Day: February 17, 2010

On the heals of yesterday's vote by Transit Workers Union (TWU) Local 250 rank-and-file to reject the contract concessions negotiated by their President, Irwin Lum, and Mayor Gavin Newsom and senior management at the San Francisco MTA, Mayor Newsom expressed dismay and said he would support a November ballot initiative to force the issue with the union.

Representatives from Washington's road and transit lobbies joined Senate environment committee chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today to call for swift passage of job-creation legislation that is slated for a vote in the upper chamber of Congress on Monday.

With more than $56 billion in applications submitted for just $1.5 billion in available funding, the Obama administration's TIGER grants -- short for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery -- was one of the stimulus law's most hotly contested programs. So it's no surprise that the process resulted in its share of losers as well as winners.

With the continued raids on voter mandated transit funding sources to plug holes in California's general fund, representatives from the state's many transit agencies and locally elected officials are pushing for a sweeping ballot initiative this November, one which supporters say would finally put an end to the raids, and force lawmakers in Sacramento to come up with solutions to their fiscal nightmare that don't come from the backs of transit riders.

"Come see planner Dan Zack, renowned for the incredible success of Redwood City's Downtown revitalization and innovative parking system, to deliver his presentation, Delightful Density: Strategies for Comfort, Convenience and Choice in the Cities of the New Reality."

The Obama administration today announced the winners of $1.5 billion stimulus in highly competitive stimulus grants under the program known as Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER. Southeastern and midwestern freight rail projects were the day's biggest winners, with urban streetcar projects also making a big splash.

With the Muni operators union rejecting a concessions proposal last night that would have helped the MTA balance its budget deficit, Supervisor Sean Elsbernd said he now plans to bring back a ballot measure that would end the practice of setting Muni operator wages at the average of the two highest-paying transit agencies in the country.

Today on the Streetsblog Network, we're thinking about the reinvention of cars. At his blog The Bellows, Ryan Avent has written a two-part piece about how best to enable innovation in car design. His starting point is a review in The American Prospect of a new book called Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st Century, which takes a gung-ho approach to futuristic, nimble, hyperconnected vehicles that will essentially drive themselves. It's a dream that goes back generations, and it's still quite robust.

More on Yesterday’s Rejection of Muni Operator Concessions from SF Gate, SF Examiner Supes Committee Approves Muni Audit (City Insider) The Mommy Files Asks: “Why Are Muni Riders So Intolerant of Kids?” MTC Meeting on Redirecting OAC Funds Delayed (SF Gate) SFBC Director Leah Shahum to Take Amsterdam Sabbatical (SF Business Times, The Snitch, SFBG) … Continued