downtown Berkeley is due for some makeover. There is a downtown remodel plan in dscussion stage including perhaps closing some of Center Street along with the proposed boutique hotel, convention center, new University Art Museum/PFA. Given the size of the potential project and the various entities involved maybe there might be money to do some of it better this time around without much from AC. We aren’t getting LRT, so I don’t propose anything about same.
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As for merging the local and Rapid stops — this is consistent with District policy not to have a bus stop every frickin block. A similar proposal is in the works for the 51. Yes, this will be inconvenient for little old ladies and the disabled, but it is also how modern bus transit systems operate.

Much as we (riders) all know the College segment sucks, the ## in the chart show University to Shattuck Durant is worse. The physics are that College has no lanes to grab unless we can sell rush hour no parking, University has a median.
As to pining for rail, I will admit I love rail, but I use transit whatever the mode. Certainly in my life I have ridden more miles on rubber tires than steel wheels. On a recent trip to Chicago, I chose to use the Museum Express bus from the Loop to Science and Industry rather than the rail route, ’cause it was more convenient. (And, FWIW, this mirrors getting from my old neighborhood to the Loop on a CTA express bus rather than taking the more expensive and less frequent train from the very same corner when I was a teen.)
You are correct that the money wasted on freeways puts us in the bind of arguing over the scraps for transit funding. That and the desire for a marquee project do not a good plan make.
The recent decision in the BRT policy group to abolish the local in favor of all Rapid service will not increase ridership in my view–especially since, if recent history is any guide, the claimed 5 minute headways will never be funded. MTC’s relentless drive for ‘shiny suburban aesthetic’ projects–OAC, the GHG enhancing Fourth Bore– is not likely to change near term. I see AC Transit as similar to what was happening in the late 50s when transit was being starved before the cement vendors discovered how much graft was available building things like BART and WMATA. The latter, despite having overtaken every other system old or new except NYC is constantly behind on maintenance because operating funds are a year by year fight.

As for Light Rail, yes, people prefer light rail (though I think that’s a shallow aesthetic preference that evaporates once people see how fast and convenient BRT is). The problem is that LRT is really, really expensive. Maybe if Alameda County didn’t spend 90% of its transportation dollars on freeways and BART, LRT would be an option. But it’s not.

I still don’t see how the fact that people like unaffordable LRT, or that the 51 deserves improvements, are arguments against BRT on Telegraph / International. Certainly setting a precedent for abandoning transit improvements during an economic downturn will not help bring BRT (or LRT) anywhere.

You are correct that the signal preemption doesn’t really work right now for the Rapid. By design, signal preemption can only extend a green light (not ‘override’) — and even then, it can only extend under the right circumstances. Thus, the bus has to arrive at exactly the right moment for preemption to work. This is where the main benefit of exclusive transit lanes comes into play — because they allow much tighter scheduling so that bus arrival is synchronized for when it would benefit from the preemption.

I explicitly spoke (speak) to the segment from Dwight/Tele to Tele/B’way. This route is closest to my home so I use it in preference to any other. As such I think I have a fairly accurate picture of how it runs or doesn’t. In PM rush the SB clog is mostly cars heading to 24. The alleged signal preempts for the R’s don’t seem to function in my experience so I wonder how they would work if actually in service.(and how much better the locals would be if they also were so equipped) NB, my experience is clear sailing except for the Dwight/Bancroft segment referenced above. As I am a non driver, I certainly want better transit, but having previously lived in several cities with same, I don’t think paving two bus lanes on Tele is the answer.

As an experiment, AC Transit measured delay to buses coming out of the downtown Berkeley area (BART station) headed south. During peak hours, it was often the case that by time reaching Telegraph, delays were already greater than the scheduled headway.

Drunk Engineer is totally right – AC Transit’s biggest structural problem is that increasing congestion takes a toll on the bus service. BRT is the solution to that problem. Postponing BRT for a decade will only make the core system worse – capital funds are only a short-term band-aid if diverted toward operations.