Buses
Top Categories
Regional Transportation Funding Problems Keep Getting Bigger
In a sobering revision of the 25-year Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) at yesterday's Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) meeting, MTC staff explained that the elimination of the State Transit Assistance (STA) fund and much lower than expected sales-tax revenues forced the planning body to significantly revise down its projections for operational spending and expansion projects (PDF). The MTC revised down expected revenues by $8 billion (even despite over $3 billion in expected stimulus funds) and announced that BART's
extension to San Jose is running a cool $1.5 billion over budget.
March 26, 2009
Streetfilms: L.A.’s Orange Line Bus Rapid Transit (plus bike path!)
Who would have thought that one of the best Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
systems in the U.S. would be in its most crowded, congested, sprawling
city? Well check this out. It's really fabulous.
March 23, 2009
Streetfilm: Making a Better Market Street
Just about everyone who visits San Francisco's grand Market Street is awed
by its hustle and bustle, the myriad modes of transportation, and some
of the beautiful architecture the city hosts. But just about everyone
also agrees that Market Street has a much bigger potential as a people
space that accommodates its users in more efficient and human terms.
Parts of the street are in disrepair; whole blocks contain more boarded
up facades than functioning businesses.
March 16, 2009
Do We Have to Wait for the Next Mayor for a Car-free Market Street?
How hard is it to fix the most important street in San Francisco, one that is vital to transit, that is the spine of the bicycle network, and that could be the crowning jewel of the city, a Champs d'Elysee or a newly pedestrianized Broadway? Without Mayor Gavin Newsom spearheading the process, it doesn't bode well.
March 9, 2009
Advocates Upset Stim Money Could Still Fund Oakland Airport Connector
The debate over how to spend the federal transportation stimulus money at the regional level is heating up and may boil over tomorrow morning at the next Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) meeting.
February 24, 2009
BRT Comes Out Ahead of Light Rail, Again
The debate among policy makers and community stakeholders over the merits of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) versus Light Rail Transit (LRT) is often heated, and usually centers around whether LRT recoups the substantial capital costs of implementation over time versus BRT, and whether BRT has a more substantial carbon impact. Sometimes it can also boil down to a debate over whether buses are sexy enough to get people out of cars and onto transit.
February 10, 2009
Unclogging the Cesar Chavez Traffic Sewer
One of the many casualties of the bicycle injunction has been the community led plan for reconstruction of Cesar Chavez Street between Guerrero and the 101. Over the past five years, community groups led by CC Puede, the Precita Valley Neighbors (PVN), Mission Antidisplacement Coalition (MAC), Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA), and PODER have participated in workshops and charettes that produced a plan to transform a traffic sewer into a livable street with greenery, a bike lane, wide sidewalks, and safe pedestrian crossing times.
February 4, 2009
Paradise LOSt (Part III): California’s Revolutionary Plan to Overhaul Transportation Analysis
Transportation consultants and planners associated with the San Francisco Transportation Authority's (TA) ATG working group sent excited bursts of email to each other earlier this month about a new development coming from the state Office of Planning and Research (OPR), the body responsible for writing and amending the CEQA guidelines related to transportation and traffic. The OPR had adopted much of the spirit of the working group's recommendations and proposed an amendment (PDF) to CEQA guidelines that de-emphasized LOS and indicated that it would be much better to use measures for vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reductions such as ATG.
January 28, 2009
Watch Now: House Rules Committee Debating Stim Package
For the C-SPAN junkies out there, watch the live discussion in the House about the merits of the Stimulus Plan. As Streetsblog NYC reports, New York Rep Nadler and Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio have delivered their testimony for
the Nadler amendment (PDF). Rules Chair Louise Slaughter and committee
members Matsui, McGovern, and Diaz-Balart responded very favorably.
They'll be hearing about a few more amendments before holding any vote.
January 27, 2009
Paradise LOSt (Part II): Turning Automobility on Its Head
One of the unintended consequences of San Francisco’s bicycle injunction, which Rob Anderson and fellow NIMBYs will likely rue for some time to come, is the arduous thought and labor that advocates and professional planners have invested in doing away with LOS all together.
January 27, 2009