AC Transit

Transbay Terminal: The Final Hour

Posted by Eric ⋅ 8 August 2010 ⋅ 2 Comments

In the early morning hours of August 7, a relatively small but devoted group of transit advocates gathered at First and Mission to participate in the historic final closure of the Transbay Terminal. We were joined by many others — including AC Transit Director Chris Peeples, TJPA Executive Director Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan, as well as photographers … Continue reading →

AC Transit delays its BRT vote, awaiting a reversal from Berkeley

Posted by Eric ⋅ 10 June 2010 ⋅ 5 Comments

The past few months have been unbelievably busy, so I never got a chance to write a post covering the discussions that have taken place in the past several weeks in the East Bay, regarding the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) of AC Transit’s bus rapid transit project. I trust that many or most readers have … Continue reading →

AC Transit prepares for its next round of service cuts

Posted by Eric ⋅ 28 April 2010 ⋅ 4 Comments

Even while AC Transit moves forward to piece together needed approvals for the locally preferred alternative of its planned bus rapid transit route — last week, the Oakland City Council unanimously approved the LPA, and the Berkeley City Council is expected to issue its decision this week — the agency is already gearing up for … Continue reading →

Obama FY 2011 Budget Includes Transit Funding for the Bay Area

Posted by Eric ⋅ 2 February 2010 ⋅ 2 Comments

The Obama Administration has released its proposed budget for FY 2011. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s portion of the budget, which accounts for $78.8 billion, mostly perpetuates the status quo approach to transportation spending. In particular, it includes requests for FHWA ($42.1 billion), FAA ($16.5 billion), FTA ($10.8 billion), the National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance … Continue reading →

Upcoming Meetings in San Leandro

Posted by Eric ⋅ 22 October 2009 ⋅ 1 Comment

The exact fate, scope, and timing of AC Transit’s bus rapid transit project is now up in the air, since AC Transit announced it would like to divert some of the project’s funding toward operations. Nonetheless, the planning work that has been underway for BRT still continues — so that the project can be built … Continue reading →

Whither East Bay BRT?

Posted by Eric ⋅ 26 September 2009 ⋅ 13 Comments

Courtesy of AC Transit. The AC Transit Board of Directors held a meeting to confront head-on the risk that the agency’s current financial crisis poses to its planned 17-mile bus rapid transit (BRT) project, which would extend from downtown Berkeley to San Leandro, via Telegraph Avenue, downtown Oakland, and East 14th Street. The State has … Continue reading →

FTA and TIFIA Funds for AC Transit, Central Subway, and Transbay

Posted by Eric ⋅ 24 September 2009 ⋅ 3 Comments

This week, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced various grants, including money that will be coming to the Bay Area. One pot of money in the ARRA federal stimulus bill that we have not yet discussed here are the Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) grants. Not to be confused with the … Continue reading →

Shifting Funds, Shifty Priorities

Posted by Eric ⋅ 26 March 2009 ⋅ 9 Comments

First, A Few Numbers (and Acronyms) Regular readers may recall our previous discussion of Transportation 2035, the latest update to MTC’s ongoing efforts on the Regional Transportation Plan. Earlier this year, we wrote a special feature that describes the multifaceted plan, fleshing out how MTC has proposed to allocate $226 billion of local, state, and … Continue reading →

Transit Ridership Increases in 2008

Posted by Eric ⋅ 9 March 2009 ⋅ 6 Comments

Transit ridership has reached a 52-year high, reports APTA, with 10.7 billion transit trips taken in the year 2008. This represent a 4% increase over 2007, and vehicle miles traveled decreased 3.6% nationwide during the same period of time; it also represents a 38% increase since 1995, a rate that outpaces growth in both population … Continue reading →

November 2008 Election: No on Measure KK (Berkeley)

Posted by Eric ⋅ 3 November 2008 ⋅ 4 Comments

BRT at Bancroft, near Sproul Plaza. Courtesy AC Transit, extracted from this video clip. This past July, the Berkeley City Council voted to place Measure KK on this November ballot, thanks to the efforts of a vocal, persistent group of Berkeley NIMBYs whose goal is to prevent AC Transit from building dedicated bus lanes in … Continue reading →