ALAMEDA-CONTRA COSTA TRANSIT DISTRICT RESOLUTION NO. 15-019
A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT IN ITS REQUEST FOR AN EXCEPTION TO THE CHARTER RULES UNDER 49 CFR PART 604
WHEREAS, AC TRANSIT is a special district duly created and acting under the California Public Utilities Code Sections 24501 et seq., operating a public transit system serving 13 cities and adjacent unincorporated areas in Alameda and Contra Costa counties; and; and
WHEREAS, San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) is a rapid transit district duly created and acting under the laws of the State of California, operating a regional rapid transit system for the San Francisco Bay Area; and
WHEREAS, both AC TRANSIT and BART operate public transit services in the San Francisco Bay Area and pursuant to Section 29142.4(a) of the Public Utilities Code of the State of California are participating members of a regional transit coordinating council established by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission ("MTC") to coordinate routes, schedules, fares, and transfers within their overlapping service areas; and
WHEREAS, BART over the coming years will be performing major and critical maintenance projects that will involve taking segment of rails or a station offline; and
WHEREAS, when there is an interruption in rail service, BART will provide a bus bridge for passengers to continue to their destination; and
WHEREAS, unlike most rail providers in the Bay Area (Caltrain, Muni, Amtrak, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency), BART does not have a bus division within its authority to provide a bus bridge, and therefore must contract with charter bus providers to operate a bus bridge; and
WHEREAS, the Code of Federal Regulations Title 49 Part 604 governs under which circumstances recipients of Federal financing may deploy private charter services and where exceptions could be considered; and
WHEREAS, the King County Metro "Murray Amendment" sought to improve accommodations for passengers with mobility impairments, to reduce the delays that all passengers will experience and to lessen the impacts on intermodal access for all travelers, with the finding that the high-floor highway style coaches common in the private charter industry are ill-equipped to provide urban line-haul shuttle service that traditionally has been the kind of "charter" service most transit agencies have operated. Low-floor city buses, which are typically owned and operated only by transit agencies, are much better at operating high-turnover shuttle routes than highway coaches.
Resolution No. 15-019 Page 1 of4 55 WHEREAS, the Benefits of Public Agency buses, including the fleet of AC Transit, are the following: • Faster loading and unloading- 3 to 4 doors on articulated buses. • Level boarding- easier for passengers with mobility impairments. • Wheelchair-accessible buses - no need to separate the mobility impaired passengers into a dedicated vehicle. • Greater capacity -100 people on articulated bus vs. 40-56 on a coach style bus. • Bus driver familiarity with routes- the drivers are experienced in the area of the bus bridge. • Close proximity to maintenance yards and replacement fleet, should a bus experience a problem. • Preservation of more of the intermodal area for other modes of public transportation and passenger drop-off; and
WHEREAS, the Disadvantages of Private Charter Vehicles are generally the following: • Single door, 4-5 steps high-floor buses makes boarding slow and more difficult for some seniors and passenger with mobility impairments. • Very few coaches can accommodate passengers with wheelchairs. • Limited accessibility features and unfamiliarity with accessibility rules (challenging passengers travelling with a service animal.) • Drivers unfamiliar with routes. • Back-up drivers and buses very limited, in the event of mechanical failures. • Difficulties for passengers with luggage, bikes, and strollers - all frequent on BART during weekend travel. • Requires more intermodal space to operate and thus adversely impacts congestion and the distance passengers must travel to board a bus; and
WHEREAS, the basis for the application for an exception to the Charter Service Rule is Hardship; and
WHEREAS, hardship is defined only for non-urbanized areas under 50,000 or small urbanized areas under 200,000 in population. Below are some impacted cities that have BART stations with populations under 200,000 in year 2014 and are also served by AC Transit. Berkeley: 112,580 El Cerrito: 24,316 * Hayward: 151,574 * Orinda: 17,643 Richmond: 103,701 San Leandro: 87,965 Union City: 72,528 *:2013;and
WHEREAS, BART will undergo an emergency replacement of an interlocking between Fruitvale and Coliseum/Oakland Airport that will interrupt rail service for at least 6 weekends in the next several months, beginning April 5, 2015 and will require buses to bridge the gap for all passengers; and
Resolution No. 15-019 Pagelo/4 56 WHEREAS, the dates for this disruption are scheduled for the following: 1. Saturday, April 4, 2015 End of Revenue Service to Monday, April 6, 2015 at 4am 2. Saturday, April18, 2015 at 7pm to Monday, April 20, 2015 at 4am 3. Saturday, May 9, 2015 at 7pm to Monday, May 11, 2015 at 4am* 4. Friday, May 22,2015 at 7pm to Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at 4am* 5. Friday, June 5, 2015 at 7pm to Monday, June 8, 2015 at 4am* 6. Saturday, June 13, 2015 at 7pm to Monday June 15, 2015 at 4am* *:tentative dates.
NOW THEREFORE, the Board of Directors of the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District does resolve as follows:
Section 1. AC Transit will attempt to support BART in providing bus bridge services during interruptions in rail service, when fleet and drivers are available, when AC Transit and BART enter into an agreement for such services and when in accordance with Code of Federal Regulations Title 49 Part 604.
Section 2. AC Transit as a recipient of Federal financing support's BART's request for an exception to the Charter Service Rule, Code of Federal Regulations Title 49 Part 604 for this immediate purpose of the interlocking replacement between Fruitvale and Coliseum Stations and for future purposes to be decided between BART and AC Transit.
Section 3. This resolution shall become effective immediately upon its passage by four affirmative votes ofthe Board of Directors.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 11th day of March 2015.
H. E. Christian Peeples, President
Attest:
Linda A. Nemeroff, District Secretary
Resolution No. 15-019 Page3of4 57 I, Linda A. Nemeroff, District Secretary for the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District, do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was passed and adopted at a regular meeting of 1 the Board of Directors held on the 11 h day of March, 2015, by the following roll call vote:
AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN:
Linda A. Nemeroff, District Secretary
Approved as to Form and Content:
Denise C. Standridge, General Counsel
Resolution No. 15-019 Page4of4 58