Bicycles and buses coexist on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland thanks to Vectorial® system

Before the implementation of the Telegraph Avenue Complete Streets project, this was one of the most dangerous corridors in city of Oakland. It was obvious that something needed to change, which made the creation of the plan urgent. This project is entirely based on the use of interim solutions with quick-build products to make the implementation faster and the cost lower than in a capital project scheme.

Need and project objectives.

In 2016 the city created protected bike lanes along Telegraph Avenue. However, city officials observed that the buses were pulling into the bike lane at bus stops, which made them unsafe for bicycle riders.

This situation led the city to consider creating boarding islands to integrate public transport and bicycle riders, but they needed quick implementation to solve the problem. Permanent boarding islands made of concrete were going to take too long, and the city wanted a quick-build solution which could be implemented as soon as possible.

That is why city of Oakland opted for the installation of Vectorial® system bus boarders.

The proposed solution.

This consisted of the installation of 4 Vectorial® system bus boarders at the following locations:

• Telegraph Avenue and 24^th Street (x2).
• Telegraph Avenue and 27^th Street (x2).

The platforms were installed between January and August 2018, and the data gathered by city of Oakland a few months after the implementation revealed that:

• There was a 40% reduction in bicyclist and vehicular collisions.
• 27% (northbound) and 45% (southbound) reductions in travel times for buses.
• 52% of bicyclists that travel on the corridor have said they have increased their travel on Telegraph Avenue.