Transportation Funding
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BART Unions Accuse Management of Contract Delays and Costly Perks
In a teleconference with reporters today, the presidents of three of BART's five unions accused BART management of not showing good faith in efforts to complete negotiations on a new 4-year contract by June 30th, the day the current contract expires. The unions claim that management talks a good game in public, assuring the press that union and non-union workers will share the pain of cutting $100 million in labor costs to drive down an expected $250 million deficit over four years, but that management expects union workers to shoulder more than proportional burden.
June 16, 2009
$388 Million Streetscape Measure Could Deliver Complete Streets — or Not
San Francisco complete streets advocates have an opportunity tomorrow to ensure that the city prioritizes bike route repairs and sidewalk enhancements if voters pass a proposed street safety and streetscape improvement bond measure this November.
June 16, 2009
Congress Agrees to Keep Transit Operating Aid in War Bill
House
and Senate negotiators struck a deal last night on a $106 billion war
spending bill that also gives cash-strapped transit agencies the
ability to use 10 percent of their economic stimulus grants to pay operating costs.
June 12, 2009
Lawmakers Push for Federal Help With Transit Operating: Read the Letter
The House and Senate are racing to reach agreement on a $90 billion bill to keep the Iraq and Afghanistan wars funded, but the legislation also could mark a pivotal victory for transit.
June 9, 2009
Transit Planners to Congress: Please Figure Out How to Fund Us
To all but the most ardent transit wonks, the phrase "New Starts"
sounds like a motivational tape sold on late-night TV. But those two
words actually represent Washington's predominant mechanism to pay for
major transit expansions -- everything from expanding an existing rail
station to building a new bus line.
June 4, 2009
Supervisor Chiu Urges MTC to Invest in Transit Over Freeway Expansion
In honor of the 50th anniversary of San Francisco's famous "Freeway Revolt," car-free Board of Supes President David Chiu has introduced a resolution calling on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to reallocate funds for highway expansion and "prioritize investment in public transit maintenance."
June 3, 2009
MTA Director Heinicke Proposes Sponsorship of Street, Cable Cars
MTA Director Malcolm Heinicke must have heard the recent calls from advocates like Tom Radulovich for the MTA Board to follow the charter and "diligently" seek out new sources of revenue, but his latest idea is raising quite a few eyebrows. At today's meeting, Heinicke, fresh from a trip to Chicago where he saw how some streets have honorary names, said he would like the MTA to explore offering "unobtrusive" corporate or individual sponsorships of street and cable cars.
June 2, 2009
Supervisor Mar Holds Better Streets Town Hall Meeting in the Richmond
San Francisco’s Richmond District is blessed with stunning vistas of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Pacific Ocean, but its street grid has turned its roads into feeder freeways, a fact that bedevils residents and pedestrian and bicycle advocacy organizations and has prompted calls for traffic calming and beautification.
June 1, 2009
Newsom Opposed to Sunday Parking Enforcement, Study or No
It's no surprise, but it's troubling. Mayor Gavin Newsom has confirmed to Streetsblog that he remains opposed to extending parking meter enforcement to Sundays, despite a promise by MTA Chief Nat Ford that it's being studied and remains on the table for consideration, along with evening metering to 10 p.m. -- revenue measures that would raise $9 million -- potentially offsetting fare hikes and service cuts, changes Ford still has the power to make (within five percent).
May 29, 2009
Where’s Gavin? Likely Campaigning in an Armored SUV
Apparently I'm not the only one who got the sneaky suspicion Green Gav
doesn't really take transit or ride a bike unless it makes for good
publicity. Yet-to-be identified satirists decided to call Mayor Gavin Newsom's bluff on the nonsense assertion he (or his handlers) made to the Chronicle that he occasionally rides Muni incognito when he's not being chauffeured around in a hybrid SUV or driving his ridiculously expensive electric sports car.
May 15, 2009