Transcript
ALAMEDA-CONTRA COSTA TRANSIT DISTRICT
ANNUAL REPORT 1978-79
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
William E. Berk
President
Jean A. Holmes
Roy Nakadegawa
Vice President
John l. McDonnell
William J. Bettencourt Michael H. Fajans
Ray Rinehart
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SUMMING UP
During Fiscal 1978-79, AC Transit accomplished a smooth
transition in top leadership, laid a firm foundation for future
increased and modernized the bus fleet,
expande cooperative activities with other Bay Area
propertie in the areas of jOint procurement and regional
promotion of public transit patronage, and responded quickly
and positively to external events which placed unusually
heavy demands on both equipment and personnel. In
addition, efforts to improve day-to-day operations yielded
important breakthroughs - particularly the opening of an
exclusive, buses-only access to the Bay Bridge to speed
early-morning transbay commute service.
Key events of the year included:
• AppOintment by the Board of Directors of Robert E. Nisbet
as General Manager.
• Extension of service into western Contra Costa County.
• Achievement by Distr ict drivers of the highest monthly
safety average in the System' s history.
• Delivery of new 60-foot art iculated coaches (ordered in
1975) and training of drivers in operating these new models,
employed on heavily-patronized lines.
• Emergency institution of transbay shuttle service to
handle thousands of extra passengers displaced by sudden
shut-down of BART train service following a tunnel fire .
• Swearing-in of four incumbent Directors returned to office
by voters and appOintment of Director Michael H. Fajans to fill
a Board vacancy.
• Endorsement of state guidelines assuring availability of
diesel fuel for transit operations during any shortfall
situations.
• Completion of AC Transit Five Year Plan - Fiscal Years
1980-1984 and its presentation at three public meetings.
• Completion of an on-board passenger profile survey
based on information from 43,000 bus riders.
• Decision to purchase 175 " new look" buses with
wheelchair lifts for anticipated delivery in mid-1980.
RIDERSHIP
A shortage of gasoline coupled with rising prices, and an
interruption of BART transbay train service, prompted many
residents of the District to rethink their workday travel habits
during the latter part of this fiscal period. And many of them
opted to take the bus.
Patronage on the transbay bus lines - operated between
the Transbay Transit Terminal in San Francisco and dozens
of East Bay neighborhoods - soared at record rates
following a fire which put BART's transbay tube out of
commission from mid-January to early-April.
In February, nearly 1.3 million people made the transbay
trip by AC Transit bus - a 29 percent increase over ridership
one year earlier. During this same period, AC Transit
supervised an efficient " shuttle" to bridge the gap in train
service, carrying addit ional tens of thousands between San
Francisco and the East Bay.
For the remainder of the fiscal period, transbay ridership
and patronage on many East Bay urban and suburban bus
lines remained high - as the price of gasoline soared and its
availability became spotty.
On newer bus services introduced in suburban
communities in the 1970s, monthly increases ranged as high
as 50 to 60 percent above passenger counts one year earlier .
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On BART Express bus extension service, operated by the
District under contract, ridership was up by 68 percent for the
fiscal period, compared to the previous year. Patronage was
up by similar levels in Moraga/ Orinda and in new service
inaugurated in 1977 in Pittsburg, Antioch and Brentwood, in
eastern Contra Costa County . In the urban East Bay, the
increase averaged about 18 percent above Fiscal Year
1977 -78 levels.
At year' s end, Directors authorized the seeking of bids to
provide about 1 75 new buses - an addition to the fleet
expected to be delivered i n mid-1980. Capital funds avai lable
for this purchase amount to $22 .3 million.
The number of one-way route miles i ncreased from 2191
to 221 0 miles at the end of this fiscal period.
AC Transit operated a total of 201 peak-hour routes, about
75 percent of them adjusted to make transfer connections
with train service at BART stations throughout the East Bay.
An additional 31 passenger shelters were installed dur i ng
the year, br i nging the total of convenient enclosures in place
for bus riders to 243 shelters. And an addit ional 1 74
passenger stops were created, br inging the total number of
bus stop signs maintained throughout the District to 7,350.
MI LLIONS OF PEOPLE
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1970 197 1 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 197!'
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