Transportation Funding
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SFMTA Leaning Toward Extended Meter Hours, Away From Fare Hikes
A picture is forming of how the SFMTA might address its budget shortfalls over the next two years. The SFMTA Board of Directors and an advisory panel of community leaders seem to oppose any further fare hikes or service cuts for Muni riders while mostly favoring extending parking meter hours to nights and Sundays -- a politically challenging yet long-overdue measure.
March 7, 2012
House Transportation Bill: What’s at Stake for the Bay Area
Reliable transit and safer streets in San Francisco and the Bay Area could be crippled by what U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has called "the worst transportation bill [he's] ever seen" making its way through the U.S. House of Representatives.
February 15, 2012
SF Agencies Take Aim at Bureaucratic Obstacles to a Transit-First City
San Francisco agencies are developing a wide-ranging program to streamline the funding and construction of improvements for walking, bicycling, and transit.
February 9, 2012
Slow Progress in Curbing SFMTA’s Costly Overtime and Work Orders
As the SFMTA struggles to provide reliable Muni service, little headway has been made in curbing the amount it spends on staff overtime and work orders issued to other departments.
December 9, 2011
Last-Minute Deal Preserves Bike/Ped Funding. But For How Long?
UPDATED with comments from Sen. Tom Coburn's staff.
September 16, 2011
New Legislation Seeks to Lower Voter Threshold for Transit Tax Approval
A series of amendments proposed by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) to SB 791 would lower the threshold of voter approval for new taxes to fund transportation improvements from 67 percent to 50 percent.
August 29, 2011
One More Push Can Preserve Federal Safe Routes to School Funding
This week, the Safe Routes to School National Conference convenes in Minneapolis, a progressive city determined to become the most bicycle friendly in the nation. But even here, far from the nation’s capital, in a region celebrated for its massive greenway system, drama inside the Beltway has instilled an air of urgency to the event.
August 18, 2011
Mica Transpo Bill Would Have Dire Impact on California Transit
Public transit programs in California could take a $468 million annual hit under the proposed transportation bill unveiled last week by Rep. John Mica (R-FL). The Mica plan would also potentially result in the loss of 17,565 annual jobs, according to an analysis [pdf] by Transportation for America. Overall, T4A predicts the scaled-down bill would result in a 37 percent reduction in federal investments in public transportation when compared to current levels.
July 11, 2011
Rumor Mill: House Leadership Hostile to Transpo Reauthorization
A few weeks ago, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor published his list of bills the House will attempt to get through before the August recess. The transportation reauthorization was not among them.
June 28, 2011
USDOT Announces Funding For Transit Projects, Minus ARC Tunnel
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood yesterday announced $1.58 billion in New Starts grants that will fund 27 transit projects around the country. The only major difference between this list and the list of proposed projects that came out in February 2010 is the glaring absence of the ARC tunnel project that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie unceremoniously axed last year.
June 28, 2011