Matthew Roth

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which sets the Bay Area's regional transportation and land use policies, officially announced the transition from the Translink card to the newly branded Clipper smart card for transit trips today. The new blue card with eight white triangles replaces the older design but functions the same, providing a convenient method to pay for transit trips on most Bay Area transit systems.

After several years of planning, including intense negotiations between merchants, property owners and neighbors who didn't always see eye-to-eye, the San Francisco Planning Department unveiled a comprehensive draft plan last week to revitalize public space and pedestrian amenities around Fisherman's Wharf, the second most-visited tourist attraction in California behind Disneyland. The plan details numerous deficiencies that degrade the pedestrian experience and proposes design guidelines for public and private investment to transform the district into a world-class waterfront.

While municipal planning organizations around California try to develop the metrics and models required to meet the goals of SB 375, a law mandating smarter growth, a local voter initiative in Contra Costa County is being held up as a bellwether of the public's support for strategic and sustainable development.

Organizers of the nascent Mission Community Market hope to transform an underutilized block of Bartlett Street in the Mission into a thriving weekly market, where vendors sell their goods and kids play in the street after school. As an initial test, the Mission Community Market Collaborative (MCMC) is throwing a block party and fundraiser on Saturday, June 19th, at Bartlett and 22nd Street, both as a way to advertise the idea and to raise money for its implementation.

Bike Hit-and-Run Suspect Held Without Bail (KCBS, Examiner) Supes Reject Sit-Lie, Mayor Vows to Put It on November Ballot (KCBS, Examiner, SF Gate, CBS) Bay Bridge Gateway Park Provides Interesting Potential (SF Gate) Jury Selected in Mehserle BART Shooting Trial (KCBS, SF Gate, CBS) BART Board May Put Surplus in Savings (KCBS,  Holds Public Workshops … Continued

I don't have particularly strong feelings about notions of Karma or Hell, but if there is something to them, I know a particular bike thief is going to have it rough come judgment time.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has scheduled an administrative hearing later this month so it can move forward with the installation of 1310 new single-space parking meters that accept credit cards, while extending time limits at those meter locations to four hours. The meters are expected to net the agency approximately $1 million annually, some of which will go to fund Muni.

More Coverage of Charges in Bike-Hit Rampage (CBS, SF Gate,) BART Police Will Get Tasers Back (ABC, CoCo Times) Budget Problems Could End Free BART Shuttle in Walnut Creek (CBS) More Coverage of How BART Plans to Spend Budget Surplus (Examiner) Fishman’s Wharf Plan Gives Pedestrians Priority (Examiner) Pedestrians Hurt in Fisherman’s Wharf SUV Crash … Continued

On the way to a local caffeination recharging station near Mint Plaza last week, I locked my bicycle next to two very odd rides: The frames were bamboo and the bamboo tubes were connected with fiberglass. The frames looked solid, but seeing a bike that wasn't made of steel or some alloy was striking in its singularity.

Investigators from the San Francisco and Albany police departments have arrested the suspected driver of an SUV who went on a rampage and targeted four cyclists in San Francisco Wednesday night.