Title
Approve AC Transit’s Transbay Tomorrow Cost Neutral Proposal for Alameda (Action)
Body
Transportation Commission
Date of Meeting (03/28/2018)
Item #5C
(ACTION)
Approve AC Transit’s Transbay Tomorrow Cost Neutral Proposal for Alameda
Background
AC Transit staff has requested to return to the Transportation Commission to clarify its proposal for Alameda, which is not only a cost neutral short-term plan for the near future but actually is an increase in daily revenue hours.
AC Transit’s Transbay Tomorrow plan aims to develop and implement service improvements on the Bay Bridge Transbay network. As AC Transit prepares to move into the new Salesforce Transit Center and to begin double decker bus operations in 2018, they want to make sure their service meets existing demands to prepare for future changes and service expansions. Exhibit 2 summarizes the cost neutral service proposal themes that AC Transit considered, and will consider expansion plan scenarios later this year assuming Regional Measure 3 is approved in June.
AC Transit operates three Transbay lines in Alameda that travel between the San Francisco temporary transbay terminal and different parts of Alameda. These three lines are described as follows and summarized in Exhibit 1:
• Line O runs from San Francisco to Oakland at 7th Street/Alice Street and then through the Webster/Posey tubes, Webster Street, Santa Clara Avenue, Encinal Avenue, High Street, Fernside Blvd. and Fruitvale BART. Line O has a 10 minute frequency during the peak times and a one hour frequency during the off-peak times. As of Spring 2017, the average weekday Transbay boardings on Line O totaled over 1,000.
• Line OX runs from San Francisco to the Park Street bridge, Park Street, Encinal Avenue, High Street, Bay Farm bridge, Robert Davey Junior Drive, Aughinbaugh Way, Mecartney Road, Maitland Drive and Island Drive. Line OX has up to a 10 minute frequency during the peak times and does not run in the off-peak times. As of Spring 2017, the average weekday boardings on Line OX totaled over 300.
• Line W runs from San Francisco to Oakland at 7th Street/Alice Street and then through the Webster/Posey tubes, Webster Street, Central Avenue, Eighth Street, Westline Drive, Otis Drive, Grand Street, Shore Line Drive, Willow Street, Otis Drive, Park Street and Fruitvale BART. Line W has up to a 20-minute frequency during the peak times and does not run in the off-peak times. As of Spring 2017, the average weekday boardings on Line W totaled under 300.
Transbay Tomorrow comprises three phases with distinct goals:
1. Existing Conditions: Stakeholders and existing passengers were engaged to help identify issues around the current service and discuss how to improve Transbay service. Complete
2. Cost Neutral Plan: Input from the Existing Conditions process was used to develop a cost neutral plan. AC Transit reviewed the cost neutral proposals at four public meetings across the AC Transit District, including one before the November 2017 Transportation Commission meeting in the City Council Chambers. A final plan was developed based on this input. Elements of the plan requiring a public hearing are going forward to the AC Transit Board on March 28, and the whole plan will go to the AC Transit Board for a decision on April 25. The Alameda elements of the plan are the subject of this staff report. The approved plan will go into service in August 2018. Ongoing
3. Expansion Plan Scenarios and Fare Policy Recommendations: Service expansion plans will be developed for City staff and public review, which will include Alameda’s Transportation Commission. Expansion of the Transbay bus service is consistent with the citywide Transportation Choices Plan, which lists “Increase Frequency and Span of Service for Transbay Bus Service” as a high-priority project. The goal is to finalize an expansion plan in preparation for potential Regional Measure 3 funds to come online. To Come in 2018
City staff requests approval of the Transbay Tomorrow Cost Neutral proposal for Alameda to help inform the AC Transit Board on their decision of the final Cost Neutral Plan on April 25.
Discussion
AC Transit’s cost-neutral plan for Alameda actually increases daily revenue hours in Alameda, and the other Alameda improvements only can proceed if the Line OX decrease is endorsed. At the November 2017 Transportation Commission meeting, the Transportation Commissioners did not want to see any reduction in service due to the growth on the island so they requested AC Transit to reconsider reductions to Line OX. The Transportation Commissioners focused on stating Alameda’s priorities in November rather than the cost neutral nature of the plan, which would be worked out later. At this meeting, AC Transit is returning to request that the Transportation Commission approve this cost neutral plan with service expansions to come once they obtain more monies, which could start as early as June if Regional Measure 3 passes.
The proposed changes in Alameda include the following:
Line O
• Bus stop consolidation increasing the average distance between bus stops from 1,169 feet to 1,547 feet. Exhibit 3 shows the five bus stops that are recommended for removal to increase bus stop spacing, improve pedestrian visibility (four stops) and due to lack of ridership (two stops). The distance between bus stops of 1,500 feet means that a typical bus rider would walk about one-half of this distance totaling about 750 feet, which is the distance between Alameda Theatre on Central Avenue and the Fire Department on Park Street at Encinal Avenue.
Line W
• Stop consolidation increasing the average distance between bus stops from 924 feet to 1,100 feet. Exhibit 4 shows the six bus stops that are recommended for removal to increase bus stop spacing (four stops), improve pedestrian visibility (two stops), due to lack of ridership (five stops) and accessibility issues (one stop). The distance between bus stops of 1,100 feet means that a typical bus rider would walk about one-half of this distance totaling about 550 feet, which is the distance between Kohls and Safeway in South Shore Center.
• Increasing the morning frequency from every 20-30 minutes to every 15-20 minutes to better accommodate ridership demand.
• Increasing the morning span by 30 minutes to better accommodate variable schedules.
• Restricting service to only Transbay riders, which impacts six local riders who also are served by Lines 20 and O.
Line OX
• Decreasing the afternoon/evening frequency from every 10 minutes to every 15 minutes, which represents one less run in the afternoon/evening (Table 1), to align the service with the demand and use the resources on routes with greater demand.
Table 1: Line OX - Existing Service from Spring 2017 and Proposed Change
|
AM/PM |
Peak Frequency |
Number of Trips |
Number of Passengers |
Average Passengers Per Trip |
|
AM |
15 mins |
9 |
289 |
32 |
|
PM |
10 mins |
13 |
309 |
24 |
|
Proposed PM |
15 mins |
12 |
309 projected |
26 projected |
• Accommodating the increased loads with a higher capacity bus.
• Stop consolidation increasing the average distance between stops from 1,172 feet to 1,515 feet. Exhibit 5 shows the seven bus stops that are recommended for removal to increase bus stop spacing, improve pedestrian visibility (three stops) and due to lack of ridership (five stops). The distance between bus stops of 1,500 feet means that a typical bus rider would walk about one-half of this distance totaling about 750 feet, which is the distance between Leydecker Park and the Island Drive/Mecartney Road intersection.
• Increasing the afternoon span to one trip earlier, which amounts to 20 minutes earlier, to better accommodate variable schedules.
The City Staff is supportive of the proposed changes to AC Transit’s cost neutral phase of Transbay Tomorrow since it is a plan that best serves existing demand in Alameda. City staff participated in the Transbay Tomorrow Task Force, and provided input since the study’s inception earlier this year. City staff appreciates the collaboration and the detailed analysis in this AC Transit staff led process.
Financial Impact
Alameda as a whole will receive an increase of 0.03 daily revenue hours with the increased span trips on Lines OX and W, despite the reduction in frequency to align with demand on Line OX.
Recommendation
Approve AC Transit’s Transbay Tomorrow cost neutral proposal for Alameda.
Respectfully submitted by,
Jennifer Ott, Base Reuse and Transportation Planning Director
Gail Payne, Senior Transportation Coordinator
Exhibits:
1. Alameda Area Fact Sheet on Existing Transbay Routes
2. Cost Neutral Service Proposal Themes
3. Line O Fact Sheet on Proposed Changes
4. Line W Fact Sheet on Proposed Changes
5. Line OX Fact Sheet on Proposed Changes