CCTA East County Integrated Transit Study

Increasing residential growth in Eastern Contra Costa County (East County) is quickly outpacing the growth of higher paying jobs in the region. As a result, many East County residents are bedroom commuters and super commuters to the Central County and Bay Area now suffering worsening peak period congestion and drive times along the SR-4 corridor. With cascading impacts on the quality of life for the area’s residents, employees, and visitors, this legacy auto-centric region requires a multi-faceted solution for changing transportation behavior.  

The Contra Costa Transportation Authority’s (CCTA) East County Integrated Transit Study (ECITS) developed a conceptual plan for delivering a fast, frequent, high capacity, zero-emission electric transit connection along the SR-4 corridor between the Antioch BART station and the proposed Brentwood Intermodal Transit Center at the Brentwood Innovation Center. The study evaluated the cost-effectiveness and viability of transit service alternatives to develop a near-term solution for implementation, with the ability to scale and evolve service to address the long-term mobility needs of East County.

The ECITS created an actionable set of near-term and long-term recommendations to implement high-capacity transit (HCT) that extends from Antioch Station farther into East County, with consideration of the near-term need for a competitive transit alternative to driving. A locally preferred alternative (LPA) was be identified that allows HCT service in the SR-4 corridor to grow and evolve with additional long-term investments.

As the prime consultant, Nelson\Nygaard led the facilitation of advisory committees; public involvement; travel demand modeling; the development of alternatives such as service operating plans and conceptual design; establishing an evaluation framework; cost estimating; and implementation planning. The project culminated with the selection of an LPA that addresses local needs and project purposes, while also meeting the FTA’s project evaluation benchmarks. Central to these activities was evaluating the feasibility of converting a bus rapid transit guideway to a light rail guideway in the future when warranted by ridership demand and funding availability.