The City of Pleasanton and the Tri-Valley region are nationally recognized for the quality of life they offer residents. Many factors have made the region a good place to live, work, and raise a family. The area's natural beauty, highly rated schools, excellent weather, and community spirit all contribute to making the Tri-Valley a great place to call home.

Additional factors also affect a community's quality of life. Many studies have linked quality of transit service and ease of travel, for example, with overall community satisfaction. Most recently, a study published in Volume 2, 2021 of Wellbeing, Space and Society called "Transportation, community quality of life, and life satisfaction in metro and non-metro areas of the United States" examined the impacts of a community's transportation system on the quality of life provided to its residents. Unsurprisingly, "transit quality, the conditions of roads, congestion, and traffic safety were all found to have significant impacts on ease of travel. Ease of travel and walkability, among other factors, were found to impact community quality of life."

A Pioneering Approach

According to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, transportation is the region's number one source of greenhouse gases, traffic congestion, and air pollution. Hacienda is among the many companies and organizations that offer commuter benefits to encourage the use of public transit and shared vehicles in response to air pollution and congested drives. Despite these options, many people continue to access transit by driving alone because the distance or complexity in getting from one's home to the initial public transit connection (known as the first mile) is often inconvenient or too far for walking. The route from the end of a public transit journey to one's destination (the last mile) is often unappealing for the same reasons.

Solving the first-mile, last-mile problem to improve ease of travel is a huge challenge, a challenge the award-winning Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority (LAVTA) is working to meet. The agency's latest approach is developing an all-electric shared autonomous vehicle (SAV) service. SAVs are defined as "shared, driverless vehicles that offer access to safer, greener transportation," by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the transportation planning, financing, and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. Since 2018, LAVTA has been working with the City of Dublin to test a new SAV service.

With passengers on board, the Phase 1 pilot test of SAV service ran between the Persimmon Place development in Dublin to the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station at Hacienda from November 2020 to the end of  July 2021. Phase 1 activities were based on a partnership between LAVTA, the City of Dublin, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, BART, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and vendors Transdev and EasyMile.

LAVTA was the first transit agency on the West Coast to carry regular passengers on public roads using an SAV, according to Toan Tran, Director of Operations and Innovation for LAVTA. The test vehicle used in the Phase 1 pilot navigated without a driver as designed during the pilot, with a safety officer present during all testing. "Some people have reservations about the safety of autonomous vehicles but they actually have the potential to reduce crashes and save lives," says Tran. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, "over 90 percent of all serious motor vehicle crashes are due to human error or choices. Even in our own cars, we can observe the technological advances that have increased driving safety, such as cameras and collision alerts, and it can only get better moving forward."

Advances in shared autonomous vehicle technology are moving forward at a rapid pace, according to Tran. "With an ability to operate much more efficiently, the electric SAV will unleash the full potential of major transit investments, now and into the future, by functioning as a reliable feeder service for frequent and convenient public transportation, such as the BART system and LAVTA's bus rapid transit network. The result will be less congestion and pollution, greater safety on roadways, and a leap in the quality of life for residents, businesses, and their employees."

The Future Is Automated

Phase 2 of the project is expected to launch in late 2023. It will include upgraded vehicles with improved technologies and an extended route. It will also test more frequent service and increased vehicle speed, according to Toan. Between now and then, LAVTA will acquire and program the upgraded vehicles and  construct new mobility hubs, accessible spaces that allow users to transfer easily from one type of transportation to another.

Officials and staff at LAVTA, which oversees the Wheels bus service and other transit-related services, have worked hard to provide excellent transportation to Tri-Valley residents. LAVTA was named 2020 Transit Agency of the Year by the American Public Transit Association, 2019 Transit Agency of the Year by the California Transit Association, and 2018 Transit Agency of the Year by the California Association of Coordinated Transportation. The SAV project is only one part, albeit an important part, of LAVTA's work.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District provided funding for the project thanks to efforts by former Alameda County Supervisor and former LAVTA board member Scott Haggerty. He noted at the time that "providing a convenient and reliable first- and last-mile zero emission service will have a substantial environmental impact by reducing single occupancy vehicle trips to employment, retail, and residential destinations located near the Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station."

The SAV project was also made possible by legislation championed by California State Assemblymember Catharine Baker, who told reporters that "this shuttle is not only going to make our area an innovation hub, but also make our lives easier by making great connections for folks in the East Bay."

Tran agrees. If the service is convenient enough, "it's going to give you more time back to your life. You can read and you can do other recreational activities while you're using the service. You don't have to worry about driving. It is definitely a lot safer than driving. With all those factors, you know, it definitely provides a better quality of life. I think that's why a lot of major companies are investing in autonomous technology: because that is the future."

For more information about Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority's shared autonomous vehicle, please visit www.wheelsbus.com/sav.

For more information about the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, please visit www.baaqmd.gov.

For more information about the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, please visit mtc.ca.gov.

For more information about Hacienda commute solutions, please visit www.hacienda.org/amenities/employees-residents/commute-solutions.