Year: 2009

DPT crews were spotted striping a new bike lane on Claremont Boulevard this morning, which will become the city's sixth new bike lane. Streetsblog tipster Nick sent us these photos, taken around 10 a.m., of crews working on northbound Claremont from Portola Drive to Dewey Boulevard near the West Portal Muni station. 

Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) are no fans of dedicated federal spending on cleaner transportation. From bike and pedestrian safety to local transit funds, the duo has made a habit of attacking non-road projects as wasteful "pork."

At a panel discussion yesterday at the Copenhagen climate summit, American policymakers and transit experts delivered a clear message: Walkable urban development must be part of any effective plan to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Thanks to the magic of live webcasts, I can relay a few highlights for Streetsblog readers.

After lengthy negotiations, the House and Senate agreed last night on a massive "omnibus" spending bill [PDF] that includes $2.5 billion for high-speed rail -- a compromise between the two chambers -- as well as $150 million for the Obama administration's sustainable communities effort and $150 million for the Washington D.C. Metro system.

Addressing a packed house in Washington last night, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, founder of the Congressional Bike Caucus, posed a Zen-like 'universalist cyclist question'.

This morning on the Streetsblog Network, Yonah Freemark at The Transport Politic talks about streetcar plans in Washington, D.C. Without better street design, he argues, the capital's streetcars could end up mired in traffic:  

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill

MTA Director Cameron Beach expressed his frustration today about slowed Muni vehicles that have nothing to do with traffic congestion or frequent bus stops: for almost as long as he's been a director, Beach complained, trains in the Twin Peaks tunnel between Castro and West Portal stations have been operating well below their historical speed of 50 miles per hour.

Concerns arose not long after it hit the market. External studies seemed to confirm what industry insiders feared: The product could pose a public health risk. But as sales soared, whistleblowers who didn't leave their jobs were forced to keep quiet. Companies maintained a posture of denial as a mountain of damning evidence, some of it from their own investigations, kept growing. Bowing to pressure, some consented to warning labels and other notices, but still insisted that claims of product-related injuries and deaths remained unproven.