Mass transit:
*Muni talks freeze - union won't budge -- Contract negotiations between Municipal Railway operators and the bosses who run San Francisco's transit agent skidded to a halt Monday, with union representatives refusing to give up more control of scheduling and discipline. Union leaders say they won't agree to Muni managers' demands without a promise of better pay and benefits. The current labor agreement expires June 30. SF Chronicle 6/10/08
Transportation:
Commentary - The cost of raiding transportation funds -- Ironically, just when the public has started parking their cars and giving public transit a try, the governor has once again proposed to raid transportation funding to plug the state’s gaping budget deficit. This shift of funding represents opportunity costs, which may not show up on a balance sheet, yet will be felt by millions of California residents for years to come. SF Examiner 6/9/08
Rural U.S. Takes Worst Hit as Gas Tops $4 Average -- Across broad swaths of the South, Southwest and the upper Great Plains, the combination of low incomes, high gas prices and heavy dependence on pickup trucks and vans is putting an even tighter squeeze on family budgets. Nationwide, Americans are now spending about 4 percent of their take-home income on gasoline. By contrast, in some counties in the Mississippi Delta, that figure has surpassed 13 percent. NY Times 6/9/08
Emissions:
School districts tense over new ARB's diesel rules -- For hundreds of California school districts already facing profound budget problems, the proposed diesel-soot regulations from the Air Resources Board couldn't come at a worse time: The ARB is pondering a new rule that would require schools to buy new buses--they average about $150,000 each--or retrofit older ones at $20,000 or more per vehicle. Capitol Weekly 6/9/08
Air travel:
SF: STATE COURT ASKED TO DECIDE IF AIRPORT IS A PUBLIC FORUM -- A federal appeals court in San Francisco asked the California Supreme Court today to decide whether an airport is a public forum with free speech rights that could allow Hare Krishna groups to ask for money. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals acted in a long-running lawsuit filed by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to challenge a ban on solicitation at Los Angeles International Airport. CBS 5 6/9/08
High-speed rail:
Speed bump for high-speed rail plans – Union Pacific Railroad has said it has no intention of giving up its freight train rights of way to accommodate the passenger rail system. High-speed Rail authority officials dismissed UP's rebuff. "We have known all along that the railroads are not very likely to want to share their rights of way with people," said Mehdi Moshed, the authority's executive director. Stockton Record 6/10/08
*Union Pacific causes a flap with its huffing and puffing on right of way -- The Union Pacific Railroad raised a few eyebrows this week with a letter stating that it isn't interested in sharing its right of way with the state's proposed high-speed rail system. However, the high-speed rail authority has never considered buying existing Union Pacific right of way. Instead, the proposed route would carry trains near the existing tracks in some areas -- not on them. High-speed rail requires dedicated tracks, with grade separations and barriers that keep the trains away from all other trains, as well as other vehicles and pedestrians. Fresno Bee 6/7/08
Shipping:
*Union, shippers aim for July deal -- With three weeks to go, shippers and the union representing West Coast dockworkers remain optimistic about reaching a contract before the current labor pact expires July 1. As the deadline looms, meetings have become more frequent between representatives from the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Daily Breeze 6/10/08
Coast Guard Refusing FOIA Request on Cargo Ships -- More than five months after the Cosco Busan accident-where the 810-foot-long container ship crashed into the base of a tower of a bridge in heavy fog-the U.S. Coast Guard is still refusing to comply with an October 11 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the marine conservation organization Seaflow asking for a list of vessels previously cited by the Coast Guard for regulatory violations and environmental crimes, they said in an April statement. Red Orbit 6/9/08
Secretary Kawamura announces vacancies on the Shipping Point Inspection advisory committee -- California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura is announcing seven alternate member vacancies on the Shipping Point Inspection Advisory Committee. The Shipping Point Inspection Committee is charged with making recommendations to the secretary of agriculture on all matters pertaining to the Shipping Point Inspection Program, the annual budget, and the necessary fees to provide adequate inspection services. Fresh Plaza 6/10/08
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