Matthew Roth

Not to be outdone by the movie industry's much-ballyhooed awards season, The Alliance for Biking and Walking, a North American coalition of 140 bicycle and pedestrian organizations, recently announced its 2010 Advocacy Awards and two of the winners are from the Bay Area.

Local Rail Operators Expecting Upgrades from Prop 1A Bond Funds (Merc) Sue Vaughan’s Second Installment of “Minding Muni” (FCJ) Google Maps Adds Bicycle Directions and Routes (SF Gate) (CBS) (Sac Bee) Uppity Bike Commuters Strike at Fell and Masonic (Bike NOPA) Cross-Country Electric Bike Ride to Raise Awareness (Marin IJ) Another Article on the Economic … Continued

When Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed eliminating the sales tax on gasoline in his new budget, transit operators and advocates saw the announcement as a move to subvert a California Supreme Court ruling that required the state to stop raiding transit funds.

Muni Summit Meeting Results in Ideas for Improving Agency (SF Gate) (Mission Local) One Solution for Muni Woes: Link Fares to Inflation (Examiner) More Stimulus Funds Coming to Regional Transit Operators (CBS) Free Parking May Be Harder to Find If MTA Board Votes for More Meters (Examiner) N-Judah Chronicles Looks at Historic Proposal for Sunset … Continued

With just over a week to go before the first Sunday Streets ciclovia of 2010, organizers are working overtime to get all the details squared away for the March 14th street closure, which is expected to draw tens of thousands of cyclists, pedestrians, skaters, and bladers to the Embarcadero and Fisherman's Wharf.

A bill introduced last month by State Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), who has been a steady advocate for reducing the dangers of distracted driving, would increase first-time and repeat fines for drivers who text while driving or who don’t use hands-free devices, and would extend the prohibition of cell phone use to cyclists. This last move has cycling advocates baffled and on the defensive.

According to eyewitness statements reported by the SF Weekly and the Chronicle, a 5-Fulton bus collided with a cyclist this morning on Market Street and the driver refused to stop, despite pleas by passengers to stay at the scene of the crash.

Chronicle Editorial Says SPUR Alternative Budget Has “Plenty to Hate,” But Better Than Cuts Will the MTA Board Consider SPUR Alternative Budget Proposals? (NBC) (SF Weekly) Muni Could Extend Fiscal Emergency Designation at Meeting Today (KCBS) (SF Gate) A Closer Look at the Growing Chorus of San Franciscans Upset With Muni (SFBG) “March Against Muni” … Continued

Widespread outrage at the MTA Board, so visibly on display at today's meeting on Muni service cuts and fare increases, appears to be driving a growing surge of organizing that transit supporters hope might finally create a sustained movement with the potential to pressure the MTA into developing long-term fixes for Muni.

San Francisco’s two newest Pavement to Parks plazas got an official launch ceremony this afternoon after several months of public use, along with a promise from the Mayor to build twelve more public spaces like them before the end of the year. The twelve new locations will include a new plaza at the intersection of 24th Street and Noe Street in Noe Valley and Parklets, or wooden sidewalk extensions, on Divisadero Street in Nopa, 22nd Street in the Mission, Columbus Avenue in North Beach, and Clement Street in the Richmond.