3A Public Hearing 2010 0517 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Livermore, Kathleen From: Donald Davenport [Itcloud@sbcglobal.net] Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2010 7:33 PM To: Livermore, Kathleen Subject: Yes! Let's Study BRT! Mayor and City Council Members 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza 2nd Floor Oakland, CA 94612 April 12, 2010 Honorable Mayor Dellums and City Councilmembers, The San Antonio Community Development Corporation is ,urging you. to vote in favor of studying a robust Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system with a maximum number of proposed stations and dedicated lanes, A substantial amount of the 20,000 daily riders along the proposed BRT corridor are residents of the San Antonio district who rely on the 1 and 1R service. The City Council should support the study of BRT as a way to make local transit more reliable, safe and efficient. Combining the benefits of dedicated lanes, platform stations that are level with the floor of the bus (and eliminate the need for steps and wheelchair lifts), off-board fare collection systems and all-door boarding, local transit can become as easy to take and as reliable as BART. Conservative estimates indicate that a 30 minute trip can be reduced to 20 minutes, which greatly improves easy access to jobs, housing, and services along the International Blvd. / E. 14th St. and Telegraph Ave. corridors. Most importantly, a higher level of transit frequency and reliability will be achieved with BRT, improving service for existing transit riders, and will attract many more future transit riders that will help reduce air pollution and would increase the level of safety on our streets. BRT is particularly exciting because it attracts resources that could go toward the implementation of the 23rd Ave. Strategic Vision that the SACDC worked so hard to create. The vision articulates street-scape improvements and walkability improvements that would come on the heels of BRT, specifically through the land-use planning efforts that BRT would attract. Increased traffic and over-crowding have all but eliminated transit reliability while simultaneously increasing maintenance and operations costs. Additionally, passenger safety could be greatly improved by improving security for passengers both on the bus or while waiting for the bus. With the above issues in mind, please vote in favor of studying a robust BRT system. Thank you for your leadership in the City of Oakland. Sincerely, Don Davenport, Executive Director Donald Davenport 2228 East 15th Street 1