AC Transit Riders Mad After Decades-Old Oakland Bus Stop Removed; Replacement Coming
OAKLAND (KCBS) -- AC Transit riders in Oakland say they are angry after a 60-year-old transit stop was removed, but city leaders say a replacement is on the way.
The stop at 30th and Broadway was removed to make way for a new shopping center, but nearby residents fought back after the city said they won't replace it.
"It's an insult, because most of the bus riders are residents that live in that area; they're seniors, they're disabled," Kit Vack, an AC Transit rider said.
Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan pushed for a replacement stop.
"I've introduced an act through the public works committee to demand its reinstatement, and we're standing up today to ask that that be brought back, and to talk about how people are suffering with having to schlep their groceries, or they have a medical problem and they have to walk an extra four blocks, that's really a hardship for people," told KCBS before the city agreed to reinstall a stop in the same area.
A stop was proposed to be installed across the street from the removed stop, but a bank opposed the location, citing security concerns including a bank robber possibly hiding among bus riders.
Kaplan told KCBS the new stop will likely be in front of the bank, but an exact location had not been agreed upon yet.
