Alameda County's connections to national and international markets make it a natural hub for goods movement throughout the Bay Area and the surrounding Northern California megaregion. In fact, Alameda County provides most of the critical goods movement infrastructure that the rest of the region relies upon, according to the Alameda County Transportation Commission (Alameda CTC). That infrastructure includes the Port of Oakland and the Oakland International Airport, an extensive network of interstate freeways and arterial roads, and two major Class I railroads.

Much of the transportation infrastructure, programs, and services that undergird daily commerce and residential life in the Tri-Valley, including goods movement, are made possible by the Alameda CTC. The existence of this joint powers authority may be invisible to many but it plays a key role in the region by "planning, funding, and delivering transportation programs and projects that expand access and improve mobility to foster a vibrant and livable Alameda County," according to officials. One of its important roles includes serving as the county's congestion management agency.

Tri-Valley Benefits

The Tri-Valley is one of the beneficiaries of work done by the Alameda CTC. Between 2015 and 2022, for example, the Alameda CTC awarded more than $300 million to the cities of Dublin, Pleasanton, and Livermore and the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority (LAVTA) for local transportation projects. Of that total, an estimated $230 million was invested in highway improvements, nearly $40 million was used for transit improvements, $25 million was devoted to local street improvement projects, and more than $12 million was allocated to improvements for cyclists and pedestrians. Since 2000, through sales tax measures and vehicle registration fees, the Alameda CTC has also collected and distributed an additional $118 million of direct local distribution funds to Tri-Valley cities and LAVTA for transportation improvements.

The region is affected by several of the transportation projects currently underway. One project, State Route 84/Interstate 680 Interchange Improvements, will address congestion during peak commute times, congestion that is expected to worsen with time. The project is designed to improve safety as well. "Collision rates on SR-84 and the interchange are higher than the state average and access to SR-84 from driveways and local roads is difficult," according to the Alameda CTC. Moreover, "the undivided roadway and uncontrolled access on SR-84 do not meet expressway standards."

The project will add an additional lane to SR-84 in each direction, modify ramps, and extend the existing southbound I-680 express lane for high-occupancy vehicles by about two miles. The project is expected to be finished in the winter of 2024-2025. Once completed, that section of roadway will conform to the existing width of the rest of SR-84, will include a bike lane all the way through the interchange, and will make it easier for drivers to exit and enter driveways and local roads off of SR-84.

Delivering on Promises

Another important project is the Interstate 680 (I-680) Express Lanes from State Route 84 to Alcosta Boulevard project, which the Commission  informally calls the 680 Express Lanes Gap Closure project. Expected to be finished in 2025, the project runs from the Alameda-Contra Costa County border southbound for approximately nine miles along I-680 through Dublin, Pleasanton, and Sunol. In the meantime, the existing I-680 express lanes that have been closed will be reopened for use this spring.

"We're adding an express lane, which eventually will connect into the existing express lanes on I-680 in Contra Costa County and to those that already exist in Alameda County, making an almost fifty-mile express lane corridor for people to travel," explains Tess Lengyel, Alameda CTC Executive Director. Express lanes allow eligible drivers to save time. Moreover, "if you're a high-occupancy vehicle user, it's free. If there's excess capacity and you're a single driver, you can pay for using the facility. And those funds go directly back into the corridor to maintain and operate it, and for additional upgrades. That's a really exciting project."

Capital projects like the ones above are what people voted for, according to Lengyel. "I am a tremendously strong believer that we have to fulfill the promises to the voters who voted for these measures and who are paying for it out of their pockets. And so we are very diligent about ensuring that we're delivering those promises as expeditiously and effectively as possible."

Alameda CTC has a history of delivering innovative approaches and using cutting-edge technology in its approach to projects and operations. When the first I-680 express lane opened in 2010, for example, it was the first express lane in all of Northern California. For the 680 Express Lanes Gap Closure project, "we are implementing the most state-of-the-art technology for express lanes," says Lengyel, who notes that when the technology system operates efficiently, the express lanes operate efficiently, which in turn reduces congestion for traffic as a whole.

Tri-Valley residents also benefit from several Alameda CTC programs. The Student Transit Pass Program, for example, offers low-income students at Pleasanton Unified School District middle and high schools and Dublin Unified School District a free LAVTA Wheels bus pass on a youth Clipper Card. All students at participating Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District schools qualify for the program.

"We have heard important feedback on how much the program reduces the burden on families and really expands opportunities for students getting to and from school and to jobs and enrichment activities," notes Lengyel. "We do this as a year- round program for students because we know the students' lives are not just about going to and coming from school. They have extracurricular responsibilities like band and track, and they have jobs that they need to travel to."

Other programs include Safe Routes to Schools, which began in 2006 at two Oakland schools. Since then, the program has grown to serve more than 260 public elementary, middle, and high schools. More than 172,000 students and their families have learned about traffic safety and safe behaviors through the program, which also encourages walking, rolling, carpooling, and transit use at public events.

The Alameda CTC also supports transportation for seniors and disabled persons. "We have dedicated funds in the transportation expenditure plan to support our seniors and people with disabilities," says Lengyel. "The ability to have independence through transportation is critical. So we fund programs that provide paratransit services to seniors and people with disabilities. And we also do specialized programs such as travel training or volunteer driver programs that help people get essential services that they need."

The Alameda CTC is governed by elected officials representing the 14 cities of Alameda County, the BART Board of Directors, and the AC Transit Board of Directors. All five Alameda County Supervisors also serve on the commission, which has a total of 22 members. You may not know their names, but they and the commission's staff work diligently on the public's behalf, and their efforts affect anyone who rides a bus, drives a car, or uses bike lanes in Alameda County.

"Not everybody has the same travel use pattern or need," says Lengyel. "We're implementing, designing, planning, and funding multimodal corridors throughout Alameda County. For us, making our communities safe and accessible and making our transportation facilities reliable is critical. We believe in multimodal improvements, so that people have choices and the opportunity to feel safe to ride their bike or walk. And that they know they can get a reliable bus that is not stuck behind all the traffic. And we also know that we need to support this for clean transportation and the reduction of emissions to make sure that our communities can be safe and breathe easy."

For more information about the Alameda County Transportation Commission, please visit www.alamedactc.org.

For more information about the Student Transit Pass Program, please visit www.alamedactc.org/programs-projects/studentpass.