TO: AC Transit Board of Directors
FROM: Michael A. Hursh, General Manager/Chief Executive Officer
SUBJECT: Broadway Transit Lanes
ACTION ITEM
AGENDA PLANNING REQUEST: ☐
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Title
Consider the adoption of Resolution No. 23-018 authorizing the Alameda County Transportation Commission to appropriate $2 million of the $10 million dedicated toward College/Broadway Corridor Transit Priority in the Measure BB Transportation Expenditure Plan to the City of Oakland for sole use on construction of District approved transit priority elements under the City’s Reconnecting the Town: Safe, Reliable and Equitable Access Project, particularly the construction of the extension of dedicated transit lanes on Broadway to Jack London Square.
Staff Contact:
Ramakrishna Pochiraju, Executive Director of Planning & Engineering
Chris Andrichak, Chief Financial Officer
Body
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE:
Goal - Convenient and Reliable Service
Initiative - Service Quality
The appropriation of these funds toward the City’s Reconnecting the Town Project provides a mechanism for the District to extend transit priority treatments along its most used corridor, enabling service on Broadway to be more reliable for our operations and our customers.
BUDGETARY/FISCAL IMPACT:
While there is no budgetary/fiscal impact to the District’s operating budget, the proposed appropriation of $2 million would come from Alameda County Measure BB funds programmed for College/Broadway Corridor Transit Priority for the purpose of improving transit performance along the corridor. The $2 million would supplement the City of Oakland’s 2021 Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant award of $14.5 million for its Reconnecting the Town Project which includes the dedicated transit lanes extension along Broadway to Jack London Square among other transit improvements in the project area. The City intends to fund the project with multiple funding sources in addition to the two identified above.
BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
In 2014, voters in Alameda County passed the Measure BB sales tax, which is expected to generate approximately $8 billion in revenues until the Measure sunsets in 2045 and is managed by the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC). Measure BB includes nearly $3 billion for public transit operations and infrastructure. Per the Measure’s expenditure plan, $35 million is dedicated to Rapid Bus Projects, of which $10 million is allocated toward College/Broadway Corridor Transit Priority.
Measure BB passed in 2014 on its second time before the voters, a few years after the initial expenditure plan was completed. At that point the District had largely completed a $12 million dollar investment in the College/Broadway Corridor to maintain and enhance transit performance, particularly on Line 51 A/B, without using the majority of the Measure BB funds. Since then, District staff has focused its efforts to improve transit performance on other corridors, including International, Telegraph and Hesperian. As a result, the $10 million Measure BB allocation has remained without a detailed program plan for how the remainder of the funds would be used.
While implementing an extension of the dedicated transit lanes on Broadway qualifies as an eligible use of the College/Broadway Corridor Transit Priority funds, ACTC is requiring the District to pass a resolution that allows the Commission to appropriate $2 million of the funds to the City of Oakland for construction of the transit lanes extension under its Reconnecting the Town Project.
The City of Oakland expects to obligate funds by 2024 and complete the entire project by 2029.
ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES:
Appropriating Measure BB funds to the City of Oakland for an extension of transit lanes on Broadway provides the District with the most effective form of transit priority along its busiest transit corridor. Staff cannot identify any disadvantages with this proposal since it is an appropriate use of the College/Broadway Corridor Transit Priority funds.
ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS:
The District could elect to not appropriate the $2 million to the City of Oakland, leaving the College/Broadway Measure BB allocation unused. Staff does not recommend this alternative since there is no active plan or project on the College/Broadway corridor that the District could fund otherwise and further transit priority along Broadway is needed.
PRIOR RELEVANT BOARD ACTION/POLICIES:
There are no prior relevant board actions/policies associated with this report.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 23-018
Prepared by:
Robert del Rosario, Director of Service Development & Planning
Approved/Reviewed by:
Ramakrishna Pochiraju, Executive Director of Planning & Engineering
Chris Andrichak, Chief Financial Officer
Jill A. Sprague, General Counsel/Chief Legal Officer