Matthew Roth

Just over the transom, Mayor Gavin Newsom last month sent letters to the Planning Commission, MTA Chief Nat Ford, and the MTA Board of Directors showing strong support for the bike plan, which he urges them to move forward post-haste [respectively, PDF, PDF, PDF]. 

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) just sent over a press advisory suggesting that Bay Area residents prepare their contingency plans for getting to work starting next Wednesday, July 1st, in case BART workers don't get the contract they want and go on strike. Such an action would cripple the region's transportation network and send over 330,000 regular BART riders scrambling to find another way to travel, most likely forcing them onto already crowded freeways.

Sea lion pup rescued on I-880. Courtesy SF Gate. Chronicle Editorial Calls for BART Union and Mgmt to Strike Deal Examiner Focuses on Traffic Delay Expected From Bike Plan Sea Lion Pup Found on I-880 Near Coliseum (SF Gate) (Examiner) Sacramento Fare Increase Approved (Sac Bee) Caltrans Chief Kempton Resigns (Merc) Insufficient Ridership on Lafayette … Continued

Bicycle advocates are upset that the first draft of a spending plan to come out of the Metropolitan Transportation Agency’s (MTC) 25-year Change in Motion regional transportation blueprint falls far short on proposed funding for the regional bicycle network. They say the MTC is failing to demonstrate a commitment to bicycles.

BART Contract Talks Moving Slowly (SF Gate) Oakland Port to Raise $70M for Airport Connector (Oak Trib) SF Parking Meter Hours May Be Extended, New Meters in GG Park (Examiner) New Cable Car to Hit the Streets in SF Today (SF Gate) Relatives of Cyclists Killed by Sherriff’s Deputy Upset with Light Sentence (CoCo Times) … Continued

With everyone under the sun boasting their carbon reduction initiatives, including laughable entries by oil giants like Chevron and ExxonMobile, it's nice to see an event that walks the walk, or pedals the pedals, as it were.

BART's revenue picture didn't get any better today with the release of fourth-quarter FY2008 ridership and sales tax numbers, down 10 percent and 20 percent from the same period one year ago, respectively.

Throughout June, scores of participants in TransForm's first Car-Free Challenge have set goals for themselves to reduce or completely eliminate the use of cars, from those living in bike and transit-friendly Berkeley to far flung and auto-dominated suburban enclaves like Castro Valley. In addition to opening eyes about those who live normal and productive lives in the Bay Area without relying so much on cars for mobility, the Challenge is also a benefit for TransForm, as participants set fundraising targets to go with their car-reduction targets.

Mayor Gavin Newsom, in a press conference today with most of the elected and appointed political class, named former Mesa Arizona Police Chief George Gascón to the top job in the SFPD. The mayor said the police commission had conducted 49 public outreach sessions and reviewed 88 total candidates for the job before sending the top three picks to his office.

In a teleconference with reporters today, the presidents of three of BART's five unions accused BART management of not showing good faith in efforts to complete negotiations on a new 4-year contract by June 30th, the day the current contract expires. The unions claim that management talks a good game in public, assuring the press that union and non-union workers will share the pain of cutting $100 million in labor costs to drive down an expected $250 million deficit over four years, but that management expects union workers to shoulder more than proportional burden.