511 Contra Costa has an updated Help for Senior Transportation map. The interactive map shows all available public transit services for the elderly and those in need of assistance. Just click on the red marker on the map to find contact information for the transit service offered in that area.
Go to the Seniors page to learn more about senior mobility and interact with the updated map.
Do you know additional services that aren’t listed in the link above? Let us know at trips@511contracosta.org
511CC has been assisting adults with information on ways to minimize the use of the car for errands and commutes for 20 years. However lasting behavior change starts at a young age and with Safe Routes to Schools, walking, bicycling, and alternative transportation education is being implemented in the primary schools.
Safe Routes to Schools programs across the country educate school-aged children and their parents on ways to bike and walk to school safely with practical hands-on training.
In Contra Costa County, students at participating schools enjoy a range of similar activities through Peace on the Streets: Ride On!, including:
In October 2010, 511 Contra Costa staff developed the first week-long Peace on the Streets; Ride On! course. The program had two principle goals in five schools:
Thanks to strong community support, each Peace on the Streets: Ride On! school was able to lower its single-occupancy vehicle trips by 44 percent on Commute Alternative Challenge Days. Since that enormous success, 511 Contra Costa continues rolling out the program to other middle schools through 2013. Martinez Mr. High and Douglas Adams Jr. High School will have host Peace of the Streets: Ride On! events later this fall. Would you like Peace on the Streets: Ride On! at your child’s middle school? Contact Street Smarts Diablo.
International Walk to School Day is October 3, 2012. On top of that 511 Contra Costa will celebrate International Walk to School Day in Central and East Contra Costa by supporting with posters, banners, tally sheets, and incentives to participating schools. Do you want to celebrate International Walk to School Day at your school? Contact Kayla Jossey. *Peace on the Streets; Ride On! and support for International Walk to School Day is offered to schools located in Antioch, Bay Point, Brentwood, Byron, Clayton, Concord, Knightsen, Oakley, Martinez, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, and Walnut Creek.
You read us correctly. Contra Costa County’s own Vasco Caves are part of the East Bay Regional Parks District, and ready for you to explore.
From the East Bay Parks website:
Vasco Caves Regional Preserve is home to a stunning and unique combination of resources. Spectacular rock outcrops break suddenly from the rolling eastern foothills of Mount Diablo, providing magnificent scenery for hikers and geologists alike. Though ancient, the Preserve’s resources are extraordinarily fragile, and exist today because of the land’s isolation and past efforts to keep it secret.
The Preserve is home to endangered red-legged frogs, tiger salamanders, and fairy shrimp, and is habitat for kit foxes, eagles, and a variety of nesting raptors. Its robust grasslands are a successful demonstration of native bunchgrass restoration using sheep grazing. The archaeological sites of Vasco Caves Regional Preserve contain Indian rock art, part of a complex that reaches back nearly 10,000 years.
Because the fragile caves and endangered wildlife, getting to the caves is a little tricky. On the otherhand, the best way to see the caves is probably with a naturalist guide, anyway. For tour information and reservations, call 1-888-EBPARKS or 1-888-327-2757, press option 2, then 3. Continue reading “Caves? In Contra Costa County?”
Do you ever wonder how transportation projects move up through cities, counties, regions, and states to get federal funding?
It has a lot to do with a Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). Our next RTP is being planned right now. If you want a say in how we use our regional, state, and federal funds for transportation, this is your opportunity.
Do you want to see more bike lanes? More trails? Better sidewalks for walking? More frequent, reliable, or available buses? More BART extensions? More carpool lanes? More services for our senior citizens? More Complete Streets? Fewer potholes? Wider freeways?
Make your voice heard! Come to one of these meetings to learn about the RTP process and let Contra Costa County know what types of transportation projects are most important to you.
East County (TRANSPLAN)
Thursday, April 14, 2011
6:30 PM
Tri-Delta Transit Board Room
801 Wilbur Avenue
Antioch, CA 94509
CCTA: Public Hearing
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
6:00 PM
CCTA Offices
2999 Oak Street
Suite 100
Walnut Creek, CA 94597
Transportation Partnership and Cooperation (TRANSPAC) Central County
Thursday, April 21, 2011
9:00 am
City of Pleasant Hill Community Room
100 Gregory Lane
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee (WCCTAC)
Friday, April 22, 2011
8:00 am
City of San Pablo Council Chambers
13831 San Pablo Avenue
San Pablo, CA 94806
What’d you miss this week? The County Connection has a sweet new trip planner, Tri Delta Transit has 22 new bus shelters, and we’re getting ever so close to the West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station opening.
We also challenged you to find a better online resource for mountain biking trail maps. Any takers?
Here are the rest of your weekly headlines in transportation in transit; have a great weekend!
For a list of lucky Peet’s winners, click here (Tweeps) and here (Facebookers).
Other Biking, Transit & Transportation News
Think your commute is a drag? If you’re traveling solo, ridesharing just might make your morning. As three Contra Costa County employees discovered, carpooling isn’t just for saving money, breezing through traffic, and reducing CO2 emissions–it can also be a great way to form meaningful friendships.
In late 2007, the story began when two commuters decided to share the drive from their homes in Antioch to work in downtown Martinez. After the addition of a third carpooler in 2008, what begin as a practical arrangement has since evolved into a fantastic friendship between the three carpoolers.
Continue reading “Antioch carpoolers find friendship through shared commute”
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission recently released the “Pavement Management Index,” which classifies pavement conditions in nine Bay Area counties and 101 cities from Very Good to Poor.
Congratulations to Brentwood for being ranked the highest! Contra Costa County was also ranked Very Good.
Other cities in Contra Costa County were classified as follows:
Good
Concord, Oakley, San Pablo, Clayton, San Ramon, Walnut Creek, Hercules, Danville, Lafayette, Antioch, Pinole
Fair
Pleasant Hill, Pittsburg
At-Risk
Martinez, Moraga, Richmond, El Cerrito
Poor
Orinda
Construction operations began on Monday, August 16 and are expected to continue through September. The following roads will be affected:
Click here to download a PDF of the Discovery Bay blend chip seal schedule with streets and dates corresponding to the map above.
For more information about the project, visit the Contra Costa County Public Works Department website.
GreenFEST 2010 will be held at the Contra Costa Association of Realtors (CCAR) in Walnut Creek on Saturday, August 14th from 10 AM- 4 PM at:
CCAR Parking Lot
1870 Olympic Boulevard, Walnut Creek
GreenFEST is is a fundraiser for Contra Costa Association of Realtors “Helping Hands”. Helping Hands is a nonprofit that contributes to the Moses Guillory Scholarship Fund, CCAR Scholarship Fund, and other worthwhile causes throughout the area.
For more information, visit the GreenFEST Contra Costa website.
To purchase tickets, call 925.876.0966 or email info@GreenFESTContraCosta.com
Click on the map below to view the venue:
Click here to download a PDF file of the GreenFEST 2010 venue map
Upcoming Events & Meetings
Local News (Contra Costa County & East Bay)
Bay Area & California News
To receive additional updates and enter our monthly drawing for $25 to Peet’s Coffee & Tea:
As a part of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Contra Costa County Crossover Project, crews will be closing the tracks between Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill for the following two weekends:
During these weekends, The County Connection will provide free bus bridge service between the Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek BART stations.
Buses will run in both directions as follows:
County Connection and BART personnel will be present at both stations to assist passengers. For more information about Bus Bridge service, please call County Connection at (925) 676-7500 or visit www.cccta.org.
BART has asked riders to allow up to 30 additional minutes for the bus detour, although measures will be taken to ensure that every train is met by a bus.
Instructions for boarding the buses:
Follow signs to the Bus Bridge stop directly outside BART station. Look for County Connection buses (tan and white or white) with “BART Bus Bridge” signage. Keep your BART ticket to display at all times, as you will need it to enter and exit stations and to board the bus. Normal BART service will resume at 4AM on the final morning of the installation.
From the Contra Costa County Crossover Project website:
The purpose of the Crossover project is to add special trackwork between the Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill Stations to allow a train to cross from one track to the other track. The original BART system track plan provided two parallel trackways between the Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill Stations. Currently, the closest existing crossovers to the project site are near the Lafayette Station and between the Pleasant Hill Station and the Concord Yard. This deficiency reduces operational flexibility during a train failure. It also requires BART to turn back trains at Concord Station instead of the desired location at Pleasant Hill.
Suggested benefits of the project include:
For more information, please visit the official Contra Costa County Crossover Project website and read the following BART news releases on the project:
511 Contra Costa would like to congratulate Louis Sandoval, Contra Costa County’s Bicycle Commuter of the Year for 2010. Sandoval was chosen as this year’s winner by the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, an organization dedicated to promoting bicycling as an everyday means of transportation and recreation.
Mr. Sandoval is a consummate bicyclist. He commutes by bicycle to his part -time job as an adult education mathematics teacher for the West Contra Costa Unified School District. He commutes on his Bridgestone bicycle between two job locations in Richmond and San Pablo and has done so for more than 5 years. “My Bridgestone is a real beater,” Louis says. “It’s a tank of a bike, but has a real bike rack and a pannier, and does the job of carrying my books, groceries, everything, rain or shine.”
His bicycle commutes also include jaunts into Hayward to visit his mother and to take classes at Cal State East Bay. “Even at 11pm at night you can find him on the street making his way home from Hayward, via Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito and Richmond,” says Raul Ramirez, a principal at WCCUSD. When needed, Louis utilizes BART to transport his trusty steed and himself around the Bay to appointments and classes. Louis says that the toughest part of bicycle commuting is not the distance, weather or the terrain “it’s the traffic that is sometimes the toughest part.”
Looking ahead, Louis says he is looking forward to riding south everyday to San Jose State University this Fall to get his own degree in biomedical engineering. His bicycle trip will travel along the Bay Trail past the Oakland Airport and across the new San Leandro Slough Bridge. From there, the Bay Trail extends down to Union City. The new San Leandro Slough Bridge is scheduled to open on Bike to Work Day this year.
What’s the haps on transit news in and around Contra Costa County? Every Friday, we’ve got you covered with the most important news, both on and under the radar. Just click on each link for more deets.
Upcoming Events & Meetings
Local News (Contra Costa County & East Bay)
Bay Area & California News
Local News
Bay Area & California News
For these headlines, travel tips, promotions and more, follow 511 Contra Costa on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.
Local News
Bay Area and California News
Did you know we’re on Twitter? To receive these headlines, information for local transit agencies, 511CC promotions, and more, follow @511CC.
Not sure if you should be following us on Twitter? We cover transportation, transit and air quality news & events in and around Contra Costa and the greater East Bay.
If you aren’t sure which cities are in Contra Costa, we’ve listed them here:
Antioch, Brentwood, Clayton, Concord, Danville, El Cerrito, Hercules, Lafayette, Martinez, Moraga, Oakley, Orinda, Pinole, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, Richmond, San Pablo, San Ramon, and Walnut Creek.
Local News
Bay Area and California News
For these headlines, transit promos and more, follow 511 Contra Costa on Twitter!
For the most up to date transportation and transit news (as well as information about our promotions, contests, and giveaways), follow 511CC on Twitter.
Local News
Bay Area and California News
Follow 511CC on Twitter for the latest updates in Contra Costa County and Bay Area transportation and transit news. If you’ve been snoozing, here’s what you missed out on in the last week:
Local News
Bay Area and State News
Follow 511CC on Twitter for these headlines every week. For those of you not yet on the bandwagon, here’s what we Tweeted or blogged about in the last week:
Happy Friday! If you haven’t been following 511CC on Twitter, here’s a summary of this week’s transit news affecting Contra Costa County and the Bay Area:
A couple of weeks ago, we blogged about Pleasant Hill’s new electric vehicle charger stations, unveiled on Dec. 10th.
The charging station is the 2nd to be built in Contra Costa County and the 4th in the Bay Area, serving vehicles such as the Wheego, GEM (Global Electric Motorcar), Prius, and new EVs such as the Tesla Roadster and Chevy Volt to be released in 2010. Funding for the project was provided by TRANSPAC and 511 Contra Costa in partnership with the City of Pleasant Hill.
For more information, read the press release: Pleasant Hill Becomes 4th Bay Area City to Install Coulomb Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles or contact Corinne Dutra-Roberts at: 925-969-0841 x204.
Effective Sunday, December 27, 2009, The County Connection will implement a number of changes to its weekday bus routes. The changes are intended to address overcrowding on routes, improve BART and bus connections and to help buses stay on schedule.
Affected routes are: 2, 5, 6L, 7, 9, 10, 11, 20 and 28. New schedules have been posted online and will be available next week at current distribution locations.
The County Connection serves about 5 million riders a year on fixed-route and paratransit vehicles across a service area of 200 square miles. Most routes run at a frequency between 30 and 90 minutes. For fixed routes, the regular fare is $2.00 and the express fare is $2.25. For paratransit vehicles, the fare is $4.00 per trip. For discounts through pass purchases, visit County Connection’s Fares page.
For specific schedule information on The County Connection, contact:
Customer Service: 925-676-7500
For other questions, contact:
County Connection Administrative Offices
2477 Arnold Industrial Way
Concord, CA 94520
925- 676-1976
Website: www.cccta.org
Email: customerservice@cccta.org
Need to get from Point A to Point B on public transit this holiday season? 511 Contra Costa has compiled a list of transit agencies serving the Contra Costa area and their holiday services for Dec. 24th, Dec. 25th, Dec. 31st and Jan. 1st. If a transit agency is not listed on a certain date, it is running on its normal schedule.
Thursday, December 24, 2009 – Christmas Eve:
Friday, December 25, 2009 – Christmas Day:
Thursday, December 31, 2009 – New Year’s Eve:
Friday, January 1, 2009 – New Year’s Day:
For more information, please refer to each transit agency’s individual website:
BART – Holiday Schedule
BART – New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day Information
WestCAT – Holiday Rider Information
AC Transit – Home
Tri Delta Transit – Holiday Service
Golden Gate Transit & Golden Gate Ferry Christmas & New Year’s Service Schedules
The County Connection – Home
Capitol Corridor – Home
Fairfield and Suisun Transit (FAST) Routes
Vallejo Transit Routes
WHEELS – Holiday Service
