Here are a few Streetsblog news nuggets to start your weekend.
BART endorses Bay Area transit integration
Seamless Bay Area, the advocates pushing to integrate the Bay Area's 27-or-so transit systems with joint ticketing, free transfers, and a rational fare and scheduling system, scored a major victory Thursday when the BART Board unanimously voted to endorse Senate Bill 917, the Seamless Transit Transformation Act. "BART staff worked hard with Senator Becker to amend SB917 into a law that will lead to regional coordination of transit," wrote BART director Robert Raburn on social media.
The Bay Area's largest transit agency is now fully behind an integrated transit system. Streetsblog urges Caltrain, Muni, AC Transit, and others to follow BART's example and put the customers before your own bureaucracies.
Alameda to start a ferry service to Jack London Square
It's one of the most in-your-face examples of the way city and county transportation agencies screw over people who get around by bike, foot, and transit instead of by car. If you want to travel the 800 feet from Jack London Square in Oakland across the estuary to Western Alameda by car, you get four lanes of an underwater tunnel. If you want to bike or walk, you're left to navigate the narrow, nightmare hell-path pictured above that isn't even wide enough for two cyclists going opposite directions to get past each other.
Tuesday evening, the Alameda City Council voted to authorize staff to start putting together a pedestrian-and-bicycle water shuttle between Oakland and Western Alameda. Bike Walk Alameda's Cyndy Johnsen reported the following: "stars are aligning for a water shuttle, and city staff got approval from council to move ahead on a grant application for a 2-year water shuttle pilot program. It could be up and running next summer!"
Some more details from the city of Alameda. The shuttle would be:
- free to the public. A successful service with high ridership will be easier to continue and fund after the two-year pilot.
- Use a vessel that easily accommodates bicycles.
- Begin in summer 2023 and operate five days a week, Monday through Friday. During the eight spring, summer and fall months, the service would operate for 12-13 hours each day with approximately 44 crossings a day. During the four winter months, service would be reduced to 9 hours a day and about 29 trips, enabling the longer hours during the spring, summer and early fall months, when ridership is expected to be higher.
- Morning and evening commute services would operate between the new water shuttle dock at Alameda Landing (to be completed this summer) and Jack London Square (at Broadway). Midday, lunchtime services would be provided between Jack London and Marina Village.
That's a long overdue stop-gap measure until a new ped-and-bicycle bridge can be constructed. Streetsblog will be following this story closely.
Look out for a four-door black Infinity with front-end damage
Dmitry Putilov was killed last week while riding his bike by a hit-and-run driver of a black, four-door Infiniti like the one pictured above. The Oakland Police are seeking help from the public in finding the driver. If you see a car like the one above with front-end damage, note the license plate and location and call the Oakland Police Department Traffic Investigation Unit at (510) 777-8570.
