PALO ALTO (Friends of Caltrain) – Bus speedup on Bumbarton Corridor by 2021A pilot program to speed up buses on the Dumbarton Corridor, with bus lanes on the shoulder of Highway 84, has been approved and funded by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission/Bay Area Toll Authority.
Changes in the “Dumbarton Forward” program are intended to improve commutes well before the potential start of a revived Dumbarton Rail service across the bay, being planned by Facebook in a public/private partnership.
The “Dumbarton Forward” program includes a set of relatively small changes to speed up buses, implementing some of the fastest-to-implement recommendations of the SamTrans Dumbarton Corridor study, including:
- Peak Period Bus on Shoulder (BOS) Pilot Program
- Signalization Improvements to Bayfront Expressway Intersections
- Reconfiguration of Eastbound SR 84/Thornton Avenue Off-Ramps
- Relocation of Ardenwood Park-Ride Bus Stops
- Improvements to Operations at the Dumbarton Bridge Toll Plaza
The project is planned for opening in 2021, a year before the planned opening of managed lanes on Highway 101 which would speed buses toward their destinations North and South on 101.
The results of the pilot will show whether routing buses on dedicated shoulder lanes on 84 to managed lanes on 101, will speed trips for the plurality of commuters who are heading south on 101 to destinations including Palo Alto and Mountain View.
The MTC/BATA material about Dumbarton Forward that we found didn’t include information about potential reversible carpool/bus lanes on the bridge, which was identified as a potential medium term transit improvement.
This story was originally posted on May 30, 2019
by Friends of Caltrain on the Green Caltrain Blog.