wBART

By Zakhary Mallett

During the past decade, with the exception of the Richmond leg of service, every line in the BART system has experienced an extension or moved many steps towards an extension. Unique to West Contra Costa County is that it is the region's single most-congested travel corridor and has the greatest need for improved regional transit options. Despite this, it is the single location where no regional transit investment has occurred.

Of all freeway-accessible end-stations in the BART system, El Cerrito Del Norte has the highest volume of riders at more than 8,000 average riders per weekday.*




Nearly 60% of the passengers at El Cerrito Del Norte live north of El Cerrito and Richmond.*




40% of Richmond's 3,000 average weekday passengers live north of El Cerrito and Richmond.*




The West Contra Costa Corridor (I-80) between Crockett and the Bay Bridge has consistently been rated the most-congested freeway corridor of the region for over a decade by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) (click here) (click here).

Paying for forty years and not receiving service is one thing; paying for that long and not receiving service in spite of being the location with the highest demand and need for it is another. The latter exemplifies the experience and situation of West Contra Costa County and relief is long overdue.

Importantly, the impacts of not addressing traffic in West Contra Costa County are not only felt locally. The lack of viable driving alternatives upstream (i.e., in West Contra Costa County) contributes greatly to the congestion experienced downstream (i.e., in Albany, Berkeley, and Emeryville).

View wBART Proposed Alignment in a larger map

A conceptually-proposed extension that I, personally, developed and presented to the West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee (WCCTAC) in June, 2011, would bring BART from El Cerrito Del Norte along I-80 with up to four stations in San Pablo, Richmond's Hilltop, Pinole, and Hercules. This alignment is similar to one of the more cost-effective alternatives (Alternative 3) of the 1983 wBART study. Such an extension would bring traffic relief to the most-congested corridor of our region, higher home values in the area, and construction jobs for the local economy. In addition, because nearly 60% of the riders who use the El Cerrito Del Norte Station reside north of both Richmond and El Cerrito, investment in wBART would result in a great reduction of the congestion experienced at El Cerrito Del Norte, which would reduce the need for so much parking at that station and allow the City of El Cerrito to invest in the Transit-Oriented Development it has wanted to for years.

* All data was obtained from the March 2012 BART Ridership Report and the BART 2008 Station Survey. Ridership data for subsequent months has been consistent.