Year: 2009

BART Officials Find Sponsor to Carry Watered Down Civilian Oversight Bill (SF Gate)  Mercury News Speculates on HSR Ruling: “A Possible Setback” for Caltrain Anaheim’s HSR Hub Would Become a “Prominent Piece of Green Architecture” (LAT) Survey Gauges Opinions on Golden Gate Bus and Ferry Service (Marin IJ) Car Rear Ends a 24-Divisadero Bus on … Continued

A Sacramento judge ruled this week that the California High Speed Rail Authority failed to provide an adequate description of the San Francisco to Los Angeles high speed train project in its Environmental Impact Report. Critics of the project hailed it as an important victory, but the fine print of the decision may leave less room for their celebration, as the court rejected contentions about the project's route, biological impacts, and ability to induce sprawl in the Central Valley.

Back in the late 1970s, when Washington's Metrorail system first began operating in Arlington County, Virginia, the future of Arlington and other old, inner suburbs was far from certain. Across the Potomac, the District of Columbia was suffering from depopulation, rapidly rising crime rates, and serious fiscal difficulties.

Today on the Streetsblog Network, we've got a post from Yonah Freemark at The Transport Politic on the importance of funding both intercity and intracity rail, despite limits on the amount of money available. Freemark takes on the argument that investment in transportation within cities should trump the construction of more efficient rail connections between cities:

Judge Sides with Peninsula HSR Opponents; Project Could Face Big Delay (Merc, The Alamanac) Truck Driver Being Investigated for DUI After Slamming Into a Muni Bus (ABC7) 52-year-old Bicyclist Killed by a Hit-and-Run Driver in Northeast Portland (Bike Portland) “Gavin Newsom’s SUV Big Enough to Best” the Culture Bus (NBC Bay Area, SF Citizen) Santa … Continued

A recently-striped bike lane is causing confusion along Lakeside Drive in Oakland. Brian Smith posted the above photo to Livable City's car-free living mail list, and Walk Oakland Bike Oakland blogged about the issue earlier this month. It still hasn't been corrected, but Jason Patton, Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager for the City of Oakland, said in an email that the city is aware of the issue and is working to correct it:

If you've ever tried to organize a block party, a parade, or a farmers market, or you're planning your next party in the middle of the street, you need to know Cindy Shamban. Shamban is the MTA's staff administrator for the Interdepartmental Staff Committee on Traffic and Transportation, or ISCOTT, the intersection of every city agency that might be interested in or concerned by an event that necessitates the disruption of routine automobile traffic in San Francisco. 

The final Sunday Streets for 2009 has been officially announced, complete with a proclamation from Board of Supervisors President David Chiu declaring September 6, 2009, the day of the event, "Sunday Streets Celebration Day in San Francisco."