In Spring 2024, Transbay Coalition led a successful campaign to get weekend evening bus service restored to the Broadway Corridor in downtown Oakland. Months ago AC Transit enacted a “temporary” weekend evening service detoured from Broadway between 14th and 20th. It inconvenienced riders, slowed Oakland’s downtown recovery, and made transit a less useful option for workers and customers along the corridor. Then AC Transit staff announced that the detour would be made permanent.
Transbay Coalition worked with AC Transit Directors Syed & Walsh, Oakland Councilmember Fife, and numerous affected businesses and community groups to push back. Together we got weekend evening bus service restored to downtown Oakland.
We are also advocating for greater improvements. Broadway is a beloved, lively entertainment corridor and transit plays a vital role in it. On weekend nights it is home to vibrant Oakland nightlife, jobs, and economic activity. The vibrancy leads to competition for scarce curb-space between rideshare drop-offs, food delivery services, parking, and reliable bus service. We know the current design isn’t working because a driver has hit and injured someone every month for the past decade in downtown.
Sacramento’s K Street, San Diego’s Gaslamp, and New York City’s 2nd Avenue and 14th Street faced similar challenges and came up with innovative solutions that fit their local context and helped those areas thrive. Oakland needs to do the same.
We are asking the City and AC Transit to work with the community to develop a long-term infrastructure and design-based solution that centers people, businesses, jobs, and entertainment for Broadway. One that leverages transit and pedestrian safety to enable greater enjoyment and economic activity on this vital corridor while the use of private vehicles is considered as just one part of a constellation of mobility options working together.
The Broadway area downtown is a beloved gem of Oakland and we want to work together to make it shine. If your business or organization would like to sign on to the coalition letter (here) calling for these improvements, let us know by emailing info@transbaycoalition.org.
