Port Authority plans to update Oakland bus stop

The inbound bus stop at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Atwood Street could get an upgrade with more room, more seating and more lighting by the end of this year.

The Port Authority proposed a plan to update the bus stop at a Planning and Stakeholder Relations Committee meeting Sept. 15.

According to Port Authority public relations representative Adam Brandolph, the stop is Port Authority’s fifth most used, serving 13 routes and averaging about 4,212 passengers on a weekday in the 2016 fiscal year.

The update to the stop — if passed — will include adding benches, bike racks, a lighting feature to make the stop more visible, two ticket vending machines and space for multiple buses to stop.

The Port Authority has been in construction bids for the update, Brandolph said, which are due back to the authority Oct. 6. The authority hopes to award these bids by the end of October, Brandolph said.

While there is no set date for construction to begin, Brandolph said the Port Authority plans to have construction on the stop finished by the end of 2017.

The update for the stop might be part of the bus rapid transit system —  known as BRT —  Brandolph said, as the authority is still working with the city and county to decide the specific routes in which BRT will operate.

“It’s such a highly used stop that, whether it’s part of BRT or not, we feel it’s going to be really important to our system,” Brandolph said.