The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) has temporarily averted the cancelation of supplementary bus lines to Skyline High, Montera Middle and Community Day Schools. Preserving this vitally needed service is made possible through $500,000 operating assistance from The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and $500,000 from Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). The operating assistance allowed AC Transit to reassign local funding to maintain home-to-school service through the close of the 2017-18 academic year.
This $1 million funding bridge coupled with $900,000 in efficiency measures (under development with OUSD), dramatically reduces the cost of supplementary service to AC Transit. Additional operational adjustments will allow AC Transit to absorb the remaining outstanding cost.
“As a working mother who once relied on supplementary service to get my own daughters to and from school, I knew that the potential of elimination of this service could have seismic implications,” said Board of Directors President Elsa Ortiz. “So it was critical that our Board work with a chorus of organizations to achieve this victory.”
AC Transit’s Board of Directors thanked the following for their arduous work both publicly and behind the scenes: The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.
The AC Transit Board announced it was also grateful for the tireless support from: The Alameda Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 192, Service Employee International Union (SEIU) Local 1021, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3916, AFSCME Local 257, AFSCME DC 57, Oakland Education Association (OEA), Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, GENESIS, The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and the scores of parents, students, and East Bay residents who demonstrated their support for preservation of this vitally needed student transportation.
“Because we came together for the sake of our kids, we were able to reach agreement across the board. Where there is a will, there is a way.” said Josie Camacho executive secretary-treasurer of the Alameda Labor Council.
AC Transit implores Oakland city leaders, state legislators, our labor partners, and parents to support AC Transit and OUSD — in the coming months — as it works to uncover funding sources and craft future agreements that insulate this critically needed service.
“This funding bridge is immediately beneficial to our rider community but also underscores why our community cannot rest on its laurels,” said AC Transit General Manager Michael Hursh. “Without a long term financial fix this threat to supplementary service looms next year.”
