AC Transit
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AC Transit (in full, Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District) is a regional bus agency serving parts of Alameda County and Contra Costa County in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, AC Transit runs "Transbay" routes across the San Francisco Bay to the city of San Francisco, and selected areas in San Mateo County and Santa Clara County.
ACBus1.jpg
AC Transit is constituted as a special district under California law. It is governed by seven elected members (five from geographic wards and two at-large). It is not a part of the Alameda or Contra Costa county governments, although the initials "AC" are often mistaken to mean "Alameda County."
AC Transit is the successor to the Key Rail System.
As with almost all U.S. transit services, service is government-subsidized. In 2003, AC Transit responded to budget cuts in California by reducing and eliminating many bus routes.
Currently, AC Transit serves cities including Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville, El Cerrito, Albany, Richmond, Hayward, Piedmont, Castro Valley and Fremont. Most routes connect with regional train service, especially BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). AC Transit also connects with Oakland International Airport and the University of California, Berkeley (where students have consistently voted to tax themselves, so their student ID works as an unlimited bus pass, even when school is not in session). In 2004, a new commute-hour service began, linking Stanford University with BART and Altamont Commuter Express trains.
In 2003, AC Transit created a new bus rapid transit line called the "72R Rapid" transit line on San Pablo Avenue. Between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., buses run at a 12-minute frequency with stops 2/3 mile apart. Based on the success of this experiment, several other similar lines are in planning.
Also in 2003, AC Transit upgraded its bus infrastructure with new low-floor buses from Van Hool and satellite tracking units on all vehicles. GPS tracking units fix the position of the vehicle, and a private radio network sends updates to headquarters every 3 to 16 minutes. Vehicles on selected lines can be viewed from AC Transit's NextBus passenger information system.
In 2004 voters in the AC Transit district, along with voters in other parts of the San Francisco Bay Area approved Regional Measure 2, which will provide regional transportation projects (including AC Transit) with $125 million of additional yearly revenues. Additionally, 2/3 of the voters approved Measure BB, a parcel tax specifically supporting AC Transit.
External link
- AC Transit website (http://www.actransit.org/)
- NextBus website with satellite tracking data (http:///www.nextbus.com/actransit/)
- 511.org - Bay Area Transit Information (http://511.org/)
- AC Transit webpage about Van Hool buses (http://www.actransit.org/aboutac/vanhoolmain.wu)
- Oakland Berkeley & Eastern (http://rail.blu-streak.com): AC Transit's predecessors