San Pablo Avenue is the vital backbone and primary arterial roadway serving cities and communities from downtown Oakland to the Carquinez Bridge. As it parallels Interstate 80 for the majority of its length, San Pablo Avenue is the key reliever route during times of heavy freeway congestion. Due to its high importance to the local communities, San Pablo Avenue has been the focus of many improvement projects and studies throughout the years. The San Pablo Avenue corridor bus routes carried 13,000 transit riders daily in 2019 (pre-COVID). 

In 2003, AC Transit implemented the RAPID bus project which established Transit Signal Priority (TSP) along the corridor and began Line 72R operations. TSP on buses communicates with traffic signals and requests green light time in order to reduce transit delays and improve transit travel time reliability. While the existing TSP equipment has provided long-term benefits to AC Transit riders and local residents, the original TSP equipment needs to be replaced.  

The San Pablo Avenue Rapid Corridors project will upgrade traffic signals and buses with GPS-tracking TSP technology to take full advantage of the latest detection and signal timing abilities. In addition, this project will update signal timing coordination which will provide improved detection capabilities and provide more efficient transit and traffic operations.

This project spans approximately 12 miles along San Pablo Avenue from downtown Oakland to Contra Costa College in San Pablo. The project includes 70 signals along San Pablo Avenue and an additional 26 signals on major streets connecting San Pablo Avenue and Interstate 80, such as Ashby Avenue, Buchanan Street, Gilman Street, and El Portal. 

Installation of TSP is expected to begin in July 2022 and be completed in late 2022. For more information on this project, please contact planning@actransit.org or call (510) 891-7277

Other Related but Separate Projects in the Area

The Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) is developing the San Pablo Corridor Project in Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, and Albany.  The project aims to improve pedestrian, bicyclist, and transit rider safety along San Pablo Avenue. More information about that project can be found here.