Transit Planning, Operations, and Design

CHS has extensive public transportation planning and operations experience. Our work covers a wide range of public transportation modes, including city-operated buses, shuttle buses, light rail, rapid transit, heavy rail, high-speed rail, gondolas, and ferries.

We also help our clients ensure that current land use decisions are compatible with transit systems and whether these systems provide seamless connections to other modes of transportation. Our studies help agencies determine whether their services can be truly competitive with automobiles by achieving optimal service frequencies, pricing, and reliability.

In addition, comfortable and convenient stations and stops are critical elements to making a transit system successful. We have successfully led and participated in station planning design for BART, mass transit, railroad, LRT and BRT, and high-speed rail projects.

We also have an extensive experience integrating at-grade transit (LRT and BRT) operations with traffic operations and making existing bus services more efficient.

Areas of Expertise

Operations Analysis

Transit Station Area Planning

Route and Schedule Planning

Patronage Forecasting

Management Services and Training

Strategic and Institutional Analysis

Station Area Transit Planning for Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)

Project Overview

CHS Consulting Group has maintained a close working relationship with BART for more than 20 years. Our roles have included traffic studies, traffic management plans, traffic control plans, traffic engineering design, signal modifications, and signing and striping design. Representative projects include:

  • BART North Berkeley Station Access Improvements – Prepared traffic study, signal modification, and signing and striping design.

  • BART Fremont Station Access Improvements – Prepared traffic study and signing and striping design.

  • BART North Concord/ Martinez Station Parking Study – Developed concept plans to modify existing access road and parking design.

  • BART Antioch Station Early Bird Bus Study – Prepared an early bird bus connection study prior to the connection with the DMU which was then in early deployment.

  • BART Glen Park Station Improvements (work done for SF Planning) –Prepared traffic study for an EIR.

  • BART Balboa Park Station Improvements (work done for SFMTA) – Prepared a multi-modal access study and station area improvements, analyzing connection between BART and Muni LRT. Also prepared a station TOD traffic study.

  • BART El Cerrito Plaza and El Cerrito del Norte Station Parking Study (work done for the City of El Cerrito/MTC) – Parking supply and demand analysis, as well as parking management recommendations.

  • BART Station Area TOD Development Projects – Prepared transportation demand management (TDM) and innovative parking management plans for development projects at the West Oakland, San Leandro, and Hayward BART stations.

AC Transit East Bay Bus Rapid Transit Project

Project Overview

AC Transit’s $174-million bus rapid transit (BRT) project connects the Uptown Transit Center in downtown Oakland with the San Leandro BART station via 33 raised-platforms that resemble rail stations, as well as dedicated bus lanes along 80% of the 9.5-mile International Boulevard corridor. Elements of the project included off-board fare payment, level passenger boarding, safety and security features, pedestrian access improvements, modification or installation of 125 traffic signals, and the installation of a new transit signal priority system. AC Transit’s Tempo Bus Rapid Transit project opened for service in August 2022. It is expected to serve 25,000 riders a day, roughly 10% of AC Transit’s total ridership.

CHS Role

CHS Consulting Group served on the team for preliminary engineering, final design, bid and award support, and design services. We worked with AC Transit and representatives from the cities of Oakland and San Leandro in the maintenance-of-traffic design for advanced utility relocation and project construction. We also provided signing and striping for the entire 9.5-mile corridor. Tasks included refinement of BRT station locations, pedestrian access to the stations, temporary relocation of bus stops, and traffic detours during construction. CHS met the schedule for submitting 100% RTL Plans and subsequently completed a Plan Addendum.

Prior to joining CHS Consulting Group, Bill Lieberman served as a Transit Planning Advisor to AC Transit, reviewing design and operating plans and recommending funding and implementation strategies.

Transit Studies for Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)

Project Overview

CHS Consulting Group has served VTA for more than 20 years, collaborating on bus rapid transit, light rail transit, and transit-oriented development projects. Some of these projects include:

  • VTA LRT Efficiency Project: light-rail transit operations analysis, analysis of pedestrian queuing at stations, and an access study for Levi’s Stadium.

  • VTA SR-85 High-Capacity Transit Service Study: assisted VTA on the feasibility of operating express buses and LRT on SR-85.

  • VTA Stevens Creek BRT Feasibility Study: prototype and concept plan for the side-running and center-running BRT and geometric requirements for the entire corridor.

  • VTA El Camino Real BRT: traffic impact analysis for 164 off-corridor intersections covering five local jurisdictions, helping to complete the DEIS/DEIR on an accelerated schedule.

  • VTA TOD Strategy Development for BART San Jose Extension: analyses of potential parking and transit impacts at four VTA LRT stations.

  • VTA Diridon Station Transportation Facilities Master Plan: studied the feasibility of incorporating bus stations into four alternative scenarios that were developed for station layout and site development in the Diridon Station study area.