Tempo (bus rapid transit)
Tempo is a bus rapid transit service in Oakland and San Leandro in California. It is operated by AC Transit as Line 1T. The route has dedicated lanes and center-boarding stations along much of the corridor, prepaid fares, signal preemption, and all-door boarding. It is AC Transit's busiest bus route, with an average of 13,615 riders boarding each weekday in Fall 2022.
Route
The northern terminus of the line is at the Uptown Transit Center, located at the [19th Street Oakland, California|Oakland station|19th Street/Oakland Bay Area Rapid Transit|BART station]. The lines continues down Broadway in mixed traffic, passing 12th Street/Oakland City Center BART station before the southbound and northbound routes split at 11th and 12th Streets, respectively. Both directions simultaneously meet at and run on Lake Merritt Boulevard before splitting again to 12th Street and International Boulevard. Southbound buses join International Boulevard at 14th Avenue and begin median running in an exclusive bus lane. Services continue to a station near Fruitvale BART and onward to San Leandro, where operation in mixed traffic resumes and the line continues down Davis Street to terminate at San Leandro BART.Articulated buses call at specially built high-curbed bus stops at the north and south ends of the line while the majority of International Boulevard stops feature median strip boarding platforms.
History
Planning
A 1993 AC Transit study designed the Berkeley–Oakland–San Leandro corridor as a potential alignment for major transit investment. The agency began work on a Major Investment Study for the corridor in 1999. Telegraph Avenue was selected as the Berkeley–Oakland alignment in 2011; Shattuck Avenue had lower expected ridership, while College Avenue had fewer opportunities for transit-oriented development. The 2002-released MIS recommended bus rapid transit for the corridor; light rail was deemed not to be cost-effective, while enhancements to conventional bus service would not generate significant ridership increases.Prior to 2007, Telegraph Avenue was primarily served by the 40/40L local/limited-stop routes, while International Boulevard and East 14th Street were served by the 82/82L pair. Service changes on June 24, 2007, included the establishment of Berkeley–Downtown Oakland–Bay Fair routes 1R and 1; the 82/82L were discontinued and the 40/40L were cut back to no longer serve Telegraph Avenue. Route 1R operated as a limited-stop overlay of local route 1; it had some bus rapid transit features like transit signal priority and wide stop spacing, but not all-door boarding or dedicated lanes. It was intended as a first phase while the full BRT service was planned.
The 2007 Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report considered whether to have Bay Fair or as the southern terminus, and whether to have separate local and express services or a single combined service. AC Transit later selected a combined service to San Leandro station as the Locally Preferred Alternative. In April 2010, the Berkeley City Council voted against the inclusion of center bus lanes over concerns about reducing Telegraph Avenue to a single general traffic lane in each direction. The city's preferred alternative, with curbside stops and no dedicated bus lanes, was not compatible with BRT service standards. Berkeley withdrew from the project in 2011. San Leandro also objected to center lanes on its portion of the line.
The Final Environmental Impact Statement/Final Environmental Impact Report, released in January 2012, removed the center lanes south of Georgia Way in San Leandro. It also included a Downtown Oakland–San Leandro alternative to allow the project to proceed without the Berkeley and North Oakland section. AC Transit approved this shorter alternative in April 2012, followed by the Oakland and San Leandro city councils that July.
Construction and service
Route 1R was eliminated on June 26, 2016 to allow for construction. Route 1 was changed to run only between Downtown Oakland and San Leandro station; new routes 6 and 10 were created to serve the Downtown Oakland–Berkeley and San Leandro–Bay Fair segments. Groundbreaking was held in August 2016. The project was funded by a mix of local, state, and federal funds; major sources included Federal Transit Administration Small Starts, Regional Measure 2 bridge tolls, AC Transit, and Alameda County Measure B/Measure BB sales tax.The service was branded Tempo in July 2020, with the service numbered 1T. Route 1T service began on August 9, 2020, with local route 1 eliminated. Tempo was fare-free for the first 90 days of service; fare collection started on November 9, 2020. The total cost of the project was $232 million.
On March 31, 2023, overnight service was curtailed to City Center and 14th Street due to street closures in downtown Oakland. On August 6 of the same year, late-night trips were also truncated in the same way. In 2024, a "quick build" project by AC Transit and the City of Oakland added delineator posts, pavement markings, and signage between 14th Avenue and 107th Avenue in response to safety concerns. Speed cushions to discourage motorists from illegally driving in the bus lanes were also planned.
A 2016 AC Transit study of potential improvements to major corridors proposed extensions of the Downtown Oakland–San Leandro corridor to Emeryville via West Grand Avenue, and to Bay Fair station via East 14th Street.
Station list
Note: Bold indicates frequent bus route service.north to south
| Station | Platform | Intersection/ address | Connections | Notes |
| Uptown Oakland | curb | Broadway and 17th Street Broadway and 20th Street | BART – 19th Street/Oakland station: AC Transit: 6, 12, 18, 51A, 72/72L/72M, 88, 800, 802, 805, 851, NL walking distance of Uptown Transit Center | Northern terminus Serves Uptown Oakland, BART Headquarters, Fox Oakland Theatre, Kaiser Center, Paramount Theatre no canopy on northbound stop |
| 14th Street | curb | Broadway and 14th Street | AC Transit: 6, 12, 14, 18, 51A, 72/72L/72M, 88, 800, 802, 805, 851 | Serves Downtown Oakland, Oakland City Hall, Frank Ogawa Plaza, AC Transit Headquarters |
| City Center | curb | 12th and Broadway 11th and Broadway | BART – 12th Street Oakland City Center station: AC Transit: 6, 12, 18, 19, 22, 30, 40, 51A, 72/72L/72M, 88, 96, 800, 802, 805, 840, 851 | Serves Downtown Oakland, Chinatown, Lafayette Square, Oakland City Center, Oakland Convention Center, Oakland Public Library Asian Branch |
| Harrison | curb | 12th and Webster Streets 11th and Alice Streets | AC Transit: 19, 22, 30, 40, 96, 840 | Serves Downtown Oakland, Chinatown stops located further from Harrison Street |
| Madison | curb | 12th and Madison Streets 11th and Madison Streets | BART – Lake Merritt Station : AC Transit: 22, 40, 96, 840 | Serves Downtown Oakland, Lake Merritt, Laney College, MetWest High School, Oakland Main Library, Oakland Museum |
| 2nd Avenue | curb | International Boulevard and 2nd Avenue East 12th Street and 2nd Avenue | ||
| 5th Avenue | curb | International Boulevard and 5th Avenue East 12th Street and 5th Avenue | AC Transit: 62 | |
| 10th Avenue | curb | International Boulevard and 10th Avenue East 12th Street and 11th Avenue | - | |
| 14th Avenue | curb | International Boulevard and 14th Avenue 14th Avenue and Solano Way | AC Transit: 96 | |
| 20th Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 20th Avenue | Serves Community School for Creative Education | |
| 24th Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 24th Avenue | AC Transit: 62 | |
| 28th Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 28th Avenue | ||
| 31st Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 31st Avenue | AC Transit: 30, 31 | Serves Fruitvale |
| Fruitvale | median | International Boulevard and 34th Avenue | BART – Fruitvale station : AC Transit: 54 | Serves Fruitvale Village and Oakland Public Library Cesar E. Chavez Branch |
| 39th Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 34th Avenue | Serves Fruitvale | |
| High Street | median | International Boulevard and 45th Avenue | AC Transit: 14 | Serves Fremont High School and Oakland Public Library Melrose Branch Stop is two blocks east of High Street |
| 48th Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 48th Avenue | ||
| 54th Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 54th Avenue | ||
| Seminary | median | International Boulevard and 58th Avenue | AC Transit: 45 | Stop is one block west of Seminary Avenue |
| 63rd Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 63rd Avenue | ||
| 67th Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 67th Avenue | Serves Oakland Public Library Martin Luther King, Jr. Branch | |
| 73rd Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 72nd Avenue | AC Transit: 73, 805 | Stop is one block west of intersection with 73rd Avenue/Hegenberger Road |
| 77th Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 77th Avenue | ||
| 82nd Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 82nd Avenue | AC Transit: 46L | |
| 86th Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 86th Avenue | AC Transit: 90 | Serves Oakland Public Library Elmhurst Branch |
| 90th Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 90th Avenue | AC Transit: 90 | |
| 95th Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 95th Avenue | ||
| 98th Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 98th Avenue | AC Transit: 98 | Serves Elmhurst United Middle School |
| 103rd Avenue | median | International Boulevard and 103rd Avenue | AC Transit: 45 | Easternmost stop in Oakland |
| Durant Avenue | median | East 14th Street and Durant Avenue | Serves Durant Marketplace Westernmost stop in San Leandro | |
| Georgia Way | curb | East 14th Street and Euclid Avenue East 14th Street and Georgia Way | ||
| San Leandro Civic Center | curb | East 14th Street and Haas Avenue | Serves San Leandro City Hall | |
| Downtown San Leandro | curb | Davis and Hays Streets Davis Street and Dan Niemi Way | Serves downtown San Leandro | |
| San Leandro BART | island | 1401 San Leandro Boulevard | BART – San Leandro station: AC Transit: 9, 28, 34, 35, 801 San Leandro LINKS | southern terminus |