FREMONT — Anticipating increasingly congested roads as more residents and businesses locate in the East Bay, AC Transit envisions four new bus rapid transit lines to speed up residents’ commute.

The bus agency on Wednesday presented a draft of its Major Corridors Study that evaluated the future of the agency’s 11 busiest routes, which carry more than 50 percent of its riders, while taking into account an expected 40 percent increase in employment and a 30 percent increase in population over the next 24 years.

It identified four major corridors in Richmond, Oakland, San Leandro and Hayward: Telegraph Avenue, San Pablo and Macdonald avenues, MacArthur Boulevard and Grand Avenue, and East 14th Street and Mission Boulevard, as areas that would benefit from bus rapid transit routes. Or, if not for rapid transit, as bus-only lanes with improved curbside amenities, as well as more efficient signal, boarding and ticketing systems.

The agency considered a bus rapid transit route on Adeline Street, but the results were less conclusive. Staff suggested other types of improvements for the remaining six routes, including adding to or replacing local routes with express buses.

Staff also considered the possibility of light rail along Telegraph Avenue, but board President Chris Peeples called the proposal “wildly expensive” and said the anticipated benefits were similar to a bus rapid transit line. Staff estimated a light rail system would cost around $3 billion to build, 22 times more than the estimated $136 million price tag for bus rapid transit, and would cost more than three times as much to operate.

Although the vision lays out possible service improvements between now and 2040, Robert del Rosario, AC Transit’s director of service planning and development, said which of the improvements happen first will largely depend on funding.

“We’ve got to find the money,” he said.

The board is expected to adopt a final draft of the plan in October.

Contact staff writer Erin Baldassari at 510-208-6428. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/e_baldi.