Project Alternatives

A. Conventional BART Extension
The extension of the existing BART system in the median of I-580 from Dublin/Pleasanton to a new station near the Isabel Avenue/I-580 interchange in Livermore is the proposed project. The station at Isabel Avenue would have provided parking and multi-modal access. A storage and maintenance facility also would be required in the vicinity of the system's end-of-line. The proposed project incorporated improvements to the local bus system that provided more efficient connections with inter-regional rail service, Downtown Livermore, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

B. Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) or Electric Multiple Unit (EMU)
This alternative  used self-propelled vehicles that travel on standard gauge railroad tracks. These vehicles are similar to light rail type vehicles. Two or three DMU vehicles are linked together depending on passenger demand. Power from a DMU comes from an on-board diesel engine.

With this alternative, the BART to Livermore DMU would have run in the median of I-580 from the existing Dublin/Pleasanton Station to a new DMU station near the Isabel Avenue/ Interstate 580 interchange. Passengers would transfer to the DMU train from a shared platform at BART’s existing Dublin/Pleasanton Station. This alternative would require a storage and maintenance facility near the system's end-of-line. Several locations were evaluated for the storage and maintenance facility, and BART chose a location north of I-580 and west of North Livermore Avenue.

As an option to the DMU, BART also evaluated an Electric Multiple Unit (EMU), a vehicle similar to a DMU that uses an electric motor and receives power through a system of overhead electric cables. All other aspects of the EMU would have been the same as a DMU.

C. Express Bus/Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Alternative
This alternative implemented Express Bus/BRT service to and from the Dublin/Pleasanton Station. Bus transfer platforms would have been added on the outside of the existing BART Dublin/ Pleasanton Station that allowed buses to enter the station directly from the new express lanes on I-580. Transit priority signals on local surface streets would have been added to improve bus travel.

D. Enhanced Bus Alternative
The Enhanced Bus Alternative would have made improvements such as signal priority, real time signage, and other enhancements to bus operations currently serving the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. The application of improved transit technology would make the buses run more efficiently.

E. No Project Alternative
The No Project Alternative assumed that only those transportation improvements already planned would be implemented. Public transportation services and conditions would stay much as they are.