In an effort to avoid recent controversies that have beset Muni and BART, Golden Gate Transit is poised to adopt an advertising policy barring political and religious campaigns, but some observers say the rule would trample First Amendment rights.
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Jane and James Dubuque would love to drive to a local restaurant for a meal every now and then, but the prospect is just too frightening for the retired Glen Park couple.
Their reluctance isn’t related to some anxiety disorder or aversion to overpriced cuisines. It’s because they’re convinced that if they leave their neighborhood, they’ll never find another nearby parking spot.
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Cyclists will have a lot more room to maneuver on The Embarcadero for America’s Cup events next month.A long segment of the lane closest to the waterfront will be set aside solely for bikes during the weekend of Oct. 6 and 7, the date set for the next round of preliminary races in the sailing regatta.
To avoid conflicts with local businesses, which use The Embarcadero for service deliveries, the bike lane will likely not open up until 10 a.m. for both days, according to Jane Sullivan of The City’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
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The often futile practice of hailing a cab in San Francisco will soon become a little easier.
An additional 150 to 200 cabs will be roaming The City’s streets starting later this year, courtesy of a plan approved Tuesday by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board of directors.
Based on testimony from taxi companies and an industry study showing that would-be customers had only a 40 percent chance of being picked up after calling for a cab, the agency board approved the increase despite arguments against the plan from drivers.
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With its throbbing beats and massive hooks, electronic music always provides a rewarding experience for listeners on the dance floor, but its lyrical content rarely — OK, never — invites the kind of self-reflection found in other musical genres.
That long-standing disconnect might explain why so many fans have flocked to Hot Chip. The brainy British quintet, which marries joyous and infectious synth-based music with candid and introspective narratives, plays Oakland’s Fox Theater next week.
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A new report on The City’s most dangerous intersections reveals that many continue to be troublesome, leaving safety advocates to wonder why more is not being done to improve conditions.
In 2011, a combined 10 pedestrians and bicyclists were hit by cars at the intersection of Market Street and Octavia Boulevard, making it the least safe crossing in The City, according to a report by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, which compiled data from the Police Department.
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Culminating a decade of growth, passenger traffic at San Francisco International Airport reached an all-time high last fiscal year, finally eclipsing the marks set during the first dot-com boom.
Some 21.4 million passengers boarded flights at SFO during the year that ended in June, besting the previous high of 20.2 million set in 2000.
“This is a very significant moment for the airport,” SFO spokesman Michael McCarron said.
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A state audit report found that the region’s lead transportation agency likely acted within the law when it used toll funds to relocate its headquarters, although the study noted that local toll payers could be exposed to financial risk as a result of the move.
Last year, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission voted to relocate its headquarters from Oakland to a former post office building at 390 Main St. in San Francisco. The agency proposed using $179 million to purchase the building, an investment that would be repaid by renting out office space at the site.
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Although it’s still early, the fears that Muni would be overrun by freeloaders due to its new all-door boarding policy are thus far unfounded.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency reported about $13.9 million in fare revenue for July, a 19 percent increase from the prior July, when passengers only boarded at the front of buses.
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Motorists looking to cross the Bay this weekend will have to find an option other than the Dumbarton Bridge, as the span will be shuttered for three days for much-needed seismic rehabilitation work.
Starting at 10 p.m. Friday, the bridge, which is part of state Highway 84, will be closed to all automobile traffic while crews replace a joint on the eastern segment, a move that will improve the seismic integrity of the structure.
Work will last until 5 a.m. Tuesday, when the span is reopened to vehicle traffic.
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A pair of painted transit-only lanes — the first of their kind in The City — are set to debut next month on a notoriously congested section of Church Street, an approach likely to be adopted on other busy arteries.
The two middle lanes of Church Street from 16th to Duboce streets will be painted red, with private cars banned and left turns restricted at certain corners as part of a plan to speed up service on Muni’s J-Church light-rail line and 22-Fillmore bus route. Church Street’s four auto lanes would be reduced to two.
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Like anyone who has overindulged, San Francisco’s streets sometimes benefit from a diet. But instead of eschewing fatty foods, roads can become healthier by reducing traffic lanes, widening sidewalks, adding bike paths and greening medians.
Since the late 1970s, more than 40 streets — mostly in commercial corridors — have undergone such “road diets,” shifting the emphasis from cars to pedestrians and bicyclists. These projects can be multimillion-dollar undertakings involving major infrastructure work, or cheap and quick efforts that entail little more than lane-striping.
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A $3 surcharge tacked onto every purchase of the Clipper card starting next month will make it more expensive to cheat the regional transit-payment system.
As part of a convenience feature for users, the Clipper card can “go negative” — meaning a passenger can exit a station without having paid the full cost of the trip. This was done under the assumption that users would refill the balance the next time they took a public-transit trip.
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The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will reopen its bidding process for the construction of the Central Subway’s Chinatown station after a quartet of contractors failed to meet the agency’s requirements during the first round of solicitations.
Tutor-Saliba, a Los Angeles-based firm, offered to complete the construction project for $239 million, the lowest of four bids accepted by the SFMTA. The four bids ranged from
$239 million to $397 million.
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Despite a din of protests from cabdrivers, a new plan for how The City administers taxi operating permits was approved Tuesday.For decades, drivers have been able to bide their time on a lengthy waiting list to obtain a taxi medallion, a permit that can be leased out to other cabbies. As part of a pilot project that’s been running for the past two years, drivers with $250,000 have been able to jump to the top of the list to purchase a medallion.
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