3A Public Hearing 2010 0517 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Livermore, Kathleen From: Stuart Flashman [stuflash@aol.com] Sent: Monday, April 26, 2010 6:03 PM To: Livermore, Kathleen Subject: Yes! Let's Study BRT! Let me start by saying that I'm writing only as an individual and not on behalf of any organization. You will soon be asked to decide on what you would like AC Transit to study in its Final Environmental Impact Report for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). I urge you to agree with the Oakland City Council in expressing strong reservations about AC's plans for BRT and insisting on full study of the negative impacts it may have on the East Bay community and its economy. The Oakland City Council heard from and listened to the large majority of speakers expressing dismay at what BRT might do to their community. Council Member Reid expressed the feelings of most of the council when he blasted AC Transit for a plan that he said would destroy International Boulevard's commercial revival. While Oakland may have approved submitting the staff-generated LPA, it was clear this did NOT constitute an endorsement of that plan, but only a request for full study of its impacts. Indeed, many of the council members expressed a strong preference for "Rapid Bus Plus" as a less impactful way of improving public transit in Oakland. The only reason it wasn't included as a LPA was that staff told the Council it could only submit one "official" LPA. You. will probably receive many form letters that have been orchestrated by TRANSFORM, a Bay Area transit advocacy group that has consistently expressed knee-jerk and unqualified support for BRT. To me, that only shows the insensitivity of TRANSFORM and its members to the local community and the potential local impacts of BRT. BRT may be the right solution for places with abundant parking, wide multi-laned streets, and more than enough capacity to handle the lane reductions BRT requires. However, I know few places, in the East Bay at least, where those conditions exist; certainly not on most of Telepgraph Avenue or International Boulevard. By all means ask that AC Transit study and publicize the full impacts of BRT. .You should also ask AC to recirculate the EIR once they've identified those impacts, so the community get a fair chance to comment on them and express its opinions on the final project, which up until now has been a moving target. After that, I will leave it to your good sense as elected public officials to decide whether BRT's many impacts can be adequately mitigated, or whether this may be a situation where less is better than more. Sincerely, Stuart Flashman 5626 Ocean View Drive Oakland, CA 94618 1