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“Hello, Ruby Monday” was how the Tri-Valley public transportation community greeted this week.
The Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority – which operates Wheels buses in Pleasanton, Livermore and Dublin – celebrated its 40th anniversary with a birthday bash that drew more than 250 people to the Livermore Transit Center that afternoon and evening.
“Forty years is a long time for any organization, and continued success shows the ongoing value that public transit offers to communities,” Executive Director Christy Wegener told me by email Tuesday. “It also is a credit to LAVTA and its employees over the years that they have been able to adapt to the community’s needs and adopted new services and technologies with expansion.”
“From a few buses, Wheels now offers Bus Rapid Transit with its 10R and 30R routes, provides more amenities with shelters, lighting and amazing transit hubs like the historic 1892 Southern Pacific Railroad Depot that is the Livermore Transit Center,” Wegener said. “Wheels has also expanded to offer paratransit services, and has incorporated technology to make customer trip planning and operations dispatch easy and accurate.”
The partner agency was formed in 1985 when the three cities said “there’s no time to lose” to improve the public transit landscape in the Tri-Valley. (Yes, that’s another reference to The Rolling Stones song that’s been stuck in my brain since the moment I looked up the 40th anniversary gemstone; forgive me.)
“Previously AC Transit provided limited services, and this new entity gave the communities more control and flexibility,” Wegener said of the joint powers authority we know today as LAVTA.
“Creating the Tri-Valley bus system enabled more local input on the routes/services and resulted in an increase in service from what was provided previously,” she added.
The agency launched its bus service in July 1986 on four fixed routes in Pleasanton and Dublin with nine leased buses.
“In December of 1990, 34 new buses were delivered by the GILLIG Corporation, now LAVTA’s neighbor in Livermore,” she continued. “In 1991, LAVTA moved to a new Maintenance, Operations, and Administration facility, still its home at Rutan Court in Livermore. In 1998, it opened its transit hub at the Livermore Transit Center.”
Wheels now has 16 local fixed routes, 60 vehicles, and supplemental school and paratransit services. Reliability, stability and sustainability remain the focus as the agency aims to solidify a reputation as transportation residents in an ever-changing world can rely on every day.
“Ridership is looking good, with stable passenger counts that let us plan for the future,” Wegener said.
She pointed to the record-setting Saturday ridership on the Fourth of July this year (more than 7,100 passengers across all routes) and the continued growth of the Summer Youth Ride Free program, now in its fourth year (with youth participation up from 15,000 to 35,000 over that time). The free ride program extends through August to entice students to consider taking public transit to school.
LAVTA is implementing several route and schedule changes starting next Saturday (Aug. 8) in part because of the new academic year – to accommodate things like updated school boundaries in Pleasanton, particularly the Del Prado neighborhood, and increasing attendance at Emerald High School in Dublin.
Looking ahead, the agency’s main project is its new headquarters on Atlantis Court in Livermore, with key funding from the federal government.
“LAVTA received $63.95 million in federal Low-No (Emission) funding to support future transit facilities and operations,” Wegener said. “The infrastructure upgrades will improve service reliability, reduce emissions, and allow for expansion of transit service throughout Tri-Valley communities.”
Funding will be the buzzword in the Bay Area this fall for public transit, as the break-even “nothing’s gained and nothing’s lost” approach for such a government service hasn’t been attainable post-pandemic.
Wheels is among the transit agencies that would receive new, ongoing money if the much-debated sales tax measure passes across five counties in the November election – although it (and County Connection, whose buses serve the San Ramon Valley) would get a smaller slice of the pie compared to the likes of BART and AC Transit.
“While LAVTA has historically been an excellent fiduciary of taxpayer funds and doesn’t face the same fiscal cliff as other Bay Area transit agencies, since the pandemic we are seeing our expenses grow at a faster rate than revenues, creating a structural deficit,” Wegener told me. “LAVTA has been relying on our reserves to balance the budget, but without new funding, will likely have to reduce service to align with available revenues.”
I’ll be interested to see what approach LAVTA takes to the public awareness campaign (and its supporters for the political campaign) for the sales tax measure.
BART leadership’s initial ploy of threatening to severely cut service, especially on the ends of lines outside of Oakland and San Francisco, if the sales tax fails didn’t sit right with many people in the Tri-Valley.
But I get BART’s blackmail strategy. Costs have ballooned so much that revenues cannot ever sustain on the current track. Something major has to change. And they know many people and families – including my own – rely on public transit for commuting. Scare tactics often work at the polls…
Ain’t life unkind?
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the associate publisher and editorial director for the Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. His “What A Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly, Livermore Vine and DanvilleSanRamon.com.
