3A Public Hearing 2010 0517 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Plamzing Commission Special Meeting Minutes March 25, 2010 Agenda No. 10-03 Page 2 of 20 Item 4: Correspondence Secretary Livermore reported receiving four emails regarding the AC Transit Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) proposal since the Commissioner packets were assembled. (These appear at the end of Public Hearing Item 7a. ) Item 5: Oral Communications None. Item 6: Work Session None. ~ Item 7: Public Hearing ~ AC Transit -BRT: AC Transit has requested the City adopt a Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for the proposed upgrading of the existing 1R bus line along East 14th Street to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). BRT would offer decreased travel times for bus passengers along the corridor by designating bus-only lanes on portions of East 14th Street. The Planning Commission and City Council will consider two alternative BRT routes as the LPA. Alternative A would establish BRT service along East 14th Street from Berkeley and Oakland to downtown San Leandro, terminating at San Leandro BART Station. Alternative B would establish BRT service along East 14t1~ Street from Berkeley and Oakland to San Leandro's southern border, terminating at Bayfair BART Station. The Planning Commission will recommend one ofthe two alternatives to the City Council, which will select the LPA. Secretary Livermore introduced the item. Principal Engineer Keith Cooke said that this evening marks the start of the formal process of actually identifying San Leandro's Locally Preferred Alternative, to provide AC Transit wit11 the guidance needed to complete the BRT Environmental Impact Report study. BRT is intended to run along a 15- to 17-mile corridor from Berkeley through Oakland and into San Leandro - AC Transit's largest corridor and in fact one of the largest in the U.S. The BRT concept emerged from the Major Investment Study (MIS) that AC Transit undertook in 1999 and completed in 2002. A policy steering committee comprised of elected officials from all affected jurisdictions came out of that study. They looked at three major modes -light rail, BRT and enhanced bus. (Enhanced bus service has been realized with the implementation of the IR system; this employs larger buses and traffic priority signalization.) The MIS also examined different parallel corridors - Bancroft Avenue and San Leandro Boulevard in addition to East 14th Street. Among the reasons they settled on East 14th Street is the presence of a large number of workers and students along this corridor. Mr. Cooke cited a number of employment centers along that corridor, noting that upwards of 140,000 people are expected to be employed along that corridor from Berkeley through San Leandro by 2025. He also indicated that there are three colleges plus about 10 high schools and junior high schools. He said that BRT provides an opportunity to help us address greenhouse gas emission issues as well as strengthen our TOD sites, and showed a chart to illustrate estimated daily boardings in 2025 (based on service to Bayfair). Statistics indicate that a single mixed-flow lane moves about 1,100 people per hour, while a single dedicated bus lane with headways of three to four minutes drives the number up, and one-minute headways are