TO: AC Transit Board of Directors
FROM: Salvador Llamas, General Manager/Chief Executive Officer
SUBJECT: August 2025 Service Changes
BRIEFING ITEM
AGENDA PLANNING REQUEST: ☐
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Title
Consider receiving a report on the District’s planned service changes, outreach, and communications associated with the August 2025 Sign-up.
Staff Contact:
Ramakrishna Pochiraju, Executive Director of Planning & Engineering
Body
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE:
Goal - Convenient and Reliable Service
Initiative - Service Quality
The August 2025 service change is a key milestone in the District's two-year effort to redesign the AC Transit network. This redesign aligns with post-pandemic travel patterns and the Realign principles of equity, reliability, and frequency. The new network aims to provide more reliable service, new destinations, and frequent lines, while addressing fiscal challenges and operator availability issues.
BUDGETARY/FISCAL IMPACT:
Total daily vehicle platform hours will decrease from the June 2025 service change by 83 on weekdays and increase by 205.7 and 201.2 hours on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Together, this is an annual increase of 2,068 platform hours, yielding an annualized estimated cost increase of $355,674 assuming a rate of $172.03 per hour. See Attachment 1 for more details.
The operator count for the August service change increased by four over the June headcount. The additional operator resources were invested in run improvements requested by the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192 (ATU).
Supplementary service remained in the June sign-up so there is no cost increase associated with service resumption in August.
BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
AC Transit typically conducts four sign-ups each year as required by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with ATU. These occur in March, June, August and December. The August 2025 service change incorporates route and schedule adjustments per the Board's adoption of Resolution No. 24-035 at the October 9, 2024, Board Meeting. This resolution approved the Realign Final Network Plan, which includes the route alignments, operating hours, and prevailing frequencies outlined in Attachment 2 of Staff Report 23-250k.
As staff previously advised the Board during the course of the Realign process, there are minor differences between plan approval and service on Day 1 of implementation. Those minor differences are detailed below:
• In Emeryville, Line 7 was originally proposed to operate towards El Cerrito del Norte BART along Christie Avenue, 65th Street, Shellmound Street, Shellmound Way, and Christie Avenue. With additional operations feedback, buses will instead travel via Christie Avenue, 65th Street, Shellmound Street, 64th Street, and Christie Avenue.
• In downtown Berkeley, Line 22 was originally proposed to operate towards Lakeshore Avenue along Addison Street, Oxford Street, Center Street, and Shattuck Avenue. With additional operations feedback, buses will instead travel via Addison Street, Oxford Street, University Avenue, and Shattuck Avenue.
• All trips traveling up into the Oakland Hills on Line 31, the replacement for the previous Line 21, will terminate at the Chabot Space and Science Center rather than having every other trip alternate between Skyline High School and the Science Center on weekdays. The District coordinated extensively with Oakland Unified School District staff but were collectively unable to reach an agreement to facilitate restroom access for operators adjacent to Skyline High School, a key operational requirement for providing this local service. Supplementary Service, which today amply satisfies peak demand at school bell times, will still be provided to Skyline High School.
• In Union City and Fremont, Line 211 will operate as one consolidated line rather than as separate two lines. In the October 2024 Board approval packet, these were proposed as a shortened Line 217 running between Fremont BART and Warm Springs BART and a proposed Line 299 running between Union City BART and Fremont BART, respectively. Staff yielded additional efficiencies by operating the two lines as one while maintaining the same frequencies, operating hours, and schedule coordination with Line 210 on all originally proposed segments.
• In Fremont, Line 239 was originally proposed to terminate at Kato Road and Millmont Drive, a previous terminus. With additional operations feedback regarding restroom access constraints, the line will terminate where it does today at Warm Springs Blvd and Dixon Landing Road while still serving Kato Road and Millmont Drive.
Attachment 2 provides an overview of the service changes included in the August sign-up, including new lines, updated lines, and eliminated lines. Attachment 3 summarizes the stop changes grouped by jurisdiction and Ward.
Outreach Update
In July, riders and community members will see Realign service change announcements and updated information on the AC Transit website. The team has already rolled out a robust campaign to raise awareness, which will include printed information on buses with car cards on the interior and “Take One” brochures in racks, as well as signage at stops. A series of eNews updates, along with social media posts, and city council announcements are forthcoming. Additionally, the District will deploy ambassadors out in the community at bus stops in the weeks leading up to the new network’s launch on Sunday, August 10th. More information about the outreach and communications plan can be found in attachment 4.
Planned Long-term Detours
Consistent with recent Board-approved revisions to Board Policy 544, below are the active and upcoming long-term service detours:
Cedar Boulevard & Smith Avenue - There is a housing development project underway in Newark which requires long-term closure of the stop at Cedar Boulevard & Smith Avenue. This stop will be closed for one year, from August 2024 through August 2025. This stop closure affects Lines 200, 232, 620, 626, and 628.
Richmond BART Station - Due to construction at the Amtrak/Capitol Corridor platform at the Richmond BART station, staff temporarily relocated the bus stop at the southeast corner of the transit center serving Lines 74, 76, 376, 607, 667, 675, and 676 (Stop ID 51646). The original stop area and its surroundings are being used for construction staging. These routes will now pick up and drop off riders at the bus bay closest to Macdonald & 16th Street (Stop ID 51641) in the station until January 2026.
Line 96 - The City of Alameda’s Rebuilding Existing Supportive Housing at Alameda Point (RESHAP) project will require multiple long-term detours in the Alameda Point area, with the planned road closure starting October/November 2024. Various street segments in Alameda Point will be closed to vehicular traffic for months to years (depending on the segment). The current planned road closures are Midway Ave from Pan Am Way to Rainbow Ct (closed from October/November 2024 - April 2025) and Midway Ave from Orion Street to Main Street, and Orion Street from Midway Ave to W. Tower Ave (closed from December 2024 to December 2025).
Oakland Alameda Access Project - Looking ahead, staff is coordinating with the project lead, the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC), as well as the City of Oakland and the City of Alameda, on the pending construction of the Oakland Alameda Access Project. While this project will ultimately benefit traffic circulation between Oakland and Alameda through the Webster and Posey tubes, construction of this project will require ACTC to close one lane of traffic in each tube for an extended period. While a detour is not planned at this time, construction could result in significant delays to lines 19, 20, 51A, 96, O and W. Staff are actively working with the project team and our partner jurisdictions on identifying transit mitigations, such as dedicated transit lane segments, to minimize impact to our schedules and riders as much as possible. ACTC is also coordinating with Caltrans to minimize the lane closures.
ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES:
The advantages of implementing the August service change include improvements to reliability, equity and frequency, with equity communities in the service area receiving the most benefit. The network is designed to better align with trending post-pandemic travel patterns, carrying riders to the destinations they heavily rely on while maintaining resources at largely cost-neutral levels.
The only disadvantage identified by staff is the disruption to riders and bus operators that result anytime changes are implemented. The District’s broad public information campaign will help riders continue to get where they need to go amid all the changes.
ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS:
The primary alternative to implementing these changes is continuation of the June service change. This would have extended the same service to nearly a year in duration. Therefore, none of the advantages of the new network plan would be realized, i.e. more efficient and cost-effective service that meets the guiding principles of Realign.
PRIOR RELEVANT BOARD ACTION/POLICIES:
SR 23-250k Realign Final Network Plan Approval
Board Policy 501 - Bus Stop Guidelines for Placement, Relocation, and Removal
Administrative Regulation 501A - Bus Stops
Board Policy 544 - Service Adjustments
Board Policy 545 - Service Standards and Design
Board Policy 546 - Standards for Operation of Supplementary Service
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Service Change Summary (Platform Hours)
2. Summary of Service Changes included in the August 2025 Sign-up
3. Stop Changes by Jurisdiction and AC Transit Ward
4. Communications and Outreach Plan for Realign Service Changes
Prepared by:
Christine Eduok, Transit Schedules Administrator
In Collaboration with:
David Berman, Senior Transportation Planner
Ajay Hsu Martin, Transit Schedules Manager
Approved/Reviewed by:
Robert del Rosario, Director of Service Development & Planning
Ramakrishna Pochiraju, Executive Director of Planning & Engineering
Chris Andrichak, Chief Financial Officer
Dwain Crawley, Director of Transportation
Aimee L. Steele, General Counsel/Chief Legal Officer
Salvador Llamas, General Manager/Chief Executive Officer