TO: AC Transit Board of Directors
FROM: Michael A. Hursh, General Manager/Chief Executive Officer
SUBJECT: December 2024 Sign-up
BRIEFING ITEM
AGENDA PLANNING REQUEST: ☐
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Title
Consider receiving a report on the District’s planned service changes associated with the December 2024 Sign-up.
Staff Contact:
Ramakrishna Pochiraju, Executive Director of Planning & Engineering
Body
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE:
Goal - Convenient and Reliable Service
Initiative - Service Quality
In addition to Supplementary Service adjustments, effective December 15, 2024, three Bus Operators will be added to service across high priority service changes. These additions were coordinated with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 192 leadership. These service changes are expected to greatly improve runtime and layover for some Bus Operators.
BUDGETARY/FISCAL IMPACT:
Total daily vehicle platform hours will increase from the August 2024 service change by 40.4 hours on weekdays, 16.4 hours on Saturdays and 13.3 hours on Sundays. In total, these changes will yield an annual increase of 11,516 platform hours, resulting in an annualized estimated cost of $1,760,756, assuming a marginal service rate of $152 per hour. Planned December service changes incorporate three additional Operators for a total of 902 signed positions.
These costs and resources are accounted for in the District’s operating budget.
BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
AC Transit typically conducts four Sign-ups each year as required by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the ATU. These occur in March, June, August and December.
Below is a summary of the service changes included in the December Sign-up.
Supplementary Service reflects the customary array of adjustments in response to student travel patterns at the start of the school year. Reasons for changes to scheduled departure times include the need for additional time between dismissal and scheduled leave times assuring sufficient time for students to walk to the bus, bell time changes, improving the consistency between Regular service and Early Dismissal service, and operational concerns. Operational concerns were also the reason for changes to arrival times and staging times.
There is a significant change to Supplementary Service in the December 2024 sign-up. Due to overloads on Line 76 during school dismissal, the Line 76 tripper becomes two new Line 676 trips (operating from Hilltop Mall to Richmond BART).
Please refer to Attachment 3 for a comprehensive view of all Supplementary Service changes.
Transbay service will receive additional resources as follows:
• Due to passenger overloads, Line F will receive an eastbound afternoon opportunity trip that will depart Salesforce at 5:30 pm.
• Two westbound morning opportunity trips will be added to Line L. These trips will assist in balancing passenger loads and provide late-morning Transbay options from Western Contra Costa County. These trips will depart at 6:20 am and 8:42 a.m., respectively, from the East Bay.
• ATU requested one additional block on Line O on Saturdays for running time and layover gains.
• Similarly to Line F, Line NX needs relief from overcrowded trips. A westbound morning opportunity trip will depart at 8:15 am for a 9:00 am arrival at Salesforce Transit Center.
Due to the long-term detours at Alameda Point, Line 96 will have corresponding itinerary adjustments.
In an effort to improve regional transit connections and integration, Line 76 schedule will be timed with Line 580 of Golden Gate Transit along the Cutting Boulevard corridor. On weekdays to El Cerrito Del Norte BART, all schedules will shift forward by 15 minutes, except for school service trips, to facilitate transfers.
Line improvements deemed high priority by ATU to improve layovers and runtime include:
• a peak weekday block added to both lines 56 and 72R;
• a block added to both Saturday and Sunday schedules on Line 1T; and
• a block added to the 51A Sunday schedule with minor adjustments on Saturday schedules based on analysis of runtime data.
Minor schedule changes will be made on lines 6, 10, 12, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 28, 29, 34, 39, 40, 45, 46L, 51B, 52, 54, 57, 60, 62, 72/72M, 73, 90, 98, 99 and the NL.
To provide more information and transparency for the December service changes, staff has included three attachments:
1. December 2024 Service Adjustments Summary Report that includes the estimated cost of service changes;
2. December 2024 School Addendum lists all the bus stop changes for the December service changes; and
3. December 2024 Stop Changes that lists all bus stop changes for the December service changes.
Planned Long-term Detours
Cedar Blvd & Smith Ave (0900360; 51106)
• There is a housing development project underway in Newark which requires long-term closure of the stop at Cedar Blvd & Smith Ave. This stop will be closed for one year, from August 2024 - August 2025. This stop closure affects Lines 200, 232, 620, 626, and 628.
Line 96 (and Line 20 when Realign is implemented)
• 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 next 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 segment). The next 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 St. to Main St., and Orion St. from Midway Ave to W. Tower Ave (closed from December 2024 to December 2025).
Looking ahead, staff is coordinating with the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) as the project lead, 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 of time. 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 is actively working with the project team and our partner jurisdictions on identifying transit mitigations to minimize impact to our schedulers and riders as much as possible.
ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES:
Advantages: The advantage of the Board receiving this report is to provide awareness of staff’s continued work with the ATU to make service adjustments that will improve both rider and operator experience. Implementation of the above-described changes allows the District to improve Operator work schedules and passenger satisfaction with service reliability and additional Transbay trips to reduce overcrowding. It also demonstrates good faith efforts on the part of the District to work in concert with the ATU to jointly address persistent reliability and working condition concerns.
Disadvantages: Staff has identified no disadvantages of the Board receiving this report, nor of staff implementing the December service changes.
ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS:
The primary alternative to implementing these changes is making no changes, which would not be responsive to the needs of our Operators or riders.
PRIOR RELEVANT BOARD ACTION/POLICIES:
Board Policy 544 - Service Adjustments
Board Policy 545 - Service Standards and Design
Board Policy 546 - Standards for Operation of Supplementary Service
SR 24-354
ATTACHMENTS:
1. December 2024 Service Adjustments Summary Report
2. December 2024 School Addendum
3. December 2024 Stop Changes
Prepared by:
Christine Eduok, Acting Transit Schedules Manager
Approved/Reviewed by:
Robert del Rosario, Director of Service Development and Planning
Ramakrishna Pochiraju, Executive Director of Planning & Engineering
Dwain Crawley, Director of Transportation
Linda A. Nemeroff, Board Administrative Officer/District Secretary
Chris Andrichak, Chief Financial Officer
Aimee L. Steele, General Counsel/Chief Legal Officer
Michael A. Hursh, General Manager/Chief Executive Officer