City Council Staff Report Page 1 of 3 January 27, 2026
Staff Report
Agenda Item No. 3.11
DATE: January 27, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Joan Malloy, City Manager
SUBJECT: Accept a Report on the Union City Transit Winter 2026 Service Changes, Effective Saturday, February 21, 2026
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff recommends the City Council accept a report on the Union City Transit service changes effective Saturday, February 21, 2026.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT
There is no direct alignment with the Strategic Plan goals.
BACKGROUND
Before the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic, Union City Transit had not changed its routes and schedules since 2015. During 2020, Union City Transit underwent multiple service iterations to adapt to decreased ridership, social distancing, and curfews due to social unrest. After a public hearing held on March 9, 2021, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 5722-21, making permanent service changes to route alignments.
On May 24, 2021, Union City Transit began the twenty-two-month Union City Flea (Flexible, Local, Easy, Access) microtransit pilot project that was initially approved by Resolution No. 5535-19 on October 22, 2019. The pilot project concluded on March 31, 2023. City Council approved extending the program through September 1, 2023, by adopting Resolution No. 6111-23 on April 25, 2023, to coincide with the upcoming Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) fall service changes, originally scheduled for August 2023.
On April 4, 2025, BART announced to transit operators that its proposed service changes for Fall 2025 would take effect on Monday, August 11, 2025. The service changes would continue BART’s response to a looming fiscal cliff that requires reducing service to preserve existing operating funds, with continued significant impacts to the segment of the system between Bay Fair and Berryessa. Trains will continue to be scheduled to arrive every ten (10) minutes on average in each direction at the Union City BART Intermodal Station. This latest adjustment impacts Union City Transit schedules that have been in Agenda Item No. 3.11
City Council Staff Report Page 2 of 3 January 27, 2026
effect since August 10, 2023.
The City Council awarded a service contract to MV Transportation, Inc. (MV Transit) on March 14, 2023, with the adoption of City Council Resolution No. 6096-23. The new contract includes a provision for microtransit and an anticipated number of service hours pending an expansion or contraction of the service.
On April 22, 2025, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2025-050, authorizing Union City Transit to apply for Low-Carbon Transit Operation Program (LCTOP) funds to partially fund a further expanded service area for the Union City Flea microtransit service as described in the contract with MV Transit. This application has been submitted to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for review, and Caltrans staff have been working with Union City Transit staff to ensure its approval.
DISCUSSION
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC) Blue Ribbon Transit Recovery Task Force (BRTF) convened during the COVID-19 Pandemic to address transit issues.
The BRTF has evolved into the Transit Transformative Action Plan (TTAP) and seeks to implement the most viable recommendations that came from the BRTF. The TTAP includes schedule coordination, fare coordination, wayfinding coordination, technology coordination, procurement coordination, and fiscal responsibility amongst all the transit operators in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area under the purview of MTC. Some of the collaborations described will come through a newly developed MTC committee responsible for Regional Network Management (RNM). One of the goals of RNM is to make local or sub-regional operators connect with regional operators. In Union City, Union City Transit would continue coordinating its schedule to connect with Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) trains arriving or departing at the station.
Union City Transit staff has evaluated the new BART schedule for Winter 2026 and has determined that the current bus schedule maintains connections with the maximum number of trains possible. The Winter 2026 schedule preserves peak hours weekday mornings and evenings at 20-minute peak service intervals on Routes 1, 2, and 5. The Winter 2026 schedule preserves the number of trips on Routes 3 and 4 based on prior year ridership. Route 8, the official route number for the New Haven Unified School District’s (NHUSD) seasonal supplemental service, will resume operating on weekdays during the school year. The Winter 2026 weekday schedule will continue to start at 4:35 AM and end at 10:25 PM, and the weekend schedule will continue start at 7:04 AM and end at 7:51 PM.
Union City Transit staff are eliminating two (2) trips from the Route 5 weekday schedule due to low ridership and a printing error in the last schedule that resulted in an unbudgeted trip. The 4:35 AM Route 5 trip will be eliminated due to low ridership and will be supported by the Union City Flea, which will operate at this hour. The 6:55 AM Route 5 trip was a printing error in the schedule last fall that required running unplanned service.
There will be no impact on Union City Paratransit’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) service hours or Union City Flea service hours.
Agenda Item No. 3.11
City Council Staff Report Page 3 of 3 January 27, 2026
Union City Transit staff anticipate that BART will release a reduced service schedule for Monday, August 10, 2026, and expect to present Fall 2026 Union City Transit schedule changes to the City Council in July 2026, including a Saturday, August 8, 2026, service change to facilitate customer connections with the new BART schedule.
FISCAL IMPACT
The service changes put forth were included in MV Transit's pricing, and MV Transit’s pricing was used to develop Union City Transit’s funding in the approved Biennial Budget for FY 2025-2026 and FY 2026-2027.
There is no impact on the General Fund.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council accept a report on the Union City Transit service changes effective Saturday, February 21, 2026.
Prepared by: Steve Adams, Transit Manager
Submitted by: Marilou Ayupan, Public Works Director