AC Transit | News

Bus Rapid Transit Gets More Real
AC Transit Marketing
04/27/2007

BRT is a new approach to buses that combines the best features of rail with the flexibility and cost advantages of roadway-based transit. Modern bus and station technology combine with bus-exclusive lanes to provide high speed, high capacity transit. BRT is currently used in Australia, South America and Europe. New BRT lines have opened in Los Angeles, Boston, and Oregon, and systems are being planned or built in many other cities.

See a fact sheet about BRT, a state-of-the-art transit service for the future.

AC Transit has developed the East Bay BRT Project to improve public transportation service in a key transportation corridor that extends from Downtown Berkeley and the University of California at Berkeley at the northern end, through Downtown Oakland, to San Leandro at the southern end, primarily using Telegraph Avenue, International Boulevard and East 14^th Street.

Currently, AC Transit transports 24,000 riders a day along the corridor with more growth expected in the future. The project is intended to reduce transit passenger travel time, improve safety and security, increase carrying capacity, lower operating costs per rider, and support local and regional goals to organize development along transit corridors.

The project would include the following features:

Dedicated bus lanes along most of the alignment
Transit signal priority and signal coordination
BRT service operating every 3.6 - to 5.0-minutes during peak periods
Stations spaced ¼ to ½ mile apart
Stations including shelters, boarding platforms, benches, security features, fare machines, real-time bus arrival information, and other amenities
Pre-paid ticketing
Low-floor, multi-door, low-emission BRT vehicles

The DEIS/R evaluates four BRT alternatives for their effect on traffic and parking, environmental impacts, the cost to build and operate and for cost-effectiveness. AC Transit has just published the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Report (DEIS/R) on the project and is hosting a series of public hearings in each city to provide information about the proposed project and allow the public to comment on the DEIS/R.

For more information on the public hearings and locations to review the DEIS/R:

Where can I find the DEIS/R?

The DEIS/R is available online.The DEIS/R is also available for review at the following locations:

AC Transit
AC Transit - Planning Library & Law Library
1600 Franklin Street
Oakland, CA 94612

Call 510-891-4755 or e-mail planning@actransit.org for an appointment to review the Draft EIS/EIR in the AC Transit Libraries or to order a free CD of the document. Printed and bound versions of the report are also available from AC Transit for the cost of reproduction.

Berkeley	Where	Address
Berkeley Public Library	Main Branch	2090 Kittredge Street Berkeley, CA 94707
	South Branch	1901 Russell Street (at MLK) Berkeley, CA 94703
	Claremont Branch	2940 Benvenue Ave Berkeley, CA 94705
	Environmental Design Library	210 Wurster Hall, UC Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720

Oakland	Where	Address
Oakland Library	Main Branch	125 14th Street, Oakland, CA 94612
	Temescal Branch	5205 Telegraph Avenue Oakland, CA 94609
	Cesar E. Chavez Branch	3301 East 12th Street, Oakland, CA 94601
	Asian Branch	388 9th Street, Suite 190, Oakland, CA 94607
	Elmhurst Branch	1427 88th Avenue Oakland, CA 94621
	Metropolitan Transportation Commission Library	101 Eighth Street Oakland, CA 94607

San Leandro	Address
San Leandro Community Library	300 Estudillo Avenue San Leandro, 94577

When and where will the public hearings be held?

You can view and / or download copies of materials from the public hearing presentation.

All public hearings will include an open house, at which time attendees will be able to review exhibits of the different alternatives for the BRT and talk with AC Transit and project staff. Immediately following, there will be a brief presentation and an opportunity for public comment. Alternatives for consideration may include modification to BRT routes, station locations, and station amenities. The final environmental document will respond to all public comments submitted, and will help select the best alternative for the proposed East Bay BRT Project.

Each hearing will begin at 5:30pm with the open house session. The presentation and testimony for the hearing will begin at 7:00pm.

Date	Place	Address
Thursday, June 7, 2007	MTC MetroCenter Auditorium Metropolitan Transportation Center (MTC)	101-8th Street (8th at Oak Street) Oakland, CA 94607
Tuesday, June 12, 2007	San Leandro Community Library Lecture Hall	300 Estudillo Avenue (between East 14th Street and Bancroft Avenue) San Leandro, CA 94577
Wednesday, June 13, 2007	Fruitvale / San Antonio Senior Center Fruitvale Transit Village	3301 East 12th Street, Suite 201 (Opposite Fruitvale Public Market) Oakland, California 94601
Thursday, June 14, 2007	Multi-Purpose Room North Berkeley Senior Center	1901 Hearst Avenue (at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way) Berkeley, California 94709

How can I comment on the DEIS/R?

The public review and comment period is required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA.) Those who wish to comment on the draft environmental document are asked to submit comments in writing no later than 5:00 PM July 3, 2007. Written comments can be mailed to:

East Bay Bus Rapid Transit Project
AC Transit
1600 Franklin Street
Oakland, CA 94612

You may also submit your comments online.

East Bay Bus Rapid Transit Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Report

Chapter / Section	Description
DEIS-DEIR Cover Page	Cover page of East Bay BRT Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Report
Signature Page	Signature page
Abstract	Describes the project, its benefits and its environmental impacts
Table of Contents	Table of Contents
Summary	A concise but full description of the project, its benefits and environmental impacts.
Chapter 1 - pp 1-5 Chapter 1 - pp 6-26	Purpose and Needs. Describes the purpose of the Bus Rapid Transit project and the unmet needs and transit problems that the project is intended to remedy.
Chapter 2 - pp 1-11 Chapter 2 - pp 11-29 Chapter 2 - pp 29-51 Chapter 2 - pp 52-56	Project Alternatives. Gives detailed descriptions of each of the four (4) bus rapid transit (BRT) alternatives under study. Also describes the No-build condition against which the alternatives are compared. Documents transit alternatives that were withdrawn from consideration.
Chapter 3 - pp 1-39 Chapter 3 - pp 39-77 Chapter 3 - pp 78-128	Transporation Analysis. Describes the existing transportation conditions in the corridor, including transit, traffic, pedestrian and bicycle transportation and parking conditions. The chapter discloses the impacts of the No-build and Build alternatives on transportation. The chapter includes information on transit patronage, transit travel times, changes to parking and traffic congestion.
Chapter 4 - pp 1-28 Chapter 4 - pp 28-53 Chapter 4 - pp 54-85 Chapter 4 - pp 86-168	Affected Environment, Environmental Consequences, and Avoidance, Minimization and/or Mitigation Measures. Gives an overview of land use and development patterns; and provides employment and population information for the study corridor. Describes non-transportation environmental impacts of the project (see Chapter 3 for transportation impacts). Topics include community impacts, environmental justice, visual/aesthetics, utilities, cultural resources, hydrology, water quality, geology, soils, seismic, hazardous materials, air quality, noise & vibration, energy, biology and construction impacts.
Chapter 5	Cumulative Impacts. Documents the impacts of the BRT project combined with the impacts of other projects proposed in the study corridor.
Chapter 6	California Environmental Quality Act Evaluation. Discusses environmental impacts identified in Chapters 3 and 4 that would be considered significant under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Chapter 7	Consultation and Coordination. Summarizes efforts to identify, address and resolve project-related issues through consultation and coordination with federal, state and local agencies and with elected officials, community leaders, organizations and other stakeholders from the neighborhoods and communities within the BRT project study area.
Chapter 8	Financial Analysis and Alternatives Evaluation. Reviews financial capacity of AC Transit to build and operate the BRT project, and compares the performance of alternatives to address the purpose of and need for transit improvements in the project corridor.
Appendices	Supporting technical information, list of documents preparers and circulation list.

Prior BRT-Related Decisions by AC Transit Board of Directors

Terms and conditions.