Same drill, round two. After almost a month of apparently fruitless negotiations, the unions gave a 72-hour notice of going on strike. Unless an agreement is reached, 200,000 Bay Area rail riders will need to find alternatives for the Monday commute
Mike Rosenberg, Matt O'Brien and Brittny Mejia write that the 72-hour notice "does not guarantee a shutdown but essentially starts a clock that will expire at 11:59 p.m. Sunday for management and unions to reach a deal. They remained far apart on the key issues of pay and contributions to health care and pensions."
Should Bay Area Rapid Transit, responsible for 400,000 daily trips, shutdown on August 05, it is expected to hit commuters harder than round one when many workers were off for the July 4th holiday. The first strike began Monday, July 01, and ended, if only temporarily, four and one half days later on Friday afternoon, July 05. While no contract agreement had been reached, the Amalgamated Transit Union, who also went on strike August 01 halting 40% of metro Phoenix bus routes, the local Service Employees International Union and management chose to continue negotiations for one month while workers would return to work under the current contract through Aug. 04.
Perhaps partly explaining why the sides haven't reached an agreement, Rosenberg, O'Brien and Mejia write, "Labor activists and local religious leaders also characterized the negotiations as part of a larger fight to keep the labor movement strong in the Bay Area amid growing economic inequality."
"It's going to exacerbate inequality" if the BART workers lose their fight, said Bob Allen, a public transit advocate for Oakland-based nonprofit group Urban Habitat.
BART has a contract for 95 charter buses should no agreement be reached by Monday, "slightly more than last time, (and) would cost the agency $114,000 a day." As with the July strike, ferry service from Oakland and Alameda would increase in frequency, but many commuters would resort to driving, leading to expected gridlock on the Bay Bridge.
FULL STORY: BART strike: Unions give 72-hour notice of shutdown Thursday

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie