Antioch. BART has assembled funding to build this line from Bay Point as far as Hillcrest Avenue.
The Sierra Club is pleased at the prospect of cost-effective mass transit along this corridor, but the current proposal is for diesel-powered trains. These would use a polluting, century-old technology, just at a time when the state is getting ready to issue regulations greatly tightening the standards for diesel emissions. This would be an out-of-date technology even by the time it could be built. BART should instead be considering low-polluting electric technologies like those used for light rail in Sacramento and San Jose. These are existing off-the-shelf technologies.
The original idea for a diesel eBART was based on the idea of sharing the existing Southern Pacific rail lines. Southern Pacific has since rejected that possibility. Since we will now have to build the system from scratch, there is no advantage to using diesel.
WhatYouCanDo
Write to:
BART Planning Department
Attn: Katie Balk
300 Lakeside Drive, 16th floor
Oakland, CA 94612
fax: (510)464-7673
info -at- ebartproject.org
The deadline for official comments is Wed., Nov. 5, but letters after this are still useful. Urge BART to study and implement electric light-rail technology for eBART.
For more information on eBART, including the DEIR, visit www.ebartproject.org