Bike lanes are proposed along the East Bay Bus Rapid Transit routes, from North Oakland to San Leandro-help us build support for this great project
You know that dedicated bus lanes in the middle of the road and new bike lanes are a great improvement to any transit corridor. That’s why the East Bay Bicycle Coalition has joined a growing list of organizations ready for improved bus service and better bikeways on E.12th St and along the International Blvd/E.14th St corridor.
AC Transit is ready to significantly improve bus service between Downtown Oakland and San Leandro with 'Bus Rapid Transit.' This upgraded bus service includes dedicated bus lanes, boarding islands, pre-paid vending machines, level boarding, new buses, and oh yes, bike lanes striped along the route. There are so many benefits to bus rapid transit, and we list them below. But we need your help as there is still some concern that the East Bay is not ready for world-class street-level bus service.
What you can do:
- Send an email of support for Bus Rapid Transit to planning@actransit.org
- Attend the AC Transit Board Public Hearing on BRT April 25 , 2:00-6:30pm, 1700 Franklin St Downtown Oakland. Stop by anytime and voice your support for bikes & buses.
In support of the East Bay Bus Rapid Transit Project, the East Bay Bicycle Coalition has joined TransForm, Walk Oakland Bike Oakland, Urban Habitat, The Alameda County Building Trades, Amalgamated Transit-Workers Union Local 192 (the bus drivers), The Asian Pacific Environmental Network, The Northern Alameda County Chapter of the Sierra Club, Greenbelt Alliance, Bay Localize, Youth Uprising, Movement Generation, Street Level (a day laborers service provider) and more. However, there is still plenty of opposition and concerns from businesses along these transit corridors. So, we need your help.
Download the Environmental Report for the East Bay Bus Rapid Transit Project
Attend Wednesday's upcoming public workshop at AC Transit's offices in Oakland, and if you can't make this meeting, contact your City Council Member to let them know you want better bike-friendly transit the Telegraph/International corridor. The community meetings will be held at the following locations: Workshop flyer for Bus Rapid Transit
Key Oakland City Councilmembers to contact
- Jane Brunner,Oakland District 1
- Nancy Nadel, Oakland District 3
- Pat Kernighan, Oakland District 2
- Ignacio de la Fuente, Oakland District 5
- Michael Gregory, San Leandro District 1
- Pauline Cutter, San Leandro District 5
The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project extends from Berkeley to San Leandro and has been scaled back from it's original proposal, due to business' concerns about loss of parking and neighborhood concerns about traffic diversion. North Oakland is the latest challenge. Still, there is much to praise in the Report. Bike lanes are included on Telegraph Ave in Oakland and on E. 12th St from Lake Merritt to 14th Ave. In Berkeley, BRT buses will share existing lanes with traffic and thus no additional bike lanes are proposed with BRT. In Oakland and San Leandro, BRT will have dedicated travel lanes in the center of the roadway, with bike lanes along the curb in some stretches and along parked cars in others, with sufficient space from the door zone. All BRT buses will be bike-friendly and have dedicated space inside the cars for bikes. Boarding platforms will be level, so it will be easy to move your bike on and off of the cars. There are many additional benefits for cyclists.
- there will be only one lane of travel in each direction on Telegraph, E 12th St and International Blvd;
- several left turn movements will be prevented to keep the buses moving. This benefits bicyclists by reducing turning conflicts and overall traffic volumes.
- of course, where parking is removed for the boarding stations, cyclists travel in a curbside bike lane.
There are still some bikeway design issues to be worked out, mainly at the intersections where AC Transit is proposing to drop the bike lane and use sharrows. The Report also includes proposed mitigation measures that could reintroduce turning pockets, which will squeeze out cyclists. In additional, one alternative proposal is to run BRT only from downtown Oakland to San Leandro, when it is needed all the way between Berkeley and San Leandro.
Additional Benefits of Bus Rapid Transit
Safety from Crime:
- Increased lighting at stations makes waiting for transit much safer;
- Emergency phones at stations provide direct links to police or sheriff;
- Cameras at stations act as crime deterrents;
- Fare Inspection officers also increase presence of authority, and can act as "eyes and ears" of police or sheriff;
- Higher concentrations of passengers at stations (rather than scattered along at stops) increase overall "eyes on the street" and decrease isolation of potential victims waiting for a bus alone on the side of the road, in the dark;
- Higher frequency of bus arrival times (every 5 minutes during peak hours), and improved reliability significantly decrease time spent waiting for the bus, and exposing one's self as a potential target for crime.
Safety from Traffic:
- Dedicated lanes calm car traffic to safer speeds
- Bike lanes calm car traffic to safer speeds, and get bikes off of sidewalks;
- New traffic signals make it safer to cross the street;
- Improved crosswalks and bulb-outs increase visibility of pedestrians;
- Increased street lighting increases visibility of pedestrians;
Health Benefits
- Improved ambulance and fire response times by giving emergency vehicles access to a traffic-free dedicated bus lane (as buses do now, the BRT would pull over to block traffic, and allow emergency vehicles to safely and quickly pass);
- Creates bike lanes, which encourage biking which has been proven to improve health; By offering greener choices for transportation, BRT reduces asthma and other respiratory problems by reducing air pollution;
- Reduces obesity and health problems by creating safe, accessible and walkable communities. BRT would create pleasant transit stops and safer streets and sidewalks;
- Provides more accessible, reliable transit to health and medical centers along the corridor.
Economic Benefits
- Turns a 30 minute bus ride into a 20 minute bus ride, saving time and money for riders.
- Creates hundreds of local jobs (300 Construction jobs, and hundreds more support jobs);
- Invests $180M into Alameda County from Federal and State funds;
- Acts as a catalyst for the implementation of the International Blvd. TOD Plan
- Attracts private investment (BRT in Cleveland attracted some $4.3B of investment into it's struggling economy);
- Reduces the cost of transit operations (in Boston, BRT is actually profitable to the agency!)!
For more information, please visit our website: http://www.ebbc.org/brt
