Description
Implementing transit-supportive roadway treatments improve transit speed and reliability. In-street and side boarding islands allow passengers to board and alight level with the transit vehicle floor. These roadway treatments improve transit speed by eliminating the need for buses to pull out of traffic lanes to serve stops.
Implementation Details
- Coordinate design and implementation of islands with transit agencies with Marin County to align with ADA requirements.
- Coordinate island design with bike lane routing to manage cyclist-pedestrian conflicts.
- Focus treatments on arterials in cities where transit demand is already high.
Mitigation Potential
Continued investments in transit will improve travel time, reliability, convenience to make it an attractive option for daily travel. This can encourage more users to shift from Single Occupancy Vehicle, which reduces VMT.
For more details, see CAPCOA, T-27. Implement Transit-Supportive Roadway Treatments, pg. 193-196 and CALTRANS SB743 Program Mitigation Playbook, Transit service improvement, pg. 25-27 for VMT reduction quantification.
Linked Strategies
Equity Considerations
Transit-priority improvements should focus on corridors with high ridership potential in disadvantaged communities. In-street or side boarding islands improve safety and convenience for transit users, many of whom lack access to a car. Careful community engagement is needed to avoid unintended displacement due to improved access and infrastructure investment.
Funding Sources
Requires initial funding to construct, plus ongoing funding for maintenance and operations. Grants and other one-time sources are available (though competitive), and a new regional transit sales tax may provide additional sources of ongoing funding. Funding sources include the Bus Programs – Buses and Bus Facilities Competitive Grants – Low or No Emissions Bus Grants (Federal Transit Administration), the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program (California Department of Housing and Community Development), the Multifamily Finance Super NOFA (California Department of Housing and Community Development), the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (Caltrans), the Solutions for Congested Corridors Program (California Transportation Commission), the Capital Investment Grants– Small Starts, New Starts, and Core Capacity (Federal Transit Administration), the Surface Transportation Block Grant (Metropolitan Transportation Commission), and the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (Caltrans).
Implemented in TAM Area
Current TDM Implementation
The Transit Priority Corridor Project is a current planning effort from Marin Transit to make improvements to high ridership corridors. Bus bulb outs and boarding islands are included as a treatment to increase safety, efficiency, and reliability of the bus system.
TDM Benefit Locations
This measure would be a beneficial addition to Marin Transit’s priority corridors, 4th/Lincoln in San Rafael and South Novato Boulevard in Novato. Boarding islands are also effective interventions in jobs centers like Downtown San Rafael and areas with frequent curb management conflicts like school drop off zones.