The West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee (WCCTAC) will be hosting three public workshop meetings to engage the public in the West Contra Costa County High-Capacity Transit Study.  Dates, times, and locations follow:

San Pablo
Tuesday, April 12, 2016 from 6:30PM to 8:30PM
San Pablo City Hall, City Council Chambers (13831 San Pablo Avenue, San Pablo, CA)

Pinole
Wednesday, April 13, 2016 from 6:30PM to 8:30PM
Pinole City Hall, City Council Chambers (2131 Pear Street, Pinole, CA)

Richmond
Thursday, April 14, 2016 from 6:30PM to 8:30PM
Richmond City Hall, City Council Chambers (440 Civic Center Plaza, Richmond, CA)

The study, which was spearheaded by BART Director and WCCTAC Board member, Zakhary Mallett, is competitively evaluating high-capacity transit investments along the Interstate 80 corridor in West Contra Costa County that can best serve the travel needs in the area with viable transit alternatives.  Mallett expressed that “this is the most congested travel corridor in the region, but has had minimal regional transit investment compared to other corridors.  Just consider the fact that the Richmond leg of BART is the only leg in the BART system that has not been extended since BART’s inception.  This study is an important first step to bringing better driving alternatives to this ignored corridor.”

Alternatives being considered in the study include:

• A BART extension to Hercules,
• Commuter rail service between Richmond and Hercules,
• Expanded express bus service, and
• Bus rapid transit service

These first workshops will showcase to the public the high-capacity transit options that were derived through an initial screening process and the high-level cost-benefit considerations of those different options.  Public input on which options are the best value for the needed investment will be sought and subsequently relied on by the study team to further hone in on the most competitive alternatives to recommend to the WCCTAC Board for consideration.

In the fall, after additional analysis is completed and the study team has stronger quantitative estimates of the costs and benefits of alternatives, a second round of public workshops will seek public feedback on the final “short list” of alternatives before they are presented to the WCCTAC Board for consideration.

To learn more about the study, visit the study website or review the study fact sheet (PDF).

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