CA: Marin planners look to advance Highway 101 bus lane project

Marin transportation planners have renewed their focus on creating a transit-only lane on a congested section of Highway 101.

The Transportation Authority of Marin is seeking a contractor to perform an engineering and environmental review of the proposal, which was initially studied in 2021. The project area is a southbound stretch of about 10 miles of between Novato and San Rafael.

The estimated $7 million project would create a lane on the highway shoulder and merging lanes, allowing public buses to bypass traffic jams, shaving minutes off commute times.

The agency has a $750,000 budget to conduct the new reports. Anne Richman, executive director of the Transportation Authority of Marin, said it took time to raise funds to move the project forward.

"Overall, the goal of the part-time transit lane would be to improve reliability in transit travel times," Richman said. "This type of project is a relatively low-cost project that can really improve the efficiency of the existing system in an innovative way."

Such transit lanes have been approved or considered in other parts of the state — including recently in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties — and are being explored at a statewide level.

The intent of the lanes is to reduce notorious traffic congestion on California highways, incentivize more transit ridership and reduce overall transportation emissions, which make up about half of the Bay Area's greenhouse gas.

Prior to the pandemic, the stretch of Highway 101 between De Long Avenue in Novato and North San Pedro Road in northern San Rafael often had drivers and buses languishing in traffic for as long as 40 minutes during peak morning commute times from 6:30 to 10 a.m., according to a 2021 study conducted by the Transportation Authority of Marin.

The north-south corridor was used by more than 200,000 drivers per day and had 350 daily bus trips before the pandemic, according to the study.

The project would allow buses to use the transit-only lane to bypass traffic when speeds slow to 35 miles per hour or less.

Buses would be allowed to travel 15 mph faster than traffic. The 2021 study estimates the lane would cut about 15 minutes off the peak commute times.

Local bus transit agencies such as Marin Transit and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District would also derive benefits in cost savings and ridership gains, according to the study.

The transit lane would reduce the time buses are on the highway by 780 hours a year, saving the agencies a total of $212,000 in operating expenses each year.

Additionally, the incentive of a faster commute time could also result in a 6% to 8% increase in ridership, the study found.

Local transit providers expressed optimism about the idea.

"The lane will help speed bus travel along the corridor, making public transit more competitive with private automobile trips," said Nancy Whelan, general manager of Marin Transit, the county's local fixed route bus operator.

Marin Transit's route 71 runs through Highway 101 from Novato to Marin City and would benefit from the change. Routes 49, 57 and 245 use sections of the highway where the proposed transit-only lane would be created, Whelan said.

"As traffic congestion worsens, this will become more important for retaining and attracting bus riders," Whelan said. "Further, this project could be a model for future transit priority treatments in the county."

Golden Gate Transit runs bus routes 101, 154, 164 and 172/172x through the stretch of highway.

"Speeding up bus trips helps provide more reliable and efficient service, and the district welcomes any project that helps get transit out of traffic," said Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz, spokesperson for Golden Gate Transit.

"While the geographic scope of this proposal is limited, it would be a good step towards improving transit service along the Highway 101 corridor," Cosulich-Schwartz said. "In addition to transit-only lanes, we welcome efforts to better manage existing HOV lanes so that carpools and buses experience time savings in existing lanes on Highway 101."

HOV stands for high-occupancy vehicle. The designation is given to lanes with carpool restrictions.

A request for qualifications was released last month to solicit a contractor to conduct the engineering and environmental assessments. Qualification packages are due by 4 p.m. Feb. 24.

Transportation Authority of Marin staff are expected to conduct interviews in March before recommending a contract award.

Richman said the engineering and environmental phase is expected to take about 12 to 18 months.

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