Safety

In light of Scott James’ egregious hit piece on the Bike Plan that ran in the New York Times today, I’ve decided to write the editors of that paper a letter, from a genuine resident of 17th Street.

At the heart of the San Francisco Planning Department’s 328-page Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for CityPlace, sustainable transportation advocates have pinpointed one glaring flaw. In assessing the impacts of new off-street retail parking, the environmental analysis [pdf] concludes that building a 167-space garage will have the same effect on traffic as building no garage at all.

In the latest in a series of high-profile conservative moves, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's (R) administration has announced it will stop using cameras to enforce speed limits on the state's highways -- ending a program once billed as a boon to road safety that would also help raise revenue.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the D.C. lobbying arm for much of the transit industry, today asked the House committee in charge of homeland security spending for $1.1 billion next year to beef up rail and bus security, a four-fold increase over the level that Congress approved for 2010. APTA president William Millar told … Continued

Federal Transit Administration (FTA) chief Peter Rogoff today mounted a defense of the White House’s transit safety plan, assuring some skeptical members of Congress that he does not want to “replicate” inter-city rail safety rules that have taken flak for impeding the development of viable U.S. train networks. As of last year, D.C.’s Metro had … Continued

The Obama administration today offered a one-page sample proposal to crack down on texting behind the wheel, aimed at helping guide states through the process of crafting their own distracted driving legislation.

As I climbed the steps out of the Lake Merritt BART station this morning I heard loud chanting. "Wow," I thought, "those bicyclists have really pulled out the troops!" But the demonstrators that greeted me across 8th Street in Oakland were pile drivers, iron workers, carpenters and other trades workers, chanting "Jobs for Oakland Now!" Not far from their boisterous demonstration in front of the main doors of the Joseph Brot Metro Center were a few cyclists showing their signs to passersby, "Bridge the Gap Now" "All the Way Across the Bay" and "Safety Path!" Across the street, Transform and Urban Habitat were also making their presence felt, opposing the Oakland Airport Connector that the building trades unionists were clamoring for.

Lawmakers on the House transportation committee today greeted details of the Obama administration's transit safety plan with approval, but some sounded skeptical notes about the costs of state compliance with new federal rules even as transit agencies cope with billions of dollars in maintenance and repair backlogs.

The Obama administration's proposal for a new federal role in transit safety oversight would eventually apply to buses, although the first round of rules would be directed at subways and light rail, according to the U.S. DOT.