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T r a n s i t T i m e s

o @ 0 ACT; . . .

TRANSIT ON THE MOVE

Monthly Newsletter to Tell ProgressOn Transit Planning for East Bay

Months and even years of planning forth e time when public transportation inthe East Bay would be aimed directly atsatisfying th e wants and wishes of th erider, is starting to payoff.

A detailed, carefully constructed masstransit plan for all of th e Alameda-Contr a Costa Transit District is now b eingput t o g e t l 1 e r~b y th e l:!onsulting engineer

ing finn of D e Leuw, Cather&

Company.A preliminary report on their findings willbe in the hands of th e district directorsearly in July.

T9 make sure that th e engineers knowexactly what th e people in th e variouscities and counties in the district wantin the way of mass transit facilities, aspecial engineering advisory committeeis now in the process of being organized.The committee will include planning and

engineering officials from th e cities andcounties who will be invited to workclosely with th e district's consultants.

Public Review

Once th e mass tran sit plan is downon paper, th e district will begin an exhaustive review of the proposal, presenting i t at numerous public hearings, discussing it at meetings with public agencies and other interested civic groups.The directors will be finding out whatpeople think of their future transit network, what changes should be made inth e plan. I t is th e directors' intention to

mold the plan as closely as possiblearound th e desires and wishes of th e people and yet finalize a transit plan that willbe self-supporting and not require a ta xsubsidy of the property owners in th e district to operate th e transit system.

Standing out as a beacon is th e genera l election next Nov em ber when it isth e intent of the directors to present th etransit plan, together with any revisionsthat are made, to th e voters of the districtin th e form of a proposed bond issue tobu y operating equipment and commencedistrict transit operations .

Keep InformedAs a result of this stepped-up tempo

in transit preparations, th e district islaunching an informal monthly newslette r to keep community leaders and other

interested citizens within th e district fullyinformed of the current progress andstatus in transit plannning.

The premise of th e newsletter will bethat a fully informed voter is an intelligent voter and will be more capab le ofcorrectly assessing th e facts.

Directors of th e district intend that th eplan they offer to the voters next November shall provide the best transportationan d th e most transportation for all of th eEast Bay district at th e lowest possiblecost. The newsletter, to be called TransitTimes , will tell over th e months how thedirectors' intent is being carried forward.

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Transit Plan StudyBegins; Report Soon

Th e detailed master transportationplan being drawn up for all of the EastBay transit district area by De Leuw,Cather & Company will include consideration of ne w express service, downtownterminals and the extensive use of freeways.

Transit district directors have agreedthat these objectives are among thosethat should be held out in front by theengineering consultants while drawing

up the transit plan.Most immediate attention is beinggiven to th e MacArthur Freeway whichso fa r has no provisions for loading an dunloading bus passengers.

The directors have authorized J. R.Worthington, district transit consultant,to consult with the State Division ofHighways to urge that th e space neededfor unloading passengers be built intoth e free\vay.

Th e freeway would be used by th etransit district as one of the principal arteries both for moving express passengers between the Oakland central business district an d the San Leandro-Hayward area and as a major route in itstransbay operations.

The proposed Grove-Shafter freewayis another important artery serving th eBerkeley and Contra Costa County areas

that th e directors believe should be provided with bus turnouts.New limited stop or express service

would be superimposed on regular localroutes serving downtown Oakland, Berk-

TIRES, RAILS TEAM UPDesigners of a $200,000,000 Delaware

expressway through the northeastern partof Philadelphia are planning to route portions of the Frankford EI rapid transitalong a median strip of the superhighway. Th e federal government, which ispaying 90 per cent of th e costs, must approve th e plan.

CONTRA COSTA ROUTES,BUSES UNDER REVIEW

Proposed service by the transit district in the Contra Costa County areasof Orinda, Lafayette, Walnut Creek,Concord and Martinez, is undergoingcareful study.

The engineering consulting firm ofDe Leuw, Cather & Company is drawing up a transit plan for the area withan aim towards improving expressservice and load standards, increasingfrequency of service and extending theexisting service.

Suburban type buses are being considered, with all seats facing forwarda type of coach superior to those nowin service on the lines in Contra CostaCounty.

eley, Richmond, San Leandro, Hayward,and the central Contra Costa area.

~ T o r t h i n g t o nestimates that travel timebetween downtown Oakland and University Ave. in Berkeley could be reducedfrom 35 minutes to 15 or 20 minutes, an dthat th e time between Richmond an dOakland could be shortened from 57 minutes to 30 minutes.

Th e proposed bus terminals would bebuilt in th e central business district ofOakland, one in Berkeley in th e vicinityof University and Shattuck Aves., andthe third in Richmond, somewhere in thearea of Twenty-third St. and MacdonaldAve.

Th e terminals could be constructed byprivate capital an d leased by th e district,according to Worthington. To help pa yfor themselves, th e terminals would contain stores on street frontages as wellas coffee shops and other commercialoperations within th e waiting rooms.

Worthington has informed the directors that such terminals should go far inhelping to build transit patronage.

The study by De Leuw, Cather willrequire about five months to complete,bu t a preliminary report will be preparedfor th e directors by early in July.

'The Rider' To HaveVoice In Planning

Residents of Alameda an d ContraCosta counties have been assured thevwill be given ample opportunity to helpdevelop a suitable transit plan for theirarea.

Numerous public hearings and othermeetings will be held before the districtreaches the point of acquiring transit facilities, according to Robert K. Barber,president of the board.

The district, futhermore, will not pur

chase transit equipment until after abond issue has been submitted to th evoters and their views made known.

These assurances were ' contained inletters filed recently with the ContraCosta Board of Supervisors, Contra CostaCounty CIO Council, th e cities of WalnutCreek an d San Pablo, th e Rodeo an d Lafayette chambers of commerce, an d theCouncil of Richmond Industries.

In answer to protests by these groupsthat the district should abandon its condemnation proceedings against part ofthe Key System facilities, Mr. Barbersaid:

"I t should be recognized that this action merely sets in motion th e lengthyprocedure of having an impartial Stateagency (the Public Utilities Commission)determine th e fair market value."

Whatever buses, shops an d yards th e

district might acquire would simply beth e "nucleus of a district-wide transitprogram."

Mr. Barber said it is "premature tospeculate on the ultimate benefits or relative costs to your area should th e usefulportion of Key System's equipment beacquired."

Th e district, he explained, will soonhave an engineering plan that is to helpsolve Contra Costa's transit problems.The study includes a determination ofth e most economical use of Key Systemequipment as well as what ne w equipment will be required.

Representatives of the organizations

What the EditorsSay About Transit

Plans to design th e Kensington Expressway for bus traffic as well as forprivate autos reflect a proper appreciation of th e importance of mass transitin urban transportation.

Th e NF T and the city planning commission, together with The News, longhave urged inclusion of bus facilities inthe new super-highway. There will be no"turn-outs" along the regular roadway, asproposed, bu t a spokesman for the StateDepartment of Public Works says the firstsection to be built will provide for busstops on service roads away from themain traffic stream at three points alongth e route. Th e question is whether thiswill be enough.

Bus riders sho uld be able to share inth e benefits of modern urban arteries .Futhermore, express bus service will givethe public a ne w incentive to makegreater use of the buses, thereby contributing to a reduction o f congestion an dhelping assure stable transit operations.

From every standpoint, the idea of expressways serving mass transit vehicleswithout impeding the flow of ordinarytraffic makes good sense. It can't be applied too widely.-Buffalo (N.Y.) Eve-ning News.

Another Copy?For another copy of Transit Times or

to place your name on the mailing list forfuture issues, just drop a line to the Transit District in Suite C at th e ClaremontHotel, Berkeley. We'll be happy tooblige.

opposing th e condemnation proceedingswere invited to review th e engineeringstudies in the near future and discusswith th e engineers indicated transit needsof th e county.

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Horseless BuggiesTake Bigger Bite

Thecost of driving an automobile10,000 miles will increase $76 this year

over 1957 to a new high of $1,078.The boost, calculated by the American

Automobile Association, was based on"fairly new" lower priced cars.

Depreciation will jump from $514 to$565, th e biggest single increase an d th elargest item in the motorist's budget.Only gasoline an d oil expenses will showa decrease this year-from 2.42 cents per

mile to 2.39 cents.The association also listed these otherincreases: property damage, liability, fireand theft insurance, $103.40 to $116.71;license an d registration, $17.68 to $19.16.Proportionate increases on a pe r milebasis were listed for maintenance an dtires.

Tr a n s i t T i m e s

Published monthly by theAlameda-Contra Costa Transit District

Suite C, Claremont HotelBerkeley-Oakland, C a l i f o r n i ~

Alan L. Bingham, editorTelephone THornwall 5-6610

Robert K . .BarberWm . J. Bettencourt .Robert E. NisbetGeorge M. Taylor

PresidentVice President

Attorney-SecretaryAdministrative Officer

DirectorsRobert K. BarberJ. Howard ArnoldJohn L. McDonnellWm. J . BettencourtPaul E. Deadrich .Robert M. CopelandClair W. Macleod

~ 1 0

W a r d '

Ward II

Ward " 'Ward 'VWard V

Director at largeDirector at large

M O RE PEOPLE T H A N EVER

People are still floc king into Alamedaan d Contra Costa counties, according tothe latest adding machine totals, an dprobably will keep it up for years to come.

Population of Alameda County as ofJuly 1, 1957, was 873,900, which was again of 12,000 over the previous year .

T r a n s i t T i m e s

Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District

Suite C, Claremont HotelBerkeley-Oakland, California

stanley Scott

Contra Costa County's July 1 populationwas 356,700. This was an increase overthe previous year of 11,100.

By 1970, the San Francisco Bay AreaCouncil predicts that there will , be1,233,000 people residing in AlamedaCounty and 659,000 in Contra Costa.

Bureau of PUblic Administration346 Library AnnexUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeley, Cal i f . 0

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