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William H. Coburn, Jr.

William Coburn IsNew ACT Director

William H. Coburn, Jr., Berkelcy attorney and civic leader, has been elccteda new member of the Transit DistrictBoard of Dircctors.Coburn represents Ward I of the Dis-trict which includes EI Cerrito, Kensington and portions of Berkeley and CentralContra Costa County.His election fills a vacancy on theBoard created by the decision of Director Clair W. MacLeod not to be a candidate for re-election.The six incumbent directors whosought re-election were returned to officeby substantial majorities.President Robert K. Barber welcomed(Continued on Page 3)

Downtown FacesA Trans;t (r;s;s

The importance of convenient, comfortable and attractive public transitserving the downtown business area wasemphasized by George M. Taylor, ACfadminiil trative officer, in a recent speechbefore the Kiwanis Club of Riclunond."Downtown would really wither awayif it were suddenly deprived of publictransit facilities," Taylor told the Richmond audience. "And it may happen insome communities-if all downtown interests do not recognize that pubic transit is the problem , and the hope. of alldowntown.

"I f public transit remains the politicalfootball it too often has become; i f public transit continues to be starved andstrangled - then downtown will not becoming to grips with its real problem nomatter how many millions or even billions it may spend on other so lutions,"he said.The transit official stressed that trafficcongestion in downtown areas such asRichmond is more devastating than themere inconveniencing of auto drivers."Through the damage it does to transit- and that includes the passenger aswell as the transit system-traffic congestion precipitates a chain reaction whichis disastrous to the entire community,"

"As transit's product-the ride- isslowed down by congestion. passengersabandon it for their own cars. The congestion then grows worse, and spreadsthe damage to other businesses as well(Continued on Page 4)

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District Studies NewTransit Boundaries.. Legislation directed at excluding. Cen

tral Contra Costa County from votingon a future transit bond issue has beenauthorized by directors of th e TransitDistrict.

The board has directed General Manager John R. Worthington to meet withEast Bay legislators an d work out necessary amendments to th e Transit DistrictLaw to be introduced into the StateLegislature in January.

Working closely with Worthingtonwill be Board President Robert K. Barber, a prominent attorney in San Francisco, an d Robert E. Nisbet, attorney forthe District.

No specific change s to be sought in thelaw were approved at the Board's December meeting.

Bu t a report by President Barber,chairman of th e Committee on ProgramPlanning, indicated two alternativeseither liberalizing wa y areas can be excluded from the District or setting up a

Transit TimesPublished monthly by the

Alameda-Cantra Costa Transit DistrictSuite C, Claremont HotelBerkeley-Oakland, CaliforniaTelephone THarnwall 5-6610Alan L Bingham, Editor

OfficersRobert K. Barber PresidentWm_ J. Bettencourt . . . Vice PresidentJohn R. Worthington General ManagerRobert E. Nisbet . Attorney-SecretaryGeorge M. Taylor . Administrotive OfficerRobert K. Barber .J. Howard ArnoldJohn L McDonnellWm. J. BettencourtPau I E. Deadrich _

DirectorsWard IWard IIWard IIIWard IVWard VRobert M. Copeland Director at largeClair W. Macleod Director at large~ 1 0

special service zone within the District.Under the second alternative, resi

dents living within th e special servicezone would vote on a future. bond issue,and only these residents would be servedby th e District. Other areas in the District could easily annex to th e specialservice zone at a later date.

The recent $16,900,000 transit bond issue received only a 40 pe r cent favorablevote in Central Contra Costa County ascompared to more than 60 per cent inAlameda County.

The proposed legislation will be submitted to th e Board of Directors for approval before it is introduced into theLegislature.Transit HeadquartersTo Move in January

Headquarters of the Transit Districtwill be moved from th e Claremont Hotelto downtown Oakland.Directors voted during their December meeting to move district offices to th ePlaza Building at 506 - 15th Street, effective approximately January 15.

Th e regular monthly board meetingscheduled for January 20, however, willbe held at the Berkeley hotel.

District offices have been at th e Claremont Hotel since September, 1957. Uponth e recommendation of General Manager John R. Worthington, following anextensive survey, th e shift was advisedby Vice President William J. Bettencourt,chairman of the Committee on Administrative Planning, as a more central location with more suitable office space.More Information?A note or phone call to the TransitDistrict will place your name on th emailing list for Transit Times if you areno t already regularly receiving a copy ofthe monthly newsletter. Th e District alsocan make available speakers and a 25-minute film on transit to organizations.

Clair W. MacLeod, right, East Bay civic leader who guided formation of AlamedaContra Costa Transit District, is honored upon retirement from transit Board ofDirectors. MacLeod, who also is president of San Francisco Bay Area Rapid TransitDistrict, did not seek re-election to East Bay transit post because of numerousother public responsibilities_ Presenting MacLeod wi th a traveling bag from fellow directors are Director Robert M. Copeland, left, and President Robert K. Barber.MacLeod Retires; Col,urn Elected Director(Continued from Page 1)Coburn's election to the Board as a valuable contribution to the planning of thedistrict's transit program.Born in Berkeley, Coburn has been active in numerous civic, business andschool affairs of the community. He is agraduate of Hastings College of Law.Among his many civic activities, Coburn is president of both the BerkeleyAlbany Bar Association an d th e BerkeleyExchange Club, an d is a director of theBerkeley Chamber of Commerce. He for-

merly was vice president in charge of th echamber's committee on taxation an dlegislation.Coburn has been active in efforts to

secure improved local transportation,and has served on several communitywide committees that dealt with problems of improved public education an dthose relating to mental health.

For a short period while a resident ofAlbany he served on an advisory committee to the Albany Board of Education.

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Transit Held Essential to Richmond Business Growth(Continued from Page 1)"For, as congestion grows worse, moreand more people shun downtown. Theyrefuse to brave the time-consuming,nerve-jangling traffic jams and refrainfrom entering the central business district, either by transit or in their own cars.

The city's core loses business to placesmore readily accessible. Property valuesdeteriorate in the municipality's highestland value area, and taxes to pay for vitalcity services must be shifted proportionately to the home owner."Traffic congestion affects everyone inthe city," Taylor said. "It is a communityproblem. Its solution is the responsibilityof community leaders.Business Responsibility"Businessmen especially have a majorresponsibility, since they have the largeststake in restoring freedom of movementon streets giving access to their establishments."Taylor said that it is not difficult to getpeople to say they would rather spend$75 a year coming downtown by publictransit than spend $326 a year by privatecar."But they still will use their cars untilpublic transit is made easier, more convenient, and more comfortable."

"The fact that the people did createthe Transit District by their vote, and thefact that a majority did vote for the recent bond issue, can be taken to meanthat the day is not far off when the District will be in operation, and will be pro-

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

Form 3547 Requested

viding transit service to any and all areaswhich have awakened to the need andhave worked cooperatively to achieve thebeneficial results which follow.""I firmly believe that some day, all the

major population centers must come together in attacking the common problemof transporting masses of people fromwhere they are to where they want to go."To accomplish this, it is paramountthat the Cities of Richmond and SanPablo must eventually become a part ofthe East Bay metropolitan transit district."To this end," Taylor said, "I believeit is time for us to sit down together,now that we are in the relative calm thatfollows the storm, to map out the longrange approaches."Air-conditioning Boosts Transit:Patronage on St. Louis Buses

ST. LOUIS. - Air-conditioning hasproved highly successful in building uppatronage on buses of the St. Louis Public Service Company.Records show that air-conditioningproduced an average increase of 12 percent in new transit customers on the linesso equipped, according to John C. Baine,president of the system.

In terms of revenue, the air-conditioned lines have produced a 16.4 percent daily average increase during thesummer months. A 10 per cent increasehas been maintained throughout theyear, Baine added.

BULK RATEU.S. POSTAGEPAID

Permit No. 288Berkeley, California