3A Public Hearing 2010 0517 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Livermore, Kathleen From: Karen Kunze [kunzerow@yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 6:54 PM To: Livermore, Kathleen Subject: Yes! Let's Study BRT! I am 62 years old and a resident of Oakland. I'm also a Bay Area native. I have seasons tickets to BRT1 (Berkeley Repertory Theatre) and frequent many merchants along the proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT2). While I am not currently dependent on public transit, for a number of reasons, it is my preferred mode of transportation. You will soon be voting on a "Locally Preferred Alternative" (LPA) to study BRT2 for our region. Along with TransForm, I am asking you to please vote in favor of studying a robust BRT2 system with a maximum number of proposed stations and dedicated lanes (also being called a "build LPA"). I am aware that some merchants have begun to express concerns about impacts to parking and that some residents expressed concerns about stop-spacing being too distant for seniors and people with disabilities. However, I believe that BRT2 can be studied and implemented in a way that addresses these issues. AC Transit has expressed a commitment to mitigate parking impacts caused by BRT2 to the extent of ensuring a 15% rate of availability of street spaces along the BRT2 route. I urge you and the City Council to use this opportunity to work with AC Transit to create a ?performance based parking pricing? strategy that could result in increased parking revenues that could then pay for a local shuttle service (like the Emery-Go-Round), or even transit passes for local workers (Eco-passes). Additionally, 100% of remaining new revenues generated from performance-based parking pricing that aren?t spent on Eco-Passes for workers could then be re-invested in the district where they were generated, which might also fund more lighting, increased security, or other .improvements desired by local merchants. Old Pasadena, and Redwood City offer incredible examples of how to do this, as described in Donald Shoup's book "The High Cost of Free Parking". With respect to seniors and people with disabilities, existing bus stops at popular destinations for seniors and people with limited mobility could and should be improved by locating BRT2 stations in their place. Shelter, seating, lighting, and other security amenities would be welcomed at these stops as an improvement to existing facilities (or lack thereof), and could attract even more riders. Increased traffic and other issues have all but eliminated transit reliability while simultaneously increasing maintenance and operations costs. BRT2 offers a tremendous opportunity to address these issues. However, without a study of "how much" BRT2 could be implemented, we cannot know how to proceed. Again, please vote in favor of studying a "full-build LPA" for BRT2 and work closely with AC Transit to explore helping the City implement a ?performance-based-parking strategy", which could then lead to a long-awaited Eco-Pass program. Thank you for your time and service to our communities. Karen Kunze