AC Transit

AC Transit

Van Hool A330 series bus at a BART station
Parent	Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
Founded	1960
Headquarters	1600 Franklin St, Oakland
Locale	East Bay
Service area	Western Alameda and Contra Costa Counties
Service type	bus service
Routes	105[1]
Stops	approx. 6,500
Fleet	674 [1]
Daily ridership	236,000 [1]
Web site	actransit.org

AC Transit (in full, Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District) is a regional bus agency serving parts of Alameda County and Contra Costa County in the western coastal area of the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, headquartered in Oakland. In addition, AC Transit runs "transbay" routes across San Francisco Bay to the city of San Francisco, and selected areas in San Mateo County and Santa Clara County.

AC Transit is constituted as a special district under California law. It is governed by seven elected members (five from geographic wards and two at-large). It is not a part of or under the control of the Counties of Alameda or Contra Costa or any local jurisdictions.

The district is the public successor to the privately owned Key System.

Service area

The district encompasses the following cities and unincorporated areas: Oakland, Fremont, Hayward, Berkeley, Richmond, San Leandro, Alameda, Castro Valley, Newark, San Pablo, El Cerrito, San Lorenzo, Ashland, Albany, Cherryland, El Sobrante, Piedmont, Fairview, Emeryville, Kensington, and East Richmond Heights. The district's bus lines also serve parts of some other East Bay communities, including Milpitas, Orinda, Pinole, and Union City.

AC Transit serves many colleges and universities including the University of California, Berkeley; Stanford University; California State University, East Bay; Chabot College; Holy Names University; Peralta Colleges (Laney College, College of Alameda, Berkeley City College, and Merritt College), Contra Costa College; Ohlone College; and Mills College.

Most routes connect with regional train service, primarily BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), in addition to ACE and Amtrak, including (among other trains) the Capitol Corridor. AC Transit routes also connect with several other regional transit services, including Union City Transit, SamTrans, WestCAT, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, San Francisco Municipal Railway, Golden Gate Transit, the Alameda-Oakland Ferry, the Harbor Bay Ferry, and Emery Go Round.

While most AC Transit service consists of local lines throughout the East Bay, the district also provides many transbay lines. Most of these run across the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge to connect communities as distant as El Sobrante and Newark with San Francisco's Transbay Terminal (formerly the terminus of the Key System). Bus service is also provided across the bridges to the south.

Hubs

AC Transit bus stop at Bay Fair Station

Bayfair BART, Castro Valley BART, Contra Costa College, Downtown Berkeley BART, Eastmont Transit Center, El Cerrito del Norte BART, El Cerrito Plaza BART, Fremont BART, Fruitvale BART, Great Mall VTA Station, Hayward BART, Hillsdale Caltrain Station, Hilltop Mall, MacArthur BART, Newpark Mall, Richmond BART/Amtrak, Richmond Parkway Transit Center, Rockridge BART, San Francisco Transbay Terminal, San Leandro BART, South Hayward BART, Southland Mall Union City BART, Uptown Transit Center, West Oakland BART.

Routes

Fares

See also AC Transit's page on fares.

Local

Fare category	Cash	10-Ride Ticket	31-Day Ticket†
Adult	US$2.00	US$20.00	US$80.00
Youth (5-17)	US$1.00	US$10.00	US$15.00
Senior (65+), disabled (), and Medicare†	US$1.00	US$10.00	US$20.00‡

• †31-day tickets and senior/disabled/Medicare fares not valid on line 304.^[2]
• ‡This is the price for a calendar month sticker on the Regional Transit Connection discount card.

Transbay

Fare category	Cash	31-Day Ticket†
Adult	US$4.00	US$132.50‡
Youth (5-17)	US$2.00	not available
Senior (65+), disabled (), and Medicare†	US$2.00	not available

• †31-day tickets and senior/disabled/Medicare fares not valid on line 304.^[2]
• ‡31-day tickets for Transbay service are available only with TransLink.

Transfers

All transfers are issued at the time a fare is paid, and are good for one use within 1½ hours.

Transfer type	Adult	Youth (5-17)	Senior (65+), disabled (), and Medicare
Local bus to local bus	US$0.25	US$0.25	US$0.25
Transbay bus to local bus, and vice versa†	Free	Free	Free
BART to local bus (with transfer issued inside BART station)	Add US$1.75	Add US$0.75	Add US$0.75
From Golden Gate Transit to local bus (with transfer issued on board Golden Gate Transit)	Free	Free	Free
From Union City Transit to local bus (with transfer issued on board Union City Transit)	Free	Free	Free
From Amtrak's Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin trains to local bus (with transfer issued on board Amtrak)	Free	Free	Free

• †Transbay transfers are good for local-to-Transbay transfers with payment of Transbay fare on the first bus.

AC Transit participates in TransLink, a regional smart card fare collection system.^[3]

Timeline

This section requires expansion with: cited historical information.

In 2003, the district introduced a San Mateo-Hayward Bridge route, Line M, to connect the BART stations of Castro Valley and Hayward with Foster City and San Mateo's Hillsdale Boulevard Caltrain station. A second San Mateo-Hayward Bridge route, Line MA, was added in 2006 and discountiued in 2007. (The M replaced the SamTrans 90E, which had been sharply reduced in the mid-1990s and was canceled altogether in 1999.) Across the Dumbarton Bridge, AC Transit operates, under contract with a consortium of transit agencies (including AC Transit itself as well as BART, SamTrans, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, and Union City Transit), the Dumbarton Express, a series of bus lines connecting the Union City BART station with East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, and Stanford University. Additionally, the district in 2004 began another Dumbarton Bridge route, Line U, a commute-hour service linking Stanford with ACE trains and the Fremont BART station.

In 2003, AC Transit created a new bus rapid transit line operating on San Pablo Avenue. Designated as Route 72R (or San Pablo Rapid), it runs between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. at a 12-minute frequency with stops 2/3 mile apart, running between Jack London Square and Contra Costa College. The line uses no timepoints and instead allows buses to travel along the route as fast as traffic allows. This supplements multiple stop routes 72 and 72M (renamed from 73). Following the success of this experiment, similar lines elsewhere in the region are being planned. The corridor between downtown Berkeley and Bay Fair BART on Telegraph Ave., International Blvd., and East 14th St. has been selected for expansion of this service on a new line.^[4] Designated as Route 1R (or International Rapid), it was launced June 24, 2007 alongside a supplemented multiple stop Route 1, replacing heritage multiple and limited stop routes 40(L), 43 and 82(L).^[5]

For years AC Transit provided 24-hour service on its trunk lines (except in the late 1990s due to budget cuts). Beginning December 10, 2005, the district began supplementing BART service, which does not run between midnight and 5 AM, by participating in the All-Nighter Network.

In 2008 AC Transit sponsored the world's largest chalk drawing at the old Alameda Naval Base and provided free transportation for children to the site.^[6]

Bus fleet

This section requires expansion with: source for current fleet information is incomplete and provides conflicting numbers.

The articulated 60-foot Van Hool bus on the 40L route in Berkeley

AC Transit's 40-foot hydrogen-powered bus parked on Center Street in front of Berkeley City College for a conservation and green technologies conference

A 30-foot Van Hool bus at its terminus of route 9 at the Berkeley Marina

Another 30-foot Van Hool bus on the 52L route crossing College Avenue in Berkeley

At first, AC Transit utilized the buses of its predecessor, the Key System. Virtually all of these buses were made by General Motors in the 1950s. AC Transit soon ordered newer GM buses made in the early 1960s. Throughout the 1960s, AC Transit used both the old and new GM buses (referred to as "GM old look" and "GM new look" buses). In the mid-1960s, AC Transit pioneered the use of an articulated bus, operating the experimental GM bus "XMC 77", primarily on the "N" MacArthur Blvd.-San Francisco line. The "old look" buses continued to see daily service well into the 1970s and finally retired around 1976 or so.^{[original research?]}

AC Transit continued to purchase GM "new look" buses through the early 1970s, but also began purchasing buses from rival manufacturer Flxible. By the late 1970s, no more GM buses were added (AC Transit has never ordered an RTS vehicle, GM's successor to the "new look" coaches, which saw widespread use elsewhere around the USA, notably in Los Angeles, New York City and Phoenix). Instead, additions from Flyer and Gillig were made throughout the 1980s.^{[original research?]}

In 2003, AC Transit switched to new low-floor buses from Van Hool, purchasing A330 40-foot and AG300 60-foot articulated buses. More recently, it also purchased a number of new, custom-designed 30-foot buses for its neighborhood routes, called the Van Hool A300K.^[7].

Starting in 2003 AC Transit added satellite tracking units on all vehicles. The GPS tracking units fix the position of the vehicle, and a private radio network sends updates to headquarters every 3 to 16 minutes. Vehicles on selected lines can be viewed from AC Transit's NextBus passenger information system.^{[citation needed]}

AC Transit also is a worldwide leader^[who?] in implementing new, environmentally friendly technologies. Three hydrogen-powered buses, based on the 40-foot A330 bus (see above), currently operate in revenue service to test their real-world feasibility and reliability.^[8] In addition, the district is soon to take delivery (starting last quarter 2009) of twelve new generation Van Hool A300L FC fuel cell buses. These buses are the next step in the development of hydrogen, fuel cells, and electric drive for use in public transport.^{[clarification needed]}

AC Transit buses are wheelchair accessible and have bicycle racks. Buses in active service^[9]:

Note: NA = Not available.

Most AC Transit vehicles are not air-conditioned. However, in 2007 the District's board of directors voted to purchase new buses equipped with air conditioning.^[10]

Funding

AC Transit is funded with a mix of federal, state, and local government subsidies.

In March 2004, voters throughout the San Francisco Bay Area approved Regional Measure 2, which funds regional transportation capital and operating programs through a $1.00 surcharge on State-owned bridges operated by BATA. (The Golden Gate Bridge is owned and operated by a separate agency.)^[11]

In November 2004, voters approved Measure BB, which increased the parcel tax by $48 annually for 10 years beginning July 1, 2005, to help fund AC Transit services.^[12]

In April 2005, a federal class-action lawsuit was filed against the Metropolitan Transportation Commission alleging that it discriminates against AC Transit's primarily minority riders by giving AC Transit disproportionately less money than BART and Caltrain. AC Transit is not party to the lawsuit, and the court sided with MTC in 2009.^[13]

In November 2008, voters approved Measure VV, which increased the parcel tax by $48 annually for 10 years beginning July 1, 2009, to help fund AC Transit services. Measure VV also extended the $48 tax approved under Measure BB so a total $96 annual tax is effective through June 30, 2019.^[14]

Internet access

AC Transit and its partner EcoNetwork offer RideAC.org, which offers Internet access via dial-up access and digital subscriber line. AC Transit also offers wireless internet on some buses that serve Transbay lines.^[15]

Solar energy

On July 30, 2007 AC Transit announced that it had entered into a 25-year long partnership with Sun Power Corporation, MMA Renewable Ventures, and Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) to install solar energy systems at all its facilities in efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, better air quality of the immediate area, and save up to US$ 15,000 per year in energy costs which would add up to millions of dollars it will save and spend on transit service instead.^[16]

Coordination with other regional transit agencies

This section contains information which may be of unclear or questionable importance or relevance to the article's subject matter. Please help improve this article by clarifying or removing superfluous information. (December 2009)

The local transportation demand management organization 511 Contra Costa also provides information for intermodal transfers throughout Contra Costa County, and works closely with AC Transit to improve regional transit.

Service planning

This section contains information which may be of unclear or questionable importance or relevance to the article's subject matter. Please help improve this article by clarifying or removing superfluous information. (December 2009)

West County Service Plan

In June 2007, after engaging with the community for feedback with public hearings, AC Transit implemented the West Contra Costa County Service Plan which realigned existing service finds to reroute portions of certain lines, eliminate service to areas with low ridership, and replace service in some areas with service from a different route providing direct service to areas previously requiring tedious transfers. Furthermore, a great effort was made to provide a better transfer at Richmond Station as well as the Richmond Parkway Transit Center. The changes are covered by Phase I and use no new monies which would be required to completely implement the plan: Phase II. Phase II will use Regional Measure J funds to expand service providing lines along corridors which are undeserved or not served, and increasing hours and decreasing headways. Two of the greatest changes will be extending BRT service (the "bus rapid transit" service provided by the 72R route, discussed above) to Richmond Parkway Transit Center and providing service along the Ohio Avenue corridor. These changes have affected the northern neighborhoods of the city of Richmond and the adjacent communities of El Sobrante and San Pablo the most. Phase I was originally supposed to be implemented in late 2006, but the implementation has been delayed until June 2007. Phase II has a target date of mid-2008.^{[17][18][19][20]}

2009 Plans for Route Revisions

A proposal to adjust multiple routes by either schedule revisions, route modifications, and/or route eliminations is currently under review, and several community meetings are to take place to evaluate the impacts of the route adjustments which will affect many local lines and all Transbay lines.^[21][22] Several proposals are on hand, which will include:

• Reducing frequency on the less-productive and on almost all Transbay routes while increasing weekend and holidays service on others
• Eliminate or modify the least productive and/or longest routes with either:
  • Introducing shorter, more productive routes that will use similar roads as those eliminated or modified routes
  • Extending some existing routes to serve new areas
  • Introducing new, short "loop" routes that will serve at least one BART station and major attractions
• Introduce a new limited-stop service (Route 58L) that will serve between Downtown Oakland and Eastmont Transit Center via MacArthur Blvd, thus effectively complement with Route NL that provides the same service between MacArthur & Lakeshore and Eastmont Transit Center^[23]
• Split the busiest route, Route 51, into two routes,^[24] with a new terminal at Rockridge BART wherein:
  • One half (proposed Route 3) will operate between Rockridge BART and Berkeley Amtrak Station via College Avenue, UC Berkeley, Shattuck Avenue, and University Avenue in Oakland and Berkeley.
  • The other half (proposed Route 4) will operate between Rockridge BART and Fruitvale BART via College Avenue, Broadway, Lincoln Avenue, Santa Clara, Broadway (Alameda), Broadway & Blanding (current terminal), and Fruitvale BART (new terminal) in Oakland and Alameda.

References

External links

San Francisco Bay Area portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: AC Transit

• AC Transit - Official website
• NextBus arrivals
• AC Transit info at transit.511.org: Local, Transbay
• AC Transit web page about Van Hool buses
• List of AC Transit routes and descriptions