Bryan Goebel

If you pedaled around the city yesterday for Bike to Work Day you were no doubt happy to see the SFBC's energizer stations -- with fresh coffee and bagels -- and the occasional sidewalk bike mechanic ready to align your spokes or pump a little air in your tires. But back to reality today. How many times have you forgotten your pump, pedaled somewhere where there's no air around, and been left in a lurch? It's happened more than once to Supervisor John Avalos, who tells Streetsblog San Francisco he's asked the MTA to look into installing a number of bike pump stations around the city, similar to those that exist in some European and Asian countries:

The Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee voted for a second time Wednesday to reject the MTA budget and send it back to the full Board. It followed a narrow vote by the full Board Tuesday to table BOS Prez David Chiu's original rejection motion, following a "compromise" reached at the last minute to put $10.3 million in revenue and cost savings back into Muni's budget.

Castro Pedestrian Plaza Opening Coverage is Pretty Positive (SF Examiner, SF Gate, BCN) 21st Century Urban Solutions: Caltrain Metro East Would Be Better Than BART to San Jose Press Democrat: “SMART Considers Heavy-Rail Cars”  Preliminary Hearing Monday for Ex-BART Cop Charged in Shooting (SF Gate, CBS5) Caltrans Accused of Favoritism in Awarding of Contract for … Continued

I'd like to give a plug to our bicycle-riding friends at Orange Photography, who are graciously offering free portraits of bicyclists for Bike to Work Day tomorrow:

BOS Prez David Chiu gave quite a performance at last week's Budget and Finance Committee meeting, peppering MTA Chief Nat Ford with a series of hard-hitting questions about the agency's unpopular budget, and lining up the six necessary votes to reject the spending plan. Yesterday, though, at the full Board of Supervisors meeting, Chiu rescinded his motion, agreeing to what amounts to $10.3 million dollars in changes Ford can make at his own discretion, a "compromise" struck at the last minute.

Board of Supes Votes Not to Reject Muni Budget After All (SF Gate, SF Examiner, SFBG, SF Appeal) Paul Hogarth’s Take on Beyond Chron: “Fear of Newsom Petulance Causes Bad Muni Budget” Muni Metro to Get New Fare Gates (SF Gate)  “Safe Streets” Bill Dies in State Legislature (Streetsblog LA) Gearing up for Bike to … Continued

In less than 24 hours, city officials, including Mayor Gavin Newsom, will be standing in a new pedestrian plaza on the former roadway at 17th Street at Market Street to announce the long-anticipated opening of the street as public space, the first of several such projects that will appear throughout the city over the next year. 

On the eve of a possible rejection of the MTA's budget by the Board of Supervisors over widely unpopular fare hikes and service cuts, Mayor Gavin Newsom told reporters at City Hall that he is not playing a game of chicken, and hopes supervisors do not "make the mistake" of approving the motion by BOS Prez David Chiu.  

Chronicle Coverage of 17th Street Pedestrian Plaza (SF Gate) SF Appeal: “MTA Sting Nets Disabled Parking Abusers” SF Fire Investigators Probe Series of Car Torchings (SF Gate, SFist) Americans Still See Cars as #1 Household Necessity (Toll Roads News via Planetizen) Build More Parking, Says Parking Lobby (AP) Plans for New Southern Santa Clara County … Continued

For the first time since our launch in January, we covered a news event last week on Twitter, offering tweets from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee meeting, and it seemed to be quite a hit with our followers on Twitter.