Bay Area

In this column, CA Lt. Gov. John Garamendi supports a regional plan to create a HOT lane network in the Bay Area, permitting single occupant vehicles to buy into the fast lanes, creating a new source of regional revenue to fund express bus service.

BART is set to embark on a $3.4 billion project to replace its existing trains with 700 new cars that will carry more people, move passengers through stations faster, and meet the needs of suburban and urban riders.

On Earth Day, the Bay Area's MPO- the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, formally adopted their Regional Transportation Plan that includes a controversial 800-mile High Occupancy Toll lane network that is dependent on the passage of legislation.

A prominent developer predicts that all hi-rise housing will cease in the San Francisco due to the credit crisis. The result, says an urban think tank director, will be more sprawl development in the Bay Area as it presents the least financial risk.

With all the 'shovel-ready' talk focused on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, gone unnoticed by many was the huge increase in the transit costs that can be included in the pretax program to assist commuters - $230/month can now be included.

"Blueprint America" looks at declining public transit subsidies and resulting transit service cuts. The video and report follows two East Bay commuters on suburban bus, BART; the transit agency meeting where bus service is reduced; MUNI LRT footage.

In a report detailing three decades of growth in the SF Bay Area, an urban think tank details how commercial growth has been disproportionately in the non-transit accessible suburban office parks. However, SF shares the blame. Solutions are offered.

John King of the San Francisco Chronicle trumpets the work of Bridge Housing in increasing the availability of quality affordable housing in the Bay Area. But is it enough? New studies say affordable housing is an uphill battle.

In the Bay Area, where transit and cycling are encouraged and on the rise, cyclists are increasingly turning towards folding bikes to enjoy unrestricted access to the two major rail systems, BART and Caltrain, due to conventional bike limitations.

By charging more to ride at peak commuting hours, BART hopes to spread the use of the system more evenly throughout the day.

Bay Area political columnist Dan Borenstein examines long-term transportation data and concludes that driving will only increase unless politicians make driving more expensive and transit cheaper, a solution he regards as unlikely at best.