TO: AC Transit Board of Directors
FROM: Michael A. Hursh, General Manager/Chief Executive Officer
SUBJECT: December 2022 Service Changes
BRIEFING ITEM
AGENDA PLANNING REQUEST: ☐
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Title
Consider receiving a report on the District’s planned service changes associated with the December 2022 Sign-up.
Staff Contact:
Ramakrishna Pochiraju, Executive Director of Planning & Engineering
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STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE:
Goal - Convenient and Reliable Service
Initiative - Service Quality
The service changes going into effect on December 4, 2022, are focused on improving schedule reliability and service quality to align service performance with service restoration until the District can have more available bus operators.
BUDGETARY/FISCAL IMPACT:
Total daily weekday vehicle platform hours have increased from August 2022 service levels by 20.8, Saturday hours have decreased by 1.4 and Sunday hours have increased by 3.9. In total, these changes yield an annual increase of 4,482.8 platform hours, resulting in an annual estimated cost of $681,380 assuming a rate of $152 per hour. These additional platform hours are primarily accounted for as an increase in run platform hours and not by increasing operator head count.
BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
AC Transit typically conducts four Sign-ups each year as required by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the Amalgamated Transit Union - Local 192 (ATU). These occur in March, June, August, and December.
For the December Sign-up, the only significant change to a line is improving 1T (Tempo) All-Nighter frequency from hourly to every 30 minutes to match the frequency of Lines 800 and 801 to which it connects. These three lines form the spine of All-Nighter service from Richmond to Fremont. Currently, a 1T All-Nighter trip only meets every other 800 and 801 trips. This is a key life-line service that should have timed connections given the time of day and the low frequency of service.
All other changes are minor adjustments to runtimes and schedules to improve reliability and improve connections with school bell times.
ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES:
Advantages: Implementation of the changes described above allows the District to improve reliability of existing service and improve late-night All-Nighter connections.
Disadvantages: staff has not identified any known disadvantages to the December service changes given they are minimal compared to previous sign-ups and do not require additional bus operators.
ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS:
The primary alternative to implementing these changes is making no changes, which would not be responsive to the reliability and schedule timing issues identified in the August service changes.
PRIOR RELEVANT BOARD ACTION/POLICIES:
SR 22-379 August 2022 Service Changes
ATTACHMENTS:
1. SR 22-548 December 2022 Service Change Summary
Prepared by:
Christine Eduok, Transit Schedules Administrator
In Collaboration with:
Michael Eshleman, Service Planning Manager
Ajay Martin, Transit Schedules Manager
David Berman, Senior Transportation Planner
Approved/Reviewed by:
Robert del Rosario, Director of Service Development and Planning
Ramakrishna Pochiraju, Executive Director of Planning & Engineering
Chris Andrichak, Chief Financial Officer
Derik Calhoun, Director of Transportation
Salvador Llamas, Chief Operating Officer