Photo Credit: Alameda County Transportation Commission
East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project
City of Oakland Racial Equity Impact Analysis
Alameda County Transportation Commission
1111 Broadway, Suite 800
Oakland, CA 94607
www.AlamedaCTC.org
09.23.2022
Attachment C
East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project
City of Oakland Racial Equity Impact Analysis
1111 Broadway, Suite 800 • Oakland, CA 94607 • (510) 208-7400 • www.AlamedaCTC.org Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................... 1
1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 3
1.1. Project Description ............................................................................................................ 3
1.2. Project Location ................................................................................................................ 4
1.3. Corridor Demographics .................................................................................................... 5
2. IDENTIFY AND ENGAGE .............................................................................................................. 16
2.1. Prior Engagement and Project History .......................................................................... 16
2.2. Upcoming Engagement ................................................................................................ 18
3. KEY ISSUES IMPACTING THE PROJECT AREA ............................................................................. 20
3.1. Safety ............................................................................................................................... 20
3.2. Bicycle/Pedestrian Usage .............................................................................................. 24
3.3. Access to High Quality Active Transportation Infrastructure ...................................... 26
3.4. Impact to Transit Service and Access ........................................................................... 28
3.5. Parking Usage .................................................................................................................. 31
3.6. Environmental Justice ..................................................................................................... 34
3.7. Displacement .................................................................................................................. 37
4. PROJECT OPPORTUNITIES ........................................................................................................... 40
5. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 43
5.1. Summary of Potential Racial Equity Benefits/Burdens ................................................. 43
5.2. Evaluation and Accountability ...................................................................................... 42
East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project
City of Oakland Racial Equity Impact Analysis
1111 Broadway, Suite 800 • Oakland, CA 94607 • (510) 208-7400 • www.AlamedaCTC.org List of Figures
Figure 1. EBGW Multimodal Project Limits within the City of Oakland with a Half-mile Buffer .......... 5 Figure 2. City of Oakland Redlining Map (1937) .................................................................................... 6 Figure 3. Median Household Income in the Oakland Portion of Project Area ................................... 8 Figure 4. Percent Minority Population in the Oakland Portion of Project Area .................................. 9 Figure 5. MTC's Equity Priority Communities in the Oakland Portion of Project Area ....................... 12 Figure 6. City of Oakland Equity Priority Neighborhoods in the Project Area ................................... 14 Figure 7. City of Oakland’s High Injury Network Located in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area ......................................................................................................................................................... 20 Figure 7: Bicycle and Pedestrian Fatalities in the Project Area .......................................................... 22 Figure 9. Bus Stops near the Oakland Portion of the Project Area .................................................... 31 Figure 10. Environmental Pollution Burden in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area .................. 35 Figure 11. Displacement Potential in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area ............................... 38 Figure 12. Key Community Destinations Accessible within a Half Mile of the Project in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area .................................................................................................................... 41 Figure 13. Schools within a Half Mile of the Project in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area .... 42
List of Tables
Table 1. Median Household Income in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area and Oakland Overall ....................................................................................................................................................... 8 Table 2. Percent Minority Populations in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area compared to Oakland Overall ..................................................................................................................................... 10 Table 3. EPC Census Tracts in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area Compared to Oakland Overall ..................................................................................................................................................... 11
Table 4. Percent EPC Variables in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area Compared to Oakland Overall ..................................................................................................................................................... 13 Table 5. EPN Census Tracts in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area Compared to Oakland Overall ..................................................................................................................................................... 15 Table 6. Other Planning Efforts that Influenced the Project ............................................................... 17 Table 7. Percent of Oakland's High Injury Network in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area .... 21 Table 8: Percent of Bicycle and Pedestrian Fatalities by Race in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area Compared to Oakland Overall ...................................................................................... 23 Table 9: Bicycle and Pedestrian Fatalities by Race as Proportions of Project Area and City of Oakland Totals ........................................................................................................................................ 23 Table 10. Primary Commute Mode of Residents in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area Compared to Oakland Overall............................................................................................................. 25 East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project
City of Oakland Racial Equity Impact Analysis
1111 Broadway, Suite 800 • Oakland, CA 94607 • (510) 208-7400 • www.AlamedaCTC.org Table 11. Zero-vehicle Households in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area Compared to Oakland Overall ..................................................................................................................................... 26 Table 12. Current and Future Access to Low-stress Bikeways ............................................................ 27 Table 13. Pedestrian Conditions in East Oakland Neighborhoods .................................................... 28 Table 14. BART Station Access Mode.................................................................................................... 29 Table 15. Parking Availability in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area ........................................ 33 Table 16. Percentage of Population Experiencing Different Pollution Burdens in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area Compared to Oakland Overall .............................................................. 36
East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project
City of Oakland Racial Equity Impact Analysis
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this report is to provide a Racial Equity Impact Analysis (REIA) for the City of Oakland portion of the East Bay Greenway (EBGW) Multimodal Project (Project). The East Bay Greenway is a planned regional active transportation facility that runs parallel and connects to San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) stations. Within the City of Oakland, the East Bay Greenway will extend approximately seven miles from the Lake Merritt BART Station to the San Leandro City Limit and also connect to the Fruitvale BART and Coliseum BART Stations. The Project will consist primarily of Class I shared use paths, Class IV protected bikeways, Class III neighborhood bikeways, and protected intersection treatments, and also includes pedestrian crossing safety and accessibility improvements, bus stop enhancements to improve speed and passenger comfort, and placemaking features. The Project will provide a north-south, all ages and abilities bikeway "spine" that connects to a wide array of destinations, including downtowns, commercial districts, regional transit hubs, schools, social services, community colleges, professional sports stadiums, hospitals, shopping malls, and open spaces. Improvements in Oakland are being implemented as part of the large East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project from Lake Merritt BART to South Hayward BART.
The project area is currently characterized by a lack of adequate bicycle facilities, sidewalk gaps, infrequent crossing opportunities, and numerous crossings featuring striped crosswalks with no enhancements, which leaves the residents in the area with very limited options for safely traveling using active transportation to get to their destinations or to transit connections. The analysis conducted as part of this REIA revealed that the communities living within a half mile of the project are disproportionately low-income communities of color compared to Oakland overall. These communities have been subject to generations of disinvestment resulting from a legacy of racist policies and practices like redlining and cultural occurances, such as white flight. This disinvestment in the built environment shows up in the data across several factors including:
• Over 30% of the City’s High Injury Network (HIN) is located in the project area, despite being representative of only 10.2% of the City’s overall area. • On average the people living near the project drive alone more and bike less than the average Oaklander.
• The project area accounts for 26% of all bicycle and pedestrian fatalities in Oakland overall.
• On average the people living near the project have a higher rate of zero-car households than in Oakland overall.
• Low percentage of residents living within ¼ mile of a low-stress bikeway.
Taken together, these factors signal a real need for safe and accessible active transportation infrastructure in the communities adjacent to the Project. New investments in historically East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project
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disinvested in communities such as the ones where the Project is located often raise concerns among existing residents around displacement. This REIA includes an assessment on citywide anti-displacement policies, which were determined to be robust. A literature review conducted on the displacement impacts of new bike facilities showed that there is no significant research to suggest that a project such as this would cause displacement. However, perception among residents around displacement may differ, even if the research suggests it to be benign, simply because of larger market forces at play in the Bay Area. Given this, it continues to be vital for the success of this project to bring the community along at every step in the process to ensure it is meeting their unique needs, fulfilling a vision for their transportation future, and providing a safe, affordable, sustainable, and fun way to achieve their daily trips on wheels, on foot, or on transit.
The project presents significant benefits for the residents along the corridor, including significant concentrations of low income people of color, in the forms of improved active transportation infrastructure, transportation safety benefits, affordable mobility options, and improved access to community centers and opportunities. The project does have a tradeoff that on-street parking removal will be required along some segments; however, the scale of parking removal is relatively small (very few blocks with complete parking removal) and parking analysis shows that parking demand can be accommodated along immediate project streets or side streets. As such, the project benefits are expected to greatly outweight the disbenefit of parking removal.
Given the disproportionate representation of intersectional disadvantaged communities in the project area, the disproportionate representation of the project area and its residents in the City’s High Injury Network (HIN) and high occurances of bicycle and pedestrian fatalities, and the presence of robust anti-displacement policies and community engagement more broadly, this REIA concludes the Project will contribute to advancing racial equity outcomes in Oakland by improving safety and access for the communities adjacent to the Project.
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1. INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this report is to provide a Racial Equity Impact Analysis (REIA) for the City of Oakland for the East Bay Greenway (EBGW) Multimodal Project (Project). East Bay Greenway improvements within Oakland are being implemented as part of a larger 16-mile East Bay Greenway project that spans from Oakland to South Hayward; however, this REIA only covers the section of the project area that falls within the City of Oakland. The REIA is a tool that the City of Oakland’s Department of Race and Equity developed for use across City departments. It analyzes the impact of projects and policies on communities of color in an effort to ensure that all investments in the built environment work toward creating a city where everyone has access to opportunities necessary to meet their essential needs, advance their well-being, and achieve their full potential. This REIA intends to shed light on the outcomes of the Project through the lens of racial equity.
1.1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Within the City of Oakland, the East Bay Greenway will extend approximately seven miles from the Lake Merritt BART Station to the San Leandro City Limit and also connect to the Fruitvale BART and Coliseum BART Stations. The Project will consist primarily of Class I shared use paths, Class IV protected bikeways, and protected intersection treatments. The Project’s scope also includes pedestrian crossing safety and accessibility improvements, bus stop enhancements to improve speed and passenger comfort, and placemaking features.
The project corridor is currently characterized by a lack of adequate bicycle facilities, sidewalk gaps, infrequent crossing opportunities, and numerous crossings featuring striped crosswalks with no enhancements. The Project will provide a north-south, all ages and abilities bikeway "spine" that connects to a wide array of destinations, including downtowns, commercial districts, regional transit hubs, schools, social services, community colleges, professional sports stadiums, hospitals, shopping malls, and open spaces. The Project will improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians in a corridor that has been identified as part of Oakland’s High Injury Network (HIN) for both bicyclists and pedestrians. The Project will also improve the safety and convenience of traveling by bike, foot, and transit in communities that are identified as regional Equity Priority Communities (EPC)
1 by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and have relatively low levels of access to automobiles, which is detailed in Section 3.2.
The Project is part of the Phase 1 improvements that will provide for an on-street active transportation facility from Lake Merritt BART to South Hayward BART. Phase 2 is a longer-term project that will provide an off-street trail facility along the BART corridor with linear park
1 Equity Priority Communities are census tracts that have a significant concentration of underserved populations, such as households with low incomes and people of color. A combination of additional factors helps define these areas.
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enhancements. Phase 2 will deliver more fully on a vision for a greenway facility running along the BART system in this part of Alameda County. This idea orgininated in Urban Ecology’s East Bay Greenway Concept Plan (September 2008), which was a grassroots, non-profit-led community planning effort, and has consistently been identified as a priority in local, county, and regional transportation, land use, and recreation/open space planning documents.
1.2. PROJECT LOCATION
Within Oakland, the Project the spans from the Lake Merritt BART to the San Leandro City Limit and generally follows the following streets East 10th Street, East 8th Street, East 12th Street, and San Leandro Street, as illustrated in Figure 1. For the purposes of this REIA, the project boundary includes a 1/2-mile buffer to adequately analyze the area’s demographic groups and the key transportation challenges and needs in the community. The project area analyzed in the REIA only includes the Oakland portion of the Project.
It is important to note, particularly in the context of this REIA, that the Project is located on unceded Muwekma Ohlone land.
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Figure 1. EBGW Multimodal Project Limits within the City of Oakland with a Half-mile Buffer
1.3. CORRIDOR DEMOGRAPHICS
Oakland is one of the most racially and ethnically diverse cities in the country, and the Project spans one of the most diverse parts of Oakland known as East Oakland. Today, this part of Oakland faces legacy challenges caused by interlocking racist policy and planning decisions, specifically the practice of redlining, which shut communities of color out of homeownership opportunities, and, as a result, intergenerational wealth building and the many privileges that come with it.
Figure 2 illustrates the Oakland communities that were redlined as part of the federal government’s Homeowners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) which meant that the government would not insure mortgages in these areas. There is significant overlap between the project area and previously redlined areas, signaling a history of disinvestment and a need for specific interventions that work toward justice and equity for these impacted communities. The color designations in the map match those of the original redlining maps: Green = A/”Best,” Blue = B/”Still Desirable,” Yellow = C/”Definitely Declining,” and Red = D/”Hazardous.”
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Figure 2. City of Oakland Redlining Map (1937)
Source: Robert K. Nelson and Edward L. Ayers, accessed August 8, 2022 (https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/)
The legacy of redlining and other compounding policies, practices, and cultural occurrences, including white flight from neighborhoods to the suburbs during the period of Urban Renewal,2 is revealed powerfully in today’s data which shows that neighborhoods in the project area have some of the highest concentrations of low-income communities of color compared to Oakland overall. With few exceptions, the socioeconomic make-up of present-day Oakland corresponds to the above redlining map from 1937. Despite the patterns of disinvestment that resulted in disproportionate burdens faced by communities in East Oakland, they have created a thriving culture that is centered in art, collective action, and community care.
2 Urban renewal was the process of seizing and demolishing large swaths of private and public property for the purpose of modernizing and improving aging infrastructure. Between 1949 and 1974, the U.S. government underwrote this process through a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant and loan program.
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1.3.1. MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME
Median household income is an important indicator of shared prosperity in an area. Figure 3 illustrates the median household income (MHI) for each census tract within the project area based on Alameda County’s MHI for a household of four ($142,8003). This analysis uses Alameda County’s MHI, rather than Federal MHI ($90,0004) given the extremely high cost of living in the Bay Area and a desire by this report’s authors to accurately illustrate how consequential having a low income is in Alameda County for quality-of-life outcomes. Most census tracts within the project area make less than 59% of the MHI on average with some pockets making 0 to 19% of the MHI. The project area is surrounded by census tracts making above 80% of the MHI (shown in white in Figure 3), indicating that this project area has a particularly high concentration of low- income residents.
3 https://www.acgov.org/cda/hcd/documents/2022IncomeandRentLimits.pdf 4 https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il.html (Accessed on August 9, 2022) East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project
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Figure 3. Median Household Income in the Oakland Portion of Project Area
Table 1 illustrates the average MHI in the project area compared to Oakland overall. Project area households make over $15,000 less than the MHI in Oakland overall.
Table 1. Median Household Income in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area and Oakland Overall Geography MHI
EBGW Multimodal Project Area $65,021
City of Oakland $80,143
Difference $15,122
Source: 2016-2020 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates, Table B19013
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1.3.2. MINORITY POPULATION
As noted previously, the intersection of race and income is deeply tied to policy and planning decisions that impact the built environment, including where people live and how they access opportunities. Figure 4 illustrates that every census tract within the project area is comprised of at least a 51% minority population with most census tracts comprised of more than a 71% minority population.
Figure 4. Percent Minority Population in the Oakland Portion of Project Area
Table 2 expands on the composition of minority populations within the project area. This community has a higher percentage of Hispanic or Latino and Asian residents than Oakland overall by 9.5% and 7.3%, respectively, and a lower percentage of white residents by 11.2%. The project area has a lower percentage (3.8%) of Black or African American residents, though it is noted that the project traverses Census Tracts with a high percentage of Black or African American residents at its southern/eastern end. These data points demonstrate that the project area is incredibly racially diverse, and that it requires specific, targeted investments that improve
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quality of life for its residents and that address harmful legacy impacts from racist policies and practices.
Table 2. Percent Minority Populations in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area compared to Oakland Overall
EBGW Multimodal
Project Area City of Oakland
Total Overall
Population 175,506 440,646
Total Minority
Population 147,308 320,459
Total Minority % 83.9 72.7
Hispanic or Latino % 38.3 28.8
White Alone % 16.1 27.3
Black or African
American Alone % 17.0 20.8
Asian Alone % 23.2 15.9
Other % 1.5 1.6
2+ Races % 3.9 5.7
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171), Table P2
1.3.3. EQUITY COMMUNITIES
Bringing the previously presented data together is MTC’s EPC designation, which are census tracts that have a significant concentration of underserved populations, such as households with low incomes and people of color. A combination of additional factors help define these areas, which are detailed in Table 4. Table 3 illustrates that most of the project area (85%) is located within an EPC, compared to 52% of Oakland overall. By identifying which Bay Area communities East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project
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are or have been historically underserved, MTC can direct funding towards projects that enable more equitable access to transportation, housing, and services.5 Table 3. EPC Census Tracts in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area Compared to Oakland Overall Geography
Total Number
of Census
Tracts
Number of EPC
Census Tracts % EPC
EBGW Multimodal Project Area 34 29 85
City of Oakland 113 59 52
Source: Metropolitan Transportation Commission, 2021
Note: The total overall population within the project area is N = 136,890; City of Oakland N = 406,209.
Figure 5 illustrates the stark contrast of the project area’s EPC census tracts compared to other neighboring communities, such as the City of Alameda or the Oakland Hills, reinforcing the need for investments in community infrastructure – like the EBGW – that help improve safety and access to opportunities, such as jobs, education, and healthcare, through active transportation options.
5 https://mtc.ca.gov/planning/transportation/access-equity-mobility/equity-priority-communities East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project
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Figure 5. MTC's Equity Priority Communities in the Oakland Portion of Project Area
When analyzed further, the data reveal that across all the factors used by MTC to comprise their EPC designation, the project area has higher rates of the EPC variables by an overall average of
7.6% across all eight variables. The biggest deltas between the project area and the City were for the variables showing people of color (20.5% difference), low-income households (14.5%), and limited English proficiency households (10.6%).
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Table 4. Percent EPC Variables in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area Compared to Oakland Overall
EPC Variable
East Bay
Greenway
Multimodal
Project Area
City of
Oakland Difference
% Seniors 75 and Over 5.2 5.5 -0.3
% People of Color 85.9 65.4 20.5
% Single-parent
Households
22.6 18.2 4.4
% Limited English
Proficiency
20.9 10.3 10.6
% Low-income 46.3 31.8 14.5
% People with a
Disability
12.9 11.8 1.1
% Rent-burdened
Households
19.7 13.9 5.8
% Zero-vehicle
Households
19.6 14.7 4.9
Source: Metropolitan Transportation Commission, 2021
Note: The total overall population within the project area is N = 155,509; City of Oakland N = 520,462.
Taken together, the comparison of the EPC designations and the breakdown of the underlying data that comprise the designations between the project area and the City of Oakland overall indicate a real need to help expand access to opportunities, such as jobs and education, for people in these communities that are facing serious and disproportionate challenges from other Oaklanders, like rent-burden or low-income. The Project will help provide a critical connection to major transit facilities that will contribute to closing this gap, recognizing that there are larger forces at play beyond the built environment that are perpetuating and expanding inequality.
The City of Oakland also has a designation to identify equity communities within the city, called Equity Priority Neighborhoods (EPN), shown in Figure 6, below. A census tract is scored based on the percentage of the following demographic indicators: People of Color, Low-Income (50% Area Median Income), People with Disability, Seniors 65 Years and Over, Single Parent Families, Severely Rent-Burdened Households, and Low Educational Attainment. This dataset provides a East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project
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more local understanding about where historically underserved communities live in the project area and what challenges they face.
Figure 6. City of Oakland Equity Priority Neighborhoods in the Project Area
Table 5 shows that 94% of the project area is designated as an EPN, compared to 58% of Oakland overall.
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Table 5. EPN Census Tracts in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area Compared to Oakland Overall
Geography Total Number of
Census Tracts
Number of EP N
Census Tracts % EP N
EBGW Multimodal
Project Area 34 32 94
City of Oakland 113 66 58
Source: City of Oakland Geographic Equity Toolbox, Version 2 Note: the highest, high, and medium quintiles are considered EPN, and the low and lowest quintiles are considered non-EPN. The total overall population within the project area is N = 136,890; City of Oakland N = 406,209.
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2. IDENTIFY AND ENGAGE
Community engagement is an essential part of equitable transportation planning and project delivery. Working with different racial and ethnic groups that are likely to be affected by EBGW work is key to understanding whether the Project can play a role in reducing inequities.
2.1. PRIOR ENGAGEMENT AND PROJECT HISTORY
From the outset, the Project was identified as having the potential to promote active transportation equity for the mostly communities of color in East Oakland. The Project concept emerged from a non-profit led planning effort that took as inspiration the Ohlone Greenway in Northern Alameda County, which provides high-quality active transportation infrastructure under elevated BART tracks, providing communities with improved mobility options and connecting neighborhoods that may have felt separated by the BART line.
While these wealthier parts of the county enjoyed the benefits of active transportation improvements, the mostly communities of color south of the Lake Merritt BART Station did not have similar amenities along the BART and rail tracks in their neighborhoods.
With these conditions in mind, Urban Ecology led the development of an East Bay Greenway Concept Plan in 2007- 2008, with the intent of studying whether something similar to the Ohlone Greenway could provide benefits to communities further south in Alameda County. The East Bay Greenway concept developed by Urban Ecology is a trail in the immediate BART/UPRR Oakland Subdivision corridor which requires UP Right-of-Way. Urban Ecology staff attended over 40 community meetings in the potential EBGW area and interacted with almost 500 community members. This included working with residents of Oakland neighborhoods, such as Brookfield, Columbia Gardens, Sobrante Park, and San Antonio Hill. The EBGW was also named a priority project in the 2007 Oakland Bicycle Master Plan.
During this initial outreach, community members generally responded favorably to the concept of an EBGW. Many expressed that a bicycle and pedestrian trail would improve safety; provide recreation, health, and greening opportunities; and improve neighborhood feel. Commonly iterated concerns were intersection safety, crime, and greenway maintenance.
Following the completion of the Urban Ecology Concept Plan, Alameda CTC assumed the role of project sponsor for the East Bay Greenway. In 2017, the Alameda County Transportation Commission (CTC) led a public outreach process as a part of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) clearance for the Project. Alameda CTC hosted four open house public workshops, including one at the Fruitvale Senior Center, and collected online and written comments. Comments were generally supportive from the CEQA outreach events, but there was an overall theme that pedestrian and bicycle safety, design, and lighting elements were of concern in the corridor. The community input informed a CEQA Initial Study/Mitigated Negative East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project
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Declaration that was adopted in 2018 by Alameda CTC and included two rail-trail design options.
In addition to engagement centered specifically on the Project, the need for, design of, and community desire for the Project was further established through other citywide and neighborhood planning efforts in Oakland. Table 6 describes some of the plans that influenced and reinforced the need for the Project.
Table 6. Other Planning Efforts that Influenced the Project Plan Plan Goal Engagement
Methods
Findings Related to the
Project
East Oakland
Mobility Action
Plan (2021)
Create a guide for
the City and other
agencies on
allocating
resources for
mobility
improvements in
East Oakland.
Worked through
the East Oakland
Collective to hold
focus groups, pop
ups, and virtual
engagement
events.
There is a strong bicycling
culture in East Oakland, but
bicycle infrastructure is not
built around the needs of
residents.
East Oakland
Neighborhoods
Initiative
Community Plan
(2021)
Conduct
community-driven
planning to build a
climate resilient,
environmentally
healthy,
economically
empowered, and
just East Oakland.
Provided a
training
curriculum for
community
members on
planning that was
followed by
community
workshops and
surveys.
Most East Oakland
neighborhoods specifically
cited improved bicycle and
pedestrian conditions as a
top priority.
Let’s Bike Oakland
(Oakland Bike
Plan) (2019)
Identify ways for
bicycling to be
affordable, safe,
and healthy for all
Oaklanders.
Hosted workshops
and events in
partnership with
community-
based
organizations and
conducted a
representative
survey and digital
engagement.
People desire bicycle
infrastructure that provides
better local connections
and cross-town access.
Across race and ethnicity,
people think their
neighborhood would be
better with more bicycling.
East Bay Greenway is part of
the Alameda County low
stress network.
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Plan Plan Goal Engagement
Methods
Findings Related to the
Project
Oakland Walks!
(Oakland
Pedestrian Plan)
(2017)
Identify ways to
create streets that
give everyone the
opportunity to
have convenient
and healthy walks.
Conducted
surveys and held
community group
meetings.
Neighborhoods around the
EBGW alignment need
enhanced pedestrian
options.
The Project is also identified in other planning efforts informed by public input, including Alameda CTC’s Countywide Active Transportation Plan, Community-Based Transportation Plan, and Countywide Transportation Plan; MTC’s Regional Active Transportation Plan; and Caltrans’ District 4 Bicycle and Pedestrian Plans.
Following completion of environmental clearance in 2018, Alameda CTC engaged UPRR in right- of-way discussions. A number of challenges related to obtaining necessary UPRR ROW emerged, and in 2021 Alameda CTC decided to pursue a new direction to deliver on the community vision for a trail/active transportation facility in the BART corridor. The new East Bay Greenway Multimodal project seeks to provide the same link in the larger active transportation network while avoiding UPRR ROW by utilizing parallel streets when necessary.
2.2. UPCOMING ENGAGEMENT
As described in the previous section, the public outreach and community engagement around the Project has been extensive and robust over the past 15 years since the project was conceptualized, with community at the center of the outreach approach. Looking ahead, Alameda CTC and its partners are performing additional public outreach as part of the environmental clearance process to disclose and seek input on the new East Bay Greenway Multimodal project alignment. Parts of the new alignment follow the previously cleared alignment, while other parts incorporate new on-street sections that avoid the use of Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) right-of-way. While formal public outreach is not required for projects that fall under a CEQA Categorial Exemption or a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Categorial Exclusion, Alameda CTC and its project partners are committed to maintaining transparency and equity in their planning projects.
This REIA will help inform the outreach process, messaging, and tactics, and it will identify populations the project team may not have reached out to previously or that should garner special attention during current outreach efforts. Specifically, the REIA will support project messaging to emphasize the Project’s ability to meet the needs of existing residents and businesses by preserving neighbhorhood character while enhancing transportation connectivity, as detailed later in this report. The REIA will also help staff discuss the Project’s ability to East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project
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acknowledge and begin to address historic injustices and their lasting legacy in the project area.
The overall outreach strategy will be as follows:
• Post and distribute general project information about the Project on the Alameda CTC website and via postcards to addresses within a general ¼ mile radius of the full corridor limits in Oakland.
• Offer one-on-one or small-group/focus group informational briefings to key stakeholders, including local Councilmembers and select community organizations. • Through up to two pop-up events, perform focused and local outreach to communities near the segment that have changed from the previously approved EBGW alignment. • Offer multiple ways to make comments, including an online comment form on Alameda CTC’s website, an online survey that is linked from the various outreach materials, in- person comments recorded during meetings, and comment cards at pop-up events.
Comments will be organized and saved for future reference and incorporated into the project design where feasible.
• Present to the City of Oakland’s Public Works Committee a summary of major comment themes and how they have been incorporated or will be further considered during the final design phase.
• Provide project updates to the Oakland Bicyclist and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC).
• Gather and coalesce pertinent specific community feedback from previous (e.g, Let’s Bike Oakland 2019 Bike Plan) and current planning efforts (e.g. Central Alameda County Comprehensive Multimodal Corridor Plan) that may help inform a future design phase of the Project and prepare a summary memorandum of outreach efforts.
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3. KEY ISSUES IMPACTING THE PROJECT AREA
3.1. SAFETY
The Safe Oakland Streets (SOS) is a Citywide initiative to prevent serious and fatal traffic crashes and to eliminate crash inequities on Oakland's streets. The HIN dataset is an important tool used by the City of Oakland to achieve SOS goals as it tracks serious injuries and fatalities among bicyclists and pedestrians. The HIN provides an understanding of active transportation challenges in the City and measures the success of new planning and policy interventions on the ground. Figure 7 illustrates where the City’s HIN falls within or intersects with the project area, and it reveals a high occurrence of HIN facilities, especially toward the northwest segment.
Figure 7. City of Oakland’s High Injury Network Located in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area
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Table 7 provides more context on the percent of the HIN that falls within the project area. These datapoints show that out of the 78 square miles that comprise Oakland, this 8 square mile area is includes over one-third of the HIN, meaning that residents in this area — who are largely communities of color — are disproportionately burdened by a higher rate of serious traffic crashes when using active modes of transportation. High rates of injury among pedestrians and bicyclists are usually related to lack of safe active transportation infrastructure. The Project’s goal is to provide a protected and accessible active transportation facility for people to walk and roll on without concern for serious injury caused by automobiles, unlike existing conditions along major thoroughfares in the project area, such as E 12th Street, San Leandro Street/Boulevard, and E 14th Street.
Table 7. Percent of Oakland's High Injury Network in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area Pedestrian Bicycle Combined
Percent of Oakland’s HIN
located in the EBGW
Multimodal Project Area
34.6 30.5 35.2
Source: City of Oakland 2018
While Table 7 illustrates how much of the HIN is included in the project area, Figure 7 pinpoints the exact locations of bicycle and pedestrian fatalities, specifically, within the project area between 2015-2021. The data show that many of these fatalities occur immediately adjacent to the Project or in parallel corridors. The Project will provide a safe and connected opportunity for active travel away from unsafe conditions that currently exist in these nearby areas.
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Figure 8: Bicycle and Pedestrian Fatalities in the Project Area
The SOS data in Table 8 reveal that the project area has 26% of all bicycle and pedestrian deaths in the City of Oakland. Non-white fatalities comprise 21 of the 28 total—or 75%--of all fatalities in the project area. Within the non-white fatalities, Hispanic bicyclists and pedestrians have the highest representation at 11%. What this means is that of all of the bicycle and pedestrian fatalities in the City of Oakland, 11% of them are Hispanic people and occur within the project area, which is particularly notable given the relatively small size of the project area compared to Oakland overall.
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Table 8: Percent of Bicycle and Pedestrian Fatalities by Race in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area Compared to Oakland Overall
Asian Black Hispanic Other White
Project
Area
Total
Oakland
Total
EBGW Multimodal
Project Area total
bicycle/pedestrian
fatalities
6 1 12 2 7 28 106
Percent compared to
Oakland overall total
bicycle/pedestrian
fatalities
6% 1% 11% 2% 7% 26% -
Source: City of Oakland SOS Program, 2011-2020. Entries from SOS data that did not include information about race were not included in this table.
Table 9 below, expands on issues related to disproportionate bicycle and pedestrian fatalities in the project area. For instance, bicycle and pedestria n fatalities among Asian (21%), Hispanic (43%), and Other (7%) races occur at significantly higher rates than fatalities among Asian, Hispanic, and Other races in Oakland overall.
Table 9: Bicycle and Pedestrian Fatalities by Race as Proportions of Project Area and City of Oakland Totals
Asian Black Hispanic Other White Total
EBGW Multimodal
Project Area total
bicycle/pedestrian
fatalities
6 1 12 2 7 28
Percent of total EBGW
Multimodal Project Area
bicycle/pedestrian
fatalities
21% 4% 43% 7% 25% -
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Asian Black Hispanic Other White Total
Oakland overall total
bicycle/pedestrian
fatalities
12 32 28 3 31 106
Percent of total Oakland
bicycle/pedestrian
fatalities
11% 30% 26% 3% 29% -
Source: City of Oakland SOS Program, 2011-2020. Entries from SOS data that did not include information about race were not included in this table.
The data points in Figure 7 and Tables 8 and 9 reveal sobering results in terms of the impact of bicycle and pedestrian fatalities in the project area on communities of color, with the most occurrences taking place within EPCs or EPNs and high proportions of fatalities occurring among non-white bicyclists and pedestrians compared to Oakland overall.
Aside from potential auto-centric street design and bicycle/pedestrian facility inadequacies, another reason for such a disparity in fatalities could be because transit tends not to run regularly in the evenings, relegating the transit dependent, who may work off hours and who are mostly people of color, to walk or bike along HIN corridors, likely in the dark. The lack of active transportation infrastructure, such as sidewalks, also disproportionately harms the disabled.
Poorly maintained or nonexistent sidewalks create dangerous conditions for those with mobility challenges, such as those who are visually impaired/blind and in wheelchairs. In addition, people of color are often ticketed for minor bike violations at much higher rates than whites.
According to Let’s Bike Oakland, 60% of people stopped by police while bicycling are Black. In police beat 23x, which overlaps with the project corridor, the community is 8% Black, but Black cyclists make up 39% of police stops. So not only do communities of color tend to live in neighborhoods that lack active transportation infrastructure, but they are punished for it disproportionately, too.
3.2. BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN USAGE
Understanding how communities in the Oakland portion of the project area currently use active transportation helps build an understanding of how the Project could meet the needs of communities of color. Table 10 summarizes the transportation mode used to travel to/from work by residents of census tracts within the project area compared to the City of Oakland as a whole.
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Table 10. Primary Commute Mode of Residents in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area Compared to Oakland Overall
Geography
%
Drive
Alone
%
Carpool
%
Public
Transit
%
Taxi
%
Bike
%
Walk
%
Other
% Work
From
Home
EBGW
Multimodal
Project Area
53.3 10.8 19.6 0.4 1.6 4.6 1.8 8.0
City of
Oakland 49.9 9.7 21.5 0.4 2.3 3.6 1.8 10.8
Source: 2016-2020 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates, Table B08301 Note: Data universe: Total workers 16 years and over within the project area is N = 80,202; City of Oakland N = 220,062.
Residents in the project area are more likely to drive or carpool, and they are less likely to use transit6 or bike compared to the average Oaklander. Although commute mode choices are not always indicative of overall mobility options or choices, these findings align with findings from prior engagement efforts. For example, the East Oakland Mobility Action Plan found that residents of Oakland’s eastern neighborhoods were reliant on personal vehicles for their travel needs, even though a large portion of travel was within East Oakland.
A cross tabulation of primary commute mode by race was not available, but when this data is considered alongside public input, it suggests that many communities in the project area rely on vehicles due to a lack of transit and active transportation options that meet their needs. This aligns with larger historical and contemporaneous trends of communities of color living in transit or active transportation deserts, which indicates inequitable investment in the mobility needs of whiter and wealthier individuals over other groups.
Providing improved transportation choices other than personal vehicle is also essential because residents in the project area are more likely to not have access to a car than Oaklanders as a whole, as illustrated in Table 11.
6 Transit ridership between 2016-2020 in the project area may have been depressed due to the construction impacts of the AC Transit Tempo. As the bus rapid transit line on International Boulevard/ E 14th Street opened during COVID in 2020, increased ridership associated with this improvement may not be reflective in the Table 7 numbers.
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Table 11. Zero-vehicle Households in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area Compared to Oakland Overall
Geography Total Overall
Households
Total Zero -vehicle
Households
% Zero -vehicle
Households
EBGW Multimodal
Project Area 56,445 9,484 17.0
City of Oakland 160,095 24,381 15.2
Source: 2016-2020 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B08201 The Project will be a significant improvement for the 6.2% of residents in the project area that currently walk or bike as their primary form of commute. It will also provide a better option for residents that are interested in using active transportation more frequently.
3.3. ACCESS TO HIGH QUALITY ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
INFRASTRUCTURE
Although Oakland residents in the project area do not currently have high levels of active transportation usage, this may reflect infrastructure gaps and barriers rather than a lack of desire. By providing a better active transportation network to key destinations, the Project could make traveling by bike and on foot more feasible and desirable for the mostly residents of color who live in the study area.
3.3.1. LOW-STRESS BIKEWAYS
According to Let’s Bike Oakland, around 60% of residents in the project area are interested in bicycling more than they currently do. The area’s flat topography suggests that with quality infrastructure, people of varying physical abilities could begin bicycling more.
Let’s Bike Oakland also found that almost half of Oaklanders desire bike lanes that are buffered from traffic to feel safer riding. This suggests that providing bikeways that reduce interactions with vehicle traffic is essential to making the bicycle network more usable to all Oaklanders, especially those who are not currently frequent bicyclists.
Table 12 shows the percentage of Oakland residents that live within a quarter mile of a low-stress bikeway. In the Central East Oakland and Eastlake/Fruitvale areas, both of which overlap with the project area, many residents currently do not have convenient access to these bicycle facilities. Note that low numbers for some other areas are reflective of the hilly nature of those neighborhoods, which discourages many from bicycling. With the implementation of the Project and other bicycle improvements in the City’s bike plan, nearly all Oakland residents between Lake Merritt and San Leandro will have access to low-stress bicycle facilities.
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Table 12. Current and Future Access to Low-stress Bikeways Neighborhood
Current % of Residents
within ¼ Mile of a Low -
stress Bikeway
Future % of Residents
within ¼ Mile of a Low -
stress Bikeway
Central East Oakland 17% 99%
Coliseum/Airport 29% 61%
Downtown 100% 100%
Eastlake/Fruitvale 63% 100%
East Oakland Hills 1% 42%
Glenview/Redwood Heights 22% 86%
North Oakland/Adams Point 80% 99%
North Oakland Hills 18% 32%
West Oakland 67% 95%
Source: Let’s Bike Oakland 2019
Note: Future numbers are reflective of implementing the Project and the recommended bikeway network from Let’s Bike Oakland
The Project is a particularly important link for residents of East Oakland as it provides the type of bicycle facility that meets the communities’ needs. During outreach for the East Oakland Mobility Action Plan, community members noted that there is a strong bicycling culture in the area, but they also expressed that traditional bicycle planning and design did not account for how locals wanted to ride. People identified that skinnier bike lanes were seemingly designed with the needs of solo bike commuters in mind. In contrast, many East Oaklanders, particularly youth, who desire to bicycle more want to ride in groups.
Narrower bike lanes can also make it difficult for residents that ride “scraper bikes,” bicycles that are modified and decorated and serve as both a means of transit and artistic expression.
Scraper bikes are a visible part of Black culture in the project area. Many scraper bike riders enjoy traveling in groups as a show of community pride. Some scraper bikes are also wider than the average commuter bike, so navigating small bike lanes safely can be difficult.
Notably, much of the Project will be wider than typical bicycle facilities, which corresponds with bike lane preferences that communities expressed in prior outreach.
3.3.2. PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES
As shown in Table 10, residents in the project area walk less than the average Oaklander. This is largely driven by below average pedestrian infrastructure in the area. Oakland Walks! the City’s pedestrian plan, compares existing conditions in different parts of Oakland. Table 13 shows the East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project
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difference in several key pedestrian metrics between areas of Oakland that overlap with the Project and the City as a whole.
Table 13. Pedestrian Conditions in East Oakland Neighborhoods Geography No Curb Ramps Signals with
Pedestrian Heads
Sidewalk
Damaged
Central East Oakland 50% 61% 26%
Eastlake/Fruitvale 45% 33% 22%
City of Oakland 45% 47% 22%
Source: Oakland Walks! 2017
Pedestrian conditions in both Central East Oakland and Eastlake/Fruitvale lag the City’s averages in key categories. Fewer curb ramps and damaged sidewalks create inadequate conditions for many sidewalk users, including the disabled, elderly, and children. Without pedestrian heads at traffic signals, pedestrians do not have a good sense of how much time remains to safely cross. According to Oakland Walks!, these areas are 93% and 83% communities of color, respectively, which represents a lower level of pedestrian amenities currently available to communities of color. The Project will bring much needed pedestrian improvements that will better connect residents to local destinations, including ADA curb ramp upgrades and pedestrian signal head and accessible push button upgrades at various locations throughout the project corridor and constructing Class I shared use paths along portions of San Leandro Street that currently have no sidewalk.
3.4. IMPACT TO TRANSIT SERVICE AND ACCESS
Public transit is an essential mode of transportation to residents in the project area. Although public transit use as a primary mode of commute is lower than the Oakland average — one in six residents in the project area identify as a regular public transit commuter. Many community members use transit for a variety of other travel needs.
The proportion of residents in East Oakland who commute using bus, bicycle, or on foot is lower than Oakland as a whole, even though East Oakland residents have lower incomes than the Oakland average. Although disaggregated travel data by race was not available, this corresponds with a broader historical trend of underinvestment in many urban communities of color, which forces community members to rely on less affordable means of travel (i.e., personal vehicles). The Project can help make bicycle and pedestrian travel more convenient for residents along the corridor.
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3.4.1. BART
BART serves communities along the project corridor at the Lake Merritt, Fruitvale, and Coliseum stations. Some residents in neighborhoods along Oakland’s eastern border, such as Sobrante Park, may also regularly use the San Leandro BART Station, which is also along the Project area.
Since BART does not operate at street grade in the project area, its service will not be impacted by the Project, which will improve active transportation access to these stations. BART’s Walk and Bicycle Network Gap Study (2020) found that a growing percentage of BART riders are accessing stations by foot or bicycle (Table 14). Improving active transportation access will make it easier and safer for the predominantly communities of color in Oakland near these stations to use BART.
Table 14. BART Station Access Mode
Station
Access by
Bike or Foot
(2008)
Access by
Bike o r Foot
(2015)
Growth in
Access by
Active
Transportation
% of Black
and Latinx
Population in
Station Area 7
Coliseum 15% 47% 213% 90%
Fruitvale 33% 49% 48% 69%
San Leandro 33% 51% 55% 40%
Source: BART Walk and Bicycle Network Gap Study 2020
Note: Data on the Lake Merritt Station is not included in this study. Data for the San Leandro Station is included as this may be the closest station for some residents along Oakland’s eastern border.
In the Walk and Bicycle Network Gap Study, BART also notes that “considerably more people are regularly seen walking and biking to and from the station” at Coliseum since a small portion of the EBGW opened in the area in 2019, although those trends are not reflected in the 2015 data.
3.4.2. OTHER RAIL
Residents will be able to use the completed Oakland portion of the EBGW to directly access Capitol Corridor trains at the Coliseum Station. The Project will also provide convenient access to Capitol Corridor and San Joaquins trains at Jack London Square, just off the northern edge of the alignment. Since the Project will not take any right-of-way that these operators use, it will not impact regional rail operations. The Project will also provide better access to these services by bike or foot.
7 Racial Disparities in BART Usage During COVID-19 Pandemic | Bay Area Council Economic Institute (bayareaeconomy.org)
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3.4.3. BUS
For many transit users, AC Transit buses are an important way to get around Oakland. Short segments of the following AC Transit lines run on the same blocks as portions of the project area:
• Tempo Line 1T between Uptown Oakland and San Leandro BART along E 12th Street and International Boulevard/E 14th Street (share blocks in the City of San Leandro) • Around Coliseum BART Station: 45, 46L, 90, 98
• Around Fruitvale BART Station: 20, 21, 62
• Around Lake Merritt BART Station: 62, 96
No bus stops will be removed due to the Project, allowing residents to maintain or improve their current level of access to local transit stops (Figure 9). Further, the Project will create more efficient bus operations by installing bus island treatments that eliminate the need for buses to merge across bike lanes and back into traffic. This will result in faster travel times for residents.
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Figure 9. Bus Stops near the Oakland Portion of the Project Area
3.5. PARKING USAGE
Though public and active transportation options are growing, many people in the project area primarily rely on a vehicle for their travel needs. Although the Project should improve and create conditions for more residents to be able to travel by transit, bike, and on foot, reduced parking could have a large impact on people’s lives and mobility choices.
Parking removals necessary for the project could also impact businesses by making it difficult for potential customers or employees to arrive by car and by complicating business loading/unloading activities. Although quantitative data on business owners and employees of color in the project area were not available, the outreach activities described in Section 2 revealed that many community members of color view this corridor as a commercially important area. There are many middle-wage jobs along the project alignment that do not require tertiary education completion.
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A parking analysis study commissioned by Alameda CTC in July 2022, estimated that implementing the Project in Oakland will result in the elimination of about 238 on-street parking spaces. Based on existing parking occupancy at peak times, the study also concluded that there is sufficient on-street parking capacity in the project area to accommodate parking needs without negatively impacting residents and businesses.
The parking removals required for the project typically consist of removing some on-street parking spaces along a block in order to provide for sight distance at driveways with the addition of a parking-protected Class IV bikeway. There are only three limited sections where all parking would be removed along a block:
• East 12th Street between 14th Avenue and 16th Avenue
• San Leandro Street Northbound between 69th Avenue and 75th Avenue (parking primarily serves the Coliseum BART station which has large surface parking lots) • San Leandro Street Northbound between 105th Avenue and Moorpark Dr (parking primarily serves single family residences which have driveways and/or frontage on two sides)
In most of the project alignment, current parking supply is greater than parking occupancy at peak parking times (11 am-1 pm and 9 pm-11 pm). Even with the reduction in parking spaces on E 10th Street, E 8th Street, E 12th Street, San Leandro Street, and 105th Avenue, there will be enough parking directly along the alignment or in the nearby vicinity to accommodate current parking needs.
Spillover to side streets is only anticipated along two parts of the project alignment:
• E 12th Street between 26th Avenue and Fruitvale Avenue • San Leandro Street between 105th Avenue and West Broadmoor Boulevard In both cases, there is ample parking on side streets (without impacting neighbors) to accommodate people that cannot find parking along the project alignment. Even with parking spillover, there will be at least 10 open parking spaces on these side streets during peak parking hours. Further, residents, workers, and visitors accessing corner properties may still be able to park directly in front of their destination if parking is removed on the project alignment.
Table 15 shows the parking figures in the project area. The current peak occupancy column displays the higher value of the midday and evening peak period. Conversely, the current availability on side streets column shows the lower value of available parking between the AM and PM period. This gives a picture of what parking conditions could be at their most crowded.
The parking analysis did not breakdown results by type of adjacent land use or curb color. A preliminary breakdown conducted through Google Street View revealed that there is a East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project
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combination of residential and commercial buildings along the corridor. The most common commercial uses are more industrial, such as auto repair shops. These businesses may be less likely to require on-street customer parking. Other destinations that may be more reliant on people driving to them, such as Goodwill and the International Community School, have dedicated off-street parking. During the final design phase, the project team would work with adjacent property owners to develop loading solutions as appropriate.
Table 15. Parking Availability in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area Project Area
Parking
Supply with
the Project
in Place
Current Peak
Occupancy
Current
Availability on
Side Streets
E 10th St.
(Fallon St. to 5th Ave) 92 50 49
E 10th St.
(5th Ave to 9th Ave) 58 54 70
E 8th St.
(9th Ave to 13th Ave) 38 27 22
E 12th St.
(14th Ave to 20th Ave) 75 47 53
E 12th St.
(20th Ave to 26th Ave) 67 45 30
E 12th St.
(26th Ave to Fruitvale Ave) 126 34 33
San Leandro St.
(69th Ave to 75th Ave) 10 23 32
105th Ave
(Pippen St. to San Leandro St.) 11 10 26
San Leandro St.
(105th Ave to W Broadmoor Blvd) 0 25 36
Source: East Bay Greenway Project: Parking Analysis Technical Memorandum – Draft, 2022 Note: Current peak occupancy numbers are shown in red for the two segments in which parking spillover is anticipated.
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3.6. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
The impact of emissions caused by human activity — from single occupancy vehicles to large refineries — disproportionately affect communities of color. For reasons described earlier, such as discriminatory housing practices and policies and construction of major freeway infrastructure nearby, neighborhoods with high percentages of minority households are likely to be near environmental factors that cause disproportionate levels of air pollution and, as a result, disproportionate levels of pollution-related illness, such as heart disease, asthma, and pre-term birth. These illnesses result in disproportionate outcomes based on neighborhood determinants of health, for instance Black residents of the flatlands areas of Oakland have an average life expectancy nearly 12 years shorter than white residents in the Oakland Hills (70.5 years, compared to 82.3)8
CalEnviroScreen data reveal that pollution disproportionately burdens the communities that live within the project area. Figure 10 shows the overall CalEnviroScreen score for each census tract within the project area, which is almost entirely characterized by the highest pollution burden percentile. This map shows the combined pollution burden scores, which comprises indicators from the Exposures and Environmental Effects components of the CalEnviroScreen model.
Pollution burden represents the potential exposures to pollutants and the adverse environmental conditions caused by pollution.
8 Experts say racial disparities in health are a matter of lost trust and misplaced priorities. Boston Fed.
Retrieved from: https://www.bostonfed.org/news-and-events/news/2021/09/racism-and-the-economy- recap-on-the-health-
event.aspx#:~:text=The%20study%20revealed%20major%20disparities,years%2C%20compared%20to%2082 .3) (Accessed on August 5, 2022).
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Figure 10. Environmental Pollution Burden in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area
The types and levels of pollution exposure communities face can vary widely. Table 16 details the percentage of the population experiencing different pollution-related burdens in the project area compared to Oakland overall. Some of the most disproportionate exposures in the project area are particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), lead from housing, environmental clean-up sites, groundwater threats and impaired water, and solid waste. In total, the project area has a pollution burden 12.6% higher than Oakland overall.
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Table 16. Percentage of Population Experiencing Different Pollution Burdens in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area Compared to Oakland Overall Pollution Burden
East Bay Greenway
Multimodal Project
Area
City of
Oakland
Ozone % 3.9 3.8
PM2.5 % 37.0 39.1
Diesel PM % 81.7 74.2
Drinking Water % 4.2 4.4
Lead from Housing % 82.2 73.1
Pesticides % 0.0 0.3
Toxic Releases % 50.9 51.3
Traffic % 36.1 45.8
Cleanup Sites % 70.4 47.0
Groundwater Threats % 87.5 78.4
Hazardous Waste % 48.9 51.7
Impaired Water % 74.7 47.3
Solid Waste % 29.4 15.9
Pollution Burden % 56.9 44.3
Source: CalEnviroScreen 4.0
Note: Total population within the project area is N = 134,838; City of Oakland N = 425,097 For several decades, groups in East Oakland, like Communities for a Better Environment, have been organizing for better environmental justice outcomes for their residents. The Project will achieve shared goals with these local groups related to creating healthier communities by providing a sustainable and safe facility that connects neighborhoods with more transit opportunities.
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3.7. DISPLACEMENT
Improving active transportation infrastructure may present challenges in communities facing affordability issues and displacement pressures, like East Oakland. In many of these communities, residents have come to associate active transportation infrastructure with gentrification, sometimes referring to bike lanes as the “white stripes of gentrification.”9 However, the alarming rates at which low-income communities of color are impacted by fatalities and the higher arrest rates and fines related to active travel that they experience suggests that the Project presents an opportunity for meaningful outcomes that help support the use of active modes in a way that does not promote displacement. In addition, one recent research study suggests that the installation of new bike infrastructure in neighborhoods does not lead to displacement of people of color.10 To ensure that this remains the case, Alameda CTC, City of Oakland, and its partners must work in close coordination with community members to ensure supportive housing and other policies are in place that allow residents to stay put in advance of new neighborhood investments, like the Project.
Oakland has one of the most comprehensive sets of anti-displacement policies in place in the region. Those policies are detailed in the following list. Just cause eviction ordinances, inclusionary zoning policies, and rent control have been determined by researchers at the Urban Displacement Project to be three strategies that work effectively to curb displacement when deployed together, as they are in Oakland.
• Just cause eviction ordinance
• Rent stabilization and rent control
• Rent Adjustment Board
• Mobile home rent control
• Single room occupancy preservation
• Condominium conversation regulations
• Foreclosure assistance
• Jobs-housing linkage fee
• Housing trust fund
• Inclusionary zoning
• Community Land Trust
• First source hiring
Despite the numerous anti-displacement policies in place in Oakland, displacement is still a very real and present issue in the Bay Area and in the communities within the project area due to
9 Flanagan, E. Lachapelle, U, and El-Geneidy A. (2016). Riding tandem: Does cycling infrastructure investment mirror gentrification and privilege in Portland, OR and Chicago, IL?. 10 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1361920921002194?dgcid=author East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project
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things like pre-existing housing market forces. Based on research from the Urban Displacement Project (shown in Figure 11), communities in the project area appear to be susceptible to displacement or experiencing early stages of gentrification.
In the past, community members have vocalized concern regarding displacement from International Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). However, the BRT was a very different scale in terms of level of investment, duration and extent of construction impacts, and streetscape changes. As noted above, the research does not support the potential perception that bicycle infrastructure causes displacement the way transit investments have been known to do.
Figure 11. Displacement Potential in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area
In instances where new active transportation facilities are built, some community members might have a perception or sense that the project is not for them depending on the history in that place. This issue of cultural displacement often comes up in the context of reinvestment in a previously disinvested in community, like the communities within the project area. Cultural displacement results when the tastes, norms, and desires of newcomers supplant and replace
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those of incumbent residents, and it can also entail the loss of historically and culturally significant institutions for a community.11 While the extensive outreach conducted over the past 15 years indicates wide support from the community and ample opportunities for residents to help shape the Project, keeping community members involved through every part of the project process moving forward is important to ensure it is positioned to deliver benefits to these communities on their terms. The Project team can work to ensure a sense of community ownership of the Project such as through incorporating public art that reflects the neighborhood or including interpretive signage along the pathway that highlights the history and heritage of the area.
While displacement risk is ever-present in a housing context as volatile and unpredictable as the Bay Area, research suggests that an active transportation improvement, such as the Project, will not drive displacement. Paired with the high number of City-wide anti-displacement measures in place and robust community engagement, this Project is poised to improve quality of life for existing residents who have faced compounding impacts from disinvestment in the past.
11 National Community Reinvestment Coalition
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4. PROJECT OPPORTUNITIES
The Project offers vital benefits to Oaklanders residing between Lake Merritt and the City’s border with San Leandro. As evidenced in the engagement section of this analysis, the Project will deliver benefits that community members have directly identified as priorities.
In addition, the Project offers significant access opportunities to Oaklanders in the project area.
The Project can serve as a convenient way to access local and cross-town destinations, enhancing connectivity to economic, educational, medical, social, and other opportunities. Key destinations the Project will provide improved or new connections to include:
• Downtown Oakland, where there are over 109,000 jobs, government offices, courthouses, and the main library
• Rail/transit connections to BART and Capitol Corridor stations • Lake Merritt, a regional open space and national wildlife sanctuary that is often referred to as the “lungs” of Oakland
• Laney College, a community college and vocational school • 34 elementary, middle, and high schools
• Fruitvale and East 14th Street commercial districts
• Health clinics, social services, and senior centers
• Oakland Arena and RingCentral Coliseum
• Industrial portions of San Leandro Street that have thousands of middle wage jobs that do not require a college education
The Project will also help Oaklanders access places outside of the City, such as downtown San Leandro and the Bayfair Center shopping mall and the broader region via the BART system.
Figure 12 and Figure 13 show some of the many important community resources accessible within a half mile of the Project.
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Figure 12. Key Community Destinations Accessible within a Half Mile of the Project in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area
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Figure 13. Schools within a Half Mile of the Project in the Oakland Portion of the Project Area
There are notable affordable housing developments planned in the project area, including more than 700 units in BART station areas. The Project will provide residents of those units with a high-quality, convenient, and affordable transportation alternative to driving to the many community destinations within the project area.
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5. CONCLUSION
5.1. SUMMARY OF POTENTIAL RACIAL EQUITY BENEFITS/BURDENS The East Oakland community has faced many generations of disinvestment and this Project has the potential to address some of the historical injustices that have taken place by increasing access to opportunity, reducing disproportionate health outcomes, and providing a fun and safe community asset that people of all abilities can enjoy. The Project concept originated with a non-profit led, grassroots community planning process more than 15 years old that centered on trying to bring a multimodal facility and community asset along the BART corridor to communities that have great need for affordable mobility.
The demographic analysis of the project area, when compared to Oakland overall, paints a picture of disproportionate burdens faced by these neighborhoods. The project area has a higher percentage of the following factors than the City of Oakland overall, indicating a real need for specific and focused efforts to right historical wrongs that led to these conditions -- the Project is an important step toward redressing past harms. • Low income
• Communities of color
• Equity Priority Communities
• Seniors
• Single-parent households
• Limited English proficiency
• Rent burdened
• Disabled
• Zero-car households
• Pollution burden
• High Injury Network
Given that a high percentage of residents who are characterized by these intersecting factors live within the project area, it stands to reason that they will benefit most from the Project. This can only be true so long as residents continue to be brought along in all facets of the Project’s planning and implementation to self-actualize the benefits it can provide.
Also, the appropriate anti-displacement policies must be deployed and enforced to ensure residents can continue to stay in place as external influences put pressure on this community.
Trends of displacement have been accompanied by a sense that communities are rapidly changing and losing the culture that many residents of color feel are key to the fabric of their neighborhoods. Initial research into displacement suggests that the Project is the type of improvements that can support the driving goal of the East Oakland Neighborhoods Initiative:
“better neighborhoods, same neighbors”.
The project has tradeoffs in the form of loss of on-street parking in select project segments. On- street parking may be important for certain businesses or residents due to special mobility needs, loading needs, or customer access issues. However, in nearly all sections, some on-street parking would be maintained as part of the project design and parking analysis shows that all parking East Bay Greenway Multimodal Project
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demand can be accommodated along the corridor and immediate side street without undue impact on neighborhoods.
The demographic composition of the project area is connected to other social determinants of health, including pollution-related illness, bicycle and pedestrian injuries and fatalities, and low levels of access to active transportation, each of which the residents in the Project area are disproportionately impacted by. The Project fills important gaps within the active network in Oakland with a low-stress facility that will encourage mode switch to active modes or transit, reducing vehicle miles traveled and contributing to a reduction in pollution-related impacts on communities. In addition, the new facility will be highly protected and of high-quality, greatly reducing the number of bicycle and pedestrian injuries and fatalities by limiting interactions with vehicles and roadways. Finally, with the implementation of the Project and other bicycle improvements, nearly all Oakland residents along the project corridor will have access to low- stress bicycle facilities within a quarter mile of where they live, connecting them to hundreds of important community resources they can reach without a car.
Given the disproportionate representation of intersectional disadvantaged communities in the project area, the disproportionate representation of the project area and its residents in the City’s HIN and bicycle and pedestrian fatalities, and the presence of robust anti-displacement policies and community engagement more broadly, this REIA concludes the Project will contribute to advancing racial equity outcomes in Oakland by improving safety and access for the communities adjacent to the Project.
5.2. EVALUATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Once constructed, the following key performance indicators (KPI) should be tracked to analyze if and to what extent the Project is helping to achieve racial equity goals. These KPIs are based largely on data that is already collected by local agencies. Those KPIs include the following, which are disaggregated by race where possible:
• Bicycle and pedestrian injuries in the project area (Safe Oakland Streets) • Bicycle and pedestrian fatalities in the project area (Safe Oakland Streets) • High Injury Network (Safe Oakland Streets)
• Mode by which rider accessed BART (BART intercept survey) • Mode split for residents in project corridor (American Community Survey) • Longitudinal eviction rate data (Alameda County Court) • Bicycle and pedestrian counts (City and Alameda CTC count programs) Depending on funding and staff resources, Alameda CTC and the City of Oakland could partner to deploy an intercept survey to understand in a more qualitative sense how the Project has impacted residents’ and users’ mobility, quality of life, what their perceptions and observations are regarding neighborhood change etc. If pursued, these surveys should be timed at key evaluation points in the Project to inform ongoing management or other adjacent planning projects.