Andrew Boone
Andrew Boone covers the Livable Streets Movements for Streetsblog in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Andrew's claim to fame is once having bicycled more than 12,000 miles of smiles in one year. nauboone@gmail.com
Recent Posts
San Jose Diridon Area Plan Could Add Parking, Lose Trail, Pass Council Tues.
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Just four days before San Jose’s City Council was expected to approve the Diridon Station Area Plan, a four-year-old community-based plan to guide the next 30 years of transit-oriented redevelopment around the Diridon Caltrain Station, city officials released a memo on June 6, proposing numerous amendments in response to City Council questions and public comments made […]
SAP Arena Wants Parking Crater Around San Jose Diridon Caltrain Station
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SAP Center, the corporation that owns the 19,000-seat arena across Santa Clara Street from San Jose’s downtown Caltrain station, doubts that the next 30 years of transit improvements will bring more visitors to events at the “Shark Tank.” Instead, they insist that 20,000 new car parking spaces be built within its redeveloping neighborhood. “It is […]
San Jose Candidates Seek Bike Votes in Tomorrow’s Primaries
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Tomorrow, San Jose voters will choose which of the candidates running for mayor, or for five of the city’s ten council seats, will proceed to run-off elections in November. San Jose’s growing bicycle advocacy community has put the spotlight on which candidates have made commitments to a bike-friendlier city, and many candidates have responded by courting the […]
Clipper Card Upgrade Could Bring Seamless Regional Travel, Or Not
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The Metropolitan Transportation Commission will soon renew its contract for Clipper, the Bay Area’s “all-in-one transit card.” Transit advocates are urging MTC to use the opportunity to create a more seamless fare system, and remove barriers that could allow Clipper payments on both the region’s transit agencies and “first-and-last-mile” trip services. Transit riders can currently […]
Eyes on the Street: East Palo Alto’s First Sharrows
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When East Palo Alto repaved Woodland Avenue between Newell Avenue and West Bayshore Road in late March, one half-mile of the city’s bumpiest pothole-filled street was suddenly transformed into its smoothest one, complete with new striping and well-placed sharrows on top. City planners hope the sharrows will help residents bike and drive more predictably on Woodland’s […]
Silicon Valley’s First “Bike to Shop Day” Set for May 17
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Planning to build on the wave of enthusiasm for bike commuting generated each May by Bike to Work Day, transportation and health advocates in Silicon Valley are promoting a spin-off called Bike to Shop Day on Saturday, May 17, to encourage people to shop by bike at local businesses. Retail businesses offering discounts to bicycling customers are shown on […]
Belmont Council Calls Car-Centric Ralston Corridor Study “Balanced”
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A study of Ralston Avenue in Belmont recommends easing the way for cut-through car traffic while shunting cyclists onto indirect routes — and the City Council seems to think that’s just fine. The Belmont City Council decided last Tuesday that more public input on the draft Ralston Corridor Study is needed before the plan is […]
Highway Safety Projects Ineligible for Highway Funds in San Mateo County
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San Mateo County’s Mid-Coast Multi-Modal Trail just barely made it into the list of Pedestrian and Bicycle Program projects approved for funding by the Transportation Authority (TA)’s Board of Directors last Thursday. Despite this step forward, building the trail will be difficult thanks in large part to restrictions on how TA funds can be spent, which […]
Longer Trains May Be No Match for Growing Caltrain Crowds
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Caltrain’s rush hour trains have never been more crowded, which isn’t just uncomfortable for riders — it also discourages potential commuters who instead drive along Peninsula highways, and makes rides more difficult for elderly passengers and riders with disabilities. Commuters could see some relief in 2015, when Caltrain plans to extend the length of some of […]
Atherton’s Bike/Ped Plan Calls for Safer El Camino Real and Bike Boulevard
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The Atherton Town Council this afternoon will review a draft of its first ever bicycle and pedestrian plan, which it crafted over the past eight months with resident input. The plan has attracted little notice, even though it calls for safety redesigns on major streets like El Camino Real, Middlefield Road, and Marsh Road. The plan’s primary goals are […]
Spectacular New Devil’s Slide Trail Difficult to Reach Without a Car
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The 1.3-mile “Devil’s Slide” segment of Highway 1 just south of Pacifica is the latest addition to San Mateo County’s 20 parks. The freshly-paved walking and biking trail offers spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and its coastal cliffs, and it’s by far the widest trail in the San Francisco Bay Area, with 12 feet striped for […]
Belmont’s Ralston Corridor Study Ignores Need for Safe, Direct Bicycling
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The Belmont City Council is gearing up to decide on a list of infrastructure investments intended to improve safety and reduce traffic congestion on Ralston Avenue. At a community meeting last month, representatives from consulting firms W-Trans and Alta Planning presented their Ralston Avenue Corridor Study, intended “to improve the multi-modal function” of the busy arterial street. Ralston Avenue […]