The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) has announced the most significant expansion of service in the District’s history. Dubbed AC Go, this service expansion plan was designed to put more buses on the streets of the 22 cities and unincorporated areas serviced by AC Transit every day. AC Go represents a nearly 14 percent overall service increase and will unfold to our riders in phases. The first phase will launch Sunday, June 26 at the start of our operating day.
“The service improvements, slated for June, will primarily focus on improving bus frequency and the length of our operating day,” said H. E. Christian Peeples, AC Transit board president. “To affect AC Go’s sweeping service enhancement, our transit planners paid particular attention to AC Transit’s longest bus routes – which transport our largest number of riders.”
Bus line cancelation
AC Transit’s existing Line 1R – between downtown Oakland and San Leandro primarily utilizing International Boulevard and East 14th Street – will soon become the unprecedented Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). Construction of the 9.5 mile BRT will begin in fall and prompts the cancelation of Line 1R. Nevertheless, this cancelation will be absorbed by the newly added Line 6 – between downtown Berkeley and downtown Oakland. Line 1 will continue to operate and serve our riders between downtown Oakland and San Leandro BART.
“Shortly after assuming my post as General Manager, the AC Transit Board of Directors voted to greenlight a construction contract to build the East Bay’s first-ever Bus Rapid Transit or BRT,” said Michael Hursh, AC Transit’s general manager. “This $108 million project will not only offer the frequency and reliability of light-rail train service but
Board Approves Service Enhancement Plan accomplishes that transit at a fraction of the construction cost. Nicknamed the ‘light-rail on wheels’, BRT will be a significant component of AC Go and central to our expanded service commitment.”
Line 58L will also be phased-out on Sunday, June 26. Its resources will be reinvested into extending Line 57 and improving Line NL’s Transbay service. More buses on each line will mean greater frequency, shorter wait times, and improved seating options for riders.
New Buses
Future phases of AC Go’s expansion will require growing AC Transit’s bus fleet. Already, the District has placed 210 new buses onto East Bay streets – from fiscal year (FY) 2013-14 – and we are replacing an additional 96 buses during the current fiscal year. We are accelerating the overhaul of our bus fleet that totals just over 600 buses. Why? Many of our buses have exceeded their life expectancy. In fact, the average bus has a life expectancy of 12 years or 500,000 miles. AC Transit’s fleet travels approximately 18.4 million service miles every year. That is the equivalent of driving 77 roundtrips between the Earth and Moon!
To meet AC Go’s demand, a total of twenty-five 40 foot Diesel Electric Hybrid buses will roll into service between June and August. The new buses are not only meeting rider demand, each is designed for reduced carbon emissions, and manufactured locally by the Gillig Corporation based in Hayward, CA.
To provide the cleanest and most efficient buses to customers, AC Transit is also investing in additional zero emission buses.
New Bus Operators & Journey-Level Mechanics
To ensure that AC Go gets riders to their destinations faster, improves reliability and sustains bus operation over a longer service day, AC Transit initiated an exhaustive recruitment campaign. We sought operator candidates focused on rider-care and desirous of making a difference in the East Bay. Equally, we recruited journey-level mechanics technologically adept at maintaining our new fleet of cutting edge buses.
AC Go’s recruitment campaign has been a resounding success. AC Transit received more than 2700 applicants – making this the largest employment response in the
