Transportation Funding
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MTA to Begin Repairing Fleet of Damaged LRVs
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors is expected to vote tomorrow to approve up to $217,634 to repair two damaged Muni Metro light rail vehicles. Muni currently has ten LRVs that are out of service due to damage from crashes, roughly one-fifteenth of its 151-vehicle light rail fleet.
September 14, 2009
SamTrans to Raise Fares and Cut Nearly All Express Routes
The SamTrans Board of Directors voted today to cut nearly all express routes to San Francisco, reduce service on several local lines, and raise adult one-way fares by 25 cents in an effort to narrow a $28.4 million budget deficit. The express route cuts include the MX, NX, PX/RX, DX, and the FX. The KX will survive, but will no longer serve Palo Alto and will be reduced from 30-minute to 60-minute headways. The 342, a local route serving Millbrae, will also be discontinued.
September 9, 2009
Civil Rights Complaint Filed Against BART Over Oak Airport Connector
Transit advocates and community groups have filed a complaint (PDF) with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), charging that BART has not complied with federal civil rights obligations in its planning of the Oakland Airport Connector (OAC). The move by Public Advocates Inc. on behalf of TransForm, Urban Habitat and Genesis, comes after concerns over the controversial project fell on deaf ears at both BART and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
September 4, 2009
Cable Cars a Popular Tourist Draw But How Should We Pay for Them?
Cable cars are icons of San Francisco, a draw of tourist dollars far beyond their fare revenue, and living pieces of San Francisco history and transit. They're also protected in the city's charter, just like the Transit First policy, though perhaps with greater force. Like the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars bring visitors to the city, where they spend their money at hotels, restaurants, museums, bars, and other attractions. But while their overall economic value to the city undoubtedly exceeds their operating cost to Muni, their fare revenue does not. And unlike the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars do not ultimately provide a vital transportation link for residents and commuters.
August 31, 2009
High Speed Rail Authority Says Ruling Won’t Affect Timeline or Funding
A Sacramento judge ruled this week that the California High Speed Rail Authority failed to provide an adequate description of the San Francisco to Los Angeles high speed train project in its Environmental Impact Report. Critics of the project hailed it as an important victory, but the fine print of the decision may leave less room for their celebration, as the court rejected contentions about the project's route, biological impacts, and ability to induce sprawl in the Central Valley.
August 27, 2009
Tracking Transport Subsidies: As Tough as Following the Stimulus Money
The $787 billion economic stimulus effort was intended to be a model of
government transparency -- but a privately run website called
Recovery.org soon began beating out the government in the race to trace federal dollars. Now, as the Pew Charitable Trusts begins to expand its Subsidyscope fiscal monitoring project, some similar gaps in spending data are emerging.
August 17, 2009
Could Ending the ‘War on Drugs’ Help Ease Urban Budget Crises?
Despite talk of a
nascent economic recovery, the brutal toll exacted on state budgets by
the recession continues -- with palpable consequences for transit riders and already lower-income urbanites. Could the cure for cities' fiscal woes be a dramatic shift in drug policy?
August 17, 2009
Following ‘Cash for Clunkers’ with ‘Riches for Rail’
(Photo: Washington Post) Robert Menendez (D-NJ), a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, began his hearing on transit today by displaying the above cartoon by Pulitzer prize-winner Tom Toles. The senator’s message parallels Toles’: In a world where the auto industry can get $2 billion more in one week, what’s to be done about … Continued
August 4, 2009
McCain & Coburn: Let’s Make Roads Safer — by Slashing Safety Money
A report released today [PDF] by Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Tom Coburn (R-OK), timed to coincide with debate on a $7 billion highway trust fund fix, accuses their fellow lawmakers of “raiding” the fund for transportation “pet projects.” Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) (Photo: City-Data.com) What wasteful projects have drawn such scorn from the duo? … Continued
July 30, 2009
Lawmakers Pitch Transport Funding Ideas, From VMT to Freight Taxes
Leaders of the House transportation committee, doggedly pursuing a
six-year, $450 billion infrastructure bill this year, pressed their
case this morning before Ways and Means Committee colleagues who must
approve a new funding mechanism for their massive legislation.
July 23, 2009