Berkeley Commission Hearings On BRT

New dates have been set for the commission hearings on BRT:

Transportation Commission Meeting, Thursday, Nov. 19, 7 p.m.

Planning Commission Meeting, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 7 p.m.

Both meetings will be preceded by an informational session at 6PM, when staff will answer questions about the proposed Locally Preferred Alternative.

Both meetings will be held at North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst (at MLK Junior Way)

Send emails supporting the project to brt@cityofberkeley.info.

Hybrid Buses Become More Popular

The East Bay's BRT line will probably use clean diesel buses initially, but bus lines are rapidly shifting hybrid buses, according to this story from today's New York Times.

As Hybrid Buses Get Cheaper, Cities Fill Their Fleets

By Micheline Maynard

If you wonder whether hybrid-electric vehicles will ever catch on, simply ask one of the millions of people who ride in them every day.

Hybrid-electric buses, that is.

Transit systems from New York to Taipei, and from Ames, Iowa, to Ann Arbor, Mich., are adding hybrid buses at a rapid clip. New York, by far, has the nation's biggest fleet of hybrid buses, which run on electricity and diesel fuel, with nearly 1,000 in all five boroughs, most in Manhattan.

Although the initial cost is well above that of a conventional diesel-powered bus, hybrid buses emit less pollution and get far better fuel economy. They are quieter than old-style buses, and their ride is generally more comfortable (not accounting for the condition of city streets). Like the hybrid taxis that have become a common sight in New York, hybrid buses arrived during the last decade.

…

The buses' performance has been impressive .... Each is expected to save the city 50,000 gallons of diesel fuel, compared with what would be consumed by a conventional bus, or a 45 percent improvement in fuel economy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/automobiles/autospecial2/22BUS.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=hybrid%20bus&st=cse

Update on Berkeley & San Leandro Meetings

Berkeley's October 17 Meeting/Workshop Postponed

Or has it been canceled? The answer isn't altogether clear. It definitely ain't happening. Stay tuned for updates.

San Leandro Meetings Still On

Here is the schedule for the San Leandro meetings:

Thursday, October 22
6:30 – 8:30 pm, presentation at 7
San Leandro Public Library
300 Estudillo Avenue
San Leandro, 94577

Tuesday, October 27
6:30 – 8:30 pm, presentation at 7
Bayfair Mall
Second floor, near center escalators
15555 E. 14th Street
San Leandro, 94578

Saturday, November 7
10:00 am – 12:00 pm, presentation at 10:30
City Hall South Office
835 E. 14th Street
San Leandro, 94577

Transportation Commission Hearing On LPA

This meeting has been postponed. When the date is reset, we will add that information to the blog.

Berkeley Transportation Commission confirmed yesterday that it will hold a public hearing at its meeting of October 29 on Berkeley's Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for AC Transit's BRT proposal.

The Commission meets at the North Berkeley Senior Center at 7 PM.

We expect the opposition will be out for this hearing, and we urge all supporters of BRT to attend.

Locally Preferred Alternative for Berkeley Available

City staff has developed a draft of a locally preferred alternative (LPA) for BRT in Berkeley.

For complete information about the draft LPA, see
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=43568

Here is a map showing the BRT route and stops in Berkeley's draft LPA:

These meetings have been postponed. When the date is reset, we will add that information to the blog.

The city has scheduled the following meetings about the LPA:

• Public Workshop to present the draft LPA to the public: Saturday, October 17, 2009 from 10:30AM to 1:30PM in the Berkeley Main Library.
• Transportation Commission hearing: Thursday, October 29, 2009
• Planning Commission hearing: Wednesday, November 18, 2009

For more information about the public workshop, see http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/uploadedFiles/Planning_(new_site_map_walk-through)/Level_3_-_General/Flyer_BRTWorkshop101709.pdf We will post more information about the hearings as information becomes available.

The Ultimate Freeway Interchange

Here is a prediction of what the world will look like if we do not build BRT and other forms of public transportation.

[Art Credit: hock / behance network. Used under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND-3.0 license. ]

BRT Can Make Major Contribution To Fighting Global Warming

From the Climate Progress Blog:

Massive deployment of BRTs, where appropriate, could be part of the answer to avoiding catastrophe while ending poverty. Global emissions linked to transportation are set to double by 2030. ... The global climate treaty that will be hammered out in Copenhagen must confront this problem in addition to addressing energy generation, efficiency, and deforestation.

The treaty could finance the massive planning and construction that will be needed to expand BRTs through carbon offsets. In fact, Bogotá’s BRT was recently the first transportation project to receive funding through the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism, or CDM. Under the CDM, industries in the developing world that manage to reduce their emissions receive credits that they can sell to polluters in industrialized countries looking to reduce their footprint. Bogotá will be selling 250,000 tons of CO2 equivalent to the government of the Netherlands in the coming years. This offset scheme could be a way for developed countries to meet emissions caps, as is currently being proposed to fund anti-deforestation efforts.

Thankfully, China and India—the two major emitters in the developing world—seem to be embracing such a technology. More than 30 projects are being implemented or studied in China alone. Their robust adoption of this and other efficient mass transport solutions will be critical.

http://climateprogress.org/2009/07/19/making-buses-cool-again-bus-rapid-transit-brt-bogota/