Published Saturday, February 10, 2001, in the Oakland Tribune
Plan envisions 'baby BART' connecting North Bay cities
By Dwight King-Leatham
Staff Writer
A plan to build a "baby" version of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system
has begun moving down the tracks toward parts of Contra Costa and San
Joaquin counties.
Called eBART, the train would cost about $100 million and be ready to
roll in about three years -- if there's money for it, BART Spokesman
Mike Healy said Friday.
"It's strictly a concept at this point," he said.
As envisioned, the train route would include the North Concord BART
station, Martinez, the Baypoint-Pittsburg BART station, downtown
Pittsburg, downtown Antioch, Brentwood and probably Tracy, according
to Richard Silver, executive director of the Train Riders Association
of California.
"We're very happy with the project, it's long overdue," Silver said
Friday.
At a meeting in Antioch on Thursday night, planners approved a
$250,000 study to check out if a former mining railroad in East
County -- called the Mococo for the Mountain Copper Co. that is owned
by the Union Pacific Co. -- would work to ease the commute by
carrying a new generation of light-weight diesel trains.
A single operator could run an eBART car -- smaller than a standard
BART car but heftier and faster than a light-rail car -- or pull
several at speeds reaching 70 mph, said Healy. During morning and
evening rush hours, trains would leave the station every 15 minutes.
Not as heavy or protected as BART cars, an eBART train would need to
be the only train on its track to avoid the danger of casualties from
a collision with a freight train.
The eBART idea is Joe Keller's, the BART director from Antioch, who
calls it "an interim strategy" until BART extends regular service
from Pittsburg to Antioch.
With cost estimates for a regular BART extension to Hillcrest Avenue
in Antioch pegged at $900 million-$1 billion, the problem is how to
get BART "built in both of our lifetimes," Keller said Friday.
No one knows of a source for the $1 billion, so Keller's thinking is
to offer East County commuters relief meanwhile, and also to continue
to push for a BART link to Antioch.
EBART comes just as the regional Metropolitan Transportation
Commission wants some project proposals to take to Washington and
Sacramento.
The feasibility study will give the greatest scrutiny to the route
between Brentwood and the North Concord BART station, Healy said,
adding he doubts if a good rider-market exists between Brentwood and
Tracy.
Keller believes Tracy still has a chance, however. The planners in
Antioch boosted planning funding for the project from $200,000 to
$250,000 expressly to explore the Brentwood to Tracy stretch, Keller
said.
San Ramon Mayor David Hudson said Friday he wants to ask if the Tri-
Valley Transportation Council will add another $50,000 for the study
to look at an alternate eBART route that would end in Livermore or
Pleasanton.
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