Transportation Daily News August 7

Budget:

 

Governor won't sign bills until he gets budget -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his latest attempt to pressure lawmakers into breaking the state's budget impasse, on Wednesday said he will not sign any bills until the Legislature agrees on a budget, which is more than a month overdue. SF Chronicle 8/7/08

 

Transit and infrastructure:

 

*S.F.'s road map for reinventing Muni revised -- San Francisco transportation planners said Wednesday they want to replace low-ridership bus lines with cheaper-to-operate van service as part of an ambitious plan to overhaul Municipal Railway's decades-old route structure aimed at improving service along the busiest corridors.  Muni officials outlined their latest ideas to remake the system in a revised version of the Transit Effectiveness Project plan, a data-driven document that took a line-by-line look at ridership on each bus and rail route to see which should be eliminated, rerouted or kept the same based on demand. The plan also recommends schedule changes. SF Chronicle 8/7/08

 

Muni fine-tunes transformation -- San Franciscans lamenting the elimination of neighborhood bus lines marked for destruction may see those routes resurrected with vans. The initial recommendations, released in February, include beefing up Muni’s main transit lines in The City’s main corridors and eliminating some of its lesser-used routes. Examiner 8/7/08

 

*Support builds for sweeping growth bill -- Builders and environmentalists, often adversaries, are aligning behind sweeping legislation that could fundamentally change how California grows and where.  The measure would use a mix of rewards – such as priority for transportation funds and better-defined environmental reviews – to reduce sprawl, provide affordable housing, shorten commutes and curb greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming.  San Diego Union Tribune 8/7/08

 

*Deal reached on bill that would give state a voice over local land-use plans -- As a legislative committee reviewed the Air Resources Board’s plan to reduce greenhouse gasses, a deal was announced on a new bill that will implement a key piece of the plan, and give the state a voice in limiting urban sprawl. A broad coalition, including environmentalists, builders and local governments, crowded into a Capitol hearing room Wednesday to announce an agreement on a bill, SB 375 by Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. It would give new regional councils, and the state Air Resources Board, new authority over local land-use and transportation planning decisions. Capitol Weekly 8/7/08

 

San Francisco is a pedestrian's paradise -- Matching the eye-popping scenery is a dense cityscape that allows residents and visitors easy access to amenities such as shops, markets and parks — a primary reason San Francisco recently was anointed the “most walkable” city in the nation by walkscore.com, on online organization based in Seattle that collects data on pedestrian activities in every major U.S. city. SF Examiner 8/7/08

 

Water:

 

Coast Guard issues safety reminders for Delta boaters -- Coast Guard personnel warned Wednesday that BUI – boating under the influence – and not wearing a life jacket are ingredients for a watery disaster. Last year, 55 boating fatalities occurred in the state. Of those, 7 percent happened in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region. Seventy-one percent of the state's boating fatality victims drowned – and of that group an overwhelming majority, 87 percent, were not wearing life jackets. Sacramento Bee 8/7/08

 

Emissions:

 

Settlement on school bus fixes to cut fumes -- The state's largest school bus operator has agreed to renovate more than 2,000 buses in California to run cleaner, settling a lawsuit that accused it of exposing children to diesel exhaust in leaky passenger cabins. The settlement was announced Wednesday by Laidlaw Transit and three environmental groups that sued the company in 2006. Without admitting any wrongdoing, Laidlaw agreed to spend $4.7 million over five years to retrofit buses that are more than five years old, and $23.6 million more to continue renovating those buses or buy new ones. SF Chronicle 8/7/08