pages: TransportationCommission/2007-05-23.pdf, 6
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TransportationCommission | 2007-05-23 | 6 | Public Comment Kathi Young noted that she has ridden transit in locations such as Seattle, Florida, New Orleans and Hawaii, and with the exception of Orange County, she had not seen a route as bad as the 51. She noted that she had recently seen four 51 buses sitting at the Berkeley Amtrak station, which all left together. She would like to know what AC Transit planned to do to change the situation. Closed Public Comment Chair Knox White believed the plan would be effective in identifying the problems and creating a plan to mitigate them. He complimented those involved in creating the plan. He believed the data should clearly illustrate the extent of the problem. He inquired whether the satcomm data could be used to calculate on-time performance in a meaningful way. He suggested that UC Berkeley be contacted to see whether students could perform that work. Commissioner Schatmeier noted that the data did not tell the Commission why the problems exist. Mr. Bruzzone acknowledged that both were needed, and that understanding the problem and having a way to collect the data in the present and in the future were both very important components. He noted that after problems are resolved or eased, they often backslide because of a lack of monitoring in the future. In response to an inquiry by Staff Khan whether AC Transit was examining a correlation with congestion, Mr. Bruzzone confirmed that was the case. In the last five years, they had added five vehicles to the afternoon peak to meet schedule and to reduce headway. In response to an inquiry by Commissioner Schatmeier whether a Rapid bus could be added, Mr. Bruzzone replied that there were several options: 1. Rapid, which would be difficult to run on College and Broadway. The City of Berkeley has told them they would be interested in implementing a peak period towaway lane in the right lane, which would be similar to the diamond lanes used on San Francisco city streets. He believed that would make a big difference on University Avenue. 2. Limited, for which the bus would stop at a reduced number of locations, and 3. A/B stop buses, for which some buses would be designated "A" or "B", and stops would be designated, for A buses, B buses, or both. Chair Knox White inquired whether it would make sense to extend the 51 to Fruitvale. Mr. Bruzzone noted that the line is currently very long, and they were originally going to cut it at Berkeley Amtrak and combine it with the Shattuck bus. They also considered cutting it off at other points. Transportation Commission May 23, 2007 Page 6 of 12 | TransportationCommission/2007-05-23.pdf |