Recent Streetsblog SF posts about Governor

California Cities Need A Predictable Fund For Transit Operations

By Matthew Roth | Apr 13, 2009 | 7 Comments

Photo by George Donnelly, via Flickr When the State Transit Assistance (STA) fund was zeroed out to pass the budget a couple of months ago, the already dire situation for transit operators in California became much worse. In the Bay Area, AC Transit raised fares, the MTA has been considering budget cuts and fare hikes, […]

Mayor Newsom, Caltrans Announce Plans to Remove Portions of I-280

By Matthew Roth | Apr 1, 2009 | 9 Comments

A controlled explosion from the filming of the TV series "Trauma," on a closed portion of I-280 Mayor Gavin Newsom yesterday announced one of his most ambitious plans for re-shaping San Francisco, telling reporters at a press conference with Caltrans Director Will Kemption and Caltrain Director Michael Scanlan that the city would move forward with […]

Sacramento to Debate How to Allocate Stimulus Funds this Week

By Matthew Roth | Mar 18, 2009 | No Comments

TransForm tells Streetsblog San Francisco that legislators in Sacramento have prepared draft legislation for how the state should spend federal stimulus money on transportation projects and that there is important advocacy that needs to be done to improve it. AB X3 20 will be introduced imminently and debated this week. TransForm’s action alert calls on […]

Paradise LOSt (Part I): How Long Will the City Keep Us Stuck in Our Cars?

By Matthew Roth | Jan 26, 2009 | 34 Comments

The idea that the speed and free-flow of cars is the proxy that is being used across the state of California to measure whether a project is [environmentally] impactful is in the long run undermining the very quality of life [we] are working to protect.

State Democrats Unveil Green Economic Stimulus Plan for California

By Bryan Goebel | Jan 14, 2009 | 1 Comment

In response to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s efforts to gut environmental regulations for highway projects in California, Democratic leaders in the Legislature have unveiled their own green economic stimulus plan. The legislation by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass does not identify specific projects but "will accelerate over $2 billion in […]

Schwarzenegger Long on Fiscal Stimulus Rhetoric, Short on Transit Specifics

By Matthew Roth | Jan 7, 2009 | 1 Comment

Governor Schwarzenegger sent a letter Tuesday to President-elect Obama encouraging massive expenditure in the federal stimulus package on a host of projects in California. The letter comes a month after the governor and president-elect discussed the stimulus package in person: When we met, I had identified $28 billion in infrastructure projects ready to break ground […]