A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a plot to install new AC Transit bus stops IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT to our elementary school crosswalk. We use this crosswalk every day along w/ scores of other Alameda parents. Anyone with eyeballs and a shred of common sense would recognize this a a VERY BAD PLACE to put new bus stops.

Why, you ask? First... there isn't a demand. Virtually none, if any. But somewhere in City Gov't, there is an agreement which led to a policy which led to a relentless compulsion to put bus stops every 1100 feet or so... all along their routes.

Mainly, it's unsafe. As a matter of fact, there were bus stops here a couple of years ago, but they got taken out because they were UNSAFE. Somehow, our local Transit Commission has gotten the local police to sign off that it is indeed, now, safe. This... in the face of a hard push to put a Target and expand retail at the "centre" down the road.
The scene at this crosswalk is already a challenge, even with two crossing guards. They are totally focused and professional because they have to be. Today's drivers are distracted not just by their complicated lives but a low sun rising from the SE, impairing visibility. As one of the crossing guards puts it: "they just don't want to stop!"

I just set up a google group called Lum Crossing. Since we parents are already too bent for time and other meetings (such as saving Wood Middle School), a virtual group seems the best way to go. We're not against public transit, but let's put it where it makes sense.