Transit and infrastructure:
S.F. bike project still stuck in the slow lane -- San Francisco officials assured angry and frustrated bicycle activists on Monday that court-ordered environmental studies on proposed bike lanes and other infrastructure improvements to benefit two-wheelers will be wrapped up by Thanksgiving. But it will still take several more months - at least - before the projects can move forward. SF Chronicle 7/22/08
*Two death-defying transit stunts: biking on freeways and walking across the street -- Federal officials recently issued a report on pedestrian deaths across the United States between 1997 and 2006. Here's a sampling of what the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found: -
Pedestrians had only a slightly higher chance of dying in a car crash than people in a vehicle had.
-About one-third of the pedestrians killed were legally drunk.
-Generally speaking, both the rate and total number of pedestrian deaths have been dropping over the last decade. LA Times 7/22/08
Shipping and ports:
*Leaders urge Port of Oakland to reduce pollution -- Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will join a coalition of labor, environmental and community leaders today to push for policies at the Port of Oakland to reduce diesel emissions and boost living conditions for thousands of independent truckers who move goods to and from the West Oakland facility. The Oakland Board of Port Commissioners set a goal this year of reducing the health risk from diesel particulates by 85 percent by 2020. The port has helped pay to replace 80 old trucks and it has set aside $5 million this fiscal year to help retrofit 1,000 rigs with new filters. Inside Bay Area 7/22/08
Ag may ride rails again -- With skyrocketing fuel costs, the agricultural industry is giving the railroad another look. After securing $15,000 from the Salinas City Council, the Grower-Shipper Association today is slated to get another $15,000 from the Monterey County Board of Supervisors to pay for a study examining whether trains can keep costs down and quickly move produce to far-flung domestic markets. County and city staff will help draft the report. According to the Grower-Shipper Association, the fuel for just one truck trip across the country cost $7,000 last year. Now, the association says, a trip is costing $10,000. The Californian 7/22/08
Opinion: Long Awaited Bill to Clean Up Health Damaging Pollution from California’s Ports Expected to Land Soon on Governor’s Desk -- SB 974, a bill that would impose a $30 fee on each shipping container processed at the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland to fund congestion management and air quality improvement projects related to ports, is a real solution for a real problem. California Progress Report 7/22/08
Idea calls for sinking old ships -- Dismantling retired and obsolete former war and merchant vessels is not the only solution for the Suisun Bay mothball fleet, according to a group of divers. The nonprofit California Ships to Reefs says sinking ships and turning them into artificial reefs is the best way for the federal government to remove the reserve vessels from the fleet. While the group is open to other large ships for sinking, the big prize would be the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, said Executive Director Eleanore Rewerts. Times Herald 7/22/08
Budget:
*Oakland deficit could reach $50 million -- Oakland's budget deficit is on course to more than triple the $15 million shortfall that former City Administrator Deborah Edgerly figured in the city's current spending plan, according to new projections obtained by The Chronicle. Officials said Friday that the dire forecast may force them to lay off employees and cut services, difficult decisions they say they will make after returning from summer recess and begin poring over Oakland's finances. SF Chronicle 7/22/08
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