San Pablo Rapid Increases Ridership

News Articles
05/11/2004

AC Transit’s innovative Rapid Bus service, introduced on San Pablo Avenue last summer, has achieved a striking 66 percent increase in ridership during peak periods, compared to the earlier Limited service it replaced nine months ago. Overall, ridership on the Rapid, as opposed to the former Limited, has tripled – due to expanded service as well as increased usage.

Highly-visible yet low-cost, Rapid Bus provides speedy transit trips along 14 miles of San Pablo Avenue, stretching from San Pablo in West Contra Costa County (via Richmond, El Cerrito, Albany, Berkeley and Emeryville) to downtown Oakland. Actual running times on the Rapid are 30 percent faster than local service, and 17 percent quicker than the Limited service it replaced.

This transit innovation echoes many elements of costly light-rail systems and service – but without the huge dollar investment that streetcars require. Its major characteristics include:

Eye-catching logos and graphics to brand the coaches, the Rapid Bus stops and passenger shelters – making the service really stand out

New three and four-door buses, with truly low floors to minimize dwell time in bus stops by expediting passenger boarding and alighting

Passenger shelters with electronic bus arrival displays for passengers comfort and convenience

State-of-the-art technology that coordinates signal lights to help speed traffic, and gives transit priority via green lights at choke points

Frequency-based schedules, with buses running 12 minutes apart

Stops spaced an average of ½ mile apart to help speed service

In a recent passenger survey, 34.6 percent of respondents reported they thought Rapid Bus shortened their individual bus trips by 15 minutes or more, even though actual time savings average 12 minutes. And, 19 percent of new Rapid patrons formerly drove – reducing auto traffic by 1,100 trips a day along San Pablo Avenue.

AC Transit worked closely with seven cities, two counties, and various regional and state agencies along San Pablo Avenue to integrate Rapid Bus into the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency’s SMART Corridors program – which employs cutting-edge technology plus better traffic management to improve mobility.

Presently, the agency continues to refine San Pablo Rapid service, while preparing to introduce a similar level of highly improved Rapid transit service on the 19-mile Telegraph Avenue – International Boulevard – East 14th Street corridor linking downtown Berkeley, downtown and East Oakland and San Leandro. The International/Telegraph Rapid is scheduled to be implemented in early 2006, in corridors where AC Transit currently carries 40,000 riders daily.

A preliminary report by Nelson Nygaard, a nationally recognized transportation planning firm based in San Francisco, collected the information on which Rapid statistics are based.  See the San Pablo Rapid report.

In addition to increased ridership, the Rapid got high marks in other areas. The top three vote getters for customers were, overall service, ease at recognizing the bus, and wheelchair securement, which is how disabled passengers attach their wheelchairs to the floor of the bus so they will not roll.

Nelson Nygaard has completed on-board passenger surveys for transit systems throughout the West.