This region encompasses the counties of San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Coasta, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Sonoma representing 6.3 million inhabitants, of whom approximately 3.2 million are commuters (U.S. Census, 1990, California Department of Finance, 1992). The region's four most populated cities are San Jose (803,000), San Francisco (728,000), Oakland (377,000), and Fremont (177,000) (California Department of Finance, 1992). The following table shows major activity centers for the Bay Area.
BAY AREA ACTIVITY CENTERS
Area Activity Center
San Francisco Financial District, Civic Center,
Peninsula South of Market, San Francisco
Airport
East Bay Berkeley, Oakland, Walnut Creek,
Concord, Bishop Ranch/San Ramon,
Hacienda Business Park, I-680
Corridor, Hayward, Fremont, Livermore
South Bay Stanford/Palo Alto, Downtown San
Jose, Santa Cruz, Mountain View,
Carpenterio, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale
North Bay Santa Rosa, San Rafael, Napa, Vallejo
Source: RIDES, 1992; RIDES, 1993.
The Bay Area has the highest proportion of Asian-Americans among California's four urban regions. In this region, the Asian-American grouping (which includes numerous subgroups) accounts for 14.4% of the population (compared to 9.2% in California as a whole). Between 1990 and 1992, the regions population increased 3.4% annually, while the overall state of California experienced a growth of 2.0%.
POPULATION AND JOB CHARACTERISTICS
Bay Area State of
Region California
POPULATION 6,253,000 30,989,000
Growth 1980 - 1992 1.5% 2.3%
(annual)
Growth 1990 - 1992 1.5% 2.0%
(annual)
African-American(Non-His 8.3% 7.1%
panic)
Asian-American 14.4% 9.2%
(Non-Hispanic)
Hispanic 15.1% 25.4%
White (Non-Hispanic) 61.5% 57.4%
Households 2,371,000 10,667,000
Average Household Size 2.04 2.83
Median Household Income $41,459 $35,798
Median Age 33.5 years 31.5 years
JOBS - Wage and Salary 3,020,000 12,522,000
Jobs
Manufacturing 17.0% 17.2%
Services 26.9% 26.1%
Trade 23.1% 23.7%
Finance/Insurance/Real 7.1% 6.7%
Estate
Government 15.4% 16.0%
Other 10.5% 10.3%
JOBS PER HOUSEHOLD 1.36 1.21
(approx.)
Source: U.S. Census 1980 and 1990; California Department of Finance, 1992
In 1993, RIDES for Bay Area Commuters determined that 65.0% of commuters drove alone, 16.7% walked or took a bike. This indicated a 9.4% decrease in drive alones and an 8.2% increase in carpool/vanpool over the previous years survey.
The results from the 1990 Census indicate that most of the region's commuters drive to work alone (68.3%). Compared to 1980 census information, the percentage of solo commuters has increased by 5.4% and the number of people who work at home increased by 1.5%. Carpooling, walking, and the use of transit have all decreased. The average commute vehicle occupancy rate is 1.097 (MTC, 1992).
U.S. Census
Rides 1992 Rides 1993
1990
Driving Alone 68.3% 74.4% 65.0%
Carpool/Vanpoo 13% 8.5% 16.7%
l
Transit 9.3% 12.4% 11.9%
Walk/Bicycling 4.8% 3.2% 5.2%
Work at home 3.6% -- --
Other 1.2% 1.4% 1.2%
Source: 1990 Census; Rides, 1992; Rides, 1993.
San Francisco residents are the least likely to drive to work alone, while Santa Clara residents have the highest drive alone rate. Carpooling is highest among Contra Costa County residents (13.8%), and transit use (33.5%) and walking (9.8%) are most popular among San Francisco residents. In Santa Cruz County, 87.9% drive, 7.0% walk, 2.2% bicycle, and 1.6% use public transit (Santa Cruz Regional Transportation Plan, 1990).
Based on a MTC analysis conducted on the results of the 1990 Census, the following commuting trends exist in the Bay Area.
About 27% of the Bay Area's commuters in 1990 commuted to jobs in Santa Clara. The second and third most popular destinations were Alameda (19%) and San Francisco (18%).
Alameda County had the largest number of work at home commuters (25,000).
Of the 292,000 Bay Area transit commuters, 40% live and work in San Francisco, 17.3% are East Bay residents working in San Francisco, 6.3% are Peninsula residents going to jobs in San Francisco, and 4.2% are from Marin and Sonoma County residents working in San Francisco.
The largest vanpooling market is the Contra Costa to San Francisco commute with 1,000 persons in vans in 1990. Other large markets are Solano to San Francisco (885 vanpools) and San Francisco to San Francisco (568 vanpoolers). Regionally, 43% of the Bay Area commuted in 1990, and the Solano to San Francisco commute (350 daily ferry commuters).
San Francisco residents are the least likely to drive to work alone, while Santa Clara residents have the highest drive alone rate.
In 1992, the average one-way commuting distance in the Bay Area Region was slightly greater than 16 miles and the average time spent commuting was 26.3 minutes. Commuters in the North and East Bay counties travel the furthest (RIDES, 1992). In 1993, the average one-way commuter distance was 15.16 miles and required 27.2 minutes. Commuters in Solano and Contra Costa travel the furthest, and San Franciscans the shortest distance.
Out-commuting from the Bay Area to other regions is much less significant than in-commuting to the Bay Area. In 1990, approximately 21,800 Bay Area residents commuted to jobs outside the region, whereas 75,800 workers commuted to the region from outside. The largest county to county interregional commute was from Santa Cruz County to Santa Clara County, with a total of 17,700 workers.
The fastest growing commute is from the Central Valley, where the lure of affordable housing has made it a desirable residential location for many Bay area Employees. As a result, the San Joaquin County-to-Alameda County commute over the Altamont Pass is the second largest and fastest growing of all commutes. It grew from 2,500 commuters in 1980 to 12,500 commuters in 1990, an increase of 374 percent. Expanding suburban employment centers and continued high costs and low supply of housing in the region will increase the attractiveness of living in the Central Valley and commuting to the Bay Area (MTC, 1994).
The following information represents a typical monthly cost of commuting for the Bay Area commuter.
ESTIMATED TYPICAL COMMUTE COST, BY MODE
Mode Cost / Month
Local Bus $29 to $35
Express Bus $35 to $70
Vanpool $90 to $100
Rail $44 to $110
Carpool (2 $164
persons)
Drive Alone $328
Source: RIDES, AAA, and Local Transit Operators
This analysis uses information provided by the local transit operators, RIDES, and the Automobile Club and assumes 20 mile (one way) commute, 20 work days per month, and $0.40 per mile cost to drive (no parking costs).
The Federal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 require that states with severe and extreme ozone non-attainment areas implement programs which require employers with 100 or more employees to reduce work related vehicle trips and vehicle mile traveled. The 1990 Federal Clean Air Act established requirements for states that do not meet air pollution standards. To reduce air pollution, states are required to control pollution from mobile sources. The legislation requires a 15% improvement in air quality in the first six years, with 3% annual average reductions in the following years. The 1990 amendment places new requirements on employers of 100 more people to reduce work-related trips by 25% above the area average. The Bay Area region is not a federal non-attainment area.
States with non-attainment areas are to revise their State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to include strategies for meeting new air quality targets. Violations of federal standards could result in the loss of millions of dollars in federal funding for highway and other infrastructure improvements.
The Federal Energy Bill, went into effect on January 1, 1993, raising the tax-exempt employer-provided transit subsidy to $60 per month. Only transit subsidies in excess of $60 per month are taxable to the employee. A tax-free vanpool allowance of $60 is also permitted. Furthermore, for the first time, parking is taxed for any amount above $155 per month. The cash value of incentives to encourage Carpooling, bicycling, walking and all other transportation allowances will most likey still be considered taxable income.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits employers from discriminating against a "qualified individual with a disability." In July 1992, the Act was effective for employers with 25 or more employees. In July 1994 it will apply to employers of between 15 and 24 employees. Some of the transportation related provisions include:
New public buses must be accessible to disabled people;
Paratransit of special transportation must be provided to those who cannot use fixed routes;
Existing rail must have one accessible car per train by July 26, 1995;
New rail systems must be accessible to disabled people;
Key rail stations must be accessible by July 26, 1992; and
New bus and train stations must be accessible.
As a result of Federal Clean Air Act Standards, the California Clean Air Act of 1988 requires non-attainment air quality districts to adopt and enforce transportation control measures designed to increase the average vehicle occupancy (AVO) to 1.5 by 1999, with no net increase in vehicle emissions after 1997, and rank control measures in order of their cost effectiveness (CARB, 1990). The California Clean Air Act is more stringent than the Federal Clean Air Act. Recognizing the effect of motor vehicle activities on air quality, the California State Legislature enacted Senate Bill 151 (Presley) which empowers air pollution control districts to control emissions resulting from vehicular travel. While not a federal non-attainment area, the Bay Area is a non-attainment area under the California Clean Air Act.
The Parking Cash Out Program is a State regulation that requires employers with more than 50 employees who provide free parking to employees, to offer the cash value of that parking to employees in lieu of the parking. The cash amount must be equal to the employer's cost of providing work site parking. The regulation also requires CMAs to consider parking cash out programs when developing and updating their trip reduction and travel demand elements. In addition, cities and counties must reduce parking requirements as appropriate. Employers affected by this regulation must be located in air quality non-attainment areas, have 50 or more employees, already subsidize parking, not own their parking spaces, and be subject to leases requiring rental of a fixed number of parking spaces.
SB 1214 requires that the State Energy Resources Commission forecast, report on, and evaluate various fuel usage reduction strategies in consultation with various state agencies. It would require long-range and interim targets for fuel diversity in order to lessen demand for petroleum. Funding for this effort is allocated via the Petroleum Violation Escrow Account (PVEA).
Recently in California, several work orders have been promulgated by the Industrial Welfare Commission. These work orders define conditions for implementing a variable work hours program. Among the conditions are 1) an agreement must be in writing and approved by secret ballot; 2) variations for any combination of days and hours are permissible provided that a regular day does not exceed 12 hours and any additional hours per day or more than 40 hours per week will be counted as overtime; and 3) the program may only be changed after 12 months and by petition of 1/3 of affected employees.
SB 883 exempts employees with fewer than 100 employees at a given worksite from submitting trip reduction plans that are required by air pollution control and air quality management districts. This bill was signed by Govenor Pete Wilson in September 1993.
In response to the California Clean Air Plan for the San Francisco Bay Area, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) adopted Regulation 13 in December 1992. This rule requires employers with more than 100 employees to achieve specific AVR goals at affected work sites for employees reporting or assigned to the work site during the peak period (6 to 10 am). The BAAQMD includes San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, and Napa Counties in their entirety, the southern portion of Sonoma County and the western portion of Solano County (See Figure six for a map of the BAAQMD district). The BAAQMD includes a provision allowing a jurisdiction to demonstrate that 1999 AVR goals are met for affected areas. In 1992, the County of San Francisco, through surveys demonstrated that San Francisco businesses exceed BAAQMD's standards for 1999. BAAQM AVR standards for San Francisco are 2.5 for Superdistrict and 1.5 for the rest of the City. San Francisco has a 2.8 AVR Citywide with a 4.9 AVR in Superdistrict and a 1.8 AVR throughout the rest of the City (CCSF, 1993). Regulation 13 does not mandate the content of an employer trip reduction program. Employers are given flexibility in designing programs best suited to their employees, business needs, and work sites. It is too soon to determine the impact of Regulation 13.
State Proposition 111 required counties in California's urbanized areas to adopt congestion management programs (CMPs), including a trip/travel demand element. The CMP is an effort to more directly link land use, transportation, and air quality, thereby prompting reasonable growth programs that will more effectively utilize new transportation funds, alleviate traffic congestion and related impacts, and improve air quality. Cities and counties need to adopt and implement a trip reduction and travel demand ordinance or risk losing new transportation subvention funds. These requirements have led to the development of several congestion and air quality regulations in this region. The following are some of the key regulatory developments.
CMPs have been drafted for every county in the Bay Area region. A summary follows of CMPs adopted by Sonoma, Marin, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costs, Napa, San Francisco, Solano and San Mateo counties. CMPs are updated every other year.
Trip reduction programs are already well established in the Bay Area. More than 40 cities and counties have adopted local trip reduction ordinances (TROs). Some TROs are administered on a multi-city basis via joint powers agreements among the participating cities. The purpose of these ordinances generally has been to relieve traffic congestion. Examples include: Joint Powers Agreement between the cities of Redwood City, San Carlos, San Mateo, and Foster City, and ordinances for the cities of Concord, Menlo Park, Pleasanton, Rocklin, Burlingame, San Ramon, Walnut Creek, Alameda, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Contra Costa County. Santa Cruz is expected to enact a TRO during 1993.
The following are some of the key goals expressed in these TROs:
to achieve shifts in commuting mode;
conduct annual transportation surveys;
assign ETCs;
adopt TDM programs; and
impact employers with 10 or more employees in some regions.
TDM OPERATIONS/SERVICES
The region has the most complete multi-modal transportation system in California. This includes a network of freeways, HOV lanes, regional rail, bus, and ferry service systems.
While transit ridership in the region is the highest in California, commuters can also choose to use alternatives such as a carpool, vanpool, ferry or other TDM programs or strategies. Except in San Francisco, most commuters still travel alone to work on congested freeways and major arterials operating at a deficient Level of Service (LOS). According to Caltrans Hicomp Report, this region is the second most congested area in the State. Most of the worst congestion occurs in the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara.
In most of the Bay Area, there is little right-of-way to add lanes to existing facilities. This lack of available right-of-way is exacerbated by the physical constraints of the region (i.e. San Francisco Bay, bottlenecks at bridges, bodies of water and mountain passes). As a result of the October 17, 1989 earthquake, some elements of the freeway system were damaged and are still under repair. This has caused further congestion on the freeway system (Caltrans, 1993).
Except in San Francisco, most commuters still travel alone to work on congested freeways and major arterials operating at a deficient Level of Service (LOS). In the Bay Area, the worst congestion occurs in the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara.
During the last three years, Bay Area congestion has remained stable. The completion of a number of traffic improvement projects has worked to stabilize congestion growth in the Bay Area.
In the Bay Area, most of the recurrent congestion occurs in Alameda County. Route 80 (29% of District 4's congestion) is the most congested freeway in both Alameda County and the Bay Area (Caltrans, 1993).
The draft 1994 Regional Transportation Plan identified fifteen transportation corridors of which five are the most likely candidates for target marketing. These corridors have low average daily weekday speeds, less than 200,000 average daily transit trips, high daily vehicle miles of travel and low AM Peak Average Vehicle Ridership. The following table identifies the region's congested corridors
.EXISTING HOV LANES
1990 1990 Avg. 1990 Avg. 1990 AM
Avg. Daily Wkday Daily Peak Avg.
Daily Transit Vehicle Vehicle
Corridor Wkday Person Miles of Ridership
Speed Trips Travel
1 Livermore
Valley/I-580 - 30.7 34,400 9,683 1.320
Altmont Pass to
Hayward/ San
Leandro
2 Metro East Bay 26.9 157,400 18,043 1.360
-
Crockett to
Hayward
3 Route 4 - Route
4 from 29.7 17,300 8,882 1.307
Brentwood to
Hercules
4 I-80 - Solano 29.0 70,000 13,707 1.382
County to the
Bay Bridge
5 Napa Valley - 29.1 7,900 3,070 1.306
including
Vallejo
6 Golden Gate -
Sonoma, Marin 26.1 353,000 14,582 1.647
and Northern
San Francisco
7 I-680 Corridor
- Northern 30.8 33,900 16,246 1.299
Section from
Pleasanton to
Fairfield
8 I-680 Corridor
- Southern 29.4 17,100 5,985 1.411
Section from
Pleasanton to
San Jose
9 Fremont - South 25.5 82,900 24,321 1.256
Bay
10 Santa Clara
County - 24.0 60,900 17,717 1.243
Central area
including
Silicon Valley
11 US 101 Northern
- section from 27.0 470,100 17,882 1.816
San Mateo to
San Francisco
12 US 101 -
Southern 24.6 79,400 22,265 1.271
section from
Gilroy to Palo
Alto
13 Transbay - Bay n/a 131,000 n/a 1.964
Bridge
14 Transbay -
Dumbarton and n/a 23,600 n/a 1.463
San Mateo
Bridges
15 Transbay - San
Rafael Bridge n/a 0 n/a 1.293
Corridor
Of these fifteen corridors, the following five corridors are likely candidates for corridor marketing:
Metro East Bay - Crockett to Hayward
I-80 from Solano County to the Bay Bridge
Fremont - South Bay
Santa Clara County - Central area including Silicon Valley
US 101 Southern section from Gilroy to Palo Alto
Some of the usage characteristics that make these good potential marketing opprotunities include:
Low average daily weekday speeds.
Less than 200,000 average daily transit trips.
High average daily vehicle miles of travel
Low AM Peak Average Vehicle Ridership.
HOV lanes provide exclusive lanes for buses, vanpools and carpools and are found throughout the urbanized regions of the Bay Area. Over the past year approximately 1.4 miles of new HOV lanes have been put into service. Currently, the Bay Area has over 154 miles of HOV lanes (Caltrans, 1993). Santa Clara County has the most extensive HOV system in the region (including over 75 HOV freeway lane miles and a 14 mile HOV lane on the San Tomas/Montague Expressway, from I-680 to Route 17) (Caltrans, 1993; Santa Clara County Transportation Agency, 1990). In contrast to the Southern California region, most Bay Area HOV lanes only operate during peak commuter hours. Figure Three presents the location of all HOV facilities throughout the Bay Area region
EXISTING HOV LANES
Location Lane Minimum
Beginning/End County Type Miles Opening Users per
Date Vehicle
Route 80 Alameda Bridge 2.6 1970 3+
Bay Bridge Toll Plaza
Route 80 Alameda Bridge 0.5 1970 3+
West Grand Ave.
Route 92 Alameda Bridge 1.5 1989 2+
San Mateo Bridge Toll
Plaza
Route 84 Alameda Bridge 1.8 1982 2+
Dumbarton Bridge
Route 580 Contra Buffer 10.8 1989 2+
Central Avenue to Costa
Marine St.
Route 580 Contra Bridge 0.1 Not 3+
Richmond San Rafael Costa Availabl
Bridge e
Route 85 Santa Buffer 6.6 1990 2+
Route 237 to Route 280 Clara
Route 101 Santa Buffer 64.4 1986 2+
Santa Clara / San Clara /
Mateo San
Mateo
Route 237 Santa Buffer 11.7 1984 2+
Route 880 to Mathilda Clara
Route 280 San Buffer 1.7 1975 2+(closed
6th Street to Army St. Francisco for
repairs)
Route 101 Marin Buffer 7.2 1974 2+
Richardson Bay to
Corte Madera
Route 101 Marin Buffer 12.2 1986 2+
Route 37 to San Pedro
Route 280 Santa Buffer 19.4 1990 2+
Leland Avenue to Clara
Magdalena Ave.
Route 880 Alameda Buffer 13.8 1991 2+
Whipple Road to
Washington St.
Source: Caltrans, 1993.
As part of the region's continued support of HOV lanes, extensive HOV lane construction is underway in Alameda and Santa Clara Counties (93.6 lane miles in five (5) HOV lane projects). An additional 106.5 lane miles are in the planning or design phase (Caltrans, 1993). The following table lists projects in construction.
HOV PROJECTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Caltrans Location Lane Opening
District Begin/End County Miles Date
4 Route 85 Santa 36.8 1995
Clara
4 Route 680 Alameda 28.8 1994
Route 580 to
Rudgear Road
4 Route 880 Alameda 3.0 1994
Alvarado-Niles
Road to
Industrial Parkway
4 Route 880 Santa 14.0 1994
Montague Clara
Expressway to
North Warm Springs
4 Route 4 Contra 6.6 1995
Willow Pass Road Costa
to
Bailey Road
Source: Caltrans, 1993.
During the past year Caltrans has increased the number of Park and Ride lots in the Bay Area from 65 to 78 (Caltrans, 1993). These lots are located in nine Bay Area counties (San Francisco has no lots). In most areas, the lots are not used to capacity. However, in Marin County, seven of the nine lots operate above capacity. The nine Marin lots average 122% occupancy. The lots provide commuters with a convenient, low-cost incentive to encourage the use of transit, vanpools, and carpools. While many lots are located on State right-of-ways adjacent to freeways, some Park and Ride lots operate on private property (e.g., churches, drive-ins, vacant lots, shopping centers, recreation centers). Figure Four indicates the number of Park and Ride spaces located in each Bay Area County and the overall occupancy rate.
Commuters can park at various multi-modal stations in the study area. BART's 34 stations in 15 communities have 29,561 parking spaces, with an additional 1,156 parking spaces available at peripheral express bus park and ride lots (BART, 1992). Most of CalTrain's 24 stops are considered multi-modal stations. Santa Clara Light Rail transit has 33 stations, 10 of which offer 6,298 parking spaces. In San Francisco, there are a number of transfer facilities that incorporate regional rail, light rail and bus transit. This is particularly true along Market Street, where transit users can access BART, MUNI, and other transit providers.
In Santa Clara County, a multi-modal station has been developed at the site of the existing San Jose CalTrain facility that incorporates CalTrain, Amtrak, SCCTD bus system, automobiles and bicyclists. Transit centers are being developed in Milpitas, Mountain View and the Santa Clara Caltrain Station. The goal is to complete these projects by the end of 1994 (SCCTA, 1993). Santa Clara Light Rail transit has 33 stations, 10 of which offer 6,298 parking spaces.
In the Bay Area, local transportation agencies also operate park and ride lots. For example, Santa Clara Transportation Agency operates 35 lots with 7,270 parking spaces (SCCTA, 1993).
According to the 1990 Census, 13.0% of the Bay Area use transit. Since then, the 1992 and 1993 Bay Area RIDES Commute Profiles have shown a slight decrease in transit use (from 12.4% to 11.9%). Still, compared to other regions, the Bay Area has the largest percentage of transit users (RIDES, 1993).
TRANSIT USE (% OF TOTAL USERS)
Transit Use 1990 1993
(% of Total Census Commute Profile
Users)
San Francisco 33.5% 34.6%
Alameda County 10.0% 16.6%
Contra Costa 7.8% 12.1%
San Mateo 7.5% 7.8%
Santa Clara 3.0% 3.6%
North Bay 4.9% 7.8%
(Marin,
Sonoma, and
Napa)
Solano 2.3% 3.9%
Total 13.0% 11.9%
Source:U.S. Census, 1990 and RIDES, 1993.
San Francisco has the most comprehensive transit system in California with short headways, extensive transit coverage and both regional and local service. A much higher percentage of commuters in San Francisco ride transit than in any other county in California (estimates vary between 34.6% and 46%) (Rides, 1993 and CCSF, 1993). In San Francisco, the transportation fleet (including rail, bus, cable cars, and ferries) consists of almost 4,000 vehicles, with about 1.5 million boardings on an average weekday (MTC, 1992). Marin (10.3%) and Alameda (10.0%) Counties also have significant transit use. Other counties such as Santa Clara (3.6%) and Solano (3.9%) have low transit shares (RIDES, 1993).
BAY AREA'S LARGEST TRANSIT PROVIDERS
Average
Transit Rail Local Express Rail Daily
Agency Buses Cars Routes Routes Routes Boardings
MUNI 850 181 71 15 8 734,080
AC 896 0 84 39 0 224,500
Transit
Santa 472 56 64 11 1 151,126
Clara
SamTrans 331 0 50 15 0 64,875
BART 60 589 0 12 4 263,570
CalTrain 0 73 0 0 1 20,831
Golden 272 0 34 19 0 36,090
Gate
Source: SCCTA, 1993; BART, 1993; CTA, 1993; MTC,1994.
The largest operators in the study area are MUNI, BART, AC Transit, Santa Clara, SamTrans, Golden Gate and CalTrain. There are over 25 additional agencies and companies providing fixed route transit service and intercity service in the region. Much of the rail, as well as local and express bus service focuses on San Francisco. While other urban centers are developing transit networks, significant portions of the region are still underserved by transit.
The following summarizes the largest transit providers' services and fares in the Bay Area.
Over the past year, AC Transit has increased its transit fleet from 806 to 896 vehicles, thus providing more service and decreasing headways. AC Transit increased its ridership from 193,000 to 224,500 average daily boardings.
AC Transit operates out of the East Bay, covering a service area of 200 square miles that extends from Richmond to Fremont. Most AC Transit routes operate on 6 to 30 minute headways during weekday commute hours. Adult fares range from $1.10 to $2.50. AC Transit operates 84 local routes and five express routes. AC Transit also provides Transbay routes that offer service from the East Bay to the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco and one route to Palo Alto across the Dumbarton Bridge.
AC Transit is investigating the feasibility of electric trolley bus operation to link:
Downtown Oakland with Downtown Berkeley.
Downtown Oakland with East Oakland (Middleton, 1994; Mills, 1994).
AC Transit also is developing plans for light rail projects connecting:
Downtown Oakland with Hayward.
Jack London Square in Oakland with Richmond (Middleton, 1994; Mills, 1994).
Since 1993, BART ridership has increased from 241,000 to 263,570. The BART system consists of 19 miles of subway and tunnels, 23 miles of aerial structures, 26 miles of surface tracks and 3.5 miles of Transbay tube. One-way fares range from $0.80 to $3.00 (BART, 1993). It operates in San Francisco and the East Bay. Rail service exist between the hours of 4:00 am and 1:30 am Monday through Friday, 6:00 am to 1:30 am on Saturdays and 8:00 am to 1:30 am on Sundays and major holidays. Trains operate during peak periods at 3.75 minute headways. In addition to rail service, BART operates 12 Express Bus Routes that extend into outlying areas of Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
BART is in the process of extending the system. The five projects will cost an estimated $2.6 billion (BART, 1993).
Dublin/Pleasanton is a 13.8 mile extension from Fremont. This project is under construction and expected to be completed in 1995.
North Concord/West Pittsburgh is 7.8 miles from Concord. It is currently under construction and expected to be completed in 1997.
The Colma Station Extension will add one station past the Daly City terminals. Scheduled to open in late 1995, the station is the first leg of the extension to San Francisco Airport.
Warm Springs Extension will extend 5.4 miles southward from the Fremont Station. The San Francisco Airport Extension will extend an additional 6.4 miles from Colma/Daly City. Both projects are in the planning process.
In October 1992, BART distributed 69,000 profile surveys at BART stations (approximately 35,000 responded). Significant findings include:
Car availability of BART riders is higher than that of other transit riders, particularly among transbay passengers. Of those respondents who have a car available for their trip, they chose BART to avoid traffic congestion (35%) and the inconvenience of parking their car (24%).
The typical BART rider is white (63%), female (55%), between the ages of 25 and 44 (60%), and earns over $35,000 per year (51%).
In July 1993, CalTrain increased fares 10%. The fare now ranges from $1.00 to $5.50 per trip. Average daily boardings decreased from 21,900 to 20,831.
The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (San Mateo, Santa Clara, and San Francisco Counties) operate 60 trains per weekday on a 48.9 mile route (27 stations) between San Francisco and San Jose Tamien Station. Eight of those trains travel an additional 28 miles south to provide service between San Jose and Gilroy (CalTrain, 1994).
Golden Gate Transit operates 272 buses and four ferry boats in the North Bay area (MTC, 1994). Golden Gate also operates bus routes and ferry service between Marin and Sonoma Counties and employment centers in San Francisco, specifically the Financial District and Civic Center. Bus fare varies from $1.10 (local service) to over $2.00 (express service). To ride the ferries, the one-way base fare is $2.50 and can range up to $3.75 (CTA, 1993).
During the past three years, MUNI has experienced a steady decline in transit ridership. Potential reasons for this decline in ridership include:
Shift of jobs away from downtown San Francisco,
Fare increases, specifically the cost of a MUNI Fast Pass (from $28 in 1990 to $35 in 1993),
Cutbacks in maintenance (resulting in less reliable service), and
Cutback in quantity of service (increased headways).
MUNI operates 79 transit lines that serve the City of San Francisco. Of the 79 lines, 54 operate in and out of downtown San Francisco. While MUNI does not operate freeway express bus service, it does provide express (point-to-point) and limited stop service on 15 routes. MUNI provides stops within two blocks of 95% of San Francisco residents and provides service 24 hours a day, with headways as short as two minutes. MUNI operates 5 light rail lines, three cable car routes, as well as trolley buses and diesel bus lines. The MUNI fleet includes 516 motor coaches, 334 trolley coaches, 128 light rail vehicles, 15 historic trolley cars, and 38 cable cars. Regular adult fare is $1.00. Cable car fare is $2.00.
Major MUNI projects include:
Extending the MUNI Metro Light rail system to a new higher capacity underground turnback facility.
A 2.2 mile extension of the MUNI Metro J line to the Balboa Park BART station.
Installation of a new train control system that will increase capacity at the Embarcadero station from 20 trains per hour to at least 40 to 50 trains per hour (to be completed in September 1995).
Construction of surface track on Market Street and along the Embarcadero. Eventually, this project will extend along the Embarcadero to Fisherman's Wharf.
SamTrans services cities within San Mateo County. During the past year, Ridership slightly decreased from 65,247 to 64,875. It operates express bus service and bus feeder service SamTrans along 65 routes, including 15 express buses consisting primarily of limited commute service from San Mateo County to downtown San Francisco. The fare ranges from $0.85 to $2.00 per trip. SamTrans also provides connections to CalTrain and has allocated funding for BART extensions to Colma and the San Francisco Airport (SamTrans, 1993).
Santa Clara County Transit District experienced a decrease from 163,000 to 151,000 average daily boardings (MTC, 1994). This coincides with a 10% decrease in service and an increase in fares (SCCTA, 1993; MTC, 1994).
The Santa Clara County Transportation Agency operates 75 bus routes (including 11 express routes and 8 limited stop routes) within a service area of approximately 326 square miles. This includes a fleet of 472 buses, 50 light rail vehicles and six historic trolleys. The fare increased from $0.75/$1.50 to $1.00/$2.00 per trip ($0.50 for mid-day service). Transit service is within 1/4 mile of 80% of the county's 1.5 million residents. Santa Clara has light rail service from South San Jose through downtown San Jose to Santa Clara. The light rail system is 20.8 miles long and consists of 33 stations. On an average weekday, 131,000 people ride SCCTA buses and 20,000 people use SCCTA light rail (SCCTA, 1993).
In 1992, SCCTA conducted an on-board rider survey. The typical SCCTA rider:
rides transit four or more days per week (78%),
has ridden transit less than three (3) years (53%),
travels to work (38%) or school (23%),
walks to their final destination (72%), and
is 25 - 44 years of age (39%), 18 - 24 years of age (22%), or 17 and under (19%).
Similar to most urban areas, minorities, low income and transit dependents constitute a large proportion of the SCCTA ridership (SCCTA, 1993; APTA, 1992)
In 1995, the Capitol Route which provides service between San Jose and Sacramento, will be increased to six round trips per day. Currently, Caltrans is also examining the feasibility of high speed ground transportation between Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and Sacramento (Caltrans, 1993; MTC, 1994).
Amtrak operates intercity rail service that connects the Bay Area with other regions. The average monthly ridership was about 20,000 passengers. Rail service includes:
San Joaquin Route which extends 312 miles between Bakersfield and Oakland (four round trips per day).
Capitol Route, extending 152 miles between San Jose and Sacramento, is served by three (one train travels beyond Sacramento to Roseville).
According to MTC, 9,000 people a day travel by water in the Bay Area. Currently, ferry service connects Vallejo, Larkspur, Tiburon, Sausalito, Oakland, Alameda, and Bay Farm Island to San Francisco. MTC has allocated up to $42 million to upgrade ferry service in the Bay Area (MTC, 1992).
In areas with parking management programs, employer provided parking benefits are often provided as an incentive for ridesharing. In 1993, 78.4% of the region's employees received free all-day parking. In 1992, 80.1% of employees received the same benefit. Among commuters who are offered free parking in 1993, the drive alone rate is 72.4%, far above the regional average of 65%. Approximately 15% of Bay Area residents have access to preferential parking (RIDES, 1992).
About 15.2% of Bay Area residents said that their employers offer a guaranteed ride home (GRH) program. Where a GRH program is offered, the carpool/vanpool rate is 22% (RIDES, 1993).
Caltrans GRH grantees in the region include one TMA (Santa Cruz), three governments (Alameda County, City of Alameda, Hayward), and three hospitals/non-profits (Alta-Bates-Herrick Hospital, Children's Hospital, and the Contra Costa Center Association).
Several commuter stores operate in the Bay Area. These include Berkeley Trip, the Concord Commuter Store, and Bishop Ranch Transportation Center. In addition, RIDES operates two "Commute Mobiles" which are demonstration vans.
Approximately 40% of Bay Area residents describe their work schedules as flexible and 17% say that the option of a compressed work week is available at their work site (RIDES, 1993). In 1992, 13% had the option of a compressed work week.
Approximately 11.4% of the Bay Area commuters can work at home. In 1993, 9% of the Bay Area commuters telecommuted (RIDES, 1993). The average telecommuter works at home 5.2 days per month.
Two telecenters opened in the Bay Area in 1993. These centers are in San Jose and Concord. These telecenter projects were founded as a partnership between MTC, 580/680 Corridor TMA, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, Pacific Bell, the FTA, the FHWA, the State of California, and others.
EMPLOYER/EMPLOYEE SALES OUTREACH
Rideshare assistance programs focus on reducing traffic congestion by encouraging commuters to join carpools, vanpools or utilize public transit. Much of this effort is provided by rideshare agencies. In the Bay Area, ridesharing support is available through a number of different organizations. These include rideshare contractors, RIDES for Bay Area Commuters (the largest rideshare organization), Solano Commuter Information and Santa Cruz Share-a-Ride, ten Transportation Management Associations, Congestion Management Agencies, local trip reduction agencies, Metropolitan Planning Organization (AMBAG), regional transportation agency (MTC), and two Air Quality Management Districts.
BAY AREA RIDESHARE AGENCY BUDGETS
Rideshare Agency 1991-92 1992-93
Budget Budget
RIDES for Bay Area $5,300,000 $3,976,506
Commuters
Santa Cruz Share-A-Ride $120,810 $150,000
Solano Commuter $287,000 $442,000
Information
Source: RIDES; Santa Cruz Share-A-Ride; Solano Commuter. (1993)
RIDES is funded by Caltrans, the MTC, and other public and private organizations. During the past year 1992-93, RIDES processed 68,996 matchlists and recorded 11,827 placements for a 30% placement rate. This compares to 72,900 matchlists and 21,870 placements in the year before.
Solano Commuter Information is funded by Caltrans, MTC, and Solano County. During the past year 1992-93, Solano Rideshare processed 2,215 matchlists and recorded 832 placements. Their placement rate was 44%. In 1991-92 6,192 matchlists and 2,725 placements were recorded.
Santa Cruz County's Share-A-Ride program is sponsored by the Santa Cruz County Transportation Commission and funded by Caltrans. It has been in existence since 1979. The program focuses about 33% of its work effort on commuters traveling from Santa Cruz to Santa Clara. Another significant source of applications come from Share-A-Ride's participation in Rideshare Week. During the past fiscal year, Share-A-Ride processed 832 applications and placed 466 people into ridesharing for a 47% placement rate (Santa Cruz Share-A-Ride, 1992-1993). In 1991-92 1,496 applications were processed and 702 people into ridesharing modes.
There are approximately 60 Transportation Management Associations (TMAs) in the State of California. Of these TMAs, ten are functioning TMAs in the Bay Area. Figure Five provides a map indicating the location of the Bay Area region's TMAs.
EXISTING TMAS IN THE BAY AREA, BY COUNTY
Counties TMAs
Alameda Alameda Chamber of Commerce, Berkeley
Gateway TMA, Hacienda Business Park
Owners' Assoc., Harbor TMA
Contra Costa Contra Costa Centre, Bishop Ranch TMA
San Francisco TMA of San Francisco
San Mateo Business 101 TMA, Hospital Consortium
TMA
Santa Cruz Santa Cruz TMA, Pajaro Valley TMA
Caltrans, District 4 conducted a New Resident Incentive Campaign that targeted new residents along two congested corridors.
I-101/280 Peninsula corridor linking San Francisco and San Jose;
I-880 East Bay corridor connecting Oakland and Fremont.
The program included mass mailings to new residents within targeted zip codes. Residents were given an option of three incentives:
Two complimentary round-trip tickets for either BART or CalTrain (up to $20 value).
$2 per day for riding the bus (up to $20 value).
$2 per day, up to $20 worth of Unical gasoline scrip for carpooling or vanpooling.
Incentives were distributed to over 9,600 households. A follow-up survey indicated that 61% of those who received an incentive actually used it. The campaign resulted in a reduced drive alone rate (50% to 43.3%).
Over 73.3% of the individuals stated they were very likely or likely to continue using the alternative mode.
TDM programs are also being developed at the local level. For example, the city and county of San Francisco has designed a program that includes:
City employee TDM that encourages the use of commute alternatives.
Proposed "Trip Store" to help commuters and visitors with personalized trip planning.
Non-commute program to create public/private partnerships directed towards reducing the number of trips associated with recreational, shipping, school and other non-work trips.
Building based program that requires new buildings to create a TDM plan.
Proposed visitor/traveler program that encourages the use of alternative modes as part of the San Francisco visitor/traveler experience.
Proposed Emergency TDM plan that addresses issues related to planning and coordinating TDM activities in a time of emergency.
Proposed alternative work schedule (AWS) plan that educates employers regarding how to manage and utilize a AWS program.
Proposed Club Ride program to create a public/private incentive package to add value to ridesharing.