Transit Agency Buses May Run Soon

Livermore/Amador Valley Transit Authority buses may roll through Pleasanton beginning in early December, according to transit authority officials.

Members of the transit authority board have agreed to begin partial service in December with full service in Pleasanton and Dublin to start next July.

After the Dublin/ Pleasanton system is established, Livermore's Rideo system will be phased into the larger system in two years.

Service had been expected to begin this fall but Dublin Councilwoman Linda Jeffery said December was a more realistic date to iron out details in the establishment of the system.

"We've been unable to sort out the logistics of setting it up," said Mrs. Jeffery, a member of the transit board. "Hiring a general manager and an attorney are absolute necessities before we can put buses on the streets.

"We also have to prepare the streets for the buses," she said, referring to the addition of new bus stops and signs along transit agency routes.

The transit authority was formed last month by the cities of Dublin, Pleasanton and Livermore, and Alameda County. The agency's seven-member board is comprised of members of the three city councils and county Supervisor Ed Campbell.

About $2 million in state transportation funds have been earmarked for the transit authority, which was founded to provide valleywide local bus service.

Transit agency members are looking at two proposed bus routes for Dublin and Pleasanton. Two more Pleasanton routes would be established next July.

"We need to· have public hearings before the board can approve any of the routes," said Mrs. Jeffery. "The hearings will probably happen this fall.

"The two proposed routes will make a loop through Dublin, winding from Dublin Boulevard, Dougherty Road, Amador Valley Boulevard and Village Parkway northward to Davona Drive and Alcosta Boulevard, then south through west Dublin neighborhoods before crossing into Pleasanton at Foothill Road.

The routes would then wind past Stoneridge Mall and north Pleasanton business parks. One bus would proceed along Valley Avenue, while another would follow Santa Rita Road and circle around to Vineyard Avenue and Kottinger Drive.

A third route that would begin next year would set out from the Stoneridge Mall and head toward downtown Pleasanton via Stoneridge Drive and Black Avenue. A fourth proposed route would start on Foothill Road, bisect Pleasanton along West Las Positas Boulevard to Santa Rita Road and then head south to Sunol Boulevard.

"The transit board wants to contract on an interim basis with another transportation agency until Rideo is completely phased in or we decide to buy our own buses," said Mrs. Jeffery.

Besides the acquisition of a general manager and an attorney, she said the transit board hopes to contract with a publicity firm to promote the system and "think up a better name than Livermore/Amador Valley Transit Authority.

"We need a shorter name to draw attention to it," she said. "We may involve the community in helping us select one."

To see a reproduction of the original article and edition of Pleasanton Pathways, visit: July 22, 1985.

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