The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded Cities21 and Hacienda Business Park a grant to study a new concept to reduce driving, provide alternative transportation to workers and the community, and reclaim parking areas for more productive use in Pleasanton, CA.

Cities21 will explore a "Personal Rapid Transit" shuttle system that would complement and significantly increase BART ridership, carpool, vanpool, bicycle, and bus commutes for the business park's 19,500 people. The elevated monorail system -- with many three-person, driverless, electric vehicles --travels non-stop at 30 mph over the commute's last mile.

The plan has the potential to reduce 16,500 tons of carbon dioxide per year for Pleasanton, potentially at zero taxpayer cost. If all 42 California suburban employment centers with 20,000 or more employees used the same system, carbon dioxide reductions could reach 1million tons per year.

Study partners include City of Pleasanton, EPA Region 9, Oracle, MTC, BART, Bay Area Council, Cambridge Systematics, RIDES, BayCap Shuttle Group, California Center for Land Recycling, Alameda County Congestion Management Agency, East Bay Community Foundation's Livable Communities Project, the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority, and Intrago Mobility.

Included in the project web site (http://tod.hacienda.org/PRT/epa.htm) are a compilation of quotes from Peter Calthorpe, Donald Shoup, Andrés Duany, Geoffrey Booth, John Norquist, Joel Garreau, and Peter Newman – revealing a surprising consensus about the need for smarter office park growth.

Related Link: EPA awards Palo Alto nonprofit $204,604 to study business park transit system

For more information contact:

Steve Raney
Cities21
1487 Pitman Ave.
Palo Alto
CA 94301
USA

Phone: 650 329 9200
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://www.cities21.org/