Link21 Second Transbay Crossing

Urban Planning Partners is working with HDR Engineering, Inc. (HDR) on the Link21 program, a megaregional, twenty-one-county effort to transform Northern California’s passenger rail network and establish a regional rail connection between the East Bay and San Francisco. Urban Planning Partners is part of HDR’s Community Outreach and Engagement team, serving as the Community Area Liaison for Alameda, Contra Costa, and Solano counties.

As part of the HDR team, we prioritize close communication, transparency, and collaboration with our fellow Community Area Liaisons, strategic advisors of the Engagement and Outreach team, and our clients, BART, and Capitol Corridor.

As the Community Area Liaison for three of the counties in the megaregion, Urban Planning Partners is coordinating and staffing grassroots events throughout the region, co-hosting and facilitating co-creation workshops with community-based organizations and collaborating with other Community Area Liaisons to design an outreach plan for future phases of the program.

Since the start of the engagement and outreach efforts in Fall 2021, Urban Planning Partners has organized and staffed 18 in-person events throughout Alameda, Contra Costa, and Solano Counties, 6 of which were in BART and Capitol Corridor stations. We also co-hosted and facilitated a virtual co-creation workshop with the Alameda County Library, a community-based organization in our region. Partnering with the Alameda County Library to recruit participants and co-host a virtual workshop has helped to build trust and facilitate honest conversations about people’s individual transportation needs and their desired improvements to the passenger rail experience.

The Link21 program and our outreach efforts are ongoing. As we continue to work on this program, Urban Planning Partners strives to achieve meaningful community engagement with actionable input. With a variety of engagement strategies, we aim to reach a more diverse and representative cross-section of our communities and foster meaningful relationships with key stakeholders and partners.