AC Transit Hosts Federal Transit Administration: A Milestone For Bus Rapid Transit Program
News Articles
03/09/2011
AC Transit’s Bus Rapid Transit project (BRT) reached another milestone with the agency holding the first of several quarterly meetings to brief the Federal Transit Administration on the status of the project. The briefing, coming on the heels of the agency’s submission of a draft Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), are mandated as part of the funding process for federal New Starts projects.
The meetings are designed to establish communications between the FTA, AC Transit executive management and the BRT team to identify and resolve issues to ensure that the project is delivered in a timely, cost effective manner.
AC Transit is working with the FTA, the cities on the route, Caltrans, and regional partners to complete the environmental process and gain a Record of Decision (ROD) this year. Full scale design and construction could begin by 2013, and the project could be up and running by the end of 2015.
“FTA’s enthusiastic participation in this first quarterly briefing is another important milestone for our BRT project because it demonstrates the two agencies’ interest in moving the project forward,” said AC Transit Interim General Manager Mary King. “We have submitted a draft Final Environmental Impact Statement to the FTA for review, and we were very encouraged to learn that our BRT was the only project in the country that received an overall “high” rating in FTA’s recent 2012 submittal to Congress. Each of these accomplishments brings us closer to constructing a BRT project that will bring significant benefits to the East Bay.”
Consistent with AC Transit’s drive to improve operations and provide effective service, BRT will shorten commute travel times, reduce traffic, stimulate local businesses, and help the environment by reducing emissions. Construction of the BRT project will create local construction jobs and contribute to the economy by generating additional jobs that will support the construction.
About Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
AC Transit’s vision is to provide a truly world-class transit service that is convenient, reliable and safe; one that increases mobility, enhances the quality of life, and improves the health of the environment throughout the communities it serves. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) will link one of the busiest traffic corridors in the country with a fast, economical and environmentally-friendly means of transportation. BRT will be a high-capacity rapid transit system that reduces passenger travel times. With dedicated lanes and signal priority, and prominent stations with convenient boarding of buses, BRT will offer residents a viable alternative to driving on congested city streets. It will reduce traffic levels, significantly cutting emissions and pollutants. BRT is essentially light rail without the tracks. It combines the express service and capacity of light rail with the convenience and affordability of riding the bus. It can be planned and built at much less expense, and more quickly, than traditional light rail systems.
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