Transportation News Items

By Richard Brenneman

Planning commissioners Wednesday confronted what Chair James Samuels called “a chicken/egg problem”: How to define a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route without knowing its full impacts.

The controversial proposal from AC Transit would create a new bus route from Berkeley to San Leandro—running (possibly) from Berkeley’s downtown Bay Area Rapid Transit station to Bayfair BART.

But, as the report from city transportation planners Beth Greene and Kara Vuicich made clear, a great many questions remain unanswered, especially when four different governments are involved.

While the project belong to AC Transit—a public agency with its own elected board drawn from both Alameda and Contra Costa counties (the A and C in its name)—the cities of Berkeley, Oakland and San Leandro must all sign off on the final plans.

By Rachel Gordon

Bay Area transit operators were still trying to assess Wednesday the impact state funding cuts would have on their agencies, which come as they continue to grapple with higher fuel costs and a growing number of riders.
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used his line-item veto power to cut an additional $100 million from state transit programs before signing the state budget Tuesday.

The governor and California lawmakers diverted funding earmarked for transit agencies to help close the budget deficit. The so-called state transit assistance budget ended up at $306 million - $663 million less than transit agencies around the state believed they were due under a voter-approved funding formula.

By Paul Hogarth

Last week, the BART Board considered whether—given the huge spike in demand, and certain future increases to come—to charge higher fares during rush hour. Yesterday’s SF Chronicle editorialized in favor—deceptively calling it “congestion pricing” (which until now meant charging motorists a fee for driving Downtown.) Never mind that more commuters on BART means less cars on the street. Now that the public is finally taking public transit, why do we want to actively discourage the public from riding it?

By Amy Sylvestri

A group of San Leandro residents who don’t support the construction of hundreds of new housing units as part of the Transit- Oriented Development (TOD) has banded together to fight the project.

Estudillo Estates resident Frank Lynn started a group called “Save San Leandro” to protest the San Leandro Crossings project that is part of the TOD plan. They say city officials don’t listen to the public’s opinion.