Free Shuttle Offers Cyclists and Walkers Safe Route Between Oakland and Alameda

Transit riders and bicyclists trying to cross the Oakland Estuary now have a new option: a free bike-friendly bus shuttle linking the Lake Merritt BART station and Laney College with the city of Alameda’s west end and the College of Alameda. Operated by the city of Alameda, the shuttle launched on August 15, 2011, and operates weekday mornings and afternoons. The shuttle provides a convenient way of reaching MTC’s offices, which are located just feet from the Lake Merritt BART stop.

The “bus bridge” traverses the Posey/Webster Tube that runs underneath the Estuary, offering a safe alternative to the bike/pedestrian path that runs along the east side of the Posey Tube. At two-thirds of a mile long and only four-feet wide with bidirectional traffic, the pathway is challenging for users, who are exposed to fumes and noise and for whom passing a pedestrian or another cyclist can be perilous.

Lubo Cado, 61, was joyous after his inaugural ride on the shuttle this afternoon. Interviewed as he debarked with his bike at the Lake Merritt stop on his way home from his job with a transportation company in Alameda, Cado said that the shuttle is a welcome change from cycling via the Posey Tube — something he’s been doing since his car broke down this past July. “I don’t like to bike through the tube. It’s a really narrow path and if anyone is coming from the opposite way, you have to lift up your bikes to pass,” he said, adding that soot from the tunnel walls and railings would get on his clothes in the process of trying to pass. And, once he has stopped to let someone pass, he often can’t get going again on account of the grade. “It’s steep going down and steep up. You can’t pick up the speed once you stop — you have to walk,” he said.

Michael Torrey, 57, began walking from his home in west Alameda to the Employment Development Department and other government offices in Oakland when he lost his job several months ago and couldn’t afford bus fare. He would take the long way around via the Park Street Bridge, avoiding the Posey Tube out of health concerns. It was a two-and-a-half-hour trek each way. “The carbon dioxide – it’s poisonous,” he said of the Posey Tube pedestrian option. “Your clothes would be covered with black from all the exhaust.” Now he rides the free shuttle three or four times a week to the Lake Merritt BART stop, where he continues on foot to various sites in downtown Oakland in his quest to find a data entry or word processing job.

Powered by natural gas, the low-emissions bus is 36 feet long and can carry 12 bicycles and 32 passengers (sitting and standing). Seats have been removed so as to accommodate 10 bicycles in addition to the two that can fit on an exterior rack at the front of the bus. The bus runs every half hour on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., with the Estuary crossing taking about eight minutes from the Lake Merritt BART station.

The shuttle targets the general public as well as students, faculty and staff from the College of Alameda and Laney College, providing the more than 2,500 students who are enrolled at both Peralta-system colleges with a convenient and cost-effective alternative to driving between the two schools.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District provided $193,000 for the one-year demonstration through its Transportation Fund for Clean Air (TFCA) Regional Fund program, which Alameda matched with $21,500 in city funds. The city is now applying for a second round of funding to extend the shuttle for another year. Other partners on the project include Bike Alameda, the Peralta Community College District and the city of Oakland. — Brenda Kahn

For more information, call 510.747.7936 or visit:www.EstuaryXingShuttle.org