One East Bay, One AC Transit
AC Transit delivers an essential public service, providing over 40 million trips per year. Every AC Transit journey represents more than a ride - it's a connection to schools, healthcare, community services, and major employment centers across the East Bay, into San Francisco, and the heart of Silicon Valley.
AC Transit is committed to service excellence that puts riders and their safety first while protecting our shared future. That's why we've identified four areas of focus we call our District Priorities. Through One East Bay, One AC Transit, we're highlighting the positive impact of these priorities for you and the 13+ East Bay communities we serve.
Committed to Serving the East Bay, Guided by our District Priorities
Led by our north star, safety, our four District Priorities guide every decision we make. When we deliver on these priorities, it results in real benefits for the East Bay Communities where we work and live.
Safe & Reliable Service
AC Transit is committed to running safe, dependable service people can rely on every day to reach school, healthcare and essential services.
Connecting Communities
AC Transit prioritizes our riders with every decision by providing an essential service for East Bay communities to stay connected to jobs, services, and each other.
Delivering on our Commitments
The East Bay can trust AC Transit to deliver safe and reliable service by working efficiently, collaboratively, and transparently to serve the public.
Supporting the East Bay Economy
AC Transit responsibly manages resources while investing locally in the service the region depends on. Our service supports businesses, workers, and economic activity across the East Bay.
Safe & Reliable Service
AC Transit is committed to running safe, dependable service people can rely on every day to reach school, healthcare and essential services.
Connecting Communities
AC Transit prioritizes our riders with every decision by providing an essential service for East Bay communities to stay connected to jobs, services and each other.
Delivering on our Commitments
The East Bay can trust AC Transit to deliver safe and reliable service by working efficiently, collaboratively, and transparently to service public.
Supporting the East Bay Economy
AC Transit responsibly manages resources while investing locally in the service the region depends on. Our service supports businesses, workers, and economic activity across the East Bay.
AC Transit's Budget Outlook
AC Transit is at a historic financial crossroads. The emergency relief funding that sustained our service through the pandemic is now gone. At the same time, costs of operating transit are rising – from wages and benefits to fuel, parts, and bus production – while the rise in costs has outpaced revenues.
Get straightforward answers to the questions we hear most often about AC Transit’s budget outlook, the factors contributing to today’s financial challenges, and the efforts underway to navigate the years ahead.
Our Priorities In Motion
Prioritizing Safety on International Blvd. for our Rapid Transit Service
With Tempo's launch in August 2020, it marked a milestone for the East Bay – the region’s first center-running, bus only lanes on International Boulevard. The project improved transit speed and reliability, but early data revealed serious safety concerns.
In response, AC Transit and the city of Oakland launched a Quick Build Project to address dangerous driving behavior using data driven solutions that could be installed quickly.
As a result of these improvements, intrusions from private vehicles into the bus lanes dropped by 83%.
Investing Locally Through Zero Emission Job Creation and Technology
In partnership with Chabot Community College and ATU Local 192, AC Transit launched the Zero Emission Bus University.
Supported by $40 million in federal grants, this apprenticeship program trains the next generation of transit workers. This program offers paid, on-the-job training that can lead to an associates degree.
ZEBU creates pathways for careers with family-sustaining wages and full benefits. AC Transit was awarded the 2025 East Bay Innovation Award for Community Impact for this initiative.
Our All-New Bus Network, Built by the Community
In 2025 AC Transit launched Realign, our bus network redesign, shaped by two years of community outreach and data analysis, delivering better frequency with improved connections for more reliable bus lines.
These changes were community built— shaped by more than 22,000 riders and East Bay residents to ensure all the communities we serve had a say in the future of AC Transit.
AC Transit’s new bus network was built with flexibility, allowing it to better adapt to shifting ridership patterns and the East Bay’s evolving communities for the future.
Improving Service Through Local Community Projects
AC Transit works with the communities we operate in to help ease delays caused by traffic, partnering with cities and agencies on Quick Build projects throughout our service area.
Roadway treatments might include raised curbs, vertical posts, new or modified roadside signage, and special red “bus only” lane striping on the roadway.
Features like bus-only lanes, transit-signal priority, and bus stop enhancements were added along four major corridors in Alameda, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Leandro, improving service, safety, and reliability.
Prioritizing riders starts with our workforce
Safety is our north star in everything we do. This is reflected in policies and procedures that guide our workflows and operations. Whether an operator navigating a bus full of passengers through a busy corridor or a mechanic providing diagnostics to ensure bus components are in tip-top shape, our team is solely focused on getting our riders safely to their destinations.
Hear their stories:
Prioritizing riders starts with our workforce
Safety is our north star in everything we do. This is reflected in policies and procedures that guide our workflows and operations. Whether an operator navigating a bus full of passengers through a busy corridor or a mechanic providing diagnostics to ensure bus components are in tip-top shape, our team is solely focused on getting our riders safely to their destinations.
Hear their stories:
How our work strengthens the East Bay
Midday Coach Cleaning
When teams work together and feedback is shared across departments, it can lead to meaningful improvements for riders. Tempo buses are now cleaned twice a day to ensure riders have the best experience possible while aboard Tempo.
WATCH THE STORY
ZEBU Workforce Investment
Supported by $40 million in federal grants, Zero Emission Bus University launched in partnership with Chabot Community College and ATU Local 192 in a first-of-its-kind apprenticeship program that trains the next generation of transit workers.
WATCH THE STORY
Connecting with Riders on Service
AC Transit redesigned our bus network with feedback from riders across our communities. Nearly 85% of our routes were right sized to match remote work trends, shifting ridership, and current fiscal realities, ensuring we serve riders where they need us most.
WATCH THE STORY
Improved Safety with Automation
AC Transit is using automated camera enforcement on buses to improve safety for bus-only lanes and bus stops. As a result of this technology, illegal parking is down and on time performance is up, making service safer and more reliable for our riders.
WATCH THE STORY
Read more about the impact of our Priorities:
Safe and Reliable Service
- Launched automated enforcement for illegally parked cars or vehicles in bus-only lanes, increasing service time and rider safety. AC Transit played a central role in passing AB 917, which permits transit agencies statewide to use forward-facing cameras to issue citations for vehicles illegally parked at bus stops and in transit-only lanes.
- Launched a new in-house AC Transit mobile app that gives riders real-time bus arrivals, trip planning, service alerts, and quick access to route information. Building the app internally reduced vendor costs, allowed faster improvements, and ensured it better met rider needs.
- Created multiple channels for riders to receive real-time service alerts, with the ability to contact social media representatives directly around the clock.
Connected Communities
- Provides more than 200,000 school trips annually for middle and high school students across Alameda County in partnership with Alameda CTC's Student Transit Pass Program.
- Surpassed 40 million rides in 2025 for the first time since 2019 (nearly doubling ridership since 2020 with 21.2M riders).
Delivering on our Commitments
- Awarded APTA Agency of the Year in 2023 for pandemic response.
- Maintaining financial reserves and passing a balanced budget every year, allowing AC Transit to continue to deliver on commitments through the fiscal crisis.
- Independent audit confirmed that AC Transit has saved $199 million in operating cost reductions in preparation for the fiscal crisis.
Supporting the East Bay Economy
- Awarded 2025 East Bay Economic Development Alliance Innovation Award for Community Impact.
- Awarded $15 million in 2024 through the Federal Transit Administration's Bus and Low- and No-Emission Grant Awards, allowing AC Transit to acquire 25 cutting-edge hydrogen fuel cell electric buses. Grant funds have allowed us to grow our fleet, with most bus purchases coming from Gillig in Alameda County.
- AC Transit’s zero emission fleet has expanded to 30 FCEBs and 28 battery electric buses (BEB) and counting, which combined, have eliminated more than 13,000 metric tons of CO2. Clean air means a healthier population, leading to higher productivity and lower health care costs.
Stay Connected
Follow us on social media, sign up for our eNews to get the latest from AC Transit, including line-specific notifications, take a survey, find out where we will be in the community, or learn about our history in the Easy Bay.