AC Transit details route cuts that could happen next summer if ballot measure fails

AC Transit would cut 16% of it bus service starting June 2027 if a regional sale-tax measure fails on Nov. 3.

Bus riders and community members urged the AC Transit Board Wednesday to spare weekend bus lines from the East Bay to San Francisco and an Alameda bus line in the face of potential budget cuts.

The proposed plan to reduce service is contingent upon what happens with the ballot measure. The agency is hoping to patch a $200 million deficit with a half-cent sales tax for 14 years in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties and a one-cent tax in San Francisco. The Connect Bay Area tax would generate about $980 million annually, with $52 million a year for AC Transit, which services about 1.5 million people across 364 square miles of western Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

If the measure fails, the AC Transit Board is considering keeping bus service on the busiest corridors such as Telegraph Avenue, Broadway and San Pablo Avenue for a 15-minutes frequency or better on weekdays, including popular bus lines 52 and 72. Before cutting any route, the agency will reduce frequency, which could impact the East Oakland bus lines 45, from Eastmond Transit Center to Foothill Square and 90, from the Coliseum to Foothill Square. Lines 19, 46L, and all-night lines 802, 805 and 840 would be eliminated. Transbay bus lines F, NL and O would be eliminated on weekends.

The board received more than 400 comments before the hearing. It will vote on the contingency plan in December. 

Marc Aguilar, a former transit operator, said the weekend bus line across the San Francisco Bay is critical, reminding the board BART is going to be the only way for people to travel across the bay if weekend Transbay service gets eliminated.

“If something happens to BART, people are going to be stranded,” Aguilar said.

Rider Aleta Dupree said the F bus line between Emeryville and Berkeley “really does offer a lot of benefits.” And also expressed concerns about the occasional dropped trips of line 72 on the weekend, fearing lower frequency if the cut takes effect.

The Alameda Transportation Management Association submitted a letter urging the board to keep Line 19 and hold Line 36 — through West Oakland to Rockridge — at a 30-minute weekday frequency, as Line 36 is facing a reduction in operation hours.

Principal Transportation Planner David Berman pointed out the plan is only a backup, with no service cut or staff layoff proposed before June. 

 “Plan for the worst, and hope for the best,” Berman said.

The Contra Costa Taxpayers Association strongly opposes the tax hike. Marc Joffe, president of the association, told Emeryville Today cutting service makes sense where ridership is low.

“The problem is that not that many people use the transit that’s available, and consequently, it is not a good value for many.” Joffe said. In his view, higher taxes will make the Bay Area more unaffordable.

Supporters say the tax hike will enable workers to access workplaces.

“We think a lot about lower-income residents, who have few, if any, other means of transportation,”Stephen Baiter, executive director of East Bay Economic Development Alliance, said after the meeting. “Most of these people are not car owners, and ride-shares are not cheap.”

Riders also expressed concern about the elimination of line 19, which goes from downtown Oakland to Fruitvale Avenue. “This is also a line that serves the Midway Shelter in Alameda, with people who have limited resources, and the ferry,” Mary Claire James, a Line 19 rider, told the board.

Bus lines are good for community building, James said later. “You meet people, you meet neighbors.” 

Would you pay more sales tax to keep BART and other transit agencies from cutting service?