As the Oakland Athletics considered new locations within the city for its Major League ballpark, Howard Terminal near the waterfront became one of the sites evaluated. The Howard Terminal Transportation Plan outlined a series of potential improvements surrounding the proposed stadium and other developments. In November 2019, the Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT) hired Civic Edge to develop and lead community engagement around the plan.
The site for the proposed Howard Terminal currently has few safe and reliable transit and mobility options. To address historic and current inequities of transportation infrastructure and access, engagement focused on gathering public input to ensure improvements would benefit current residents, workers, commuters, and businesses. Civic Edge used the City of Oakland’s Race and Equity Analysis as a framework for outreach.
More than 500 surveys were collected from online advertisements and multilingual in-person outreach onboard buses, at transit hubs, and high traffic pedestrian corridors to get feedback from those currently using nearby transit. Additional engagement included three public community meetings, with one hosted in nearby Chinatown in Cantonese. Facilitated conversations with stakeholder groups, including transportation advocates, neighborhood and businesses associations, and maritime industry members, were hosted to hear specific questions and concerns.