3A Public Hearing 2010 0517 - Laserfiche WebLink

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urban C~xabitat BOARD MEMBERS Dear San Leandro Planning Commission: JULIET ELLIS President We would like to encourage the Planning Commission to vote in-favor of studying JOE BROOKS AC Transit's Locally Preferred Alternative B, which will include some dedicated Chair bus-only lanes for a Bus Rapid Transit system to upgrade the existing 1R bus that ROMEL PASCUAL runs along E.14~ Street. Vice-Chair TAMAR DORFMAN We are asking the Planning Commission to recommend Alternative B in order to Treasurer offer a more efficient and robust BRT service into and out of the San Leandro cARLArn-xoNY downtown core along E.14`h Street. BRT service is a convenient, fast, and affordable WADE CROWFOOT form of transit that upgrades existing highly used bus lines, which is a category that MALO HUTSON the 1R definitely belongs in. The BRT service will also compliment the recently approved Downtown San Leandro Transit-Oriented Development Strategy which DEBRAJOHNSON emphasizes the importance of locating housing near transit. While BART offers a FELICIA MARCUS regional connection to major job and commercial centers in the Bay .Area, BRT ARNOLD PERxINS service along E.14`I' Street connects residents to goods, jobs and services in the City and to neighboring areas. This is especially true for E.14`h Street since the majority of jobs in the corridor are located in Berkeley and Oakland, while the majority of residents are located in the Oakland-San Leandro corridor. An improved bus service along E.14`h Street would have the greatest effect on lower- incomeresidents and communities of color. Along this corridor, which stretches from Berkeley to the north, Oakland in the center, and San Leandro to the south, 60% of the residents are minorities according to a 2002 study by Cambridge Systematics and AC Transit. That percentage increases when we look more closely at the central corridor where Oakland is located (75%) and to the south corridor in San Leandro (68%). As we are more adversely affected by auto use and congested highways, better transit provides an alternative to sitting behind a wheel, but only if the transit is convenient, fast, and accessible. Already being located along the busy E. 14th Street corridor provides great accessibility to transit riders, while upgrading bus service to Bus Rapid Transit will provide that extra boost in speed and convenience that will lead to more transit riders, less automobile drivers, and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. J.J -~ Vu-Bang Nguyen, AICP Land Use Program Coordinator Urban Habitat 43614"' Street. Suite 1205, Oakland, CA 94612 (S10) 839-9510 ~ Fax:(510) 839-9610 www.urbanhabitat.org