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We are often attracted to city life for the energy, the boisterousness, the noise. I am a city guy having lived all my life in cities (born in Brooklyn, Chicago until age 10, Oakland until 17, and San Francisco since I was 20). I often make the joke that "nature is trying to kill me," when one of my friends suggests we go camping. Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s I was a punk rock fan, and went to dozens of shows with ear-splitting volumes. I've been to plenty of other events through the years with overwhelming noise, from other concerts to major sports events, etc. Maybe that's why I have had a ringing in my ears for the last two years (tinnitus). And perhaps not surprisingly, I've become increasingly frustrated at the oft-overlooked urban problem of noise pollution.
May 24, 2010
BART Expected to Avoid Service Cuts, Fare Increases in FY 2010-11
BART has announced it likely will not need to cut service or raise fares to close a $10 million deficit projected for the fiscal year starting July 1st, thanks to a variety of cost-cutting measures and a pleasant surprise:
$26 million in state funding. In fact, with the state money, BART expects to have enough to replenish the reserves it dipped into last year to fend off the budget crisis.
April 5, 2010
Wall Street Swaps Haunting Cities: How Many Transit Agencies Hold Them?
The vast majority of Americans could not recognize the term
"credit-default swaps" until 2008, when the obscure type of Wall Street
deal was pinpointed as a
leading cause of the U.S. financial meltdown. Now another type of swap,
centered on interest rates, is making headlines as a growing number of
urban governments start to regret their bets on borrowing costs.
March 31, 2010
BART Loses More Federal Funding for Oakland Airport Connector Project
As transportation planners and transit agencies around the country celebrated the announcement of the $1.5 billion in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER grants, yesterday, BART received more troubling news that could hurt the feasibility of its planned Oakland Airport Connector (OAC).
February 18, 2010
FTA Won’t Fund BART Airport Connector, $70 Million to Go to Transit Ops
In a stern letter to BART [PDF], Federal Transit Association (FTA) Administrator Peter Rogoff informed the agency that it would not be able to develop a suitable action plan by March 5th to comply with equity and race requirements for the $70 million in stimulus funds for the Oakland Airport Connector (OAC), a move that may kill the project.
February 12, 2010
MTC Gives BART Until Mid-February on Civil Rights Review
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), at its monthly meeting in Oakland today, voted 11-5 to reaffirm its commitment to the Oakland Airport Connector, despite BART's recent problems with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) over its Title VI civil right requirements for federal stimulus money. The MTC resolution gives BART until February 16th to comply with FTA's obligations, and if the operator fails to comply, the MTC would redistribute the $70 million to the region's transit operators.
January 27, 2010
Transit Advocates, Construction Workers Show Up in Force at MTC Meeting
Transit advocates in favor of redirecting stimulus funds for the Oakland Airport Connector to financially struggling transit agencies are out in force at this morning's MTC Commission meeting in Oakland, along with dozens of union construction workers. Streetsblog's Matthew Roth reports the main meeting room and overflow rooms are filled beyond capacity. Roth and Streetsblog contributor Chris Carlsson are covering the meeting and will have full write-ups later today. In the meantime, follow our Twitter feed for updates, and see more photos below the break.
January 27, 2010
MTC Staff Still Committed to Oakland Airport Connector
Despite the rush of negative publicity around the FTA's letter to BART, which effectively put the agency on notice for failing its Title VI civil rights and equity obligations for the Oakland Airport Connector (OAC), MTC Executive Director Steve Heminger has faith in BART's ability to come up with a satisfactory action plan to meet FTA's demands, as noted by the recommendation he makes in a letter to his commissioners to endorse BART's OAC, albeit with provisions [PDF].
January 26, 2010
MTC Meeting Tomorrow is Muni’s Best Chance for $17 Million
Muni riders have a chance at a reprieve from the one thousand hours per day of lost service that the MTA is proposing to cut in order to plug a $17 million deficit before the end of the fiscal year in June. The service cuts will lead to overcrowded buses on the major routes and the total elimination of service on the outer portions of some routes, while some transit riders will be forced to find alternate means of travel, especially at night.
January 26, 2010
Oakland’s Stimulus Flap: A Shot Across the Bow for Transport Equity?
The Obama administration's warning
that the Bay Area has jeopardized federal stimulus funding for its
Oakland Airport Connector (OAC) project could have national
consequences for other urban transit proposals that risk harming
low-income riders, civil rights and transit advocates predicted today.
January 26, 2010