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Vol. 4 No . 9 OAKLAND, JANUARY 1962

Highway patrolman speeds bus from exclusive lane

Exclusive Bay Bridge Lane SpeedsCommuter Bus Travel, Avoids Delay

Commuter buses from San Franciscowere rolling across the Bay Bridge twiceas fast as automobiles this month asresult of a special exclusive lane set asidefor transit use.Buses were making the trip across thespan in a fast 13 minutes, by-passingstalled vehicular traffic.

While AC Transit coaches were moving along briskly on the lower deck, carson the upper deck were proceedingbumper to bumper, taking about 25 minutes to cross the span during the eveningcommute rush . .

The special lane was established bythe State to speed commuter travel dur-

ing reconstruction work. The plan, applauded by Governor Edmund G. Brown,was devised to encourage riders tochange from autos to public transportation to relieve the peak hour congestioncaused by the "hump" and bridge lowering construction.

The special lane, previously set asidefor contractor's operations, gives busesan exclusive right-of-way along thebridge rail between the San Franciscoanchorage and the west portal of YerbaBuena Island tunnel.

The lane is used by buses whenevertraffic in the two normal lanes is con(Continued on Page 4)

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William Bettencourt Re-elected Head ofBoard, Names Committee AppointmentsWilliam J. Bettencourt, San Leandrobusiness executive, was unanimouslyelected this month to serve as presidentof AC Transit board of directors for thecoming year.Bettencourt, who will be serving hissecond year as head of the board, has

been a director since the district wasorganized in 1956.Re-elected to serVe with him as vicepresident, also for a second term, was

Col. Robert M. Copeland of Kensington,retired Army engineer.In accepting his re-election, Betten-

W. J. BettencourtPresident

R. M. CopelandVice President

court spoke of the district's past recordin transit growth, bu t warned:

"We must exercise vision and imagination during the coming year, since revenue must continue to increase if we areto operate at the same level of taxes andfares."AC Transit must continue to progresswith the times," he said.Bettencourt, news bureau manager forFriden, Inc. , is president of the San Leandro Citizens' Development Committee,which currently is planning a $4,000,000downtown revitalization program .

He also is chairman of the St. RoseMemorial Hospital citizens' advisoryboard and is deputy district governor ofSerra International.2

Colonel Copeland served the ArmyCorps of Engineers more than 30 yearsbefore his retirement, stationed in different parts of the world. He is a directorof the Stege Sanitary District in El Cerrito.

As one of his first orders of business,Bettencourt announced the followingcommittee appointments for 1962:

Finance: John L. McDonnell, chairman; William E. Berk, William H. Coburn, Jr .Personnel and Public Relations: William E. Berk, chairman; Robert K. Barber, E. Guy Warren.

Project Development: William H. Coburn, Jr., chairman; John L. McDonnell,E. Guy Warren.Special committee on office buildingfacilities: Robert K. Barber, chairman;William J. Bettencourt, Robert M. Copeland.Bettencourt and Copeland are ex-officio members on all committees.Ticket Seller Turns

In Till for HobbiesGeorge B. Roth, 69, ticket seller at the

Transbay Transit Terminal in San Francisco, will tum in his till March 1 todevote some time to fishing, dwarf treesand shop work.

Roth, who lives at 841 Morrell St., Hayward, was a train motorman from 1923to 1928, left the company and returnedto temporary work as a supervisor at the1939-40 Golden Gate International Exposition. He then became a special offi-cer at the terminal in 1941.

During World War II he was a receiver at the Emeryville an d East Oakland divisions, then returned to the terminal in 1948 as a ticket seller.

Transit Veterans Return to DistrictIn establishing a district claims de

partment this month, AC Transit welcomed back into the fold workers whodate their experience to the days whenEast Bay transit had a variety of names,eventually known as the Key System.

Veterans of the days when transportation ranged from ferry boats to streetcars, claims department employees wereswitched from the Key System to Transit~ a s u a l t y Company, the claims representative of National City Lines, in July,1952.Their return follows the decision ofthe AC board of directors to cancel acontract with Transit Casualty and todevelop its own self-insurance program.

Members of the claims department willcontinue to work in the same location, onthe sixth floor of the headquarters building, 1106 Broadway, under the directionof Mel C . Chapman, who has been incharge since 1929.

Chapman previously - from 1922 to1929 - was one of the attorneys whohandled trial work for San FranciscoOakland Terminal Railways.A native of Oakland and the . son of awell known East Bay attorney, the lateM. C. Chapman, the claims department

First For SavingsAn initital group of district workersapplied for the purchase of U.S . SavingsBonds through a payroll deduction planthis month, signing up for the acquisitionof bonds in 1962 having a maturity valueof $133,300.The first applications covered purchaseof 286 bonds, with the majority of work

ers-227-applying for $50 bonds.Employees previously were notifiedthat the plan was available, wherebybonds could be purchased by settingaside a specified amount each pay day .

Mel C. Chapmanhead attended University of Californiaand Boalt Hall, taking his bar examination in 1918 after time-out for WorldWar 1.

Chapman, 65, lives with his wife,Dorothy, at 535 Merritt Ave.Former Key System personnel workingwith him include Fred E. Clarrage,senior adjuster; F. N. Gardin, property

damage supervisor, both former transitoperators; George Zeigenfuss, claims supervisor, who started in 1921 as a streetcar conductor; C. P. Regan, claims supervisor, an d Miss Caroly n Litster, chiefclerk.

Other department members include L.C. Counts and Richard Mills, attorneys;Allyn Hogaboom, Leon Maddox, RichardReinberger, Norman Roe, adjusters, andLois Cowden and Anna Baca, stenographers.

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1962 Looms as Crucial Year; ContinuedRevenue Gain Necessary to Meet Costs

AC Transit has started the new yearwith a record of achievement, bu t withknowledge that 1962 is a crucial yearthe year the system has to begin earningenough to pay its own way.

The district rolled into 1962 with soaring passenger gains and with most of itspromised improvements accomplished.

But the number of :riders hasn't caughtup with the costs of new service and themeeting point must be reached this year,if the system is to continue under thepresent tax an d fare structure.

Directors of the district believe thenext few months will tell the story. I fthe patronage picture of 1961 continues,the riders will not only be enjoying thenation's best bus transportation, they cantake pride in one of the few systems inSpecial Lane Speeds

Buses Across Bridge(Continued from Page 1)gested, a particular advantage duringlate afternoon and evening rush periods-o r whenever truck-car travel is slowedon the lower deck.

At the west end of Yerba Buena tunnel, State highway patrolmen are on dutyto merge the buses into the two lanes oftraffic. As result, buses are able to moveright along, avoiding the bottleneck thatdeveloped when reconstruction of thetunnel commenced nearly two monthsago.

During peak hours, nearly half of theEast Bay commuters travel by bus. During the top commuter period, AC Transit has an eastbound bus leaving SanFrancisco every 14 seconds; with 238coaches crossing the bridge between 4an d 6 p.m. With the special lane, busesagain were maintaining schedules.4

a nnancially successful, stable position.Passenger revenue showed a markedincrease in 1961, totaling $11,687,000, aboost of 4.8 per cent over 1960.In planning AC Transit's operations,engineers had estimated annual trafficboosts of 3 per cent, with the year coming up as the decisive point.They expected the district to accumulate a surplus in the nrst months of opera

tion, when new service and new equipment were not draining revenues andwhen there was no interest to pay onbonded debt.First Year Surplus

By the middle of 1961, in line withtheir estimates, all new services begandrawing heavily again st this reserve, andbond serving costs and other expenseswere added.A large portion of the reserve will beexpended by the middle of 1962 and thedistrict must then be carrying enoughpassengers to meet its costs."Because of passenger response, we'refacing this crucial point in a better position than we anticipated," according toWilliam J. Bettencourt, board president.

"We have had constant gains in passenger revenue - remarkable when youconsider transit throughout the countrywas down 3.5 per cent in 1961."We think it proves that if you givepeople good equipment and good service,they'll discover the advantages of riding

the bus."In its accomplishments for the year,

the district could list the addition of2,250,000 annual miles of new service and250 new buses pu t into operation.For the 49,000,000 riders carried during the year, there were equipment orservice improvements on almost everyline, extensions of service into resid ential

AC / transit PASSENGER REVENUE ... COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS YEAR$1 ,040,000

$1 ,020,000

1,000,000

980,000

960,000

940,000

920,000

900,000

880000

860,000JAN. FEB. MAR . APR. MAY JUNE JULY AUG.

areas, additio nal schedules, an d a step-up in frequency.Scores of innovations were introduced, among them

the Pacinc Coast's nrst large Reet of air-conditionedcoaches.These proved their popularity during the nrst hot

spell and were responsible for unexpected summerpassenger gains, in the opinion of General ManagerJohn R Worthington.

A new type of service, the City Express, went intooperation in March, joining Berkeley, Oakland, SanLeandro and Hayward in a fast transit link.

"Most of the planned improvements were accomplished during the year," Worthington said, "and inhalf the time originally scheduled, But we still plancontinued improvements,"Included under projects for 1962, for example, is thepurchase of another 20 to 25 air conditioned buses,increasing the system's total bus Reet to 654. Also

planned is new cross town service for San Lorenzo andsouthern portions of San Leandro.

i"

SEPT. OCT. NOV. DEC.

NOVEMBERPASSENGERS

Percentage ChangeFrom Previous Year+ 8%.--_____+6% . -__+4% . -__+ 1%1--__- 1%- 4% '- -_____ ....1

_ ACTRANSIT_ U. S. TRANSIT INDUSTRY

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QUESTION MARK-CarolGladstone, 10, tries thedriver's seat while ply-ing maintenance manager Brooks Rice withquestions about her favorite buses.

Young Rider Gets Lots of AnswersA lO-year-old bus enthusiast had achance to stump the experts this month

and although she may have staggeredmaintenance manager Brooks Rice nowand then, at least he didn't fluff anyanswers.The girl, Carol Gladstone, sixth gradestudent at Cragmont School in Berkeley,collects bus information the way othergirls collect miniature animals or dolls.

Armed with two hours' worth of questions about bus equipment-particularlyas to numbers and series-she got a fullrun-down from Rice and then was takenon a tour of the Emeryville division tolook over some of t)J.e buses she's missedin her personal search.She also saw the wash racks andlearned how buses are maintained anddispatched, bu t the highlight was in finding that one of her favorite "lost" buses,1302, was there in the shops, all spiffedup and with a new number, 1202.According to her mother, Mrs. MelvinGladstone of 511 Boynt on Ave. , Berkeley,each bus to Carol has a personality ofits own and the number is the same as aname. She has spent months keepingnotebooks and charts on bus numbers,6

plus noting th eir different characteristics.Not only that, she has others collectingnumbers for her, including her father,vice president of Dymo Industries, makers of plastic tape.She was so enthused about looking atbuses at University and Shattuck Aves.recently that she completely forgot aflute lesson and spent the afternoon, instead, spotting new numbers .Carol's intense interest came to theattention of AC Director Robert K.Barber and the tour was arranged so she

could ge t answers to some of her questions, like what was bus 302 doing downnear San Jose?Answer: on a charter.And why do Los Angeles electriccoaches have the same color scheme andnumbers of former Key System equipment?Because they were once operated byNational City Lines, former owners ofKey.Unusual interests is nothing new forCarol. Previously she "went through" mechanics and engineering principles andcurrently is sharing her bus hobby withphotography.

New Employees Join Transit DistrictCongratulations were in order this

month for the following new employees,who have joined AC Transit.

General OfficesAccounting: Isabella C. Morrison, 2527

Dwight Way, Berkeley.Treasury: Edward J. Leathem, 451Celia Street, Hayward.Emeryville Division

Bus Operators: G. P. Gardiner, 1605Bancroft Way, Berkeley; M. C. Courtney,2975 Stevenson St., Pitts burg; A. R. Lindsey, 2032 E. 30th St., Oakland; E. L.Green, Hotel Leo, 275 16th St., Richmond; C. C. Ferrell, 1645 Fairview St.,Apt. A, Berkeley; W. L. Durham, 40 EIRancho Dr., Pleasant Hills; C. H. Benson, Jr., 3115 Suter St., Oakland; A. C.Giulani, 3112 - 14th Ave., Oakland; JamesWilliams, 5721 Grove St., Oakland; C. E.Hill, 3201 Bruce St., Apt. 18, Oakland;M. N. McCraw, 2819 Tara Hill Dr., SanPablo; W. H . Stewart Jr., 617 Mark Ave.,Vallejo.

Maintenance: Kenneth Van Camp,1212 Thiel Rd., Hayward.

P.B.X. Operator: Doris Lee Goelz,1729 Via Lacqua, San Lorenzo.East Oakland Division

Bus Operators : R. E. Candevan, 115298th Ave., Oakland; T. W. Casey, 521Valle Vista, Oakland; J. L. Drumm, 5315Bond St., Oakland; D. W. Landon, 24826Mulberry St., Hayward; T. E. Gandenberger, 1210 50th Ave., Oakland; G. L.Burch Jr., 22957 Sutro St., Hayward; C .L . Beatty, 9903 Birch St., Oakland; V. L.Hart, 570 Brian St., Hayward; W. S.Lineback, 3134 Norbridge Ave., CastroValley; C. A. Sain, 440 Smalley Ave.,Hayward; B. J. Hector, 16129 Via Alamitos, San Lorenzo; D. L. Ewen, 2800Frazier Ave., Oakland; A. J. Wyatt, 2040Castro St., Oakland; L . S. Miller, 222010th Ave., Oakland.

Maintenance: John P. Baker, 3921Lyon Ave., Oakland; Robert A. Ambro,1943 Seminary Ave., Oakland.Richmond Division

Bus Operator: M. F. Baker Jr., 1451San Joaquin St., Richmond.

Key System Workers Taken by DeathJohn G. "Jack" Stuart, former superin

tendent of railway equipment at the Emeryville shops, died this month, shortlybefore his 70th birthday. Mr . Stuart retired in 1953, after 24 years of service.

Mr. Stuart worked as master mechanicand chief inspector of the mechanicaldepartment before taking over as superintendent. Old timers also remember histrained dog, who on visits to the shops,showed that a pooch could really flipalong with many other accomplishments.

Surviving is Mr. Stuart's widow, Lucy,of 410 41st St., Oakland.

Death also came in January to HomerF. Van Dyke, 81, former Key System railoperator, pensioned in 1944 after 34 yearsat the controls. His wife, Evelyn, livesat 5137 Foothill Blvd., Oakland.

Another veteran street car and trainoperator, John George Green, 74, diedDecember 28. He entered service in 1922,reti red in 1952. A wife, Christina, of 101156th St., Oakland, survives.

Clark Owens, pensioned as a motorman in 1941, died December 12. He was83 and lived with his wife, Bessie, at 1289Terra Ave., San Leandro.

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At an adjourned regular meeting December 27, 1961, the Board of Directors: Approved terms of final terminationagreement between the District andTransit Casualty Company incident toinauguration of partial self-insuranceprogram January 1, 1962, on motion ofVice President Copeland. Established salary ranges and position descriptions for several non-contractemployees, on motion of Director Barber. Provided for withdrawal of funds byclaims personnel in connection with selfinsurance program, on motion of Director Warren. Established policy governing pensions and other fringe benefits of TransitCasualty Company employees hired bythe District and who had previous service with Key System Transit Lines, onmotion of Director Coburn. Approved new five - year contractwith Fielder, Sorensen & Davis, transitadvertising agency, on motion of VicePresident Copeland.* * *At an adjourned regular meeting Janu-

TRANSIT TIMESPublished monthly by theALAMEDACONTRA R A N S I T DISTRICT

11 wl-y

BOARD OF DIRECTORSWM. J. BETTENCOURT . PresidentWard IVROBERT M. COPELAND . . . Vice President

Director at largeROBERT K. BARBER ., Director at LargeWILLIAM H. COBURN, JR. Ward IWILLIAM E. BERK Ward IIJOHN McDONNELL Ward II IE. GUY WARREN . Ward V

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERSJOHN R. WORTHINGTON General ManagerROBERT E. NISBET . . AttorneyJOHN F. LARSON . Treasurer--ControllerGEORGE M. TAYLOR. . Secretary

ary 8, 1962, the Board of Directors : Re-elected President Bettencourt and

Vice President Copeland to their boardoffices for the 1962 year, on motion ofDirector McDonnell.

Awarded $7133 contract to East BaySheet Metal Works for installation ofheating system at East Oakland division,on motion of Director Barber.

November Incomes Show Continued GainAC Transit income continued to showa steady revenue climb in November,totaling $1,054,250, an increase of $78,0l5

or 8 per cent over a year ago.The receipts were adequate to coveroperation and maintenance expenses, depreciation and interest on bonded debt,

and to allow allocation of $15,037 to-

TRANSIT TIMESAlamedaContra Costa Transit District1106 BroadwayOakland 7, California

Return Requested

wards retirement of bonded debt.Operating and maintenance expensesof $933,632 were an increase of $61,435over the same month last year, due togreater operating mileage-amounting toan additional 178,226 miles for the month-and increased wages for drivers andmechanics.

BULK RATEU.S. POSTAGEPAID

Oakland, Calif.Permit No. 2105