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Obama Administration Touts Nation’s First All-Electronic Toll Road in N.C.
The U.S. DOT dispatched Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez to North Carolina yesterday to kick off construction of the $1 billion Triangle Expressway, the state's first toll road and the nation's first to use per-mile electronic tolling.
August 13, 2009
For Bus Stop Consolidation, a Good Policy Will Be Good Politics
With support for bus stop consolidation building, local leaders are starting to weigh in on political strategies for implementing a new stop spacing policy.
August 12, 2009
Muni’s Safety Chief Defends Agency at Supes Hearing
Muni's new chief safety officer went before a Board of Supervisors committee today to explain what's being done to prevent crashes like the two major rail collisions that have happened in the last month. Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who chaired the hearing, said the crash at Market and Noe Streets on August 3rd, in which an SUV was crushed between two historic F-line streetcars, "could easily have been a fatal accident."
August 10, 2009
Chief Gascón Addresses Driver Accountability at Swearing-In Presser
At a press conference today immediately after Mayor Gavin Newsom swore in SFPD's new police Chief George Gascón, the city's top cop, responding to a question from Streetsblog, addressed a number of issues central to his command, including, notably, how driver behavior can endanger certain neighborhoods as much or more than violent crime.
August 7, 2009
Wreckless Riding
In 1978 I was a field manager for an environmental group's canvassing operation and was driving "my crew" in an old beat-up Volkswagon from one suburb to the next. From about 3 p.m. we'd visit every house in a given area, knocking on doors seeking donations and support, ending around 8:30 or 9. One time I was in Walnut Creek or Pleasant Hill or one of those Contra Costa bedroom communities, and I did a typical San Francisco rolling stop at a stop sign in a quiet residential neighborhood. Sure enough I was stopped by a squad car and given quite a lecture on how San Francisco behavior was unacceptable out there in the 'burbs.
August 7, 2009
Employee Shuttles Finding Their Place in SF’s Complex Transit System
In New York, the standard icon of corporate prestige is a gleaming tower downtown bearing a company's name. Here in the Bay Area, one of the preferred symbols is a sprawling, parking lot-ringed "corporate campus" off US-101 (Google, Yahoo) or I-280 (Apple,) 30 miles or more from the region's densest city. Ironically, though these campuses were designed for convenience, many Silicon Valley employees prefer to reside in San Francisco. As a result, companies have discovered the recruiting value of something transportation planners have long touted: high-quality, car-free transportation.
August 5, 2009
Muni Crashes Dominate MTA Board Meeting
MTA Chief Nat Ford sought to assure the MTA Board of Directors today that the agency is taking the appropriate steps to address safety concerns, despite two high-profile crashes in two weeks that he called "disturbing."
August 4, 2009
MTA Chief Operating Officer Ken McDonald Resigns
We heard rumblings from sources in the days following the West Portal Muni crash that Ken McDonald, Muni's Chief Operating Officer, had been reassigned by MTA Chief Nat Ford. The agency never confirmed the rumor but this just in: McDonald has submitted his resignation with "mixed emotions." Read his resignation letter here (PDF). His last day at the agency will be October 9th.
August 4, 2009
LaHood to Convene Texting-While-Driving Summit
Ray LaHood will announce today that his Department of Transportation
plans to convene a summit next month for safety officials, lawmakers,
academics, and law enforcement representatives to examine the risks of
texting while driving.
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