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corridors
east 14th/international
el camino real
san pablo avenue
• existing conditions
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Existing Conditiont - San Pablo Avenue
Existing Land Use
Residential uses make up more than half of all the land uses on or near San Pablo Avenue, followed by private commercial uses. Industrial lands make up approximately eight percent of the land within one-half a mile from San Pablo Avenue and are mainlight percent of the land in the area. Local city parks, small pocket parks, and public spaces are sparsely dispersed throughout the corridor, and virtually no parks or natural areas front San Pablo Avenue. In addition, eight percent of the land in the area is vacant, not including surface parking lots and other underutilized parcels which are prevalent along San Pablo Avenue. A small percentage of the land is developed as mixed use.
Low-density land uses,
abundant vacant and surface lots, and lack of public spaces all contribute
to the poor utilization of land
Considering the existing transportation infrastructure and transit access along San Pablo Avenue, higher densities would benefit the corridor. Higher densities would benefit the corridor. Higher densities would be most appropriate in the neighborhoods around major transit centers. These neighborhoods have existing densities that are significantly below what major transit centers could support. For example, the average residential density around the El Cerrito Del Norte BART station is only 12 units per acre, well below the minimum of 25 units per acre that is considered supportive of fixed rail transit infrastructure.
Housing There is much variation in the amount, type, and affordability of housing among the neighborhoods along San Pablo Avenue. There are an estimated 70,000 homes within one-half mile of San Pablo Avenue. The majority of these homes (61 percent) are located in the southern part of the Avenue (from Oakland to El Cerrito). Oakland, Richmond, and Berkeley have the highest number of homes near San Pablo Avenue. San Pablo, El Cerrito, and Albany have around 6,000 to 7,000 homes each. Emeryville, Pinole, and Hercules have the fewest number of homes near the corridor.
There is a good mix of housing choices (single vs. multi-family) available along the corridor. In 2000, single-family and multi-family homes were equally common near San Pablo Avenue. Available multi-family housing is also quite diverse, as nearly half the multi-family units are in small buildings (2 - 10 units) and the other half is in larger buildings (11 or more units).
Multi-family homes are most abundant in Emeryville and Oakland, while El Cerrito and Richmond have mostly single-family homes available. Single-family homes make up the significant majority of the housing stock in Pinole, unincorporated Contra Costa County, and Hercules.
Existing Transportation San Pablo Avenue is an auto-oriented street, and is relatively unfriendly to other modes of transportation. Automobiles account for about 92 percent of all personal and commute trips to San Pablo Avenue. Walking is a distant second option, with four percent of people choosing to walk. Transit and bicycling each involve only a very small percentage of the total trips. People leaving the corridor are more likely to use transit or to walk, then those coming into the corridor.
Despite the high use of automobiles along the corridor, the existing transportation infrastructure provides significant potential for high transit usage, especially in the southern and middle parts of the Avenue. The combination of AC Transit's 72R and BART service provides the basis for an excellent transportation network along the street, allowing passengers to travel regionally. Local travel is more difficult, however, as many local routes are infrequent (with up to 60 minutes in between buses), and some areas lack adequate bus service, especially in the northern part of the corridor.
Driving
Transit In general, transit services are excellent for regional commuters, but local transit travel by residents is much more difficult. Local transit service often lacks adequate routes, has long intervals between buses, and is not reliable. This is especially true in the northern section of San Pablo Avenue, where AC Transit and WestCAT provide very infrequent service that is reduced on weekends, and there is no BART line to assist travel. Travel by transit is also notably difficult in West Oakland, where there are few local east-west routes and walking a few blocks to the bus stop may be unsafe, especially at night. Despite this inconsistency in service, the available transit network along San Pablo Avenue provides a good basic network that, with time, can be expanded to adequately serve residents, workers, and visitors to the corridor.
Six transit agencies serve residents and commuters along San Pablo Avenue:
Amtrak Capital Corridor The Capitol Corridor is a regional commuter rail line that serves 1.2 million people a year, or approximately 3,300 people a day. The train makes 11 round trips daily between Oakland and Sacramento, with five trips continuing to San Jose. Stations accessible via San Pablo Avenue are located in Emeryville and Berkeley. Over the past few years, ridership has increased steadily as service and capital improvements have been made. Currently, ridership at the Emeryville station is among the highest in the country, and ridership at the Berkeley station is very low.
BART Running almost parallel to San Pablo Avenue are the Richmond - Daly City and Richmond - Fremont BART lines. Two stations, both in El Cerrito (El Cerrito Del Norte and El Cerrito Plaza), are located adjacent to San Pablo Avenue. The North Berkeley and downtown Oakland (12th Street City Center and 19th Street) are also located within one-half mile of San Pablo Avenue.
Average weekday ridership at the BART stations near San Pablo Avenue is 6,859 passengers per day. Ridership is highest at the 12th Street City Center Station (11,783 passengers per day), followed by the 19th Street Station (7,899 passengers per day), and the El Cerrito Del Norte Station (7,398 passenger exits). No other station within a short walk of San Pablo Avenue serves over 4,000 passengers per day.
AC Transit AC Transit is the primary bus service provider for the corridor. Service begins at San Pablo Avenue and 20th Street in downtown Oakland and ends at College Lane and El Portal Drive in the City of San Pablo. In San Pablo, limited-stop AC transit service terminates at Contra Costa College, while the local buses continue on to Hilltop Road and into surrounding residential areas off the corridor.
San Pablo Avenue is served by four primary bus routes: Routes 72 and 72 R, which travel from Oakland to the Richmond Hilltop Mall, are the main two routes on San Pablo Avenue. Route 72M travels from Oakland up San Pablo Avenue and then travels to downtown Richmond via MacDonald Avenue. Route 73 travels from Point Richmond to Oakland via San Pablo Avenue.
The72R is the San Pablo Rapid Bus and is the first example of an enhanced bus in the region and is the result of a multi-jurisdictional process involving all of the cities across the corridor as well as major transportation agencies. The 72R runs 14 miles through seven cities along San Pablo Avenue. The 72R features NextBus service, which displays the arrival times of the next bus at the bus stops. The 72R buses also make fewer stops and have signal priority, allowing for faster travel. According to AC Transit, current ridership of this route is approximately 6,000 people per day. This route is also served locally by the 72 which makes more frequent stops and runs at less frequent intervals.
Major feeder routes that intersect San Pablo Avenue include the 51, which runs along University Avenue to the Downtown Berkeley BART station, and the 74, which goes through San Pablo and Richmond.
WestCAT WestCAT provides bus service for northwest Contra Costa County. It is predominately a commuter service, averaging 4,782 riders on weekdays and 1,455 riders on the weekend, in an operating area of 62,000 people.
Local WestCAT service is provided from 5:00 am to 9:30 pm on weekdays, with limited service on weekends. The main route is the express J route, which begins at the northern border of Hercules and provides service along San Pablo Avenue until the Richmond border. The J then heads to the Richmond Parkway Transit Center off of San Pablo Avenue, and then to the El Cerrito Del Norte BART station via Interstate 80. The J is the only route that runs seven days a week, with less frequent service on weekends.
Other routes along San Pablo Avenue include the C3, which runs on weekdays during school semesters from Hercules to Contra Costa College in Richmond, the 30Z, which provides service from the City of Martinez to the Hercules Transit Center adjacent to San Pablo Avenue, and the LYNX, which makes two stops in Hercules during commute hours before using Interstate 80 to reach the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco.
West Berkeley Shuttle The West Berkeley Shuttle is a publicly available transit service that is a result of a partnership between the City of Berkeley and local employers in West Berkeley. The shuttle operates during commute hours and provides one route from the Ashby BART station to major employment centers in West Berkeley west of San Pablo Avenue. It is free to employees in that area.
Emery Go Round The Emery Go Round is a commuter-oriented free service provided by the Emeryville Transportation Management Agency and funded by private corporations in Emeryville. It serves two routes on weekdays, and one route Saturday and Sunday. Service is provided from the MacArthur BART station in Oakland and the Amtrak Station in Emeryville to various locations in Emeryville. Routes are more frequent during commute hours, and the system is largely designed to bring commuters to work places from the Emeryville Amtrak Station and the MacArthur BART station.
Walking There are few walkable areas along San Pablo Avenue. Some of the notable pedestrian-friendly segments of the corridor are West Berkeley, downtown Oakland, Old Town Pinole, and Solano Avenue. The rest of the street is highly auto-oriented, with some pedestrian amenities but not enough to make walking a practical, safe, or enjoyable experience.
Most land uses on the Avenue are designed for automobiles, and some areas of the street lack sidewalks or any developments that front the street. Much of San Pablo Avenue is used as a thoroughfare for cars to access other neighborhoods.
Pedestrian safety is also a concern due to crime in many areas of San Pablo Avenue. According to the California Department of Justice Criminal Justice Statistics Center, citywide violent crime rates in 2004 were above the county average in all but three cities (Berkeley, Albany, and Hercules) along San Pablo Avenue. Violent crime is especially prevalent in Oakland, Richmond, and Emeryville where violent crime rates were more than 1,000 crimes per 100,000 people in 2004 (compared to a state average of 570 violent crimes per 1000,000 people). While these are citywide statistics, there are safety concerns along san Pablo Avenue for many of these cities.
Bicycling Bicycling directly along San Pablo Avenue is relatively unsafe in most areas. Very few portions of the street have bike lanes, and fast traffic and street parking are potential dangers for cyclists. There are, however, a few bikeways along portions of San Pablo Avenue and bike lanes adjacent to the corridor, some with bicycle amenities. Most notably is the Ohlone Greenway and Ninth Street Bikeway. Each provides travel with relative ease parallel to San Pablo Avenue. There are also several class three bikeways (some amenities including signs, but no dedicated lanes) along sections of San Pablo Avenue.
The Ninth Street bikeway, located two blocks west of San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley, is part of a larger Berkeley Bicycle Boulevard network in the city. The bikeway travels through most of West Berkeley and connects Albany nearly all the way to Emeryville in a route that provides a good alternative to biking along San Pablo Avenue.
Other bicycle amenities along San Pablo Avenue include bikelanes on the corridor in San Pablo and Hercules, as part of a larger I-80 bikeway established by the Contra Costa Transportation Authority.
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San
Pablo Avenue is an auto-oriented suburban boulevard, consisting of a
variety of low-scale commercial malls, surface parking lots, and older
one and two-story commercial and residential buildings. The character
of the buildings, signs, landscaping, and land uses are often undifferentiated
from one jurisdiction to the next.
While
there is a good mix of housing choices across the entire corridor, there
are variations in the diversity of housing in individual communities.
Housing diversity is highest in San Pablo, Berkeley, and Albany, where
there are single-family and multi-family homes in relatively equal proportions,
with the multi-family housing available in a variety of building types.
