TO: AC Transit Board of Directors
FROM: Michael A. Hursh, General Manager
SUBJECT: BART Bus Bridge Service 2021
ACTION ITEM
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Title
Consider authorizing the General Manager to enter into an agreement with the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) to provide bus bridge services in response to scheduled track maintenance and BART station closures in 2021.
Body
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE:
Goal - Financial Stability and Resiliency
Initiative - Infrastructure Modernization
Partnering with BART allows them to modernize their system and promotes regional goals of preventative maintenance and service quality. Having strong, reliable partners benefits AC Transit and supporting BART generates coordination and redundancy within the region.
BUDGETARY/FISCAL IMPACT:
The bus bridge is free to passengers and AC Transit will charge BART for the actual service provided at an hourly rate of $211. This rate reflects the District's fully allocated cost including all costs related to providing operators and vehicles including maintenance, planning, scheduling, and supervision. The agreement contains a daily budget cap of $150,000.
BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
BART will be closing a portion of its track between El Cerrito Del Norte BART and Richmond BART Stations across four weekends in January and February 2021 and portions of its track between South Hayward BART and Union City BART stations across 14 weekends from May to October 2021. These closures will require a combination of bus bridges and local AC Transit service on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays in order to shuttle passengers between stations.
BART and AC Transit have been conducting these coordinated bus bridge efforts across the past several years, including two separate bus bridges in 2020 after the onset of the shelter in place order. At this point, BART is only carrying 10-20 percent of the riders it was carrying before the pandemic, which allows the agency to perform maintenance while i...
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