SMART Corridors Program Officially Launched (May 19, 2004)
The SMART Corridors Program was officially launched on May 18, 2004 at an event
at City of San Pablo's Maple Hall. More than 100 guests attended the event at
which public officials spoke about the success of the program and CMA staff
demonstrated the full system to the public for the first time. Most of the 25
partner agencies were represented at the event by one or more participants. In
addition, all of the SMART Corridors vendor partners also attended the event
and showcased the equipment that they have provided for the SMART Corridors
Program. A few media reporters were also at the launch event. A few news
articles was written about the SMART Corridors Program launch event. One of the
articles, which was published in Contra Costa Times on Wednesday, May 19, 2004,
can be read
here.
San Pablo Rapid Bus
 |
Collaboration between AC Transit and East Bay SMART Corridors Program makes San
Pablo Rapid Bus a huge success. |
Overview
The East Bay SMART Corridors program
consists of two major arterial corridors in the east bay portion of the San
Francisco Bay Area – the San Pablo Avenue and the
Hesperian/International/E. 14th Boulevard corridors. The intention of the
program is to plan and implement a multi-modal advanced transportation
management system along the
San Pablo Avenue (I-80) corridor and the
I-880 corridor. Since its inception in 1995, the CMA has successfully
brought together a group of local, regional, federal, transit, and emergency
service agencies together to work cooperatively to solve regional
transportation management issues at many levels. As a result of size and the
number of participants, the SMART Corridors program has evolved into a
multi-year, multi-phase program, implementing several major infrastructure
improvements in the corridors, and has contributed to forming and strengthening
interagency coordination and cooperation.
Goals
The goals of the East Bay SMART Corridors program are to allow the
participating agencies to better manage congestion and incidents along regional
routes, improve transportation mobility, efficiency and safety, and to provide
timely, multi-modal transportation information to agency transportation
managers and to the public.
San Pablo Corridor
The San Pablo Avenue corridor includes San Pablo Avenue and the I-80 freeway
and is approximately 20 miles long and extends from 17th Street in downtown
Oakland to the City of Hercules; through the cities of Emeryville, Berkeley and
Albany in Alameda County; and cities of El Cerrito, Richmond, San Pablo,
Pinole, Hercules, and unincorporated portions of Contra Costa County. San Pablo
Avenue, the arterial segment, is one of the major travel corridors in the San
Francisco Bay Area, and is included in the regional Metropolitan Transportation
System and County Congestion Management Plan.
I-880 Corridor
The I-880 corridor consists of several arterials and the I-880 freeway. The
corridor is approximately 18 miles long and parallels Highway 880 from downtown
Oakland to the City of Union City. Arterials along the corridor are
International Boulevard, East 14th Street, San Leandro Boulevard/Street,
Hesperian Boulevard, and Union City Boulevard. These arterials form a major
regional route in the southern portion of Alameda County.
Project Schedule
Construction of the project officially started on January 9, 2003. The full
system implementation is expected to be completed by spring of 2004.
To learn more about the East Bay SMART Corridors Program, please visit:
www.smartcorridors.net