The push is on to connect the Altamont Corridor Express to Bay Area Rapid Transit at a station in Livermore.

The ACE to BART project eventually requires the two systems to meet up at Greenville Road in Livermore. But before that can happen the first phase from BART’s current terminus in Pleasanton to Isabel Avenue in Livermore needs to be built at a cost of $1.2 billion. The cost is estimated to go up $30 million each year that the work is put off.

 Currently commuters and others need to take a 10-minute shuttle in Pleasanton to travel between ACE and BART connections.

Getting the project moving is the focus of the  newly formed Altamont Regional Rail Working Group that meet last week for the first time at the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority offices in Livermore.

Manteca Councilman Vince Hernandez who serves on the ACE board is part of the working group.

“I’m very happy to be sitting with my colleagues — the mayors that represent the Tri- Valley cities, elected officials from the City of Tracy and the County of San Joaquin, Directors from BART and ACE, and honored representatives of our congressional delegation,” said Alameda County Supervisor Scott Hagerty who serves as the working group’s chair. “The time for waiting and being patient for BART to come to Livermore to connect with ACE is over. As elected officials I think it is important that we figure out a way to deliver this project.”

The Working Group will meet bi-monthly in an effort to plan for the most efficient, cost effective delivery of BART to ACE, with near future meetings focusing on the development of the Working Group’s goals and objectives, to include examples of successful methods of rail project delivery from around the nation.

“We all understand that there is a lack of balance between jobs and housing in the region,” commented Livermore Mayor John Marchand.  “The result is increasing travel and congestion on I-580 to connect housing in the San Joaquin Valley with jobs in the Bay Area. What’s important to know is that there is now an organization that understands and is planning for this important mega-region corridor.”