Transit and infrastructure:
Ridership is up, but RT faces budget cuts -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office says its proposed budget merely holds the line on spending for Regional Transit. But ask RT officials, and they'll say their agency is actually facing big cuts, because the governor is slicing $18 million that they would have received through a special fund to shore up the beleaguered budget. Toss in a drop in sales tax receipts because of the sluggish economy, and RT says it is looking at operating its fleet next year with 10 percent less money than this year. Sacramento Bee 6/21/08
*With bond funds approved, Sacramento railyard design to begin -- The state Department of Housing and Community Development on Friday approved $47 million in bond funding for the railyard – money that will be used to construct streets connecting the site to the rest of downtown. Design will begin right away, and construction on key roads likely will start next year, said Suheil Totah, vice president for developer Thomas Enterprises. Sacramento Bee 6/21/08
Fuel costs may raise mass transit fares -- Escalating fuel prices that have pushed more commuters out of their cars and onto buses, ferries and trains also have put an added financial strain on transit operators and could lead to higher fares. Transit operators nationwide are considering raising fares or cutting service, just when demand for mass transportation is at the highest level in half a century and operating subsidies from financially-drained local and state governments are drying up. SF Chronicle 6/21/08
*Caltrans supports proposal to eliminate school routes from public bus lines -- The state has weighed in on what local transit and education officials say is the wrong side of a dispute with the federal government concerning banning buses that get thousands of East Bay children to school. Caltrans is backing a rule change that could deny transportation to hundreds of thousands of urban schoolchildren in the state and nation, said officials dismayed with the transportation department's support of the proposal. On Thursday, Caltrans declared its support for the Federal Transit Administration's proposal to tighten regulations aimed at keeping public entities from competing with "yellow school bus" companies. Inside Bay Area 6/20/08
Free BART smashes record -- With its last breath, the doomed anti-smog Spare the Air Day free transit program declared that it could deliver public transit riders like nothing else, pumping up trips on BART to nearly 400,000 and an all-time record Thursday. But at a cost of nearly $2 million a day, the free rides have ended in favor of a Spare the Air program that appeals to drivers' environmental stewardship to switch to transit during hot, smog-prone summer days. Inside Bay Area 6/20/08
Emissions:
*Bush rejects demand for papers in state air dispute -- Setting up a constitutional showdown, the White House asserted executive privilege Friday in denying a request to turn over thousands of pages of documents that Congress seeks as part of an investigation involving California's air-quality standards. The dispute hit a boiling point when the White House said it would not comply with congressional subpoenas aimed at finding out whether President Bush blocked California's attempts to regulate its greenhouse gas emissions. Sacramento Bee 6/22/08
Air board's ambitious plan to battle warming -- California's air board, for years an obscure state agency, will take center stage this week when it unveils a blueprint for the nation's most aggressive fight against global warming that is expected to affect every resident, industry and government agency in the state in the coming decade. The far-reaching plan, which comes 18 months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed landmark legislation to curb greenhouse emissions by one-third by 2020. SF Chronicle 6/22/08
High-speed rail:
*Another View: Let's put state on fast track to the future -- Editorial content by Judge Quentin Kopp: High-speed trains use one-third the energy of air travel and one-fifth the energy of automobile travel. High-speed trains will reduce our dependence on foreign oil by 22 million barrels a year. Moreover, they'll operate at a profit (just like the European and Asian systems), without taxpayer subsidy. Sacramento Bee 6/22/08
Ports:
Idling trucks big contributors to air pollution -- Citing serious health problems associated with pollutants in Oakland's air and across the Bay Area, several volunteers will hit the streets Tuesday seeking to curb what they say is a serious contributor to the problem: truck idling. In West Oakland, volunteers will pursue truck drivers face to face at the Mayway Warehouse truck parking facility on 12th Street, at the truck scales on Maritime Boulevard, and by the recycling centers in the Clawson neighborhood. Their goal is to be educational rather than aggressive. Inside Bay Area 6/22/08
Other:
*California Adds Eco Label to All 2009 Cars -- Currently voluntary, the so-called "environmental performance" rating sticker will become a requirement starting January 1, 2009. According to Edmunds' Green Car Advisor, new car dealers will be mandated to attach eco labels, such as the one pictured above, to all '09 model year vehicles. Each car's greenhouse gas impact will be rated "on a 1-10 scale, with the highest scores representing the least impact, so a '9' will be greener than a '7'." PC Magazine 6/23/08
Calif. lawmaker wants voting age dropped to 17 -- State Assemblyman Gene Mullin wants to lower the voting age in hopes of boosting participation at the polls among young adults. Mullin's constitutional amendment would allow 17-year-olds to vote in primaries and special elections if they will turn 18 by the next November general election. Such a policy has been adopted by 19 other states. CC Times 6/22/08
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