SFMTA

Good news for Muni riders who are tired of bus breakdowns: Muni will get 45 new low-floor, biodiesel hybrid buses to replace its aging fleet. The agreement was approved yesterday by the SF Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors.

For six years, Muni trains have been running through the Twin Peaks tunnel well below their former top speed of 50 mph due to worn-out tracks, which put trains in danger of derailment, according to the SF Municipal Transportation Agency.

If cities needed any more reason to curb handicap placard abuse, here it is. The authors of a new study out of Los Angeles point out that rampant placard abuse threatens to undermine performance parking programs like SFPark by skewing the data and the price of parking, the Atlantic Cities explains:

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.

A section of the post-separated bike lanes on Portola Drive was removed last week and replaced with a design which the SF Municipal Transportation Agency says should be safer and easier for people on bikes to navigate. But at least one commuter who uses the lanes said the change is anything but safe.

New red-colored transit lanes are slated to be implemented on a section of Church Street in September in a SF Municipal Transportation Agency pilot project to speed up the J-Church and 22-Fillmore lines. Following the T-Third line, it would be the second time San Francisco has used colored paint on transit-only lanes to help clarify that they're off-limits to drivers -- one of the practices used in cities like New York and London in recent years to make transit faster and more reliable.

N-Judah riders boarding at Carl and Cole Streets are enjoying a better boarding area after the SF Municipal Transportation Agency built sidewalk bulb-outs (a.k.a. extensions) this weekend.

San Francisco's first on-street, two-way protected bikeway is nearly complete, featuring bicycle traffic signals and green intersection bike markings. The bikeway, which is separated from motor vehicles by a fence and concrete median, provides a safer connection from Bayview and Hunter's Point to Third Street and the north-south bike lanes on Illinois Street.

To help speed rush hour trips on the 5-Fulton line, Muni is proposing a limited-stop service during the morning and afternoon peaks. SFMTA staff and D1 Supervisor Eric Mar will hold a meeting on Tuesday in the inner Richmond District for the public to weigh in on the proposed route.