Air travel:
Continental to end flights to Oakland -- Continental Airlines will discontinue service in Oakland, as well as other smaller domestic markets, on Sept. 3 as it struggles with sky-high fuel costs that have more than doubled in a year's time. Continental has recently been operating three daily flights between Houston and Oakland, a fraction of the traffic at Oakland International Airport, and Southwest Airlines offers the same service. But downsizing is not the preferred option in an industry that a few years ago was enjoying a renaissance. SF Chronicle 6/13/08
Infrastructure and mass-transit:
Record ridership boosts BART budget -- The BART Board of Directors gave unanimous approval Thursday to a $674.8 million operating budget for the new fiscal year that starts July 1, a spending plan that will maintain current service levels and contribute more to maintaining the aging fleet. BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger said the challenge for BART is to keep up with record-high ridership - now pegged at 365,000 on a typical weekday - while keeping the 35-year-old system in good working condition. SF Chronicle 6/13/08
Bay Area Beefs Up on Homeland Security -- Bay Area transit agencies are getting millions of dollars from Sacramento for homeland security improvements. These grants will pay for everything from new radios to surveillance cameras. California's director of homeland security, Matt Bettenhausen, came to the Golden Gate Bridge to dole out $21 million, to 14 different transit agencies. KCBS 6/13/08
High-speed rail:
California High-Speed Rail Authority Reviews Spanish Safety Record -- Spanish National Railways Consortia officials today affirmed the safety record of high-speed trains, noting that they have operated in the same corridors as conventional freight trains, running parallel to each other - and in some instances crossing each other - efficiently and with no accidents for decades. Representatives of high-speed-train-builder Talgo and of Renfe, Spain's national rail system operators, stressed the safety record in a presentation to members of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, the agency charged with building a 220-mile-per-hour train system linking California's major cities. Centre Daily 6/13/08
Movement To Build High-Speed Train Network Continues -- Rep. Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, said in a press release Thursday that the movement to build a network of high-speed trains in the California has moved one step closer to becoming a reality. According to the press release, the house rail transportation bill passed with overwhelming support Wednesday. The bill includes $1.75 billion available to states to help fund high-speed rail across the country. NBC 11 6/13/08
Answering the Sac Bee's HSR Questions -- California High Speed Rail Blog answers some questions posited by the Sacramento Bee in an editorial from the 6/11. CASHR 6/12/08
San Francisco Tests Dynamic Curbside Parking -- The underlying premise of SFpark is that the city wants to reduce driving, and will not attempt to do so by building more parking. Nor does the city want to suffer from parking shortages, manifested as double parking and congestion caused by cruising for spots. Instead, SFpark will raise meter prices so that demand is reduced to equal the existing parking supply. During peak periods, meters will be priced high enough to ensure some parking is always available. World Changing 6/13/08
Caltrain unwraps $20.5 million birthday gift to Burlingame -- Burlingame officials and other dignitaries turned out Thursday to open Caltrain's "100th" birthday gift to the city, a remodeled train station. Inside Bay Area 6/13/08
Emissions:
Lawmaker threatens contempt vote for EPA chief -- A House committee chairman on Friday threatened to hold the head of the EPA and a White House budget official in contempt of Congress for not handing over documents about new smog requirements and a decision blocking California greenhouse gas limits. Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman of California, chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, said he'd hold a vote in his committee next week on a contempt resolution, if he doesn't get the information he wants. AP 6/13/08
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