New, Fully Stocked Bus Rapid Transit Coming to the East Bay Area

Nico Savidge reports the newly announced details of a new AC Transit-run bus rapid transit line coming to the East Bay Area between Oakland and San Leandro. 

"The new Tempo line will start service on Sunday, taking riders from Oakland’s Uptown district to the San Leandro BART station. The new rapid buses will zip for most of the 9.5-mile route along a corridor of dedicated bus lanes running down International Boulevard, stopping at dozens of gleaming new canopied stations along the way," according to Savidge.

Tempo buses will operate on ten-minute headways from 6 am until 7 pm, and 15-minute headways from 7 pm until midnight. "Early morning service on the 24-hour line will run every 30 minutes on weekends, and hourly on weekdays," according to Savidge.

Among the other features included with Tempo BRT service are elevated station platforms and level boarding, camera enforcement of cars entering the dedicated bus lanes, and traffic signal priority. Also, according to Savidge, "Passengers will pay their fare at the bus stop — each station will have Clipper card readers and ticket machines — then step onto the long, articulated coaches from the middle or rear doors, rather than the front door. AC Transit says it will have fare inspectors come around to ensure riders have proof of payment."