Michael Rhodes

City planners have been on the hook for some of the last century's greatest metropolitan mishaps: urban freeways and "slum clearance," arbitrary minimum parking requirements, and land use laws that have left little room for the mingling of uses. Understandably, today's planners are a bit humbled. But when planning directors from some of North America's most progressive cities spoke at City Hall this week about the political challenges that face urban planners, several of them said the field needs to move beyond worrying about past mistakes.

Muni Station Agent Arrested for Allegedly Punching Teen Girl (SF Examiner) BART Driver Accused of Lewd Act on Train (NBC Bay Area) Santa Clara County to Pay $800,000 to Father of Cyclist Killed by Asleep-at-the-Wheel Cop (SFGate) NY Times Runs Nevius-Style Hit Piece on Bay Area Cyclists (NYT, Bay Area Blog) San Mateo County Experimenting … Continued

400 Cited, 9 Arrested in “Operation Safe Muni” Sting Yesterday (CBS5, SF Examiner, Mission L@cal) Morgan Hill Man Dies from Injuries Weeks After Driver Strikes Him in Crosswalk (Merc) Campbell Residents Push City to Improve Intersection Where Driver Struck Boy and Grandfather (Merc) Copenhagenize Spots “Coolest Bike Parking in San Francisco” CAHSR Authority Hires “Context … Continued

For years, spotting a police officer on Muni has been about as likely as winning the lottery, even though officers are required to ride transit vehicles twice per shift. As a result, fare evasion, tagging, eating, and other violations are rampant on the city's transit system, and crime on Muni hasn't declined in recent months even as it's gone down across the city. So, as the San Francisco Police Department sent dozens of uniformed and plainclothes officers onto Muni en masse today, Ingleside Cpt. David Lazar said it shouldn't be hard to hit the jackpot when it comes to finding violators.

SF Voters Reject Plan for Billboards on Mid-Market (SF Examiner) The Examiner Reports on the MTA’s Mid-Year Budget Deficit “DriveCam” System Installed on Muni Vehicles (SF Examiner), SF Appeal Confused by Press Release Urban Land Institute Study Finds Transpo Costs Far Less for SF Residents than Suburbanites (SFGate) Examiner Finds Some City Workers Are Abusing … Continued

With memories of last spring's budget battle still fresh in mind, the MTA announced in a mid-year budget presentation [PDF] today that it now faces a $45.1 million deficit and plans to cut 250 positions across the agency as part of its plan to help close the gap.

The MTA today announced the specific Muni service changes it will make on December 5 as part of its efforts to close a $129 million budget gap. Half of Muni's bus routes and one of its rail routes are affected, with changes including discontinued or shortened routes and altered service hours and frequencies. To soften the impact, several routes will get increased service. Six routes will be discontinued altogether: the 4-Sutter, 7-Haight, 20-Columbus, 26-Valencia, 53-Southern Heights, and 89-Laguna Honda.

The injunction that has hung like a pall over San Francisco's efforts to improve bicycle infrastructure for the city's growing number of bicyclists will remain for at least another ten days, and could continue in partial or full form until March 2010 or beyond. A judge today delayed decision on lifting the three-year-old bike injunction, instead ordering both the city and Mary Miles, attorney for Rob Anderson, who first sought the injunction, to submit additional materials by November 12. The judge could then lift the injunction completely, lift it partially for sharrows and bike racks but not bike lanes, or uphold it until a 2010 hearing on the city's environmental review of the bike plan.

Surprise! San Francisco has its first new bike lanes in three years, five days before a scheduled court hearing on lifting the bicycle injunction.

A bicyclist was injured in an apparent collision involving an automobile at Market and Ellis Streets this morning. Limited details were available about the crash, but Streetsblog contributor Pam MacLean reports that it took place just before 7:40 a.m. today: