For the first time, BART has combined its operating and capital programs into one budget document as a means to better illustrate the agency’s fiscal standing.
The operating budget, which covers day-to-day needs, has produced surpluses in recent years, a far cry from the financial straits facing other local transit systems. However, BART’s capital budget, which covers long-term projects, has a $6 billion shortfall over the next decade.
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Potential cost overruns have surfaced less than two months after Muni’s Central Subway extraction project in North Beach was approved, although the agency expressed confidence it would be able to stay on budget.
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With a solution for repairing several dozen broken stabilizing rods potentially still months away, Bay Bridge officials conceded Wednesday that they may not meet their Labor Day weekend deadline for opening the rebuilt eastern span.
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People who work at San Francisco International Airport, who already receive a nice discount for taking the train to the hub, are poised to receive an even bigger break from the regional rail operator.
In 2009, BART increased its airport surcharge fee from $1.50 to $4 as part of an effort to reduce a yawning budget deficit. However, after protests, the increase was waived for SFO-based workers.
Now, as part of an effort to attract more SFO-based workers to public transit, BART and airport officials are recommending a plan to eliminate the $1.50 surcharge.
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Mayor Ed Lee, pedestrian safety advocates and nearly every member of the Board of Supervisors said they intend to participate in Walk to Work Day on Friday, an event billed by its organizers as the first of its kind in the nation.
Lee said he will dust off his walking shoes for the event as part of a march between the Powell Street BART station and City Hall. At least nine of The City’s 11 supervisors also are expected to participate in Walk to Work Day, which is scheduled to end with a 9:30 a.m. news conference at City Hall.
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If the proliferation of ridesharing companies in The City is any indication, San Francisco needs to significantly increase its fleet of taxicabs to meet current demand levels.
With about 1,620 taxis currently in operation, San Francisco would be better served with an additional 680, to be phased in over the next several years, according to a long-awaited independent study released this week.
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A plan to create a bike lane on Polk Street has led one city transit official to call parking supporters’ behavior “offensive.”
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Local ridesharing companies are again being hit with cease-and-desist orders, this time from San Francisco International Airport.
Businesses such as Lyft and Sidecar — which rely on smartphone applications and independent drivers, and were recently cleared by the California Public Utilities Commission to operate within the state — have become an increasingly large presence at SFO. Unlike registered cabs and limousines, the ridesharing companies have not engaged in the permitting process to operate at the hub.
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Service enhancements designed to boost ridership on the struggling South San Francisco ferry line were approved Thursday.
Launched last year amid much fanfare, the ferry system — which currently carries passengers between South City and the East Bay — only averaged 175 daily boardings last month, less than half the projected total. It has a farebox recovery rate of just 8.4 percent, meaning nearly 92 percent of its $3.4 million annual operating budget is subsidized by taxpayers who don’t use the system.
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Repeated setbacks to bike-related projects on Fell and Oak streets might delay the final completion of the plans until the end of this year, further angering cyclists and community groups.
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