Vision 2000
Working With The Community
The Port of Oakland's primary mission is efficient cargo transport, but the Port is also a member of a large and diverse community. As part of the Vision 2000 development, the Port created a public outreach and involvement program to assure that the expansion program provided benefits to the local community.

Container ships, tugboats, forklifts, trains and large trucks, the working parts of intermodal transport, are largely fueled by gasoline and diesel. Their operations create exhaust and emissions. In the greater San Francisco Bay area, cars and trucks are the largest source of air pollutants and the Port's expansion will produce a variety of pollutants.

The local community expressed concerns over the potential increase in trucks and emissions from the project. In response, the Port recognized the problems its operations presented to local residents, settled a pending lawsuit, and forged a partnership with the local community. The Port established a "good neighbor policy" and developed a broad and comprehensive air quality mitigation program that addresses community concerns and far exceeds regulatory requirements.

The Port will spend $9 million to:

• Retrofit local transit buses, cargo handling equipment in all the terminal yards, and locally operated and owned trucks with cleaner-running engines to lower emissions;
• Retrofit a tugboat with a cleaner engine as a demonstration project;
• Evaluate retrofitting two factories in West Oakland to produce fewer local emissions;
• Reduce pollutants from construction of the project by using measures such as electrical rather than diesel-powered dredges.

The Port will work with the community in implementing the engine retrofit program and strive to create jobs for local residents.

The Port invited the Oakland community to help design another feature of the Vision 2000 program -- Middle Harbor Shoreline Park. Middle Harbor, once a naval ship basin, has been the focus of a community advisory committee made up of interested citizens, business and church leaders, educators and others. The committee played a pivotal role in the master plan for the 30-acre shoreline park. Another committee of agencies, community representatives and scientists assisted in the design of the habitat restoration for the 190-acre water area of the harbor and the integration of the park with the habitat.

For over a year, the community met with the Port at a series of design meetings. A large outdoor community fair attracted over 2000 participants who expressed their desires and priorities for the design of the new park. The community's focus was on giving children an educational center and a new sandy beach. Fishing piers, picnic and recreational areas and walkways to enjoy the incredible view were also high priorities.