People

Mayor Ed Lee has an opportunity to champion one of the smartest proposals to come out under his administration: A ballot measure to restore SF's vehicle license fee to its longtime level of 2 percent. The measure would raise crucially needed revenue that would boost transit and make San Francisco's streets safer.

Update: Avalos said on Twitter that his email was meant as a joke.

The "crookedest street in the world" block of Lombard Street is a world-famous tourist attraction, but the resulting car traffic causes congestion and safety problems and may lead the SFMTA to ban tourists from driving that stretch.

A Muni train car re-configured with fewer seats and more standing room was put into Metro service this week. According to the SFMTA, 14 "double-wide" seats were replaced with "single-wide" seats, adding a net capacity gain of "at least ten" riders to the car, which is a pilot project to squeeze more capacity onto Muni's trains.

Note: Amelie Le Moullac’s mother, Jessie Jewitt, and other Bay Area musicians will perform at a benefit concert on Friday in Palo Alto at 7:30 p.m. Proceeds will go to Amélie’s Angels, "a fund dedicated to bringing the gifts of education, food, clothing, toys, and most importantly love and laughter, to the children of Haiti."

The debate over whether San Francisco's streets should be wider and less safe just to accommodate fire trucks was aired publicly at a City Hall hearing yesterday. Livable streets advocates and Supervisor Scott Wiener, who called the hearing, challenged the SF Fire Department's insistence on wider roadways, particularly its recent eleventh-hour push to change street widths that were agreed upon years ago in redevelopments at Hunters Point Shipyard and Candlestick Point.

A City Hall hearing scheduled for Monday is your chance to weigh in on the SF Fire Department's insistence on wider roadways to accommodate fire trucks, which has undermined and watered down a number of livable streets projects.

Another year, another Bike to Work Day press conference at City Hall. As city officials ride to the podium, the event serves as a bellwether of the city's political commitment to making city streets safe enough for everyone to bicycle, regardless of age or experience.

Ask Mayor Ed Lee what he has to say about Muni, and he'll talk about how its riders need to be "a lot more civil." But if you tell him how much you hate worrying about parking tickets -- wow, he really feels your pain.