Transporation Daily News June 24

Transit and infrastructure:

 

Bus service fills void for $5 service to L.A. -- Five dollars doesn't go very far in the Bay Area, but starting today, that's enough to get you a one-way bus ticket to Los Angeles.  California Shuttle Bus announced the $5 daily rate on Monday to fill the gap left by Megabus stopping its $1 express bus service on Sunday from San Francisco and Oakland to Los Angeles due to low ridership. Kazuhiro Nakagawa, founder and chief executive of San Jose-based California Shuttle Bus, said he believed there was a market for low-cost bus transportation.  Inside Bay Area 6/23/08

 

Committed to investing in public transit for California -- This governor, more than any other governor in recent history, has put his money where his mouth is when it comes to demonstrating his commitment to public transportation in California.  It is important that public transportation agencies and operators become as efficient and cost-conscious as possible, because they will have to provide service for more riders than ever before. SF Chronicle 6/24/08

 

Emissions:

 

*Air board to outline emissions strategy -- California's top air-quality agency for the first time on Thursday will reveal a long-awaited strategy for how it expects business and the public to respond to the challenge of dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions from factories, power plants and cars. By itself, the draft plan before the Air Resources Board will not impose specific regulations to curb greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming.  Instead, the plan is widely expected to set the course for establishing state policies that will redefine energy use in California.  San Diego Union Tribune 6/24/08

 

Water:

 

*Supreme Court to consider sonar versus whales -- The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider whether the military's assertions of national security trump the need to protect endangered species, when the justices decide whether the Navy must limit its use of sonar in training exercises off Southern California because the sound waves might harm whales. SF Chronicle 6/24/08

 

Concord, Navy at odds over land use plan deadline -- Because of a Monday deadline that came and went, the U.S. Navy is threatening Concord's planning authority over the shuttered Concord Naval Weapons Station for the second time. Months ago the city began asking the Navy for more time to put together its blueprint for exactly how the closed military base's 5,028 inland acres will be developed with houses, offices and parks. Local leaders asked for the extension knowing that Concord, as the designated planning authority, wouldn't be able to meet the June 23 deadline.CC Times 6/23/08