BRT for Berkeley A Proposal for Consideration

Transcription

1 BRT for Berkeley A Proposal for Consideration CITY OF BERKELEY STAFF PROPOSAL FOR A LOCALLY PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE OF THE EAST BAY BUS RAPID TRANSIT PROJECT SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

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3 Table of Contents Executive Summary... ES-1 ES-1 About This Report... ES-2 ES-2 Project Overview... ES-2 ES-3 Proposed Locally Preferred Alternative... ES-3 ES-3.1 Telegraph South of Dwight... ES-3 ES-3.2 Telegraph North of Dwight... ES-4 ES-3.3 Telegraph to Shattuck (Bancroft and Durant)... ES-4 ES-3.4 Shattuck... ES-4 ES-4 Summary Analysis of Benefits and Impacts... ES-5 ES-5 Summary of Proposed Mitigations and Improvements to the Project... ES-6 ES-5.1 Mitigations Proposed by AC Transit... ES-6 ES-5.2 Improvements Proposed by Berkeley Staff... ES-6 Chapter 1. Introduction to Bus Rapid Transit and the East Bay BRT Project Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) BRT and Dedicated Lanes Benefits of Dedicated Lanes Other Benefits of BRT The East Bay Bus Rapid Transit Project Project Rationale Existing Demand for Transit Existing Land Use Patterns Population and Traffic Growth in the Corridor Future Demand for Transit Project History Project Details Features of the AC Transit East Bay BRT project Service Plan: Combined Service Details of the Service Plan Vehicles BRT and Rapid Bus What is Rapid Bus? Sidebar: Could Rapid Bus Be Improved Instead of Building BRT? Chapter 2. Proposed Locally Preferred Alternative How to Read the LPA Telegraph South of Dwight: Median Transitway Recommended Design Alignment, Transit Right-of-Way, and Stops Transit Service Traffic and Circulation Parking and Loading Bicycles Pedestrians Streetscape Economic and Community Other Alternatives Considered Summary of Issues Remaining for Resolution Telegraph North of Dwight: Northbound Mixed-Flow Lane, Southbound Transit/Delivery Lane Recommended Design Alignment, Transit Right-of-Way, and Stops Transit Service i

4 Traffic and Circulation Parking and Loading Bicycles Pedestrians Streetscape Economic and Community Other Alternatives Considered Summary of Issues Remaining for Resolution Telegraph to Shattuck: Side-Running Transitways on Bancroft and Durant Recommended Design Alignment, Transit Right-of-Way, and Stops Transit Service Traffic and Circulation Parking and Loading Bicycles Pedestrians Streetscape Economic and Community Other Alternatives Considered Summary of Issues Remaining for Resolution Shattuck: No Dedicated Lane ( No-Build ) Recommended Design Alignment Stops Other Alternatives Considered Summary of Issues Remaining for Resolution Chapter 3. Frequently Asked Questions About the East Bay BRT Project Who Rides the Bus in the Corridor, and Where Are They Going? Would BRT Duplicate BART? Would It Be Worth It to Dedicate Lanes to Buses? How Would BRT Affect Safety (including Emergency Vehicle Access)? What Would Be the Land Use and Economic Impacts of BRT? How Would BRT Affect Spillover Parking in Neighborhoods? Would the East Bay BRT Project Be Cost-Effective? How Effective Have Other BRT Projects Been? Travel Time Reliability Ridership Chapter 4. Impacts and Strategies to Address Impacts Summary of LPA Impacts and Mitigations Traffic and Parking Impacts, and Mitigations Proposed by AC Transit Traffic Impacts AC Transit Traffic Mitigations Parking Impacts AC Transit Parking Mitigations Additional Mitigation Strategies Proposed by Berkeley Staff for Further Analysis Chapter 5. Next Steps Future Process Appendices: BRT Resources... A-1 APX-1 EBBRT Resources... A-1 City of Berkeley EBBRT webpage... A-1 AC Transit EBBRT webpages... A-1 ACT for Me website... A-2 APX-2 Berkeley Planning Resources... A-2 ii

5 Downtown Area Plan... A-2 Draft Southside Plan... A-2 Climate Action Plan... A-2 UC Berkeley Long Range Development Plan... A-2 APX-3 General BRT Resources... A-2 Federal Transit Administration (FTA) BRT webpages... A-2 Federal Transit Administration: Characteristics of Bus Rapid Transit for Decision-Making... A-2 California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) BRT webpages... A-2 American Public Transportation Association (APTA) BRT webpages... A-2 BRT Information Clearinghouse... A-2 National BRT Institute... A-2 Buses with High Level of Service... A-2 United States General Accounting Office (GAO)... A-2 Bus Rapid Transit Shows Promise report... A-2 Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 90: Bus Rapid Transit, Volume 1: Case Studies in Bus Rapid Transit and Volume 2: Implementation Guidelines... A-3 Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 118: Bus Rapid Transit Practitioner's Guide... A-3 Victoria Transport Policy Institute BRT webpage... A-3 Wikipedia BRT webpage... A-3 APX-4 Examples of Dedicated Bus Lanes... A-3 Table of Figures Figure ES-1 Proposed Locally Preferred Alternative: Summary of Benefits and Impacts... 5 Figure 1-1 Problems with Bus Service, and Proposed BRT Solutions Figure 1-2 & Figure 1-3 Median Transitways: Los Angeles Orange Line and Cleveland Health Line Figure 1-4 Side-Running Lane and Bulb-Out Stop: Boston Silver Line Figure 1-5 BRT Stop with Level Boarding: Eugene (Oregon) Emx Figure 1-6 East Bay Bus Rapid Transit: Conceptual Alignments (AC Transit DEIS/R) Figure 1-7 Top Five Projected Ridership Increases Among Proposed Bay Area BRT Corridors (2035) Figure 1-8 Proposed Locally Preferred Alternative (Including Local Stops Proposed for Removal) Figure 1-9 Elements of Local, Rapid, Enhanced Rapid, and BRT Service Figure 2-1 Major Issues Considered by City Staff Figure 2-2 Telegraph from Woolsey to Ashby Figure 2-3 Telegraph from Ashby to Ward Figure 2-4 Telegraph from Ward to Dwight Figure 2-5 Dual Threat to Pedestrians at Unsignalized Intersections Figure 2-6 Telegraph North of Dwight Figure 2-7 Durant from Ellsworthto Telegraph Figure 2-8 Durant from Shattuck to Ellsworth Figure 2-9 Bancroft from Telegraph to Ellsworth Figure 2-10 Bancroft from Ellsworth to Shattuck Figure 2-11 Shattuck from Durant to Center Figure 2-12 Shattuck from Allston to Addison iii

6 Figure 2-13 Cross-Sections of All Shattuck Alternatives Figure 3-1 Origins and Destinations for Route 1R Trips with One or Both Ends in Berkeley Figure 3-2 FTA Cost-Effectiveness Ratings for East Bay BRT and Peer Projects Figure 3-3 Examples of BRT Travel Time Savings Figure 3-4 Examples of BRT Ridership Increases Figure 3-5 Percentages of BRT Riders Shifting from Driving Figure 4-1 AM Peak Hour Intersection Levels of Service Figure 4-2 PM Peak Hour Intersection Levels of Service Figure 4-3 PM Peak Hour Traffic Volumes on Telegraph, With and Without BRT Figure 4-4 Existing Parking Supply and Occupancy By Segment Figure 5-1 Major Steps Remaining Before Construction Could Begin iv