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IFor the Good of Your Community

Vol . 5 No. 9 OAKLAND, JANUARY 1963

AC Transit Board Elects Officers;New Express Given Green LightCommute Line ApprovedFor Washington Manor

Inauguration of a new intercity expressline-the fifth for the district-was approved this month by the board of directors as part of a projected program ofspeeding up and streamlining East Baybus service.

The new express, Line 36, will providerapid and direct commute service between the Washington Manor and Bonaire residential areas of San Leandro anddowntown Oakland.Scheduled to go into operation on Feb.4, it will operate initially during morningand evening hours, with a plan for expanded service as soon as patronage warrants the increase.Traveling on the Nimitz Freeway between San Leandro and Oakland, thenew express will cut traveling time inhalf, making the run from WashingtonManor in 32 minutes and from Bonaire,in 29 minutes.

The new line is among several proposed express routes under study by theAC Transit staff in line with plans tomove riders from major population centers to downtown areas as speedily andconveniently as possible - faster andeasier than they can drive and park theirown cars.

(Continued on Page 2)

R. M. Copeland W. H. CoburnCopeland, Coburn toHead Board for 1963

Col. Robert M. Copeland, member ofthe board of directors since the districtwas formed in 1956, was named president of the board this month at the annual election.

The colonel, a retired Army engineer,served during the past year as vice president.William H. Coburn, Jr., Berkeley attorney and also a veteran board member,was elected as vice president. Steppingdown, after serving two terms as president, was William J. Bettencourt of SanLeandro.Col. Copeland, who lives at 80 Norwood Ave., Kensington, and three otherboard members who were returned tooffice by voters at the November election,(Continued on Page 8)

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Rel:iring Presidenl: Praises Disl:ricl: Gains;Nol:es 'Phenomenal' Increase in Pal:ronageWilliam J. Bettencourt stepped downas president of the board of directors this

month after a two-year term, with wordsof praise for the District's accomplishments-and the figures to back them up.Bus patronage has shown a 12 pe r centincrease since the District took over fromKey System Transit Lines in Oct., 1960,he disclosed.This increase, at a time when the nation is still experiencing a downwardtrend in transit riding, has made the dis

W. J. Bettencourt

trict the "wonderchild" of the industry, Bettencourtadded. As a result,other properties arenow following thelead of AC Transitin developing plansfor "intelligent, pro gressive transitthe way the publicwants it."Capsuling accomplishments of the pasttwo years, he said the appointment lastMarch of Kenneth F. Hensel as general

manager brought to the District the"knowledge and temperament" whichhelped the board and staff to move aheadat a smooth, unhampered pace-and thatthis pace could be expected to continue.

He noted the acquisition of new equipment, first 250 new buses, then an additional 30 new motor coaches."Now we are contemplating another35 to 45 additional buses, far surpassingequipment estimates of our engineers."

He also pointed to development of aschool bus service formula "equitable toMore Informal:ion

A note or phone call to the transit district-OLympic 3-3535-will place yourname on the mailing list for TransitTimes if you are not already regularly receiving a copy of the monthly newsletter.2

all areas in the district, " innovations suchas a park and ride center; a ride andshop validating plan; a Sunday pass, anda program for building attr active passenger shelters.Bettencourt had particular praise forthe fiscal responsibility and integrityshown by board and staff members andtheir efforts in protecting public fundsand avoiding waste."Despite inflation and an increase inthe costs of doing business-labor costsalone jumped more than 15 pe r cent sincethe District went into operation-we haveheld the line on fares and, at least up tothe present time, on taxes as well. Andthere has been no slump in providingnew and better service and equipment."

He also praised the sensitivity and responsiveness of the board as to what thepublic wanted and its constant willingness to hear, study and grant, where justified, the public's requests for changesor improvements.Bettencourt, an executive with Friden,Inc., of San Leandro, will remain on theboard as a director.

New Line 36 1:0 SpeedService forComm ul:ers(Continued from Page 1)

The express will operate from Washington Ave. and Lewelling Blvd. throughWashington Manor and Bonaire, thenvia Nimitz Freeway to downtown Oakland, looping via Telegraph Ave., WestGrand Ave. and Broadway.

The new line will be the first majorimprovement of the new year, adding tothe following record of improvementsmade during the past year: 24 addedschedules during morning peak hours;six midday schedules and 12 additionalevening peak hour schedules; seven basicnew services added and six major extensions or revisions to existing service.

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Berkeley 'Ride & Shop' Plan to ContinueThe unique "Ride & Shop" bus validating plan, started by downtown Berkeley merchants and AC Transit twomonths ago, will continue in operationfor at least another month.This was the decision made by boardmembers, who voted to extend the plan

until Feb. 15 while merchants and thedistrict study results of the innovation.Under the plan, shoppers can receivefree round-trip bus transit upon havinga coupon validated by participating concerns. The coupons are given out uponrequest by operators on all lines operating to or through Berkeley.

Latham Square BuildingChosen as New General

Headquarters of DistrictAC Transit offices will be moved from the

present location at n0 6 Broadway to moreefficient facilities in the Latham SquareBuilding at 16th St. and Telegraph Ave.

The board of directors, in approving themove, followed the recommendation of aspecial committee on office building facilities, which had investigated more than 40proposals over the past several months.

By moving to the Latham Square Building, the general offices will obtain additionalspace, improved building services and moreefficient utilization of space at a cost lessthan that being paid at the present headquarter offices. The new facilities will include a customer services office, handlingtickets, information, lost and found and buschartering arrangements.

The move is expected to be made inMarch.

The district took over the lease on thepresent quarters when it acquired Key System Transit Lines over two years ago. Thebuilding had been used by Key System since1943.

A partial review of the promotion, undertaken with the Berkeley DowntownCenter as representative of the 37 participating concerns, showed this resultafter nearly two months: 6,631 ticketshonored.A projection of the results on an annual basis would indicate about 44,000riders taking advantage of the plan, considerably above the number of ridersthat would be anticipated during theinitial year of the plan's operation, according to the experience of other cities,where similar programs have been tried.

Transit Expansion InContra Costa Explored

The Contra Costa County Board ofSupervisors has decided to ask cities incentral and eastern parts of the county toparticipate in a study into feasihility ofexpanding AC Transit service into theirarea.

The supervisors voted to request theaid of the cities in making a bus surveyafter receiving a report of specific recommendations from their City-CountyTransit Advisory Committee.

The committee recommended a studyof AC Transit bus transportation to Concord, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Pittsburg, Antioch and Brentwood. They alsoasked that Bay Area Rapid Transit andAC Transit enter negotiations to providefeeder service to rapid transit stations.The supervisors failed to approve thissuggestion, however, after it was pointed

out a feeder system study would not bejustified for at least 10 years.The transit advisory group was askedto contact schools to see if they, too,would be interested in participating in

the survey, estimated to cost $10,000.3

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AC jtransit PASSENGER REVENUE ... COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS YEAR$1.140.000

$1.120 .000$1,100,000

$1,080,000

$1.060,000

l

\I -_ 1962 r \$1.040,000

$1 ,026,0001,000,000 . " J\ 1/ "'4 I \, \ 1\ If IY' / , " ,.- I 1961 Il J ...,80,000960,000 _.

JAN. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUNE JULY AUG. SEPT. OCT. NOV. DEC .

NOVEMBERPASSENGERS

Percentage Changefrom Previous YearF+ 10% ....--_____ ,+ 8 % 1 ~ - - - - - - - - - - ~ + 6 % ~ - - - - - - - - - -+ 4 % ~ - - - - ~ ~ ; - - - 1 + 2 % 1 - - - - - - -

- 4 % ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 -6 % ,______ - - - l

_ ACTRANSITU. S. TRANSIT INDUSTRY

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Patronage Gains ContinueTransit patronage continued an upward trend in No"vember, 1962, despite a drop-off in department storesales for the month both in the East Bay and San Francisco.Passengers totaled 4,496,000, an increase of 5.9 percent over the same month of the previous year. Transbay commute book sales also were up, showing a gainof 9.1 per cent over November, 1961.For the nation's entire transit industry, riding experienced a decrease of 2.2 per cent.Passenger revenue for the month of $1,059,000 plusother income of $67,000 was adequate to meet all operational costs, which were up 9.3 per cent over November, 1961. Income also provided for amortization anddepreciation, but was not sufficient for bonded debtrequirements, leaving a deficit of $69,900 for themonth.Miles operated in November totaled 1,883,600, anincrease of 52,000 or 2.9 per cent. Despite the mileageincrease, however, revenue collected per mile operatedwas up nearly 3.5 per cent, indicating an encouragingratio between patronage gains and service expansion.

NewWorkers Welcomed to District RanksThe district started the new year witha number of new faces among its employees, including the following, whowent to work in November and Decem

ber :Executive Office

Public Relations: Myrtle Sarnstrom,333 Willow St., Apt. 108, Alameda, secretary.General Office

Treasury: Don C. Gardiner, 2109 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, vault clerk.Accounting: Florence Christianson,2951 Madera Ave., Oakland, senior account clerk; Joann R. Tucker, 2518 ClaySt., Alameda, key punch operator.Emeryville Division

P.B.X. and Information: Vonna LaVerne Moore, 6835 Chambers Dr., Oakland; Mary Helen Smith, 5616 El Dorado, El Cerrito, P.B.X. operators.Maintenance: Max Berger, 27810 Orlando Ave., Hayward, service employee "B".Bus Operators: B. L. Parsons, 27876La Porte, Hayward; E. F. Hokanson,4201 Lancelot Dr., Concord; F. R. Flanagan, 1318 Magnolia St., Oakland; L. Stottlemire, 479 38th St., Oakland; R. E.Bruce, 290 Tunis Rd., Oakland; B. E.Youngblood, 485 E. Santa Fe Ave., Pittsburg; J. E. Van Riper, 3507 14th Ave.,Oakland; W. J. Ramsey, 1410 OrlandoDr., San Jose; D. J. Dunn, 530 41st St.,Apt. 13, Oakland; F. M. Cisneros, 54231st St., Oakland; A. P. Gumataotao, 1704Walnut St., Alameda; Eligie Williams,225 Navy Rd., San Francisco; StanleyWilliams, 762 11th St., Apt. 4, Oakland;G. P. Hentschel, 2060-A Buena Vista,Alameda; William Mathes, 671 VernonSt., Oakland; E. L. Davis, 2458 PrinceSt., Berkeley; I. E. Merritt, 2627 TurkSt., San Francisco; M. S. Fulton, 521 JeanSt., Oakland.

Richmond DivisionH. L. Jefferson Jr., 1918 Florida Ave.,Richmond; J. M. Novacek, 2319 SanPablo Ave., San Pablo; J. T. Ball, 915Giant Ct., Richmond; J. D. Haynes, 2211Elspano Ct., San Pablo; W. L. Blaylock,2526 Duncan Rd., Pinole; R. H. Lewis,2455 Greenwood Dr., San Pablo; J. B.Gwin, 1930 Hill Ave., Richmond; M. O.Huff, 124 Rancho Motel, San Pablo; G.

J. Cook, 949 37th St., Richmond.Seminary DivisionK. C. Petersen, 2712 Sunset Ave., Oakland; C. W. Kissinger, 730 Blossom Way,Hayward; L. A. Golden, 781 Delano St.,San Lorenzo; B. L. Sheridan, 8603 Hillside St., Oakland; J. E. Noel, 742 BishopAve., Hayward; W. D. Siedentopf, 3763Delaware Dr., Fremont; E. A. Cordeiro,250 W. Jackson St., Hayward; R. EKiepke, 16830 Esteban Ave., San Leandro; R. F. Russio, 27636 Melbourne Ave.,Hayward; James Strickland, 238 Via Pecoro, San Lorenzo.

Record Revenue TalliedWith Aid of Bus Riding

Pre-holiday ShoppersTh e district reached its highest revenuepoint yet during the week ending Dec. 9,hitting $265,951 in fare box collections-itsown gift from active holiday riding.

Indicative of the increase in passengers,the city express lines accounted for $10,336of the total, with an average of $2,067 collected daily on the four lines. The figure isa 165 per cent increase over th e total revenue of $785 turned in when the express wentinto operation in March, 1961.

The record revenue also includes $159,744from local lines for the week and $95,871from transbay service.

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AMBIDEXTROUS-Versatile as both a conductor and motorman in early trolleydays, J. A. Heck is just CIS handy todaydoing his own housework. Photo at rightshows Heck, now nearly 96, as he lookedat beginning of career.';'UHH (JaU ttl. '!)te4e/

Pensioners Predate First Horse CarBy Virginia Dennison

The appearance of the first horse carin the East Bay was still three years awaywhen AC Transit's oldest pensioner, A.J. Klimax, going on 97, was born on May21, 1866.Horse cars hadn't even gotten off toa trotting start when J. A. Heck was bornalmost 96 years ago-second oldest pensioner on the district files.Their life span has covered an incredulous change in transit-from horse carsto steam trains; cable cars to the flourishing era of the electrics, before tracksgave way to tires and today's motorcoach.The last horse car was still operatingin Hayward when both of them wentto work for the company that eventuallybecame the Key System.6

But their personal memqry concernsthe day of th e trolley and the commutetrain, an era of experience now remaining in the memory of only a relativelyfew.

It was the late James P. Potter, firstsuperintendent of the Key Route andfather of D. J. Potter, the district's present transportation manager, who gaveHeck his job in 1904.A Pennsylvania Dutchman, Heck hadserved as a canteen stewart-the Armyused to have certain bar refinements-atFort Keogh, Mont., while the CheyenneIndians were being kept in hand.After a look at some of the rest of thecountry, he got a job on the street carsin New Orleans, then moved on to California in 1903.

Because he didn't like the hills in SanFrancisco, he followed a friend's adviceto look for a job in Oakland "after Ifound out where it was.""When Mr. Potter discovered I couldwork either end"- as motorman or con

ductor-"he pu t me to work in Alameda,on the dinkey."Although his hearing and sight noware bad and he suffers from arthritis,Heck has a vivid memory, undented bytime.

He recalls every detail of a foggymorning on Shattuck Ave., between 38thand 39th Sts., when a horse and wagonturned suddenly in front of his car.

Unable to stop in time, he threw uphis window and grabbed the driver, saving him from being killed with the horse.

"He told me, 'Now don't feel bad, yousaved my life.' He had fallen asleep andpulled the wrong rein. Not only that,he went down and explained to Mr. Potter ."

Heck was on his street car in Alamedawhen the earthquake struck in 1906 andremembers people running and theirpanic. He stayed. with the car and triedto keep his passengers aboard as thesafest place. And he went right on running the car .

"Why not, the tracks were all right."Heck, who retired just before his 70thbirthday in 1935, lives alone at 1603 16thSt., San Pablo. He does his own housekeeping, including th e cooking, washingand ironing and shopping. Until recently,he also kept his own garden. He eventried working in the shipyards duringWorld War II, but found it a little toostrenuous.Klimax, who tops Heck by a fewmonths to hold the record as the oldestman on the pension rolls, lives at 5700Gravenstein Highway North in Sebastopol. According to district records, heworked as a car repairman from 1908until 1938, when he was pensioned.

GOODBYE, HORSE-Electric trolleys of the Oakland Traction Company had alreadysent most horse cars to pasture when this photo was taken about 1907. J. A. Heck,one of AC Transit's oldest pensioners, worked on this line, which carried passengers from Santa Clara Ave. and High St. in Alameda to the old Oakland city hall.

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Agencies Join Dispute Over PUC ControlAC Transit, along with cities and special districts throughout the state, hasjoined in efforts to nullify legislationwhich could give the State Public Utilities Commission control over publicagencies.At stake, they believe, is the destruction of home rule by elected officials ofspecial districts, cities and counties andthe granting of unlimited power to anappointive state commission.Specifically involved is the fight of the

Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority against legislation placing theMTA under the jurisdiction of the PUCwith respect to safety rules.

The MTA, in asking the Supreme Courtto review the law, maintains if the StateLegislature has the power to give thePUC jurisdiction over safety rules, it has

the power to do the same with rates,service and general operations.And if the action against MTA sticks,public agencies fear similar moves couldbe made against all water, gas, electricityand transportation agencies.MTA, in its fight, contends the PUCwas clearly set up to control privatelyoperated utilities and that no legislativecontrol was provided for public agencieswhich already are governed by the people themselves.They contend in a petition filed withthe Supreme Court that the legislation isunconstitutional and that the legislaturedoes not have the power to give PUCcontrol over public agencies.Backing this view, in the East Bay,along with AC Transit, are the City ofAlameda and the Eastbay MunicipalUtility District.

Veteran Directors Elected to Office(Continued from Page 1)took their oath of office preceding theJanuary meeting. They are E . Guy Warren of Hayward, John McDonnell ofOakland and Bettencourt.

In taking over as president, Col. Copeland will be bringing to the office yearsof experience in organization and administration, experience credited withhelping to get the District in operationand the perception to direct its continuedadvance.A veteran of 30 years as an engineering officer, the new president has hadworld wide experience, including servicein France and the Philippines, as well asvarious parts of the United States.TRANSIT TIMESAlameda-Contra Costa Transit District1106 BroadwayOakland 7, California

Return Requested

A director at large, Copeland was anearly advocate of better public transitas a necessary benefit, not only to the busrider, but to the motorist, the businessman and the home owner. He is a member of the board of directors of the StegeSanitary District and is a former directorand president of the Kensington Improvement Club.

Coburn, director of Ward I, has beena board member since 1958 and was avaluable contributor to the planning ofthe transit program.Active in civic and business affairs, heis past president of the Berkeley-AlbanyBar Association and prominent in activities of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce.

BULK RATEU.S. POSTAGEPAID

Oakland, Calif.Permit No. 2105