Bus Stop Restored After Public Outcry

OAKLAND, CA - Facing public outcry, Oakland administration staff said today they would reinstate a bus stop that had been removed at the behest of a bank last year in the city's Pill Hill neighborhood.

The city removed the stop at 30th Street and Broadway in the summer of 2015 after employees at Summit Bank complained about its planned relocation in front of the bank's main entrance, according to AC Transit spokesman Robert Lyles.

Summit Bank spokesperson Sam Singer said the bank preferred the stop stay where it had been for the past century: on the northwest corner of 30th Street and Broadway in front of what was once a used car dealership and is now a Sprouts Farmers Market.

The city's reversal followed several months of community organizing by transportation advocates, which culminated this morning in a rally outside of Oakland City Hall prior to a meeting of the Oakland City Council's public works committee.

When Sprouts began construction for its new grocery store at the intersection, it removed the stop with the intention of building a bulb-out on the other side of the street, according to AC Transit Board of Directors member Christian Peeples. Peeples said the transit agency and Oakland city staff both felt there would be too much traffic entering and exiting a parking garage attached to the market to have a bus stop in front of the store. It proposed instead to move the stop across the intersection, to the southwest corner of 30th Street and Broadway, in front of Summit Bank. But the bank's branch management balked at the idea, calling it a safety hazard. In a statement, Summit Bank President and Chief Operating Officer Steven Nelson said the relocation "presents many new risks to pedestrians who will now have to cross a busy intersection to access Sprouts and other businesses when exiting the bus."

Singer said relocating the stop presents other hazards as well. Buses in front of the entrance would make it more difficult for police officers to see inside the bank, and the bus stop would allow would-be bank robbers to blend in with bus riders, Singer said. In response to the bank's concerns, Lyles said Oakland city staff presented two alternatives: to move the stop to 29th Street or to remove the stop entirely. AC Transit wasn't interested in a stop at 29th Street, Lyles said, because it would be too close to an existing stop at 28th Street and would be farther from the cluster of businesses and medical offices at 30th Street.

"As a transit-first city, the goal is always to be able to deliver people and pick people up in the places where they could receive the most services," Lyles said. "The goods and services have always existed at 30th Street." In addition to the grocery store and bank branch, the intersection of 30th Street and Broadway is home to a CVS pharmacy, a restaurant, and is adjacent to several car dealerships. It's also at the base of a medical office park and is adjacent to a planned 400-plus-unit housing development.

"Where else would be a priority to have transit services other than a location like that on a major transit corridor with access to hundreds of new housing units coming in and a grocery store and medical services?" said Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, chair of the public works committee.

Kaplan said there was a "double harm" in the elimination of the bus stop. Not only did the public lose a transit service, but no members of the public were able to weigh in on the change, she said.

Michelle Rousey uses a wheelchair to get around. She said she's frustrated that the stop was removed without any input from the community. "It's wrong," Rousey said, adding she now has to travel further to get to the grocery store, a huge inconvenience that adds more wear and tear on her wheelchair. "It means I don't get to go to the grocery store as much as I need to sometimes."

Oakland city spokeswoman Karen Boyd said staff has committed to reinstating the bus stop in front of Summit Bank, a decision Summit spokesperson Alex Doniach said the bank would continue to fight. Staff is expected to come back to the public works committee in a few months to present a detailed plan for the stop, including a bulb-out, bus shelter, and lighting at the location, Kaplan said.

--Bay City News; Image via WikiMedia Commons