Feeding the Arteries: Rush Hour on the 6
By Elena Conis
It's quarter to six on a Tuesday evening at the height of rush hour in the Bay Area, and most of the bus stops along AC Transit's Line 6 are empty. In a system that carries 230,000 passengers daily, it's an unusual sight.
On this rush hour run, the 6 serves just 18 passengers. Mostly middle-aged African American women, they greet each other as they board before settling wordlessly into their seats.
"Man! Did you see that?" exclaims an older man at the back of the bus as a woman on a bicycle zips into the crosswalk and Philip, the bus driver, slams on the breaks.
Philip, who's driving with his 10-year-old son in tow, shakes his head in disbelief. The passengers crane their necks to watch the biker disappears down a cross street.
Line 6 runs from the corner of Ashby and Claremont avenues, where it picks up passengers in the shadow of the Claremont Hotel, and travels west on Ashby to the Amtrak station in Emeryville. From the station, passengers can take the bus back up Ashby or down 40th Street, to the end of the line in the Piedmont district.
"The 6 is not a major line," says Philip. "People use it to come down from the [Oakland] hills, off the [Amtrak] train, you know, and pick up BART, or the 51."
With just 10 full-service stops, Line 6 is like a capillary in AC Transit's vast circulatory system: low-volume but crucial.
It's buses like the 6 that keep the system running, carrying passengers into the system's main arteries¾lines like the 43, 51 and 73 - and back out again. Line 6 may be trimmed, shortened, or run less often - it already has two stops that are served less than half the time - but it's a vital part of the system.
The 6 also connects riders with the BART stations at Ashby and MacArthur, and is one of two local lines that carry passengers to the Amtrak station in Emeryville.
Philip describes the people who ride the 6 as "working people," reliant on the line to catch the transport that gets them to and from their jobs. Lines like the 6 are also critical to the integrity of the system - AC Transit is designed so that at least one bus stop is within a quarter mile of nearly every residence in the 390 square miles the system serves.
Tonight, most of the activity on the 6 takes place at MacArthur BART, where two passengers get off and three get on. One of them slaps Philip on the back.
"You training the young recruits now?" the passenger says, winking at Philip's son.
"That's right," says Philip, smiling.
By the end of the line, at Piedmont and 41st streets in Oakland, the bus is already empty. Philip and his son take a moment to clean the bus, throwing away newspapers and making sure the wheelchair-accessible seats are locked in place.
"You gonna be a famous singer, right?" Philip says to his son as he settles back into the driver's seat. His son giggles in reply and pulls a Game-Boy out of his backpack.
The bus idles, waiting for last-minute passengers. After a moment, Philip closes the door and pulls away from the curb.
"Last run of the night!" he announces to the empty bus.