First Commitments Spur Near-Term Projects
to Improve Bus, Light Rail Service
SAN
FRANCISCO, May 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The
Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) this week approved an
$18.3 million allocation to fund
eight near-term transit priority projects in San Jose, San
Francisco, Redwood City and
the East Bay. These investments are the first to be made through
the $30 million Bus Accelerated
Infrastructure Delivery (BusAID) program established as part of the
Bay Area Transit Transformation Action Plan to implement
quick-build solutions designed to improve service at problem
'hotspot' locations identified by transit agencies throughout the
region. Each of the eight approved projects is slated for
completion in the next one to three years:
- Park Street Transit Signal Priority and Signal
Optimization (Alameda): this
project will install transit signal priority and optimize signal
timing at four intersections along Park Street from Alameda Avenue
to Otis Drive, reducing delays for AC Transit routes 20, 21, OX and
663.
- Monument Corridor Transit Speed Improvements
(Concord): This project will
transit priority signals along Monument Boulevard between Detroit
Avenue and Mohr Lane, and will relocate and reconfigure bus stops
to improve efficiency and accessibility. County Connection routes
11, 14, 16, 311, 314, 611, 613, 616 and 619 will benefit from more
reliable service and reduced travel times.
- International Boulevard Transit Lane Delineation
(Oakland): this project will
reduce delays for AC Transit's Tempo (1T) line, reduce speeding by
drivers on non-transit vehicles and improve corridor safety between
14th Avenue and 42nd Avenue through the
installation of vertical treatments to separate the existing bus
lanes from general purpose lanes, and by painting the bus lanes red
to deter non-transit vehicles from using the bus lanes.
- El Camino Real Bus Boarding Islands & Bus Stop
Balancing (Redwood City): To
reduce delay for SamTrans routes ECR, 79, 270, 278, 295, 296, 2960
and 397, this project will fund the planning and design of bus
boarding islands at stops along El Camino Real between Whipple
Avenue and Dumbarton Avenue in Redwood
City and unincorporated North Fair
Oaks.
- K-Ingleside Rapid Project Ocean Avenue Quick Build
(San Francisco): Spanning Ocean
Avenue from Junipero Serra Blvd. to Geneva Avenue, this project
will increase service reliability and reduce travel times for
Muni's K-Ingleside light rail line by installing longer and wider
boarding islands, adding red transit lanes, and implementing signal
timing refinements and turn restrictions.
- VTA Frequent Network Cloud-Based Transit Signal Priority
(San Jose): This project will
install next-generation transit signal priority at 174
intersections along VTA's Frequent Network in San Jose, reducing delays for numerous bus
routes, including 25, 26, 61, 64A, 64B, 70, 71, 72, 73, 77 and 500.
- Vision Zero Senter Road East San Jose Safety Corridor
Project (San Jose): This
project will reduce delays for VTA routes 70, 72 and 73 by
installing bus boarding islands along Senter Road between Story
Road and Monterey Road.
- Alvarado-Niles Road Part-Time Transit Lane Pilot
(Union City): To reduce
congestion-related delays for AC Transit route 97 and Union City
Transit routes 1, 3 and 5, this project will install for a two-year
pilot period a part-time transit lane along Alvarado-Niles Road
from Decoto Road to Almaden Boulevard, providing buses with a
dedicated lane during hours with peak traffic congestion.
MTC approved funding for these projects at its regularly
scheduled May meeting, after each had been endorsed last month by
the multi-agency Regional Network Management Council. Project
recommendations were developed based on a two-stage screening
process that evaluated potential rider benefits (time savings),
equity considerations, and feasibility and readiness. Each project
will include pre- and post-implementation evaluation to quantify
project benefits. The remaining balance of $12 million in BusAID funding will be used for
future funding rounds, when additional projects are identified and
ready for implementation.
MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating
agency for the nine-county San Francisco
Bay Area. Caltrans owns and operates the state highway
system.
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SOURCE Metropolitan Transportation Commission