Today we submitted the official Coalition support letter for the bill AB-455, the Bay Bridge Fast Forward Program authored by Assemblymembers Bonta, Wicks, Chiu, and Senator Wiener. You can view the letter below from elected officials and organizations below.
This letter is in addition to the official support resolutions that have been passed by BART, AC Transit, WestCAT, El Cerrito, and Berkeley
Add your name to the list of supporters here!
AB-455 Bay Bridge Fast Forward Program (Bonta, Wicks, Chiu, Wiener): SUPPORT
Dear California Assembly Transportation Committee
cc: Members of the California State Legislature
As advocates for fast & efficient commutes, healthy air, and climate justice, we write to support
AB 455 to help address climate justice, transit equity, and economic recovery by prioritizing fast
and reliable bus travel across the Bay Bridge corridor, and maximizing the number of people
that can move across this vital transportation link.
The bill establishes bus speed and reliability targets through the Bay Bridge corridor and
authorizes relevant authorities to implement stronger lane priority for buses and high-occupancy
vehicles in order to deliver on those performance targets. This will drive efficient, equitable,
high-ridership & low-emissions transportation investments that reduce commute times for tens
of thousands of Californians and spur economic growth. It will lower operational costs for transit
agencies at a time when it is most needed by enabling the same number of buses to move far
more people in less time. AB 455 will also make it less costly for agencies to create new
transbay routes and expand current offerings providing much needed opportunities for
transportation justice. This legislation is especially important as the Bay Area seeks to rebuild its
economy following the COVID-19 crisis, meet its climate goals, and avoid traffic gridlock wasting
millions of dollars of labor productivity.
Even during the depths of the first COVID-19 wave and the near-total shutdown of the economy,
over 1.5 million Bay Area residents depended on AC Transit’s buses to get them where they
needed to go. The bus has been a vital lifeline for essential workers during this difficult time. As
auto traffic returns on the bridge, these essential workers will face longer commutes and delays
as their bus of 40 people gets stuck behind single occupancy cars. The return of
single-occupancy cars on the Bay Bridge Corridor returns us to our pre-COVID crisis situation of
unmanageable congestion, harmful local asthma-inducing pollutants, and dangerous levels of
greenhouse gases.
The entire Bay Area will benefit significantly from the bill as it will support the thousands of
people who already ride the transbay bus routes from AC Transit, WestCAT and SolTrans and
will improve connectivity between the East Bay and Treasure Island with San Francisco. By
making these routes a more reliable and faster option, it will help entice many of the tens of
thousands of commuters who currently drive to make the switch to riding buses, vanpools, or
very high occupancy carpools, allowing more commuters to cross the bridge with less overall
pollution. AB 455 will also improve the quality of life for Californians who continue to drive
across the Bay Bridge as it reduces competition for parking in San Francisco, and reduces
congestion on San Francisco’s surface streets. It also makes our region more resilient in the
face of countless issues that can take the transbay BART tube out of commission for hours,
days, weeks, or months.
We must work boldly to implement fast and reliable bus travel across the Bay Bridge corridor
that focuses on moving the most people possible so our region can better serve our essential
workers, and meet our mobility and climate goals. We urge you to vote YES on AB 455
Sincerely,
The Transbay Coalition
SPUR
Transform
East Bay for Everyone
East Bay Transit Riders Union
Greenbelt Alliance
People Protected
San Francisco Transit Riders
Sierra Club California
Seamless Bay Area
Urban Environmentalists
Walk Bike Berkeley
350 Bay Area Action
Albany Vice Mayor Preston Jordan
Albany Councilmember Peggy McQuaid
Berkeley Councilmember Rigel Robinson
Berkeley Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani
Berkeley Councilmember Terry Taplin
Berkeley Councilmember Lori Droste
Berkeley Councilmember Kate Harrison
El Cerrito Mayor Pro Tem Gabriel Quinto
El Cerrito Councilmember Tessa Rudnick
El Cerrito Councilmember Lisa Motoyama
Emeryville Mayor Dianne Martinez
Emeryville Vice Mayor Scott Donahue
Emeryville Councilmember John Bauters
Emeryville Councilmember Ally Medina
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf
Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan
Oakland Councilmember Dan Kalb
Richmond Councilmember Claudia Jiménez
Richmond Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin
San Leandro Councilmember Victor Aguilar
San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney
San Francisco Supervisor Myrna Melgar
San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman
San Pablo Councilmember Rita Xavier
AC Transit Director Elsa Ortiz
AC Transit Director Jean Walsh
AC Transit Director Jovanka Beckles
AC Transit Director Mark Williams
BART Director Rebecca Saltzman
BART Director Janice Li