Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Transporation Daily News April 23

The pilot of the container ship that struck the Bay Bridge in November and spilled more than 50,000 gallons of fuel oil into San Francisco Bay was charged Tuesday with two felony counts of lying in annual physical exams about the medications he was taking. Cota's lawyer called the new criminal charges "spurious and irrelevant" and said tests conducted two hours after the accident found that Cota had not been under the influence of alcohol or drugs. SF Chronicle 4/23/08

 

Tucked deep into a 417-page "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" for the Bush administration announced proposed regulations was language by the Transportation Department stating that more stringent limits on tailpipe emissions embraced by California and 17 other states are "an obstacle to the accomplishment" of the new federal standards and are "expressly and impliedly preempted" by federal law. California Attorney General Jerry Brown called it a covert assault on California's rules. Environmentalists said the language will be used by automakers in their legal challenges to two recent federal court rulings that sided with the states. SF Chronicle 4/23/08

 

If the very first “community meeting” about the Transit Effectiveness Project – a proposed massive 5 year overhaul of MUNI – is heavily structured and organized from the top down, that’s because organizers know that any meeting about MUNI is, right from the get go, about damage control. There’s something a little odd about the premise of these meetings, the first of which was held Saturday at the West Portal Elementary School. MUNI is presenting its proposed changes to the public … while claiming that it’s doing exactly what the public told it to. SF Weekly Blog 4/23/08

 

AC Transit officials, faced with ballooning fuel and labor costs, are looking to balance the budget with a fare increase. Agency administrators have proposed a variety of options to boost revenue at the fare box, including hiking the regular cash fare for adults to $2, a 25 cent increase, and nearly doubling the cost of a monthly youth pass to $28. SF Chronicle 4/23/08

 

The California Air Resources Board will meet in Oakland at 9 a.m. Thursday to discuss a study that found West Oakland residents face a higher risk of getting cancer because of diesel air pollution from trucks, cars, ships and rail lines. Inside Bay Area 4/23/08

 

The Planning Commission will decide tonight whether to approve the final piece of a transit-oriented project adjacent to the future West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station along Interstate 580. San Diego-based Windstar Communities is proposing a mixed-use development with two apartment buildings totaling 350 residential units and 14,000 square feet of ground-floor retail on the Pleasanton parcel. Inside Bay Area 4/23/08

 

Opportunities In Transporation Infrastructure Conference: A roster of over 45 distinguished presenters will be led by Keynote Speaker, David Crane, the Special Advisor to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ("California's $500 Billion Infrastructure Challenge") and will spotlight a variety of state "gatekeepers" from the public sector, ranging from victorious transportation trailblazers (Virginia & Texas), current and innovative players (Pennsylvania and New Jersey) and those states who are now prepared to explore mutually beneficial partnerships with the private sector (Massachusetts, Washington, Colorado) in order to secure the essential rehabilitation -- and renaissance -- of the nation's infrastructure. Marketwire 4/22/08

 

More Californians visited Hawaii in 2007 than visitors from any other state. Of the 7.3 million visitors last year, 1.9 million were from the Golden State, according to a visitor count released Tuesday by the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Bizjournals 4/23/08

 

 

 

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