transit times volume 5, number 1

8/14/2019 Transit Times Volume 5, Number 1

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Vol. 5 No . 1 OAKLAND, MAY 1962

Ch icago Demonstrates High Speed Freeway Bus Lane

'Transit District Explores New federalPolicy on Specia/lBus l:freeway Lane. 'A new Federal program to encouragemore effective use of freeways by transitvehicles was under study this month byAC Transit officials with representativesof the State and Federal governments.

Of specific interest is the success ofthe exclusive bus lane established bythe State on the Bay Bridge last Januaryto speed evening commute traffic.The lane, which enables qistrict busesto cross the span twice as fast as auto-mobiles, is the only one in the Nationoperating on a highway or freeway, al-though street lanes have been set aside

for buses in some cities.Plans for the new Chicago SouthwestExpressway, however, call for centerlanes to be used for buses only.Favorable ConsiderationPresident Kennedy, in asking Con-gress last month for action on urbantransportation problems, said he had re-

quested the Secretary of Commerce to"consider favorably the reservation ofspecial highway lanes for buses duringpeak traffic hours whenever comprehen-sive transportation plans indicate thatthis is desirable." (Continued on Page 2)


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Better Freeway Use Under Joint Study(Continued from Page 1)

Ways of extending the mileage of exclusive bus lanes in Alameda and ContraCosta County were being explored bydistrict officials with Dr. John C. Kohl,top federal transit administrator, working in cooperation with the U.S. Bureauof Public Roads.

Dr. Kohl, after several meetings withdistrict officials, said his interest in ACTransit's efforts to provide speedier roadways for buses stems in part from studiesof the Bay Bridge special lane and thegeneral ' success of the district.

Kohl, administrator of a $45,000,000transit research and development fund,declared "the AC district has a very progressive point of view and its activitiesare of extreme interest to us."Kohl works closely with the Bureauof Public Roads to assure highwaytransit coordination. The bureau specifically is watching and studying theeffect of the exclusive Bay Bridge buslane on transit riding and on auto traffic.State officials, also, have been keepinga close eye on the operation.One indication of the , lane's effectiveness was seen in the jump in commutebook sales, up 6.5 per cent in March,as compared to a year before, and 13.7

per cent in April, compared to a year ago .The value of the books sold last monthtotaled $162,897, an increase of $19,655over the previous April.The increase in commute sales has

been steady since the state establishedthe Bay Bridge bus lane January 15.Kohl, in the Bay area on a westernplanning conference, me t with districtdirectors and staff members. to informally discuss. th e government's program.Kohl, in addition to other federaltransit and highway officials, .conferredearlier in Washington with General Manager Kenneth F. Hensel and Robert E.Nisbet, attorney for the district.The officials flew to the Nation's cap-2

itol in an effort to determine how theEast Bay's bus system fits into the President's mass transportation proposal andth e policies of the U.S. Bureau of Roads.

The officials conferred with legislatorsrepresenting th e East Bay area, includingCongressmen John F. Baldwin, Jr., Jeffery Cohelan and George P. Miller.Preliminary discussions also have beenheld with officials of the State Department of Public Works.Staff findings as a result of the severalconferences with state an d federalagency representatives will be summarized in a report to the AC board of directors early next month.Employees Welcomed

To Transit DistrictNew employees welcomed by ACTransit during April included:

Emeryville DivisionSchedule Analyst: Robert W. Rausch,525 Comstock Dr., Tiburon.Traffic Checker: Harold W. Fell, 615Ashbury Ave., El Cerrito.Bus Operators: W . B. Kling, 1300 ElCurtola Blvd., Walnut Creek; T. J. Estes,335-A 49th St., Oakland; J. J. Callahan,

4416 Hull Rd., Oakland; A. V. Martinez,Jr., 554 25th St., Oakland; H. J. Gross,360 45th St., Apt. 4, Emeryville.East Oakland Division

Maintenance: Albert J. Fernandes,7916 Ney Ave., Apt. C, Oakland.Bus Operators: T. F. Shevlin, 223084th Ave., Oakland; J. L. Price, 115298th Ave., Oakland; R. W. Rennie, 8367Iris St., Oakland; P. O. Wilbur, 4534Wheeler Dr., Fremont; M. L. White,43373 Columbia Ave., Irvington; W. A.Richards, Jr., 916 Central Blvd., Hayward; J. J. Hussey, 22957 Sutro St., Hayward; R. B. Hilton, 1824 57th Ave. ,Oakland.

Informative Signs Posted at TransbayTerminal to Malee Bus Riding EasierBright, new colorful signs were posted

at 30 loading zones at the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco this month tohelp the district's booming family ofriders make the best use of their ex-panding bus system.

The signs, larger and more informative than those left over from Key Systemoperations, identify the line loading atth e zone, its destination and the routeover which it operates. On express schedules, the first East Bay stop is listed tonotify new commuters of the nature ofthe limited stop service.

The signs are in district colors and include the district emblem, adding a touchof brightness to the loading area. For18 of the zones, used only during com-

TERMINAL SIGNS-General Manager Ken-neth F. Hensel, right, and MaintenanceManager Brooks Rice assist F. S. Hodgeas he posts new signs in San Franciscoterminal.

mute hours, special "cover-up" cardboard signs have been devised, feat uringthe district's theme girl and the phrase,"It's Smart to Ride the Bus!" They'llcover the special commute signs dudngoff-peak operations.

Free Rides InaugurateNew Alameda Service

Three days of free rides-biggest welcome yet for a new bus line-gave Alameda's Line 63 a rousing send-off thismonth.Hundreds of residents took advantageof a three-day courtesy ride period, ar

ranged by Park Street and South Shoremerchants, to try the new service.The line will give South Shore andBay Farm Island residents access toneighborhood recreational and shoppingfacilities and will also provide passengers with additional connections withother transit service.Colored cards, showing timetables

and a route map, were posted at coachstops and in stores to introduce theservice. Personal letters also were sentto 1700 homes explaining where theline would run and how it could bestbe used by the riders.

IN MEMORIAMMary G. Hayes, ticket seller in theearly days of Key System operations andagain during the busy war years, diedApril 17 at the age of 78.Miss Hayes went to work at th e formerKey Pier in 1917, was pensioned in 1935,bu t returned in 1944 to act as a ticketcollector at the San Francisco terminal.She retired again in 1957. Her home was

at 482 40th St., Oakland.3


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AC /transit PASSENGER REVENUE . .. COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS YEAR$1,060000 r - - . . , . . . - - - r - - . , . . . . - . . . . , . - - ~ - . . . , . . - - , . . . . . . - " ' T ' " - - - r - - . . . - - ....$1,040,000 I--+-- ____$1020,000 1 - - I - - . . . - t - - - ' ' t ! - - - + - I - - f - - - + - - # + ~ . _ _ _ + _ - _ _ 1 1000,000 a - j ~ - - t - - - + + - - + - f - - - h ' - - I - - l " " ~ ~

980,000 - - - 1 ~ - " " " ' - t - # - - + ' + ~ f - - + - - I - - + - - - - - ; # J

960,000 I - I I I A : - - 1 - - ~ . - - - - - J - - - J ~ ~ ~ l = = + = + - - f 940,000 t--a --+ -

920,000 t - . t r - h l - - - - - ; : : = : : = : t ; - - J 900,000

880,000JAN. FEB. MAR.

MARCHPASSENGERSPercentage Changefrom Previous Year

AC Transit hit its highest peak in patronage duringMarch, tallying the greatest number of riders sincethe district went into operation a year and a half ago.Some 4,511,000 passengers were carried during themonth, an increase of 262,000 riders or 6.2 percentover March of last year.

+8% . . . ._____ -.,

_ ACTRANSIT_ U.S. TRANSIT INDUSTRY4

The previous high was last October, when 4,461,000riders were carried.John F. Larson, treasurer-controller, said total Marchincome of $1,115,000 was adequate to cover all operational costs, which were up 11.7 percent over last year.

As projected, however, income still is not enough toprovide for total expenses, including retirement ofbonded debt and a portion of bond interest.

Miles operated in March totaled 1,944,000, an increase over March, 1961, of 142,000 miles or 7.9 percent.The first three quarters of the year ending March 31

showed the district had a more favorable net operating result than projected, with a deficit of $323,000,instead of the anticipated deficit of $516,000 for thenine-month period.

Jl'

Board OK's New Service ImprovementsExtension of transbay commuter service into the Fairway Park area of south

ern Hayward and inauguration of nonstop transbay commute service for theOakland hill areas of Montclair andCrestmont were among improvementsinaugurated this month.District directors also approved anextension to Line 43-Foothill Blvd. inSan Leandro to provide the first transitservice for the growing residential area ofBancroft Ave.In Hayward, four special Line Rtransbay commuter runs were extendedou t Mission Blvd. to Fairway Park.

The runs operate express between SanFrancisco and Hayward via the NimitzFreeway and Castro Valley cutoff, withthe first stop at Mission and LewellingBlvd., cutting 10 to 12 minutes fromprevious travel times.

Faster transbay commute also wasprovided for the Broadway Terrace,Montclair and Crestmont districts byrerouting the Montclair branch of Line Cvia Broadway and MacArthur Blvd. tothe Bay Bridge, instead of following theregular 40th St. route .

The branch line is now making itslast East Bay stop on Broadway at 42ndStreet, cutting seven minutes from previous schedules.By rerouting and extending Line 43,Emeryville Keeps Trophy

For the second month in a row, Emeryville Division mechanics won thetraveling road call trophy by tallying up15,482 miles per mechanical road callduring April. East Oakland mechanicswere in second place, with 11,307 miles.

MORE INFORMATIONA note or phone call to the transit dis

trict-OLympic 3-3535-will place yourname on the mailing list for TransitTimes if you are no t already regularly receiving a copy of the monthly newsletter.

effective June 3, new bus service will beavailable along some two and a halfmiles of Bancroft Ave.The line, which now ends at Bancroft

and Sybil Ave., will be extended outBancroft a mile and a half to the junction with East 14th St.The line also will be rerouted fromMacArthur Blvd. to Bancroft Ave. be

tween 90th and 106th Aves., to provideservice along the newly improved andwidened street.Service will continue to be providedon MacArthur Blvd. by Line 40-FoothillBlvd., which will operate as at presentto Sheffield Village and Estudillo Ave.

Fare Cut: ScheduledFor Teen-Age RidersTeenagers through the age of 16 will

be able to ride transbay lines to andfrom San Francisco at reduced faresstarting June 1.The new fare schedule will reducefares for the 13 through 16 age group

by an average of 60 per cent.The lower rate already applies to chil

dren under 13, but the older group hasbeen paying regular adult fares.

Under the new schedule, youngstersriding between Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda and San Francisco, for example,will pay 20 cents, instead of the present50 cents. Between San Leandro, Richmond, EI Cerrito and San Francisco,fares will be cut from 60 to 25 cents; andfrom Hayward, 70 to 25 cents.

This will be the second time the district has reduced fares for youngstersin the 13 through 16 age bracket, aspart of its plan to build the bus ridinghabit among East Bay residents.

Last year, the lO-cent local fare paidby those under 13 was extended to include the older group.


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Calling All CarsCentral Dispatch Keeps Buses Moving

By Virginia DennisonAs the "nerve center" of AC Transitoperations throughout the district, Cen

tral Dispatch handles everything thatmight affect bus service-with one possible exception.It hasn't yet (fingers crossed) beencalled upon to direct the delivery of anew-born passenger.But fires, accidents, "stalls," bus breakdowns - and complaints - are part ofround-the-clock operations at CentralDispatch. And the air waves and phonewires are perpetually humming in vicinity of the center's small, bu t efficientheadquarters on the second floor of theEmeryville division offices.

Donald Bennett, one of the five regular dispatchers who keep the coachesmoving, estimates the center-one manto a shift, usually- handles 250 radio callsand between 300 and 400 telephone callsin a normal 24 hours.It's the dispatcher who gets the wordfrom bus drivers needing some kind ofassistance, and it's the dispatcher whosends ou t help, usually by radio call toa supervisor or maintenance vehicle.

IT STARTS HERE-Donald Ben-nett takes a call for helpfrom a bus driver; relays theneed via radio to a rovingsupervisor.

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Similarly, it's the dispatcher who handles other problems which may disruptservice and when Transit Informationcloses down its switchboard at midnight,it's Central Dispatch that answers questions and occasional complaints.Along with its own radio and telephonesystem, Central Dispatch monitors Oak

land and Berkeley police calls and thestate highway patrol. When somethingoccurs which might involve the buses,the word goes out to the supervisors.Or sometimes they star on their own.

Bennett, handling the mike now,jumped into a cops and robbers chasein his supervisor days, capturing a fleeing thug. He also had the horrifying experience of seeing the chasing policecar go speeding right by, while he heldthe captive, armed only with conviction.A loud shout - from Bennett - broughtback the cops in time to take possession.

Service with the combat engineersoverseas in World Wa r II may havehelped Bennett with some of his supervisor activities, bu t his imperturbability

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with a mike can probably be creditedto "show biz".Bennett played the theater circuit as

the "boy called Useless" in the give-awayprogram of "Shanny Advershow". Afterhanding ou t prizes for a spell and another period as assistant manager of theGranada Theater, Bennett changed rolesand followed his father into the KevSystem. .

Another supervisor, Fred H y m e s ,found his experience as a tough Marinesergeant a help when he spotted anarmed kidnaper and robber hotfootingit through the former Piedmont stationto jump on a Grand Ave. bus. Hymes

COMES OUT HERE-Supervisor L.H. Minear gets the word by radiothat assistance is needed and ison the job in seconds.

GOES THROUGH HERE - Radio antennaon the roof of the general offices beamsout the messages for the district's radiostation, KMA 776.

ran after him, pulled him off the busand turned him over to police.

Helping to carry ou t the assignmentof Central Dispatch-keep th e buses rolling- are R. E. Hawes, L. L. McDonald,L. H. Minear, B. C. Walden and Bennett,manning different shifts.

On th e other end of the mike are thesupervisors, cruising in seven radio cars.Five superintendents' cars are also radioequipped, along with a fleet of tow carsand maintenance equipment. They go tomake up the field team that can takeany situation in hand to keep transitmoving.

There are always problems, bu t in thememory of general superintendent Donald J. Potter, there's been nothing in ACTransit regime to match the horrifyingtime a 22nd St. train derailed at GrandAve. and Broadway,just after the breakof a UC-St. Mary's football game.

Both streets were blocked, traffic wastied up for five hours and Potter isn'tsure either he-or Central Dispatch-willever be the same again.


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At an adjourned regular meeting April25, 1962, the Board of Directors : Awarded contract for 10 new autosfor AC supervisors and two deliverytrucks to Golden Bear Motors at a costof $23,090, on motion of Director Coburn .

Approved purchase of 10,000 tokenholders at a unit price of 25 cents forresale to AC patrons, on motion of Director McDonnell. Commended safety department andoperating personnel on results of effortsto reduce accidents, on motion of Direc

tor Barber. Approved retention of Thompson,

Dechow and Reich to conduct annualaudit, on motion of Director McDonnell.

Approved increasing age limit foruse of children's transbay fares, andauthorized extension and rerouting ofLines 43-Foothill Blvd., C-Montclair andR-Hayward, on motion of Director Coburn.

Authorized study on reorganizationof functions performed in general offices as to effects on space requirements ,on motion of Director Barber. Extended provisions of pension plan

and vacation and sick leave benefits toinclude all non-contract personnel, onmotions of Directors Berk, Coburn andBarber.

Authorized General Manager andAttorney to confer in Washington withTRANSIT TIMES

Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District1106 BroadwayOakland 7, CaliforniaReturn Requested

TRANSIT TIMES

BOARD OF DIRECTORSWM. J. BETTENCOURT . PresidentWord IVROBERT M. COPELAND . . . Vice PresidentDirector at LargeROBERT K. BARBER . . Director at LorgeWILLIAM H. COBURN, JR . Ward IWILLIAM E. BERK Ward IIJOHN McDONNELL Ward I IIE. GUY WARREN . Ward V

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERSKENNETH F. HENSEL General ManagerROBERT E. NISBET . . . AttorneyJOHN F. LARSON . TreasurerCantrolierGEORGE M. TAYLOR . Secretary

federal officials on transportation problems, on motion of Director McDonnell.At the regular meeting May 9, 1962,

the Board of Directors: Endorsed administration bill beforeCongress to provide Federal aid and

support to mass transportation systemson motion of Director Barber. Authorized Attorney to retain additional legal claims counsel as required,on motion of Director Barber. Voted appreciation to Federal officials and East Bay Congressional representatives of courtesies extended AC officials during recent Washington meetings, on motion of Director Barber.

BULK .RATEU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDOakland, Calif.Permit No. 2105

transit times volume 5, number 1

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