Matthew Roth

In a rally held at the Oakland Coliseum BART station yesterday, transportation and social justice advocates joined with transit and public health unions to call on the BART Board of Directors to study a full-BRT line connecting BART to Oakland Airport, instead of the proposed elevated people-mover that BART staff seems so intent on building. Advocates claim the BRT model could be built at such a cost savings that BART could provide free airport connector service in perpetuity.

The first new BART cars won't come online until 2014, but BART's Board of Directors, in a special meeting yesterday, reviewed staff's proposals (PDF) for procuring 700 new cars (there are currently 669 cars system-wide) and the possibility of upgrading them with new technology for customer communication, new interior fabrics and colors, and new modular seat configurations.  After months of somber meetings full of protests, arrests, and budget doomsday scenarios, directors were visibly excited to discuss details for improving cars that hearken to the 1970s era, when most were built, and by the possibility of experimenting with innovation and best practices from other major transit systems the world over.

BART Considers Upgrades to Existing Fleet of Rail Cars (SF Gate) (CC Times) (ABC 7) (Daily Cal) BART Pilots System to Pay by Cell Phone (Examiner) Mayor Newsom and Supes Could Clash on MTA Budget (SFBG) Caltrain Looking at Service Cuts, Fare Increases, Bicycle Surcharge (Merc) Sacramento Will Re-Study New Streetcar Line (Sac Bee) Sonoma … Continued

California Senator Barbara Boxer will be at the center of a battle over whether or not the reauthorization of the transportation bill will address the global warming impacts of transportation, given her Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee is responsible for writing much of the bill's language. Any chance of reforming the transportation bill, which advocates are clamoring for, will require deft political maneuvering to mollify ranking committee member Senator James Inhofe. 

Over 200 people gathered for the 17th Annual Golden Wheel Awards in War Memorial Hall last night to honor Sunday Streets and raise money for SFBC's advocacy efforts.  In all, the event raised over $55,000.

The trial street closure for a pedestrian plaza at the corner of Market Street, 17th Street, and Castro Street will kick off next Wednesday, May 13th with a press conference with Mayor Gavin Newsom.  As we wrote about here, the trial closure will incorporate techniques used in New York City to transform a street into a public amenity without spending loads of money on capital construction.  If the plaza proves a success, the Department of Public Works will be looking for other locations to replicate the pilots. 

In lieu of being able to break your fall with a thought bubble, Warsaw, Poland, police are encouraging cyclists to wear helmets.  Although strapping up your head in styrofoam is a great idea, I think if I were riding in Warsaw, I'd be more concerned about having a second beer at the pub and ending up in prison for two years for riding under the influence.

So whether or not this is a result of Supervisor Bevan Dufty's oversight hearing or a very auspicious coincidence, Streetsblog San Francisco reader Megan Allison (who runs several good blogs, including goodurb.com) sends us this photo of a cop and his K-9 companion on Muni.  Unlike jackalope and Sasquatch sightings, we're pretty sure this is an authentic member of the SFPD and his trusty German Shepherd. 

Tens of thousands of people came out to enjoy Sunday Streets yesterday, filling the Embarcadero with walking, cycling, skating and general merriment.  The mainstream media couldn't help but cough up superlatives to describe the car-free event, underscoring its importance to the local economy, to encouraging fitness and physical activity, and to entertaining families in a manner not seen on our streets for ages.

Yesterday marked an important day for livable streets in San Francisco. In coordination with the Castro Street CBD, Supervisor Bevan Dufty, and the Mayor's Office of Greening, the nascent Great Streets Project (GSP) co-hosted a roundtable discussion about how to start and manage successful public spaces, with particular emphasis on the proposed street closure and public plaza at 17th Street and Market Street.