Pedestrians planning to cross the Bay Bridge for the opening celebration of the new eastern span during Labor Day weekend can breathe easy: They won’t have to pay any fees to take part in the festivities.
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Bus line extensions to Pier 70, bike-sharing stations, separated pedestrian pathways and transit hubs in the Dogpatch neighborhood are all part of a new Muni plan to improve transportation access to the rapidly growing Bay waterfront.
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A debris-littered patch of decaying asphalt in McLaren Park is on the verge of becoming a bicycle-skills course after years of advocacy from local groups.
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As one of the country’s busiest airline hubs, San Francisco International Airport is particularly prone to the 90-minute delays that federal officials have been warning about as a result of the so-called budget sequester.
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has specifically said airports in San Francisco, Chicago and New York could see major delays due to the budget cuts implemented last week as part of the political impasse in Washington, D.C.
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Supervisor Scott Wiener is planning to introduce a resolution that will urge the expansion of a bike-sharing network in San Francisco.
The City’s oft-delayed bike-sharing plan, managed by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, is supposed to feature up to 500 interchangeable bikes at 50 different stations where users can pick up and drop off the two-wheelers across downtown San Francisco.
However, Wiener said that The City, with its dense layout, is capable of handling a bike-sharing network numbering in the thousands.
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Folks walking along The Embarcadero will notice something a little different on the Bay Bridge starting Tuesday.
Composed of 25,000 light-emitting diodes, the Bay Lights installation will drape across the western span of the bridge, making it the largest such project in the world, according to producer Amy Critchett of Illuminate the Arts, which is staging the event. Tuesday marks the beginning of the two-year installation, with the lights coming on at dusk and going out at 2 a.m. daily.
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Commuters who drive to BART stations should prepare for a double dose of fare increases.
The transit agency’s board of directors approved a measure Thursday to expand the inflation-based fare increase policy until 2020. The biennial program, which expired last year, will ensure that fare hikes are scheduled for 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020. Fares will go up 5 percent Jan. 1 and about 4 percent in each of the following rate hikes.
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The party is set for the long-awaited opening of the rebuilt Bay Bridge, but you might have to pay to cross the new eastern span.
As way to celebrate completion of the $6 billion project, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which manages the span, had recommended spending $5.6 million in toll funds to allow at least 150,000 people to walk over the bridge for free during the Labor Day weekend. The money would pay for transportation, security and sanitary details.
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The contentious and long-debated experiment to provide free Muni service for The City’s low-income youths is set to begin Friday.
Instead of paying the normal $22 monthly fee, more than 20,000 students between 5 and 17 years old will be able to ride for free for the next 16 months as part of a proposal that has been in the works since the beginning of 2011.
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Dual measures to increase vehicle registration fees and issue a general obligation bond for transportation improvements could go before voters next year, but even if approved they would only put a dent in The City’s long-term needs.
The Capital Planning Committee, a consortium of city agencies, has proposed adding both measures to the November 2014 ballot. Combined with increased transfers from The City’s general fund, they would generate $790 million over 10 years.
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In a city known for its top-notch cuisine, outdoor restaurant seating can be precious real estate. Piazza Pellegrini on Columbus Avenue has the rare luxury of a spacious outdoor patio — a perk that is all the more coveted in the ultra-dense North Beach neighborhood — but owner Dario Hadjian isn’t exactly counting his blessings right now.
That’s because for the next two years, Piazza Pellegrini will abut a major public transit project on Columbus Avenue, an endeavor Hadjian fears will drive away the lunchtime customers who flock to his restaurant.
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Great music always has been challenging. Radiohead never intended “OK Computer” to be immediately accessible and “Exile on Main Street” lacked the radio-ready singles that defined much of the Rolling Stones’ earlier music.
Still, sometimes you just want to pop in an album and listen to something simple: big hooks, heroic guitar solos, songs about girls.
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Bridges being built or rebuilt using state or federal money should consider adding suicide prevention systems, according to new legislation introduced by State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano.
Ammiano has long been an advocate for a suicide prevention system on the Golden Gate Bridge, where over 1,400 have jumped off to their death.
Golden Gate Bridge officials have approved plans to build a $50 million barrier on the span, but have been unable to identify funding for the project.
wreisman@sfexaminer.com
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Despite incentives meant to encourage purchases of plug-in hybrid vehicles, the clean technology is still being underused in California, even in environmentally friendly San Francisco.
Owners of plug-in hybrids are given special green stickers to display on their vehicles that allow them to drive solo in carpool lanes on highways. State Sen. Leland Yee, who introduced the legislation that created the carpool privilege, set aside 40,000 green stickers for plug-in hybrid owners. Since Jan. 1, 2012, only 10,335 of the decals have been distributed.
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Despite improvements in recent years, the maintenance of parks in the historically underserved southeastern San Francisco neighborhoods still lags other areas.
The City Controller’s Office released its annual report on maintenance performance at San Francisco’s 220 public open spaces, and the parks in supervisorial districts 10 and 11 — broadly encompassing the Excelsior district, Visitacion Valley, the Bayview and Hunters Point — were among the lowest-rated.
Click on the photo to see the park scores.
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