Emissions:
*White House swayed EPA 'no' on air rules -- The head of the Environmental Protection Agency, after meeting with White House officials, reversed his earlier position and denied California's authority to enforce its own controls on tailpipe emissions in December, a U.S. House investigative committee found Monday. In fall 2007, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson was prepared to follow the unanimous recommendation of his professional staff and grant, at least in part, the state's bid to enact landmark controls designed to cut global-warming pollution from new vehicles by almost 30 percent by 2016. SJ Mercury 5/20/08
EPA chief backed state's tough emissions rules -- Environmentalists and California officials said the new revelation shows that politics, rather than science and law, drove the decision. SF Chronicle 5/20/08
Air travel:
Fliers decry ‘dismal' airline service -- Passengers are more dissatisfied with airlines’ customer service than they have been in years at a time when carriers are charging more and more for tickets and services. An annual survey being released today by the University of Michigan found customers giving airlines the worst grades since 2001, with the industry’s overall scores dropping for the third straight year. AP 5/20/08
High-speed rail:
Fiona Ma Loves High-Speed Rail – A video from last month’s Ecocity 2008 conference in San Francisco shows Ma as a staunch HSR supporter. California High-Speed Rail Blog 5/19/08
Infrastructure:
San Francisco to Host 2008 APTA Rail Conference -- The 2008 Rail Conference and International Rail Rodeo will take place May 31-June 4 in San Francisco, CA. Sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), the event is North America’s largest and most comprehensive learning experience for the rail industry. News Release Wire 5/20/08
Controversy Rises Over County’s Number One Suicide Spot -- CalTrans embarked on the process of making Cold Springs Bridge - the number one location to commit suicide on the Central Coast – safer in 2005. Nearly three years later, the project is flooded in controversy as the opposing sides debate CalTrans’ plan to install physical suicide prevention barriers on the 45-year-old bridge. Central to the debate over Cold Springs Bridge is whether or not suicide prevention barriers actually save lives. In the Environmental Impact Report released last week, saving lives had been removed from their list of goals. Daily Nexus 5/20/08
Ports:
Post-9-11 X-ray snags $22M in fake goods at Port of Oakland – An X-ray portal was put in place to detect radioactive material hidden in containers by terrorists hasn’t found any so far, but did unearth $22M worth of knock-off goods in a shipping container from China. SJ Mercury 5/20/08
Mass-transit:
AC Transit to get an earful on fare hike ideas -- AC Transit directors are set to hear a piece of the bus-riding public's mind about a proposal to raise bus fares by 25 cents per ride. On Wednesday at 4 p.m., and probably several hours into the evening, the agency's board of directors will hear testimony at Oakland City Hall on a set of four fare-increase proposals that, when first proposed in March, were meant to fill a budget gap of $6 million to $9 million. The proposals would all hike single adult fares from the current $1.75 to $2, but the most significant would also increase youth passes prices by 87 percent, putting them close to what they were before they were deeply discounted seven years ago. CC Times 5/19/08
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