Oakland Airport Connector (OAC)

Feds put funding for Oakland Airport Connector project on hold: huge chance to save transit service across the Bay Area!

Why the Federal Transit Administration Is Withholding Funds

In a strongly-worded letter, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) alerted BART and Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) that they are withholding Federal funds for the Oakland Airport Connector project, including $70 million in stimulus funds, because BART failed to meet their civil rights obligations. 

FTA started the investigation largely based on a complaint filed by Public Advocates on behalf of TransForm, Urban Habitat and Genesis.

Funds Can Be Shifted to Save Transit Service Across the Bay Area – If MTC Does the Right Thing

The FTA letter also states that unless the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) shifts the funds away from the Oakland Airport Connector to other uses, the region risks losing the $70 million entirely.  

MTC has given BART until February 16, 2010 to get the FTA to approve a plan for addressing equity concerns.  If BART can't - and given their track record on these issues, it seems questionable - the $70 million will be given to the Bay Area's transit agencies.

If MTC shifts these funds to the Bay Area's transit agencies, it will:

1. SAVE JOBS.  The $70 million can save hundreds of local jobs that are about to be lost at transit agencies in all nine Bay Area county due to funding shortfalls.
2. SAVE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SERVICE.   The brutal service cuts and fare hikes we're seeing region-wide could be stopped.
3. Allow the region to study a faster way to get to the Oakland Airport and save $400 million.

Why the Oakland Airport Connector Project Will Crumble Under Federal Scrutiny

The letter from the FTA also states that if BART and MTC want to continue pursuing federal funds for the Oakland Airport Connector, they will be required to do an exhaustive equity analysis of the 3-mile, $500,000,000 project.

TransForm is sure this analysis will reveal that the project is the ultimate in wasteful spending and rubber stamping.

Download our overview of the project changes that created this boondoggle.

• It will be disastrously expensive and painfully slow, averaging just 23.4 mph, requiring long walks, and dropping riders into the existing parking lot at the airport rather than the terminal as originally proposed.
• It will cost riders $12 roundtrip on top of their BART fare, making the trip to OAK more expensive than to SFO.  
• It will have no intermediate stations that would connect residents with jobs on the corridor.
• It puts existing BART service at risk by increasing BART’s debt and using funds that could go towards improving BART service for tens of thousands of people, including keeping fares reasonable.

Contact John Knox White with questions.

Learn more:

• About the Federal Investigation
• About the Oakland Airport Connector
• What Happened at the MTC Meeting on January 27