Losing the 49ers to Santa Clara will put a significant dent in the income of The City’s park department, and it is one of the contributing factors to a $10.2 million shortfall that the agency is looking to fill by monetizing elements of San Francisco’s open spaces.
The Recreation and Park Department has yet to release its official budget numbers, but the agency is already projecting that revenue will be $3.3 million lower than expected in the 2013-14 fiscal year and
$6.9 million less for the 2014-15 fiscal year. The fiscal year runs from
July 1 through June 30.
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Initiatives to provide extra funds for BART, Muni, Caltrain and other transit agencies could stand a better chance of approval due to a renewed movement to lower voting thresholds for ballot measures.
Attempts by transit groups to pass parcel taxes, sales tax increases or general obligation bonds have been stymied because of the state requirement that they achieve a two-thirds ballot box majority. Last month, however, two legislative proposals were introduced to lower that barrier to 55 percent — a move that could benefit Bay Area transit agencies.
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The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is expected to ask today for an additional $32 million in bridge toll funds for its controversial headquarters relocation project.
Despite protests from politicians in the East Bay, the commission — which sets regionwide long-range transit policies — in 2011 approved a $167 million plan to purchase and renovate a former post office at 390 Main St. in San Francisco. By purchasing the building, the MTC planned to move from Oakland to San Francisco by 2014.
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In the early 1970s, when Terence Faulkner volunteered his services to help set up and establish the fledgling United Irish Cultural Center, he did so with the promise that he would become a lifetime member of the organization for a $200 fee.
Four decades later, Faulkner and other older members are feeling betrayed — and threatening litigation — over a new policy to charge the 4,600 members a $10 monthly fee to remain active with the organization.
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BART passengers can already expect to pay more for fares and parking in the near future, but for the transit agency to meet its colossal long-range needs regional voters likely will need to approve tax increases.
With ridership potentially doubling in the next 15 years, BART’s 40-year-old infrastructure will be unable to meet the strain placed upon it, said Chief Financial Officer Carter Mau. The repercussions of the growing demand and aging resources are staggering — BART needs to spend about $750 million a year to address capacity and state-of-good-repair issues.
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Inexplicably, the Walkmen have long played the part of the nameless character actor in the indie-music scene.
Though regarded as talented and capable, they haven’t received accolades or star status like some of their contemporaries.
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While Muni negotiates with a North Beach property owner on how it will remove boring tools for the Central Subway project, major planning and approval decisions regarding the controversial extraction process await.
Outrage among residents and merchants over plans to remove the machines at Columbus Avenue led the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which operates Muni, to propose taking out the equipment at the Pagoda Palace, a derelict former movie theater.
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Local residents hoping to find out about the latest Bay Bridge construction work, closures and other news will not be able to do so on the span’s snazzy website, which has been shuttered after the dissolution of a public relations contract.
With its litany of explanatory videos, graphics and in-depth analysis of ongoing projects, www.baybridgeinfo.org often served as a useful resource for folks interested in the latest happenings on the span.
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The governing body of San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday questioned a proposal to rename the hub after slain San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk.
Introduced Tuesday by Supervisor David Campos, a charter amendment to rename SFO the Harvey Milk San Francisco International Airport could go before voters in November. Campos needs the support of five other supervisors to put the measure on the ballot, and his resolution has four co-sponsors.
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The City Attorney’s Office is celebrating a victory in the latest legal challenge to San Francisco’s bike plan after an appeals court upheld a previous ruling on the legitimacy of the environmental review.
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Installed in 1970, Muni’s current train management system is disjointed and obsolete. When problems arise, it can take longer for technicians and engineers to pinpoint the issue than to actually fix the glitch, according to John Haley, Muni’s director of transit.
After years of struggling with on-time performance and service disruptions, Muni is now poised to overhaul the aging central control system — responsible for many of the notorious disruptions in the transit system’s underground subway — and replace it with a more reliable and updated network.
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Encouraged by strong on-time performance rates and a new commitment to train cleanliness, BART passengers indicated robust support for the regional transit system in the latest customer satisfaction survey.
Of the riders surveyed by BART, 84 percent said they were very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the agency, an increase of 2 percent from when the last poll was conducted in 2010. Just 1 percent of the riders said they were very dissatisfied with BART.
The 84 percent rate marked the highest level of approval from BART passengers since 2006.
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On weekdays, BART commuters in San Francisco get to play the unwelcome equivalent of a human jigsaw puzzle.
Arriving at and departing the overcrowded Embarcadero and Montgomery stations often means riders have to squeeze, shimmy, sidle and shake their way through the crowds.
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Living in a region with some of the worst traffic congestion in the nation can be bad enough for commuters. But it’s even worse when the tools designed to manage that traffic are frequently broken or shut down.
Tools such as closed-circuit television cameras, metering lights and variable message signs are unreliable in delivering real-time traffic updates to motorists — a lack of results that has the Bay Area’s lead transportation agency clamoring for a bigger role in managing the system.
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At least 33 people died by suicide off the Golden Gate Bridge in 2012, increasing the documented tally from the span to more than 1,600 since it opened in 1937.
Although 2012 marked the 75th anniversary of the bridge’s opening, last year brought another grim death count. In 2011, 37 people jumped to their deaths off the bridge, and at least 30 have died every year since 2008, according to the Bridge Rail Foundation, an organization that advocates for a suicide-prevention barrier on the span.
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