August 30, 2011 > End-of-summer adjustments in bus service End-of-summer adjustments in bus service Collaborating with schools lowers cost/improves bus service Submitted By AC Transit In a unique collaboration between AC Transit and East Bay school districts, start times for some classes and several bus schedules have been modified to reduce the cost of providing bus services to and from various schools. As part of an on-going effort to make overall bus service better, on Sunday, August 28, 2011, some adjustments to several AC Transit lines were made. Specifically, lines 1, 11, 18, 51A, 51B, 58L, 70, 97, 216, 217, 264, J, NL, O, and W have relatively minor schedule changes. The partnership with the school districts is unprecedented and provides a substantial benefit for the agency. Earlier this year, AC Transit requested that several schools modify their bell schedules to allow the agency to optimize its resources. Additional discussions led to a series of recommendations that have resulted in a more efficient use of bus services because fewer buses are now being used to serve the schools. For example, West Contra Costa Unified School District officials agreed to change the start of classes, reducing by half the number of buses necessary to serve their schools each morning. Alameda Unified School District kept their class schedules the same but agreed to let buses arrive at the schools earlier than usual. That change allowed the same buses to serve both Alameda and Oakland schools. As a result of this collaboration, many supplemental bus lines that serve schools will have schedule and/or route changes. For more information about the changes, visit www.actransit.org/maps/ or contact the AC Transit Information Center by calling 511 and saying "AC Transit."