BART Extension Kerfluffle: East Bay Officials Pushing for New Rail Authority

"Fed up with delays, the [Livermore] City Council on Monday backed a proposal to take away control from BART directors for building an extension to Livermore," reports Angelo Ruggiero.

With the vote, the City Council supported state legislation that would create a new rail authority for the BART-to-Livermore project, called the Tri Valley-San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority.

"The Tri Valley-San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority would plan a regional rail connection between BART, Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) in the Tri-Valley, or a new regional connection between the valley and San Joaquin County, according to a city report," adds Ruggiero.

The article includes scathing assessments from local officials of BART's planning of an extension to Livermore.  Michael Tree, executive director of the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority, is quoted in the article saying the regional transit system has "no intention of bringing BART to Livermore." BART President Rebecca Saltzman responded by noting that BART is expecting to finalize an Environmental Impact Review for the project later this year.