8/14/2019 Transit Times Volume 1, Number 3

1/3

f/'/,ADb VOlUME 1, JJMBER 3

Engineers RepNew Equipment, Expanded S ~ r y i c e at Top of List;Studies Indicate System Will Be Self-supporting

I

A substantially improved public transitsystem that can pay its own way withexisting fares is the prospect for residentsof the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District .A preliminary report by Charles E. DeLeuw, consulting engineer for the Tran-sit District, indicates that revenues atpresent fares may be sufficient to pay alloperating expenses, provide adequate depreciation reserves, pay fixed charges onthe bond issue required to activate theplan, and leave a "modest net income."De Leuw said his estimates take intoaccount the increased scale of wages recently granted Key System employees.Other estimates of traffic and revenues,he added, are based on a "conservativeview of the probable patronage of thenew and improved service."Express Service

In a progress report to the Board ofDirectors, De Leuw broadly outlined anew transit system that will include improved frequency of service, extensionsand additional routes, the inaugurationof express bus service, and the purchaseof modem equipment.Long range transit plans of the Districtmust be made to serve twice the presentpopulation by 1980, he said.New local service will be proposed inthe eastern portion of Contra CostaCounty, the southern section of AlamedaCounty and intermediate areas not nowproperly served.De Leuw noted that the MacArthur

Higher Key Fares to HaveNo Effect on ACT Rates

The recent application by Key SystemTransit Lines to increase local fares willhave no effect on the rate structure of th eTransit District.Robert K. Barber, president of the District, said following the formal filing ofKey's application with the State PublicUtilities Commission:"The studies of our consulting engineersshow that the District will be able to provide improved and expanded service atpresent fares."Before the District begins actual operation, the Board of Directors will conduct afull review of the current fare structure inorder to provide economical transportationto the District's patrons.

and Grove-Shafter freeways will providean "excellent opportunity" for rapid transit service. New express bus service between Hayward, San Leandro, Oakland,Berkeley and Hichmond also would substantially improve the public service, hesaid.The transit engineer contemplates afleet of more than 600 buses, including315 new ones. The new equipment, hesaid, will include all of the features required to provide the utmost in operatingeconomy and passenger comfort. Parlorcoaches with wide seats all facing forward, head rests and overhead racks willbe proposed for express bus and intercity routes, he said.All of the service operated during day

8/14/2019 Transit Times Volume 1, Number 3

2/3

2 Transit Times

Transi t TimesPublished monthly by the

Alomeda-Contra Costa Transit DistrictSuite C, Claremont HotelBerkeley-Oakland, CaliforniaTelephone THornwall 5-6610Alan l. Bingham, Editor

Officers. Presidentobert K. BarberWm. J. Bettencourt .Robert E. Nisbet

George M. TaylorVice PresidentAttorney-SecretaryAdministrative Officer

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

Ward IWard IIWard IIIWard IVWard VDirector at largeDirector at large

and evening hours can be furnished withne w buses and initially, about half of th eservice during the morning and eveningrush periods, De Leuw said. The heavierlocal lines will be operated with the mostmodern and comfortable buses containing between 48 and 50 seats. Lighter lineswill be equipped with 36-seat units.The cost of buying necessary equipment and other major properties to pu tth e District into actual operation will not

be estimated until a final report on a masstransit plan for the District is presentedby the De Leuw firm early in September.A bond issue to purchase equipment willbe presented to the voters in November.Buses Get "New Look"

Riders of a new city bus line in Detroitare getting a pleasant touch of glamour.The city inaugurated a ne w express runcovering the seven miles from municipaloutskirts to the downtown district withpretty hostesses aboard every bus.Even the name is fancy. It's the "Imperial Northwest Express."

District Approvest A c t i ~ a t i o n t Budget

Directors of the Transit District haveadopted a budget of $270,640 which contemplates the District will be in actualtransit business by mid 1959.The District's program for 1958-59 willrequire an estimated tax levy of less than1.4 cents per $100 assessed property valuation. Last year's rate was one cent.The total budget is about $121,000higher than last year's financing. A carryover of approximately $59,000 in unspentfunds, however, will mean that only$62,000 more than last year must beraised by taxes.The finance committee, under thechairmanship of John McDonnell, paredmore than $80,000 from a preliminarybudget draft before recommending it tothe Board. Subsequently, on receipt ofadvice from officials of Alameda andContra Costa counties, $37,000 was restored to defray election costs."The budget should provide for smoothtransition from the current formativestage to th e job of actually providingtransit service in the area," McDonnellsaid.Significant changes in th e budget,largely attributablp to preparations foractual commencement of transit operations, include:A reserve for election costs, $37,000;legal costs of Key System valuation proceedings before the State Public UtilitiesCommission, $54,000; publications andinformation services, $12,500; generalcontingency reserve, $21,240, and a reserve for several ne w positions includinga general manager, $28,600.A committee of Directors, headed byVice President Wm. J. Bettencourt, iscurrently engaged in recruiting a generalmanager for the District, to be hired inthe near future.In drafting the budget, it was estimated the District would be in operationby the middle of next year. A bond issueto bu y necessary operating equipmentwill be submitted to voters in November .

Some Used Equipment isNecessary to Operations

A proposal to purchase some usedequipment when the Transit District goesinto actual operation is considered by officials of the District as a sound andnecessary procedure.An exploration of the proposal wasmade by Robert K. Barber, president ofthe Board of Directors, in an open letterpublished recently in the Oakland Trib-une.In response to a similarly published letter from a private citizen who feared theplan would entail a waste of taxpayers'money, Mr. Barber said he agreed thatwhen the District transit engineers firstoffered the proposal, he viewed the ideawith much the same alarm."But on closer appraisal of the plan,"Mr. Barber said, "I and other Directorscame to agree with the transit experts thatit would be folly if the District did notpurchase some used buses along with afleet of entirely new equipment."The engineers pointed out, he continued, that the use of some fairly newsecond-hand equipment is economicallysound, will minimize capital expenditures, and will thereby allow the transitsystem to support itself without havingto fall back on a tax subsidy.The used buses-all of them post W orIdWar II models-number less than half ofthe total buses proposed for th e system,and can be purchased for a fraction of theprice that ne w ones would cost, Mr. Barber said. Furthermore, an inexpensivebu t thorough rehabilitation and colorization program would place these usedbuses on practically the same level of efficiency, comfort and appearance as thosebeing built today."Another reason cited by our engineersfor buying some used equipment," Mr.Barber said, "is the fact that 60 per centof transit vehicles are used for only twoor three trips a day during peak hourtravel. The engineers believe it would be'economic suicide' to have all new equipment parked in the garage for most of the

Transit Times 3day and night when reconditioned equipment could be used for the same purposealmost as well."And finally, in my judgment, it issound business practice to stagger thepurchase of new equipment so that only aportion of it need be replaced every year.The District, otherwise, would be facedwith the terrific economic burden of theentire fleet becoming obsolete at once."Mr. Barber concluded:"I might add that the District hasculled ou t more than half of Key System'sbuses as unsatisfactory for the District'suse. Where we have asked the State Public Utilities Commission to determine thefair market value of Key's 276 post wardiesel buses, we have omitted nearly 300gasoline buses owned by Key as obsoleteand undesirable."

What the EditorsSay About TransitS.F. 'News' Urges CooperationWith East Bay Transit Planning

The Alameda-Contra Costa TransitDistrict is pressing fOlward with commendable dispatch in solving the EastBay's problems of public transportation.It s chief concern is moving peoplearound the district itself, bu t anotherphase is the movement of commutersacross the Bay Bridge to San Francisco.There are nine million such rides a year.It is of vital interest to San Franciscothat the people who come here to workand to shop find convenient and comfortable terminals. The city recognized thiswith the present Ferry Building 60 yearsago. Some 90,000 commuters a day arrived at and departed daily from the footof Market Street.No permanent terminal is going to result from the East Bay study, of course;this is a mere preliminalY to the big rapid

8/14/2019 Transit Times Volume 1, Number 3

3/3

4 Transit Timestransit show which has yet to hit the road.But San Francisco should express its interest in any plan to move East Bay busesdowntown because any such arrangement will be with us in the several-yearperiod before the major rapid transit planmaterializes.San Francisco has no concern withhow the Alameda-Contra Costa districtsolves its purely local problems, beyonda friendly hope that satisfactory solutioncan be found.But we do have a concern about that15-20 per cent of the present Key Systemtraffic that involves travel to the City.In the fight to keep the rails on the BayBridge, San Francisco cooperated withthe East Bay Transit District. Now, withthat district engaged in a study on longrange transit-local and commute-thatcooperation must be revived.The East Bay study is progressing rapidly. I f San Francisco is to act, it must doso now. Regrets later will not avail.-SanFrancisco News.Trial Date Set to I-IearLawsuit Against District

A date for trial has been set in MarinCounty Superior Court to determine ifRichmond, San Pablo and unincorporatedareas of Contra Costa County are legallypart of the Transit District.Four days beginning Sept. 16 are setaside to hear the case, which was broughtagainst the District by five Contra CostaCounty taxpayers. The suit contends thatabsentee ballots for the specific areas inthe county were improperly canvassedin 1956 when the Dish'ict was created.

Transi t TimesAlameda-Contra Costa Transit DistrictSuite C, Claremont HotelBerkeley-Oakland, California

Special Bus LanesProve Successlul

An experimental bus lane to speed upthe How of transit vehicles in downtownBaltimore, Maryland, has proved a success and will become permanent.Close traffic checks by the city disclosed during a trial period that buses,on the average, were speeded up 19 percent by use of the special lane, and othertraffic by as much as 30.5 per cent.

The city is considering exclusive lanesfor buses in other congested areas. "It'sjust a case of unscrambling traffic andputting the cars where they belong andthe buses where they should be," said aBaltimore transit official.An eight-block stretch of curb lane wasreserved for buses between 7:30 and 10a.m., and 4 and 6 p.m. The city plans topaint diagonal stripes in the lane to designate it more clearly as a priority rushhour path for transit vehicles.Exclusive bus lanes also are proposedfor three major downtown arteries in Ottawa, Canada, with later extension of theplan to three more streets. Motoristswould be permitted to make right turnsonly at certain intersections.Another Copy?

For another copy of Tran$it Times orto place your name on the mailing listif you are not already receiving a copy ofthe newsletter, just drop a line to theTransit District in Suite C at the Claremont Hotel, Berkeley. The District willbe happy to oblige.BULK RATE

U.S. POSTAGEPAID

BARBARA J H'JDSONL I B R A R I A ~ . B ~ R E A U PUB ADU ~ I V E R S I 1 Y OF CALIF

Permit No. 288Berkeley, California

Form 3547 Requesl ed BERKELEY 4 CALIF P