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Plan Downtown August 30, 2016 Plan Alternatives Report Comments

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Plan Downtown August 30, 2016 Plan Alternatives Report Comments Plan Downtown August 30, 2016 Plan Alternatives Report Comments Name Affliation Source Topic Date Comment Parking lot on 8th Street should not be converted into a pocket park as it could be used to increase density in the area, and would establish a continious retail Adam 11 West Partners-Old Economic fabric that currently exits in the rest of the area. Maintain the character of the 1 Email 4/6/16 Goldenberg Oakland Development neighborhood. Parking lot on 10th Street should include higher densities and make 10th street more attractive for pedestrians. AC Transit's core concern is that the plan does not provide for a network of transit-focused streets in Downtown Oakland. lf these streets are not managed and improved appropriately, the result will be greater unreliability Robert del Connectivity & 2 AC Transit E-mail Attachment Letter 4/6/16 of services, greater delays, and loss of ridership. These streets do not all Rosario Access necessarily need dedicated bus lanes, but they all need to be managed with transit as the first priority. As a planning concept, we propose that streets with bus routes within the Downtown Specific Plan area be. considered part of a powntown Oakland Transit Priority Zone. We have proposed this concept in the Major Corridors Study. Within this Zone, the City would work with AC Transit to facilitate fast, Robert del Connectivity & frequent, reliable, attractive transit. Designating a network of transit 3 AC Transit E-mail Attachment Letter 4/6/16 Rosario Access riority/preferential streets is a best practice in today's transportation planning, being implemented by San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Washington, and the city of Alameda, among others. As SPUR notes, the numerous bus lines on Broadway give it the highest level of transit service in the Bay Area outside of Market Street, San Francisco. But the plan as drafted would do very little to Improve bus transit. Instead the Robert del Connectivity & plan focuses on a proposed streetcar which would not improve transit, but 4 AC Transit E-mail Attachment Letter 4/6/16 Rosario Access could substantially interfere with the operation of hundreds of buses on Broadway. Broadway between th St. and Grand Avenue is the top priority transit street which should receive appropriate supporting actions. By 2040, Downtown Oakland could strengthen its role as a top regional center, while improving its streetscape environment. Such improvement can only occur, however, if the role of transit in serving Downtown Oakland is further strengthened and improved. The alternatives are either constraining Robert del Connectivity & 5 AC Transit E-mail Attachment Letter 4/6/16 Downtown's transportation system and reducing its attractiveness, or Rosario Access submerging Downtown Oakland in a wave of cars. AC Transit looks forward to working with the City of Oakland and other partners to help make Downtown Oakland a premiere 21st Century transit-oriented downtown. 1 Plan Downtown August 30, 2016 Plan Alternatives Report Comments Name Affliation Source Topic Date Comment Car-free Broadway? It has been suggested that buses, bikes, and streetcars could all operate well in a low car environment on Broadway downtown. If buses, streetcar tracks, and bike lanes were all to be placed on Broadway, there would be no space for private autos. Not only parking would have to be Robert del Connectivity & 6 AC Transit E-mail Attachment Letter 4/6/16 removed, but auto travel would need to be removed from Broadway. Rosario Access However, we are skeptical that such a proposal is politically feasible in the short-medium term. Even with a car-free corridor, many of the conflicts identified above would still exist'. Defining, implementing, and upgrading transit streets will of necessity be a multi-year process. In the short run, it is important to assure that these streets remain available for improved transit operations in the future. What is needed Robert del Connectivity & 7 AC Transit E-mail Attachment Letter 4/6/16 is right of way presrvation. These streets should be not subject to physical Rosario Access narrowing or reduction in the number of vehicle travel lanes while their long term design is being developed. Despite Challenges and Needs, Transportation is a Strength of Downtown Oakland, not a Weakness Oakland has been a transportation hub since the city's inception. Today Downtown Oakland is the region's largest transit hub outside San Francisco. Downtown Oakland has one seat BART service to all of the other 42 BART stations, and is served by more BART trains than San Francisco. All areas of Oakland (outside the hills) between Alcatraz Avenue and Fruitvale Avenue have one seat bus service to Downtown Oakland. This bus service continues further north and south on many corridors, including Robert del Connectivity & 8 AC Transit E-mail Attachment Letter 4/6/16 three in East Oakland. Downtown Oakland not only has bus and regional rail Rosario Access transit, it also has intercity transit (Amtrak) and high amenity transit (the Oakland-Alameda ferry). Compared to San Francisco or San Jose, traffic into Downtown Oakland is moderate, making it possible to provide to effective roadway-based transit. Though symbolic transportation investments have been touted as economic development strategies, it seems unlikely that transportation is the key factor limiting growth here. Finally, we are confused by the identification of Howard Terminal as a potential transit hub. Currently all three downtown BART stations, and West Oakland BART serve as transit hubs-locations where multiple bus routes Robert del Connectivity & converge and often terminate. Howard Terminal is one mile from 12th St. 9 AC Transit E-mail Attachment Letter 4/6/16 Rosario Access BART and one mile from West Oakland BART, no additional hub is needed for these short distances. If Howard Terminal is redeveloped for more intense use, AC Transit would work the City to develop a service plan for that area. 2 Plan Downtown August 30, 2016 Plan Alternatives Report Comments Name Affliation Source Topic Date Comment Getting to and from Downtown Oakland is the Greatest Transit Challenge, not Getting Around Within it When the plan mentions transit, it largely focuses on transit within Downtown Oakland, such as "last mile" service. Yet Oakland's transit challenges are mostly about getting people to and from Downtown rather than getting people around within it. Peak hour BART service is at or above capacity, especially on trains that serve San Francisco. AC Transit's Robert del Connectivity & Transbay buses face similar loads. The long travel times of our local buses, 10 AC Transit E-mail Attachment Letter 4/6/16 Rosario Access caused by many factors, undermines their attractiveness for passengers. As SPUR notes, the 24% of Downtown Oakland workers commuting on transit is less than half of Downtown San Francisco's 50%+ transit share. The City and transit agencies face the challenge of both expanding transit capacity into Downtown, and improving transit speed and reliability to increase transit ridership. Built In Oakland as a whole, bus stops are the single greatest generator of Robert del Environment, pedestrian activity. This shows that plans for pedestrian improvements that 11 AC Transit E-mail Attachment Letter 4/6/16 Rosario Preservation & support transit service, rather than impede it, should be developed. Housing It must be noted that many observers nationally view streetcars as a vehicle for gentrification. Despite their minimal transit value, streetcars are believed by some to help attract more affluent renters and buyers, potentially causing displacement of longtime residents. MTC has raised this concern about the Robert del Affordability & 12 AC Transit E-mail Attachment Letter 4/6/16 project. This critique has also been particularly strong in the case of the recent Rosario Equity opening of a long delayed streetcar line in rapidly gentrifying Washington D.C. In some instances, equity issues have been raised when cities provide upgraded streetcar, stops, but not bus stops. Streetcar interference with bus operations: The streetcar would interfere with bus operations and degrade both bus speed and reliability. If streetcars and buses were put in the same lane, the slow moving streetcars would dictate the Robert del Connectivity & movement of buses. There could also be competition for curb space for 13 AC Transit E-mail Attachment Letter 4/6/16 Rosario Access stopping. • Buses on Broadway also depend on the ability to pass each other because of the high volumes of buses. Streetcars in a lane adjacent to buses would make it more difficult for buses to pass. 3 Plan Downtown August 30, 2016 Plan Alternatives Report Comments Name Affliation Source Topic Date Comment Streetcars do not provide transit benefit: Replacing buses with streetcars will not provide any transit benefit to Downtown Oakland. Streetcars operate in mixed traffic, and are subject to all the delays of local buses. They typically Robert del Connectivity & operate more slowly than buses because they do not have a bus' ability to 14 AC Transit E-mail Attachment Letter 4/6/16 Rosario Access circumvent obstacles. The Portland Streetcar typically operates at 6 miles per hour. Streetcars are immobilized by double parked cars, as frequently occurs on older systems. Streetcars have been implemented alongside other public investments [in the Downtown Plan], making it impossible to tell if streetcars generate economic development. With transportation as a relative strength of Downtown Oakland, while other issues create real or perceived weaknesses, it seems Robert del Connectivity & 15 AC Transit E-mail Attachment Letter 4/6/16 questionable at best to argue that a streetcar will boost the area economically. Rosario Access In addition, Downtown Oakland is in the midst of an economic boom that makes a multi-million dollar streetcar investment unnecessary as a catalyst for development.
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