TO: AC Transit Board of Directors
FROM: Salvador Llamas, General Manager/Chief Executive Officer
SUBJECT: Service Reliability Report
BRIEFING ITEM
AGENDA PLANNING REQUEST: ☐
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Title
Consider receiving the semi-annual Service Reliability Report for AC Transit Fixed Route Service for the second half of Fiscal Year 2025-2026.
Staff Contact:
Aaron Vogel, Chief Operating Officer
Body
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE:
Goal - Convenient and Reliable Service
Goal - Safe and Secure Operations
Goal - High-Performing Workforce
Initiative - Service Quality
This semi-annual Service Reliability Report presents a detailed assessment of the District’s operational performance for the second half of FY 2025-26 (January - June 2026) and supports three strategic plan goals: convenient and reliable service; safe and secure operations; and a high-performing workforce.
BUDGETARY/FISCAL IMPACT:
There are no budgetary or fiscal impacts related to this report.
BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
The Service Reliability Report provides a comprehensive overview of the District’s performance across service reliability, fleet cleanliness, rider safety, and staffing trends. Performance is measured against established Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that support transparent, accountable, and data-driven decision-making.
The report includes three supporting attachments:
• Attachment 1 - KPI Trends
• Attachment 2 - Service Reliability
• Attachment 3 - Trunkline Incentive Program Trends
The second half of FY 2025-26 was marked by a series of overlapping operational changes that created a highly dynamic and challenging environment for AC Transit. Workforce fluctuations, ongoing Realign network refinements, increased ridership pressure, and new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) work rule provisions all converged between January and June 2026. Taken together, these moving pieces contributed to service reliability challenges during the reporting period.
Following implementation of the Realign network in August 2025, staff responded to the significant feedback received by operators, riders, and the public requiring the need for targeted adjustments as ridership patterns evolved and operators and customers adapted to the redesigned network. These conditions informed the January 2026 service changes, which were designed to strengthen reliability, improve operator working conditions, and respond to early Realign performance data. Leading into the January 2026 sign-up, total daily platform hours increased compared with the August 2025 sign-up, requiring 25 additional Bus Operators. With an operator headcount of 1,280 entering Realign, the District continued operating close to 98 percent of scheduled service, enabling staff to reduce the targeted Extra Board and shift operator resources into additional assigned runs. This reallocation allowed the District to support increased schedule adjustments while remaining within the budgeted headcount of 1,250 operators for FY 2025-26, without increasing the operating budget.
The operational landscape during this period was also shaped by an unexpected increase in operator attrition coupled by reduced hiring which was required to level the strictly budgeted operator headcount from 1,280 to 1,250.
Collectively, these conditions created a complex environment in which many well-intended operational decisions interacted in ways that contributed to the reliability issues observed during this reporting period. By improving schedules and addressing many of the concerns reported, the expectation was that more assignments would be filled daily, which directly contributes to improved service reliability. However, this did not materialize as expected and operator unavailability increased leading to a steady decline in service performance. Staff has since identified the specific factors that drove declining performance and is actively implementing corrective measures, including ramping up new bus operator hiring, adjustments to scheduling practices, workforce deployment, Realign service levels, and operator support systems.
This Service Reliability Report provides a data-driven account of how these intersecting challenges affected service and outlines the actions underway to restore and strengthen reliability moving forward.
SERVICE OPERATED PERCENTAGE (ATTACHMENT 1, FIGURE 1)
Service Operated (SO) is the most critical performance measure because it reflects the District’s most fundamental commitment: operating scheduled service for our customers. The SO KPI measures the percentage of scheduled transit trips that are completed. The current SO goal is 99.5%.
During the first half of Fiscal Year 2025-26 (FY 25-26), SO averaged 98.31%. During the current reporting period, SO declined to 96.18%, with the District operating approximately 828,000 revenue trips.
Performance varied by operating division. Division 2 and 6 achieved the strongest SO results at 97.91% and 97.26%, respectively, while Division 3 and 4 reported 94.74% and 94.36%, respectively.
Supplementary Service achieved the highest SO performance by route category at 99.69%, exceeding the District 99.5% target. Local service operated at 96.31%, while Transbay service operated at 96.07%.
Service Reliability Challenges
Workforce availability continued to be the primary factor affecting service reliability. Throughout FY 25-26, SO and total operator headcount each declined approximately 4% respectively, demonstrating the relationship between workforce size and SO. At the beginning of FY 25-26, operator headcount was approximately 1,280 which exceeded the budgeted 1,250 operator positions. Due to a projected deficit beginning in FY 27-28, the District carefully managed headcount throughout FY 25-26 through attrition, which has limited the ability to maintain a significant staffing cushion needed to ensure sufficient coverage for operator absences.
In March 2026 the operator headcount was 1,253. By the end of June 2026 operator headcount was 1,222, a reduction of 31 operators between March and June. This reduction occurred faster than replacement operators could be recruited, trained, and deployed. The resulting workforce gap contributed significantly to the decline in SO performance during the reporting period. In May 2026 the District began a New Bus Operator (NBO) class with 22 operators. On August 20, 20 out of the 22 members of the class graduated and are now assigned to Division 4, where additional workforce capacity is most critical. NBO recruitment and training require several months lead time to start a new class, which creates lag time between identifying staffing needs and placing new operators into service. The operational benefit of a graduating class of new operators is felt over time, as new operators require additional time and continued training before they can assume the full range of assignments.
Finally, in March 2026 a software issue affecting the CAD/AVL service-disruption functionality changed how the District’s SO and Trips Not Operated (TNO) data were calculated. The vendor, Hitachi/Clever Devices, corrected the issue in early May; however, during this time SO numbers could not be accurately calculated, because they draw primarily from that Hitachi/Clever Devices data.
Taken together, operator headcount, January 2026 service changes, and reporting factors contributed to the decline in SO during the second half of the fiscal year. Staff continue to assess these concerns and work toward solutions that will result in increased SO as discussed further below.
Anticipated Improvements for FY 26-27
As an additional strategy to improve SO, the District continues to collaborate with Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 192 on the Trunkline Incentive Program (TIP) pilot. Launched in June 2025, TIP provides a $2-per-hour incentive for operators working twelve of the District’s high-frequency and highest ridership “trunk” lines in exchange for meeting a SO goal of 98% along these lines. The following lines are part of the TIP: 1T, 6, 9, 18, 40, 51A, 51B, 57, 72, 72M, 72L and 97.
Preliminary results indicate that TIP has achieved its primary operational objective of improving service reliability. Comparing SO for trunklines during the 12 months before TIP to one year following TIP, SO increased from 93.99% to 96.54%. This is an improvement of 2.71%. Several months also exceeded 98% SO. While TIP remains under evaluation, the sustained improvement indicates that the TIP has contributed to increased SO on the trunklines.
While there is a cost associated with the TIP (additional $2/hour), overtime on these lines declined from 23.47% to 22.18% of total operator payroll, more operators are working their scheduled shifts, resulting in a reduced need for extra board operators and/or overtime. TIP added approximately $117,000 per month in incentive payments, while overtime costs declined by approximately $81,000 per month. As a result, overtime savings alone do not fully offset the cost of the incentive. However, TIP was not designed solely as a cost-reduction initiative.
The program’s value should be measured against broader operational objectives and benefits, and not costs alone. Improved SO means fewer missed trips, greater service availability for customers, fewer operational disruptions, and more reliable delivery of the District’s scheduled service. Furthermore, these trunklines touch other critical AC Transit lines and BART stations, increasing the value of higher SO.
Staff will continue evaluating the TIP on a month-to-month basis to determine effectiveness and whether the pilot should be continued, modified, or concluded.
ON-TIME PERFORMANCE (ATTACHMENT 1, FIGURE 2)
On-Time Performance (OTP) reflects how consistently buses arrive within the scheduled service window. Behind every percentage point is the challenge of balancing scheduled service with the operating conditions encountered each day. OTP has also proven to be one of the District’s more challenging performance measures to improve consistently. The District’s overall OTP goal is 75%.
This reporting period the District achieved 73.64% OTP, an improvement of 0.77% from the 72.87% recorded during the last reporting period (July 2025 - December 2026). While performance remains below the 75% target, the improvement indicates progress toward more reliable and predictable service.
There are two primary factors that staff identified as contributing to the improvement. First, operators have gained greater familiarity with routes and operating conditions following implementation of Realign. Second, the winter service change included more than 50 schedule modifications designed specifically to address reliability. Implemented in February 2026, these adjustments incorporated adjusted travel times and added trips in response to reported operator experience and to better reflect current traffic patterns and ridership demand.
The improvement in OTP suggests these adjustments are beginning to have the intended effect. Continued monitoring will help determine where additional schedule, operational, and service-planning changes can further close the gap between current performance and the District’s 75% OTP goal.
FIRST TIMEPOINT ON-TIME PERFORMANCE DEPARTURE BASED (ATTACHMENT 1, FIGURE 3)
The Board adopted amendments to Board Policy No. 545, “Service Standards and Design Policy” in January 2026. The Policy established First Timepoint On-Time Performance (1stTpOTP) as a service quality measure, with a goal of 95%. Under this KPI, a first departure is considered on time when it occurs within 0-1 minute (0-60 seconds) of the scheduled departure time. The rationale behind this standard is if a bus departs at the start of a trip exactly on time, the on-time window for the rest of the trip is more likely to be sustainable.
During this reporting period, Districtwide 1stTpOTP averaged 33.37%, compared with the 33.70% during the last reporting period. As a newly established KPI, these initial results provide an important baseline while also identifying opportunities to improve both operational performance and the accuracy of the underlying data.
Staff began preparing for implementation of the KPI prior to its formal adoption. During spring operator town halls, the District explained what 1stTpOTP measures, how it is calculated, and why timely departures are important to overall service reliability. Staff also discussed the measure with the Drivers’ Committee, while the Operations Control Center (OCC) distributed informational messages to operators.
To support ongoing performance management, the District developed a dashboard identifying the ten highest and ten lowest performing first-timepoint departure locations. Transportation also established standardized codes for supervisors to document the causes of delayed departures. Together, these tools are intended to move the District beyond simply reporting the KPI toward identifying the specific operational conditions contributing to performance.
Because the KPI relies heavily on automated vehicle-location data, staff also focused on validating the accuracy of the measure. The OTP team reviewed the five transit centers with the highest number of route departures, with supervisors observing departures in the field and compared those observations against the automated data used to calculate 1stTpOTP. This comparison revealed data-quality issues affecting certain locations. More specifically, some geofences around first timepoints were too large, resulting in departures that occurred on time being incorrectly recorded as late. This issue occurred at Hayward BART. Reported 1stTpOTP at Hayward BART was 0.02% in January 2026. After the geofence was reviewed and adjusted, reported performance increased to 28.31% in June 2026. While performance remains below the District's target, the significant change demonstrates that a portion of the previously reported performance was attributable to how departures were being captured rather than operational performance alone. Based on these findings, staff is reviewing and adjusting geofences at other major departure locations, including the Salesforce Transit Center, to improve the accuracy and reliability of the KPI before drawing broader conclusions about operational performance.
Implementation has also identified challenges in applying a single 1stTpOTP standard across service types with substantially different operating characteristics. For example, Supplemental School Service at Skyline High School may have as many as 16 buses scheduled to depart at the same time. Physical constraints at the campus prevent all buses from exiting through the gate simultaneously, making it operationally impractical for every vehicle to meet the same 0-60 second departure window. Similarly, Owl Service is intentionally coordinated in Downtown Oakland to facilitate passenger transfers between late-night routes. When an incoming Route 800 bus is delayed, connecting buses may be held so passengers are not stranded late at night. While this customer-focused operating practice can negatively affect 1stTpOTP, holding a connecting bus may represent the more appropriate service decision.
These examples demonstrate that 1stTpOTP should be evaluated not only as a performance measure, but also within the operational context in which service is delivered. As the District gains experience with this new KPI, staff will continue validating the underlying data, addressing operational causes of delayed departures, and evaluating how the measure should be interpreted or adjusted across different service types. This work will help establish a more reliable baseline and ensure future improvement initiatives are focused on service delivery issues rather than data or operating-condition anomalies.
TRIPS NOT OPERATED BY SERVICE TYPE/ROUTE (ATTACHMENT 2, SECTIONS 1 - 3)
Monitoring TNO provides the District with an important tool for understanding where and why scheduled service is not delivered. By analyzing missed trips and their underlying causes, staff can identify recurring patterns, address issues such as workforce shortages, mechanical failures, and service disruptions, and implement targeted corrective actions to improve service reliability to the public.
TNO data is presented in two formats: by service type (Attachment 2, Sections 1-2) and route (Sections 3-4). This data provides greater visibility into where service losses are occurring and support operational decision-making.
During the current reporting period, the District scheduled 861,592 planned revenue trips. Of these, 828,684 trips were operated (32,908 were not operated). 96.18% of scheduled service was operated.
Workforce availability was the largest identifiable contributor to missed service. Operator unavailability accounted for 14,416, or 44%, of the trips not operated. The remaining TNOs were attributed to service disruptions, road calls, accidents, and other categories accounting for the remaining not operated trips. These results further demonstrate the relationship between available operator staffing and the District’s ability to consistently deliver scheduled service.
To strengthen operations, NBO class deployments were prioritized to divisions facing the greatest workforce challenges, ensuring limited resources are focused where they can make the biggest impact to service reliability and reduce missed trips.
RIDERSHIP (ATTACHMENT 1, FIGURE 4)
From January 2026 to June 2026, systemwide monthly ridership averaged 3.4 million, totaling 20.5 million rides over the current reporting period. This represents a 3.3% increase compared to the first half of FY 25-26. For the full FY 25-26, District ridership totaled 40.5 million rides, representing a 1.3% increase over FY 24-25. This demonstrates continued growth in overall transit use.
In February 2026, the District implemented several significant service adjustments to improve reliability, address route concerns, and provide additional run time and rest breaks for operators. These adjustments support the District’s broader efforts to deliver service that is both more reliable for customers and more sustainable for operators.
Customer Satisfaction Survey
Between April 14 and May 2026, AC Transit conducted a Customer Satisfaction Survey to assess rider satisfaction with District services and identify opportunities to improve the rider experience. The survey was conducted using both onboard and bus stop intercept surveys in multiple languages.
Key findings from the survey include the following:
• Overall rider satisfaction with AC Transit was 75%
• AC Transit achieved a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 25. A Net Promoter score indicates the likelihood that a given customer will recommend or promote a brand to their friends. 25 means that 25 percent more respondents will do so than those who will not. The national transit agency average promoter score is negative 16.
Additionally, satisfaction analysis identified the following service attributes with the greatest potential to improve overall rider satisfaction:
• On-time bus arrivals
• Frequency of buses
• Personal safety onboard buses
The survey findings reinforce the importance of the District’s continued focus on service reliability and availability. Riders identified on-time arrivals and service frequency as leading opportunities for improvement, confirming the focus by the District on efforts to improve OTP, SO, and overall service delivery.
Staff will continue communicating ridership growth and improvements in both general ridership and institutional pass programs such as EasyPass. Staff will also provide riders and stakeholders with additional information on the Customer Satisfaction Survey results and the actions being taken in response to rider feedback. These efforts will be incorporated into One East Bay, One AC Transit, demonstrating how the District’s priorities translate into tangible improvements for riders and communities throughout the East Bay. Together, continued ridership growth, customer feedback, service improvements, and greater public awareness provide opportunities to strengthen customer confidence, increase the District’s visibility, and support further ridership growth.
MILES BETWEEN CHARGEABLE ROAD CALLS (ATTACHMENT 1, FIGURE 5)
Miles Between Chargeable Road Calls (MBCRC) is a KPI that measures the average distance a bus travels before experiencing a chargeable road call, defined as an incident caused by a mechanical failure or other issue that prevents the bus from completing its route. Monitoring MBCRC helps the District identify vehicles requiring additional maintenance, inform midlife overhaul planning, and strengthen overall service reliability.
For FY25-26, the MBCRC performance target was increased from 7,500 to 9,500 miles, reflecting continued improvements in fleet condition and maintenance practices. During this reporting period, systemwide MBCRC averaged 10,193 miles, compared with 9,920 miles during the first half of FY 25-26, an improvement of 273 miles, or 2.7%.
The Road Call Reduction Taskforce (RCRT) meets monthly to review road-call data, identify recurring issues, and implement targeted strategies to improve fleet reliability. For example, several battery-electric bus road calls at Division 2 (D2) were attributed to a low state of charge, indicating that the buses did not have sufficient energy to complete their scheduled service. Maintenance reviewed how the buses were being operated and developed a process for shutting them down at the end of the line and at relief points. This prevents the unnecessary use of lighting and air-conditioning systems, conserves energy, and reduces low-state-of-charge road calls.
Although increased road calls during portions of the reporting period-primarily because of check-engine-light faults and warm-weather issues involving cooling systems, air-conditioning systems, and stalling conditions-overall MBCRC remained above the established target. This performance reflects the effectiveness of the District’s ongoing preventive maintenance and targeted reliability efforts.
BUS CLEANLINESS RATING (ATTACHMENT 1, FIGURE 6)
Bus cleanliness is an important component of service quality that directly affects the customer experience and the District’s public image. The District monitors cleanliness ratings to identify trends, operational challenges, and opportunities to improve cleaning practices and resource allocation. This is particularly important because of the focus by passengers on safety. Studies indicate that a cleaner bus feels like a safer bus to many passengers.
During this reporting period, the systemwide bus cleanliness rating averaged 8.01, compared with 8.05 during the first half of FY 25-26, reflecting a modest decline.
Fluctuations in staffing levels during the reporting period affected the time available for detailed cleaning. Teams responded by prioritizing essential tasks and using the standardized cleaning sequence to maintain consistent standards while meeting daily service requirements.
The Bus Cleanliness Taskforce meets monthly to review inspection results and implement targeted corrective actions. During the reporting period, the Taskforce focused on identifying common cleanliness deficiencies, sharing best practices from top-performing teams, improving workflow efficiency, and strengthening accountability and performance reporting. The Taskforce also developed a standardized cleaning sequence to help staff prioritize essential tasks and maintain consistent cleaning standards during periods of reduced staffing.
PASSENGER FALLS (ATTACHMENT 1, FIGURE 7)
Tracking passenger falls enables the District to identify contributing factors across four primary categories: vehicle movement and operator actions; passenger-related factors; vehicle or equipment conditions; and roadway or environmental conditions. These insights support targeted mitigation strategies involving vehicle maintenance, operator training, passenger safety education, and improvements to operating practices.
During FY 25-26, the Passenger Falls per 100,000 miles goal was reduced to 3.00 from 3.25, reflecting the District’s success at remaining below the 3.25 target threshold for over one year and the District’s commitment to improved safety for riders.
During the reporting period, the rate of Passenger Falls per 100,000 miles averaged 2.24 compared to 2.31 in the prior period, reflecting an improvement of 2.8%.
The District’s Accident Reduction Committee (ARC) continues to analyze the root causes of passenger falls and implement targeted initiatives designed to reduce and ultimately eliminate these incidents. Through ongoing analysis of incident trends and contributing factors, the ARC develops data-driven strategies that strengthen safe operating practices across the organization. Included in this work will be the commissioning of September as Mobility Device Securement Month, across the District. The Safety, Training, Human Resources, and Operations Departments will focus on reemphasizing the importance of proper securement of mobility devices, to avoid passenger falls linked to these devices. Similar targeted training/safety months will follow.
One key initiative during the reporting period is the Training and Education Department’s Defensive Driving Support (DDS) pilot. Launched in mid-January, this pilot demonstrated encouraging preliminary results. As new bus operator hiring slowed, District training instructors were strategically deployed to provide in-service support on routes with higher incident rates. Early results indicate reductions in overall incidents on Lines 1T, 18, and 72. Although these results reflect overall incidents rather than passenger falls specifically, they suggest that targeted coaching can improve operator performance and reduce operational risk.
The ARC continues to review the root causes of passenger falls, launching campaigns and reinforcing existing initiatives to reduce and ultimately eliminate such incidents. One campaign involves direct interactions with operators about collisions, whether preventable or not, to gather better insight into roadway concerns, while simultaneously raising awareness. Campaigns involve daily safety messages from the Operations Control Center (OCC), broadcast to all buses and displayed on the safety boards, focusing on defensive driving strategies.
BUS OPERATOR LOG-ON RATE (ATTACHMENT 1, FIGURE 8)
The Bus Operator log-on rate measures the percentage of scheduled operators who log on and are available for duty. Operators logging onto the Transit Control Head (TCH) inside the bus ensure the District’s various operating systems remain connected to collect safety and performance monitoring data, which is used for real-time bus location and passenger notifications. For FY 25-26, the Operator Log-On rate performance goal increased from 95% to 97%, reflecting the District's success in implementing programs to ensure successful operator log events.
During the reporting period, Operator Log-On percent averaged 97.75% compared to 98.02% in the prior period, reflecting a modest decrease.
OCC Transportation Supervisors actively monitor log-on performance, address systematic issues, provide reminders to operators, and ensure they are completed before leaving the yard. Field Transportation Supervisors, using mobile tablets, also track log-on activity, contributing to the sustained improvement of this KPI.
EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH (ATTACHMENT 1, TABLE 1)
Outstanding frontline employees play a critical role in achieving the strategic plan's goals. Their dedication and expertise personify a high-performing workforce that upholds service quality. Despite roadway hazards, disruptive patrons, inclement weather, mechanical challenges, and an array of unplanned hurdles, each recognized employee has demonstrated excellence and is essential to ensuring safe and secure operations and delivering convenient and reliable service.
WORKFORCE RECRUITMENT
As workforce demands increased, the District resumed Bus Operator hiring, graduating a new class of operators for the Richmond Division in January and launching a new training class in May, with additional classes scheduled in the coming months. The District continues to leverage its competitive recruitment advantages, including California DMV in-house commercial licensing authorization and a paid training program with full benefits to attract, train, and retain qualified candidates while supporting long-term workforce needs.
During the reporting period, the District made progress in reducing Journey Level Mechanic (JLM) vacancies by hiring two Journey Level Mechanics and one Mechanic Helper. Recruitment efforts remain ongoing to fill remaining vacancies, while the Mechanic Helper Program continues to support the development of a skilled internal pipeline for future Journey Level Mechanic positions. The District also launched the Master Journey Level Mechanic Program, with two employees currently participating. Staffing levels continue to be evaluated to ensure alignment with operational needs and authorized positions.
OPERATOR TOTAL UNAVAILABILITY (ATTACHMENT 1, FIGURE 9)
The District monitors operator workforce capacity through three related measures: service operated; scheduled unavailability; and unscheduled unavailability. Together, these measures support proactive workforce planning, overtime management, and the District’s ability to deliver scheduled service. The District's Operator Unavailability KPI goal is to maintain a combined total of less than 22.50%, through the following :
(1) Scheduled unavailability at 8.50%; and
(2) Unscheduled unavailability at 14.00%.
During the second half of FY 25-26, Total Operator Unavailability averaged 32.39%, compared to 31.36% during the first half of the fiscal year. Total Operator Unavailability remains significantly above the District’s target and continues to impact the number of operators available for daily service.
The District continues its collaboration with ATU Local 192 through the TIP pilot, Operator Mentoring Program, and Driver’s Committee to identify opportunities to improve quality of life and workforce availability. These efforts include improvements to restroom access, schedules, layovers and meal and rest periods. Safety and Human Resources are also working with operations to identify common workplace injuries that remove employees from active service and reduce those risks through wellness, training, and injury-prevention efforts at the operating divisions.
OPERATOR UNSCHEDULED UNAVAILABILITY (ATTACHMENT 1, FIGURE 10)
Unscheduled operator unavailability includes absences that are not incorporated into the operator’s work schedule. These may include general and contractual absences, protected leave, industrial injuries, administrative leave, and other unscheduled absences. Unscheduled does not always mean that an employee failed to provide advance notice of an absence to a supervisor. Rather, it means the absence was not accounted for when the work schedule was established. This distinction is important when interpreting the KPI and determining the appropriate corrective actions.
High levels of unscheduled unavailability reduce the workforce available to cover scheduled assignments and can contribute to missed trips, service disruptions, increased overtime, and additional workload for available operators.
During the second half of FY 25-26, Unscheduled Operator Unavailability averaged 23.87%, an increase of 1.57 percentage points from 22.30% during the first half of the fiscal year. These results remain substantially above the District’s 14.00% target and represent the largest component of Total Operator Unavailability.
The District is pursuing several strategies to address unscheduled unavailability. Transportation continues to track attendance and apply accountability requirements consistent with the ATU Local 192 CBA. Transportation management has also worked to establish a consistent understanding and application of attendance procedures across all operating divisions. Following ratification of the current CBA, the threshold for proposed discharge associated with unexcused absences was reduced from nine to eight absences.
Operational strategies also include offering available operators fragments of work before, after, or between their regular assignments to cover service that might otherwise go unfilled. In addition, the District is working to automate the attendance-management process by integrating PeopleSoft and HASTUS. The project is intended to improve the timeliness and consistency of attendance tracking across divisions, reduce manual processes, and provide management with better information to support workforce planning and accountability. District safety staff continue to analyze and address risk exposures that create opportunities for operator injury. Industrial Injury claims continue to be the largest single cause of operator absence. Creating a safer, better trained workforce will also create a more efficiently operating transit system.
OPERATOR SCHEDULED UNAVAILABILITY (ATTACHMENT 1, FIGURE 11)
Scheduled operator unavailability primarily represents planned absences that can be incorporated into workforce planning, including vacations, medical appointments, family commitments, required training, and other approved time away from regular assignments.
During the second half of FY 25-26, Scheduled Operator Unavailability averaged 8.53%, an improvement of 0.53 percentage points from 9.06% during the first half of the fiscal year.
Overall, the results indicate that the District’s primary operator availability challenge is unscheduled unavailability rather than scheduled unavailability. Continued efforts to improve attendance management, data integration, injury prevention, operator working conditions, and workforce planning will therefore be important to reducing total operator unavailability and improving the District’s ability to deliver scheduled service.
MEAL/REST BREAK (ATTACHMENT 1, FIGURE 1)
Providing operators with reliable meal and rest breaks is essential to operator well-being, contract compliance and maintaining a high-performing frontline workforce. The District continues to work collaboratively with ATU Local 192 to address operator concerns regarding missed or shortened meal and rest periods.
Over the past six months, staff has used each service sign-up to make targeted schedule adjustments that improve the likelihood operators can receive their contractually required uninterrupted 20-minute meal break. Following implementation of these schedule adjustments, the number of adjudicated meal break violations declined, demonstrating measurable progress.
As part of the Service Quality Strategic Initiative, the District also established a new KPI to measure meal and rest break reliability. This KPI tracks the percentage of operators who arrive at their designated break locations on time, with a target performance of 96 percent.
Over the current reporting period, meal and rest break reliability averaged 89.71%, compared with 90.67% during the first half of the year. Performance remained strong even after the minimum meal and rest break requirement increased from 15 minutes to 20 minutes in February 2026 to comply with updated CBA terms.
To further improve performance, staff incorporated additional running time, among other refinements, into the winter 2026 service schedules to better align with current traffic and ridership patterns. These changes were informed by feedback from the Drivers’ Committee, the Meal and Rest Break Committee, and frontline employees, and are intended to improve operators’ ability to reach break locations on time.
Another contributing factor impacting this KPI is missed trips due to no workforce. When trips are left unfilled, the bus operating behind that non-operated “missed trip” experiences higher passenger loads which causes additional unplanned dwell times at bus stops. This leads to buses arriving late to the end of the line and in some instances starting late on the next scheduled trip “first time point”.
Staff continues to monitor this KPI and refine schedules to improve break reliability and service efficiency. In the future, better understanding of the true operating conditions of a given route using first timepoint measures will allow planners to better understand the meal and rest break needs of a given route and plan accordingly.
OPERATOR RESTROOMS
The District continues to improve restroom access and reliability for bus operators across the service area. Currently, 319 restroom locations provide 518 restroom options. These facilities include AC Transit-provided locations (6%), BART facilities (9%), paid vendors (9%), and AC Transit-friendly businesses (76%). Operators access restroom location information through the onboard Hitachi-Clever Devices system, the quarterly restroom book distributed during signup, and the District’s Restroom Finder mobile application.
In Q3, a District-wide survey yielded a 20% overall response rate, including a 45% response rate from Operators with access to Throne restrooms on their routes. Of those responding, 94% reported being "Satisfied" or "Very Satisfied" with the units, specifically highlighting privacy, security, and a positive impact on shift well-being for Operators. Consistent usage data further demonstrated that the restrooms were well utilized and valued by operators. Between June 2025 and March 2026, the facilities averaged 261 daily uses, totaling over 79,000 visits across the nine-month period.
In Q4, the Board approved a 12-month pilot contract extension with Throne Labs through FY 26-27. This extension provides staff with adequate time to conduct a competitive solicitation for long-term smart restroom solutions while ensuring frontline workers maintain access to safe, clean, and secure facilities.
Between 2021 and 2025, AC Transit and BART entered into three separate agreements covering Operator restroom construction and access at BART properties. Throughout FY 2025-26, staff worked with BART to consolidate these memoranda of understanding (MOUs) into a single, comprehensive Umbrella MOU. This consolidated agreement aims to ensure consistent access rights to BART restrooms for field personnel, codify enforceable standards for cleanliness, physical maintenance, and security, and define explicit agency roles regarding maintenance and repair issues to substantially decrease restroom downtime. Staff recently completed their final review and returned the Umbrella MOU to BART for final drafting with the goal of executing the signed agreement in Q1 of FY 2026-27. The District will continue monitoring usage data, maintenance performance, and operator feedback to inform future restroom access strategies.
ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES:
This report does not recommend a course of action with notable advantages or disadvantages.
ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS:
This report does not recommend an alternative analysis.
PRIOR RELEVANT BOARD ACTION/POLICIES:
There are no prior relevant actions/policies.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. KPI Trends
2. Service Reliability
3. Trunkline Incentive Program Trends
Prepared by:
Chris Durant, Assistant Director of Maintenance
In Collaboration with:
Scott Arjun, Project Manager II
Ajay Hsu Martin, Transit Schedules Manager
Christy McCree, Human Resources Manager
Manjit K. Sooch, Director of Innovation & Technology
Robert del Rosario, Director of Service Development & Planning
Approved/Reviewed by:
Cecil Blandon, Director of Maintenance
Arlee Young, Director of Transportation
William Tonis, Director of Business Sciences
Emily Sutkus Cruz, Director of Human Resources
Ramakrishna Pochiraju, Executive Director of Planning & Engineering