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Chapter 1 x Executive Summary 1-17 mobility, while also factoring in cost-effectiveness and financial feasibility, managing risk, maximizing safety, and minimizing environmental and community impacts to the extent possible. Based on the findings of the comparative analysis, DTCS recommends moving forward with Alternative 10 using a phased approach. Additional information about the comparative analysis can be found in Chapter 11. 1.7 Key Findings The Dumbarton Corridor is a complex network of existing transportation infrastructure paired with unutilized potential that offers a variety of options, each with distinct advantages and disadvantages that cater to different travel markets. By improving Corridor efficiency and travel time reliability, short-distance commuters coming from the Union City / Fremont / Newark (Tri- Cities) area to Peninsula employment destinations would be attracted by a one-seat ride via enhanced bus service on the Highway Bridge. Roadway improvements that allow HOVs to bypass SOVs encourage carpooling and also improve speed and reliability for buses. Long-distance travelers from the Central Valley / Tri-Valley and Capitol Corridor (beyond the BART service area) could drive demand for rail service if there were timed connections with ACE. The following are some key findings: The Highway Bridge approaches in the morning and evening peak periods are severely congested and could benefit from improvements that encourage HOVs and transit use, by providing these vehicles a bypass through congested areas (i.e., the toll plaza, and at Bayfront Expressway intersections at University Avenue and Willow Road). Improvements at the approaches are likely to do more for alleviating congestion than converting general- purpose lanes on the Highway Bridge to express lanes. Addressing capacity on the Highway Bridge alone will not alleviate traffic congestion in the Dumbarton Corridor, as this study confirms that the chokepoints where congestion occurs are at the approaches to the Dumbarton Highway Bridge. With proposed approach improvements, the express lanes alternatives perform well but one configuration of express lanes – the One Express Lane in Each Direction (Alternative 5) – would increase congestion in the study area for general traffic and SOVs. This alternative is preferred, however, because it encourages transit and HOV travel over SOV travel in the general-purpose lanes and is a more sustainable long- term option for mitigating the impacts of growth on the transportation network. Bus alternatives would produce 25 percent more ridership because of high-frequency service and direct service to many major job centers. Enhanced bus on the Highway Bridge (Alternatives 4 and 5) is good at providing service from the Tri-Cities to the Peninsula with a one-seat ride. However, when travelling on roadways in mixed traffic, bus service is subject to delays and unreliability caused by traffic congestion. Providing a dedicated busway on the Rail Bridge and ROW (Alternative 6) and building a connector to the planned US 101 express lanes can potentially improve travel time and reliability for bus routes, especially the Mountain View/Sunnyvale route, which is proposed to travel on US 101 for a substantial distance (over 12 miles each way). However, the Busway Alternative still would operate in mixed flow traffic in the East Bay. If paired with express lanes 6.1.D. - Page 26