Matthew Roth
Recent Posts
Eyes on the Street: Reflections of You
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There are a lot of wonderful pictures in our Flickr pool using reflections to great effect. Thanks for your additions and have a great weekend.
Some AC Transit Service Restored, But Funding Problems Could Return
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AC Transit riders took solace in the news on Tuesday that the agency plans to restore service that was cut twice this year after a labor arbitrator settled a contract dispute. Transit advocates worry, however, about the agency’s long-term solvency and have called on elected officials to develop significant revenue measures for funding buses in […]
BART Passed Over on Federal Loan for Airport Connector This Fiscal Year
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As part of the complicated funding swaps BART staff arranged with regional and state transportation planners to proceed with the Oakland Airport Connector following the loss of $70 million in federal stimulus dollars due to civil rights deficiencies, the transit operator was hoping to get a federal loan with a low interest rate and a […]
BART Phasing Out EZ Rider Passes in Switch to Clipper
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As transit operators across the Bay Area transition to the Clipper card, one of the bigger challenges each faces is communicating the timeline to their most loyal customers, those who buy high value and monthly passes. The deadline to transition to Clipper for the 50,000 BART riders who have used EZ Rider cards for transit […]
Clipper Card’s Dirty Little Secret (Hint: It Can “Go Negative”)
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Of all the ways you can use your Clipper smart card for payment on transit agencies throughout the Bay Area, you probably didn’t realize you could use it like a credit card, spending up to $10 more than the value on the card. And you probably didn’t realize it’s set up with the perverse economic […]
Final Pavement to Parks Plaza Skips Trial, Becomes Semi-Permanent Park
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Community groups, city staff and elected officials celebrated the opening of the final Pavement to Parks plaza this weekend, a new 7,500 square foot space that months before was a wide asphalt expanse notorious for speeding traffic and more than a few drivers doing donuts amid smoking tires and revved engines. City Attorney Dennis Herrera […]
SFMTA Considers Service Restoration, Counts on Labor Savings
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The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency continues to work with Mayor Gavin Newsom and Board of Supervisors President David Chiu to identify strategies for restoring the remaining 40 percent of service that was cut in May, part of a political negotiation that is expected to cost the agency $20 million. Though only one piece of […]
Bay Area Won’t Likely Get First High Speed Rail Segment
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The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CAHSRA) Board of Directors won’t make a decision on where to start building California’s first high-speed rail segment until December, but nearly everyone can see the writing on the wall. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Adminstrator Joe Szabo wrote [pdf] CAHSRA CEO Roelof van Ark on Wednesday to inform him that […]
BART Smashes Ridership Record During Giants’ Celebration Parade
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When the San Francisco Giant’s won the World Series, fans took to the streets in uproarious celebration, though some got carried away in a boozy frenzy that led to burning mattresses, commandeering SFFD fire trucks and an ugly brawl at 22nd and Mission. Fortunately, when the city held the official parade and celebration on Wednesday, […]
Election Roundup: Bay Area Transit Impacts
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Though the dust is far from settled in the elections from Tuesday, some results will have a noted impact on transit in the Bay Area and the state. We’ll have more coverage of the election results on smart growth in a future installment San Francisco Proposition G San Francisco voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition G, stripping […]
Muni Budget Deficit Predicted as Parking Citations Dip
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Unfortunately for San Francisco transit riders, new revenue projections for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which runs Muni, show a decline in parking citations and a resulting budget deficit, just as the agency has been trying to restore service that was cut in May. In a quarterly financial presentation to the SFMTA Board […]
From Park(ing) Day to Permit: San Francisco’s Parklets Redefine Public Space
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In a city with an appetite for experimentation, San Francisco’s parklets are particularly fascinating. What began as a guerrilla arts intervention meant to demonstrate the need for more public open space has now become a fully permitted procedure for extending sidewalks into the street and has the small business community, which routinely opposes removing parking […]