SPUR

SPUR has set adrift its proposal to halve the size of the Great Highway along Ocean Beach, as the group strives to avoid distracting attention from implementing the other priorities in its Ocean Beach Master Plan. A road diet may be revisited later, once more pressing concerns have advanced.

SAP Center, the corporation that owns the 19,000-seat arena across Santa Clara Street from San Jose's downtown Caltrain station, doubts that the next 30 years of transit improvements will bring more visitors to events at the "Shark Tank." Instead, they insist that 20,000 new car parking spaces be built within its redeveloping neighborhood.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission will soon renew its contract for Clipper, the Bay Area's "all-in-one transit card." Transit advocates are urging MTC to use the opportunity to create a more seamless fare system, and remove barriers that could allow Clipper payments on both the region's transit agencies and "first-and-last-mile" trip services.

Cross-posted from the SPUR blog. Gabriel Metcalf and Ratna Amin are SPUR's executive director and transportation policy director, respectively.

By 2029, San Francisco's Transbay Transit Center -- which has been called the "Grand Central of the West" -- will allow people to hop on an electrified Caltrain to San Jose and high-speed rail down to Southern California from the same platform. That's the vision, at least, of planners working on the extension of Caltrain from the current terminus at 4th and King Streets to the massive transit hub under construction in SF's downtown core.

Taking down the northern spur of highway 280 is the cover story in the latest issue of the Urbanist, the SF Planning and Urban Research Association's member magazine. SPUR makes the case that if San Francisco is to reap the full benefits of moving Caltrain and high-speed rail underground and re-developing the Caltrain yard at 4th and King Streets, taking down the freeway is a can't-miss opportunity:

The Great Highway, the motorway that divides Ocean Beach from the Outer Sunset and Richmond, is set to get some bike lane and pedestrian improvements north of Lincoln Way as part of a nine-month re-paving project started this week by the Department of Public Works.

Take a shot at budgeting San Francisco's future transportation revenue with the new online "Budget Czar" simulator from the SF County Transportation Authority, and it will quickly become clear: If residents want better transit and safer streets for walking and biking over the next 25 years, the city needs to collect new sources of transportation revenue in a way that effectively reduces motor vehicle congestion.

A two-way protected bikeway along the Embarcadero could get a trial in the coming months. The SF Municipal Transportation Agency is considering implementing a temporary two-way bikeway along the waterfront during the next America's Cup events in October, according to an agency report. The agency is also developing plans for a more permanent bikeway along the Embaracdero near Pier 39, from Kearny to Powell Streets.