Transporation Daily News June 12

Air travel:

 

To Save Fuel, Airlines Find No Speck Too Small -- The nation’s airlines are scrutinizing every step of their operations, from the tarmac to the sky, and from the nose to the tail of their planes, searching for new ways to cut their soaring fuel bills. Eight years ago, 15 percent of the price of an airplane ticket went to pay for jet fuel; now, it is 40 percent, according to the Air Transport Association, the industry’s trade group. NY Times 6/12/08

 

Shipping:

 

*Schwarzenegger offers oil-spill prevention plan -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday announced a plan to prevent oil spills such as the one in San Francisco Bay last year - but ignored a package of bills developed by Bay Area lawmakers after emergency public hearings.  Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-El Cerrito, called the plan nothing but "window dressing" on serious shortcomings in the state oil spill prevention and response efforts. SJ Mercury 6/12/08

 

Governor's oil-spill plan falls short, Hancock says -- SJ Mercury 6/12/08

 

Governor backs 3 bills on oil spill response -- Government response to oil spills like the one that polluted San Francisco Bay last fall would get a boost under a group of measures backed Wednesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He met with lawmakers to endorse bills to improve emergency response guidelines as a result of the Cosco Busan spill in November and to unveil the action his administration is taking on the subject. SF Chronicle 6/12/08

 

Mass-transit and infrastructure:

 

AC Transit urges tax hike to fund bus service -- Property owners in Alameda and Contra Costa counties could vote to double their parcel tax to $96 a year to fund AC Transit bus service, under a proposal endorsed by the transit agency's governing board Wednesday night. The proposed tax increase, which voters could decide in November, was recommended by AC Transit administrators as an alternative to raising fares - at least for the time being. SF Chronicle 6/12/08

 

*AC Transit parcel tax headed for ballot -- Directors of the East Bay's largest bus agency voted Wednesday evening to place a measure on the November ballot that would raise as much as $14 million by possibly doubling the transit district's parcel tax. The vote coincided with the AC Transit governing board's delay of widely unpopular fare-increase proposals until after the fall election. By then, directors said they expect to know not only the fate of the tax measure, but also how much transit subsidy the state legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger agree to allocate. SJ Mercury 6/11/08

 

State denies S.F. $25 million for shipyard -- City officials and the company behind a Hunters Point shipyard housing development say they'll still finish the project even though state officials have denied them a $25 million grant. The planned development, which promises 1,600 housing units on a hilltop parcel at the 500-acre shipyard, is the product of public-private partnership between the city and developer Lennar Corp. of Miami. SF Chronicle 6/12/08

 

*Caltrans to smooth the way for I-80 drivers -- Over the next 18 months, the stretch of I-80 between Vallejo and Vacaville will have its roadway repaired and repaved, and its median barriers upgraded. Carpool lanes will be built in both directions between Red Top Road and Air Base Parkway, a truck climbing lane will be installed on Highway 12 nearing I-80, assorted overpasses and on- and off-ramps will be improved and traffic signals and metering lights will be installed in some locations. But the I-80 pavement rehabilitation - which will cost about $100 million - is just a fraction of the rehabilitation work that Bay Area highways need. As most drivers know, getting around the region can be a jarring experience. SF Chronicle 6/12/08