East Bay bus riders and commuters can lose minutes of commute time if a November ballot measure doesn’t pass. Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) presented at the Aug. 18 Hayward City Council meeting, outlining the benefits of AC Transit to the community, especially people of color and low income residents.
The purpose of the presentation was to encourage voters to pass the Connect Bay Area Act, a five-county half-cent sales tax placed on this November’s ballot. If passed, the sales tax revenue would fund buses, trains and other Bay Area transit agencies. AC Transit would get about $52 million per year if passed and would be able to keep bus services as they are now.
If not passed, AC Transit representatives said there would be service cuts. For example, Line 97 would stop at Union Landing instead of Union City BART, meaning riders would lose that connection to a BART station.
Service cuts would happen in lines where there’s low ridership. Line 9 on Mission Boulevard would have less frequent buses, stopping every 30 minutes instead of every 15 minutes, from 6 to 7am and after 7pm.
Residents are encouraged to give feedback on proposed AC Transit bus route service cuts. The AC Transit board of directors plan to hold a public hearing on the matter on Oct. 14. People can also send public feedback at actransit.org/contingency-plan.
