Issue date: August 26, 1998
By JESSIE SEYFER
After searching all summer, San Mateo's bus service, SamTrans, has located four buses to be used for a new Dumbarton Express shuttle service that will serve east Menlo Park soon.
The shuttle will run from the Union City BART station in the East Bay and across the Dumbarton Bridge into the Menlo Park industrial complexes east of U.S. 101. Service will most likely start by mid-September, said SamTrans senior planner Jason Munkrest.
The shuttle will run along the Bayfront Expressway and circle around the industrial and business complexes on Constitution Drive, Chilco Street, Scott Drive, Bohannon Drive and Bohannon Way.
It is hoped that the shuttle will cut down on commuter traffic from East Bay residents who work in those areas, said Don Dey, Menlo Park's transportation manager.
The service will operate during peak morning and afternoon commute hours, and will serve an estimated 90 passengers at each time of the day, he said.
The project has been in the works for several years and is the combined effort of five regional transit authorities including BART, SamTrans and the East Bay's AC Transit.
The Menlo Park City Council approved the project June 2.
"Before this, from the East Bay to the Bohannon parks area, there was really no transit service," said Curt Goodenough, of AC Transit Capital Planning.
"There are quite a number of jobs that have started in the past few years," he added. "So we're hoping we can provide some alternatives and help out with the traffic."
There will be two trips in the morning and two in the afternoon, with one of the morning trips leaving slightly later in order to serve the employees of Sun Microsystems, said Mr. Goodenough.
The project will be paid for by grants from San Mateo County Clean Air funds, and some subsidies will come from other transit authorities, he said.
The shuttle will be the third Dumbarton Express route that AC Transit operates from the Union City BART station to Menlo Park. It will likely be called "DB2," and the adult fare will cost $2, as is the case on the other two "DB" routes, said Mr. Dey.
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