City of Alameda – AC Transit ILC
July 31, 2025 Meeting Notes
1. Roll Call/Welcome and Introductions
Attendees: Vice Mayor Michele Pryor, Councilmember Tony Daysog, Director Sarah Syed (chair), Director Young
Meeting started at 9:01 a.m.
2. Announcements/Public Comments
Public Comment (Charlie Cameron): Route 19 at Fruitvale BART (Stop ID: 59000) - the decal on the bus stop flag only notes Fruitvale BART and does not say that Line 19 also serves AC Transit Division 4, will this be added? Also, when will the new system map and timetables be out?
3. Notes from Previous Meeting
No comments
4. Managing On-Time Performance
Will Wong: We have an On-Time Performance (OTP) team that is regularly out in the field checking bus routes, taking timechecks, verifying that bus stops are of appropriate length, and gathering data on traffic signal times to identify opportunities for improving bus OTP. The Supervision team has access to a lot of different tools to track and manage OTP in real time. AC Transit’s OTP standard is 72%. “On-time” is defined as no more than 1 minute early or 5 minutes late. We are currently averaging anywhere from 76-80% OTP - thanks to the Directors for allowing us to have additional Supervisors out in the field, which has contributed to this improvement in OTP.
Director Syed: Can you talk about recent outcomes of our incentive pay pilot program to improve OTP on trunk routes?
Rama Pochiraju: The pilot program is focused on 13 trunk lines, including Line 51A, and provides incentive pay to operators who drive those routes. The program has been successful so far – we’re seeing 98-99% of service operated and most lines are at 78%-80% OTP. We’re monitoring 2 lines (10 and 72R) that are seeing some runtime and reliability issues due to construction in the corridors.
Will Wong: The incentive program is $2 more per hour to encourage operators to drive those routes and get bus service out on the streets. This program also helps to reduce overtime. Overall, it is a beneficial program for reliability and good for our riders.
Director Syed: Good to mention that it’s cost effective as well since it’s helped us reduce overtime. Bring back more info/outcomes on the pilot program at a later meeting.
5. AC Transit Realign Update
Crystal Wang: Realign service changes are coming August 10, and detailed information as to how the changes will affect people’s travel throughout our service area is available at actransit.org. After 2 years of community outreach and planning, our team has developed the new bus network based on lots of community input, with a focus on equity, and backed by lots of data analysis. The changes were designed to be largely cost and operator-neutral. To quickly recap the changes in Alameda: Line 19 is being extended west into Alameda Point; Line 21 is being renumbered to Line 31, and it’ll still serve Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal but no longer serve Oakland Airport; Line 96 will remain the same in Alameda, but service is being added to Brooklyn Basin in Oakland; Line O will remain the same but it’s frequency will be reduced to hourly service on weekends; Line OX will be discontinued, but Line W is going to be rerouted to serve Bay Farm, so Bay Farm residents will still have a transbay bus option to take to Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco; and no changes are happening to the 51A or any of the routes that serve schools or the overnight lines. We’ve also been coordinating with City staff on new bus stops for Realign, which has been mainly focused on near-term improvements at new bus stops along Stargell, to make sure that they’re safe and ADA-accessible.
Maria Henderson: Friendly reminder that Realign service changes will go into effect on August 10. Check out the website (actransit.org/realign) to get more information about what’s happening to your bus lines or sign up for e-news and line-specific communications. Printed information in multiple languages is currently available onboard buses. We’ve also been doing in-person outreach at select bus stop locations and making announcements at city councils/advisory committees about the upcoming changes. Thank you to the City for always helping us get the word out.
Charlie Cameron: When will the printed public timetables and new system map be available?
Howard Der: Public timetables and the new system map are already available online, and printed versions will be available in the Customer Service Office next week.
Lisa Foster: Mastick Senior Center also has line-by-line route change descriptions, and we will be distributing more printed materials to Mastick and the libraries.
Director Syed: Appreciate all the feedback and participation from Alameda residents throughout the Realign process.
Councilmember Daysog: Appreciate the transparent process that was laid out throughout the Realign process.
Vice Mayor Pryor: Why was the OAK service removed from Line 21? Also why is there not more bus service to ferry terminals?
Director Syed: Decisions were driven by equity, looking at tradeoffs. Low ridership on Line 21 to OAK.
Crystal Wang: Yes Line 21 ridership to the airport has been low, even going back to pre-pandemic, so it just wasn’t a very productive segment. Also, there are many other transit options to the airport. On ferry service - we previously had service to Seaplane Lagoon Ferry Terminal but there were multiple challenges, such as plenty of free parking, and difficulty with scheduling/timing the bus-ferry connection.
Public Comment (Christy Cannon): Very concerned about equity issues with getting people to nature. Would be good to identify and do promotion on regional parks and nature destinations that are accessible via transit.
6. Free Bus Pass Pilot Program for Seniors and People with Disabilities Lisa Foster: The program agreement has been extended and is fully executed for another 2 years (through July 2027). We are doing annual enrollment renewal now.
This year, because we’re at the max of what we can afford, we’ve added some more stringent paperwork requirements (participants need to show more to verify lowincome status and continued residency). Forms are due August 15 so we don’t yet know where we’re going to be in terms of enrollment just yet. Liz Escobar, the City’s Paratransit Coordinator, has been at Mastick to let folks know about upcoming changes to bus service. We are hoping that we’ll be able to clear the existing waitlist by sometime this fall. Program participants are taking 18-19k rides per month and continue to enjoy the program.
7. Named Measure BB Bus Project Repurposing
Lisa Foster: This is repurposing Measure BB funds that were originally intended for a rapid bus service on Appezzato to a program of three high-priority, transit-focused multimodal projects (Lincoln/Marshall/Pacific, Stargell Ave, and Westline Dr queue jump). Thank you to the City Council and AC Transit Board for endorsing this. In June we submitted a letter to ACTC to formally request this amendment to the original Transportation Expenditure Plan. If approved, we anticipate the process being completed by early 2026.
8. Park St TSP and Signal Optimization
Casey Bruno: This project will implement transit-signal priority (TSP) along Park from Alameda Ave to Otis Dr, completing the TSP network already in place from Blanding Ave to Central Ave. The project kicked off in May and 35% design is being wrapped up and will be sent to various agencies, including the City, for review. The project website will be up and running next month. Final design is expected in early December 2025. Construction expected Spring 2026 – Summer 2026. Before/After evaluation will be conducted in Fall 2026.
9. Oakland Alameda Access Project (OAAP)
Crystal Wang: The OAAP project is led by ACTC and is a major roadway project to improve access between I-880, Downtown Oakland, and Alameda. The Webster and Posey Tubes will have single lane closures for many months during construction.
Staff from AC Transit and the City have been attending monthly technical meetings and monthly outreach meetings regarding the project. Based on the last update we heard from the project team in early July, construction is still expected to start later this year. The project team has been doing outreach, including a few presentations in Alameda. When construction starts, Caltrans will be taking over on communications with support from ACTC.
Lisa Foster: We’re glad to see the Park St TSP project is happening. It’s not part of the project corridor but it will be impacted during construction. We are also interested to see what happens with bus-only lanes on the Oakland side. We also plan to monitor the traffic situation after construction has begun to see if any further mitigations are needed on the Alameda side.
Crystal Wang: Oakland has agreed to the bus-only lanes and will be doing community outreach on it.
Director Young: It will be important for me and Mayor Ashcraft, since we’re on ACTC, to ensure that we adequately address any potential impacts from project construction. I’m also really supportive of TSP on Park St.
10. AC Transit Ridership and Complaints with Actual Missed Runs Crystal Wang: The agenda packet includes the attachment with the performance summary for lines operating in Alameda, for March through June 2025. Ridership has stayed consistent and generally most of these lines are around where they should be in terms of productivity. The OX and 19 are low. OTP has improved since the report at the last ILC. On customer feedback, most of the complaints we received are related to no shows and pass-ups, mainly on the 51A.
Director Syed: For future reports, consider indexing the complaints by line ridership to see if there’s a disproportionately high amount of complaints for a particular line.
Line 51A stands out because it’s one of our highest ridership lines.
Councilmember Daysog: I’ve been taking Line O to Salesforce Transit Center.
Question about the dip in Line O ridership shown in June 2025.
Will Wong: Might just be a summer phenomenon. Some students like taking Line O because they know it will be less crowded and more comfortable than other lines.
Director Young: One thing you’ll have to pay attention to is efficiencies that ACTC may require as part of funds for the regional measure. The efficiencies may include elimination/reduction of AC Transit’s Transbay routes to push people onto BART.
Just a heads up to keep an eye on what efficiency measures are recommended, and to the extent that it impacts Alameda’s Transbay routes, you may need to raise your voice on that.
11. Next Meeting
Thursday, October 16, 2025 at 9 a.m.
Director Syed is out of the country on this date so may need to reschedule.
12. Agenda Planning Requests
13. Announcements/Public Comments
Meeting adjourned 9:52am