TransForm

BART Train

Competing Funding Strategies Promoted for Bay Area Transit Mega-Measure

Two Bay Area transportation sales tax measures affecting three Bay Area counties performed poorly on Super Tuesday, but it hasn't deterred the groups backing a nine-county mega-measure. Progressive groups are proposing non-sales tax alternatives.

March 9, 2020 - The Mercury News

Interstate 580

Counties Outside of Bay Area Eye Transportation Mega Measure in 2020

Northern San Joaquin Valley transit officials are eying a $100 billion Bay Area transportation measure to potentially fund a $1 billion rail tunnel for two commuter railroads to bring workers to the East Bay and Silicon Valley.

September 5, 2019 - The Sacramento Bee

Traffic

Will Manhattan's "Central Business District Tolling" Clear the Way for More Congestion Pricing?

Cordon pricing applied to Manhattan's Central Business District, approved by the state legislature on March 31 and signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on April 1, has the ability to be a game changer for other cities considering similar programs.

April 8, 2019 - The New York Times

Los Angeles Harbor Freeway

If Road Pricing Is Inherently Unfair and Regressive...

Road pricing has its faults as a revenue measure, but it needs to be compared to ten elements of the current system of paying for transportation, including hidden subsidies, says Joe Cortright, an urban economist with Portland-based City Observatory.

February 4, 2019 - City Observatory

Expo Line

Equity Considerations Delay Congestion Pricing in Los Angeles

After discussing a staff report on road pricing at their Jan. 24 meeting, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority directors paused to weigh the equity implications of charging motorists to drive on roads.

January 31, 2019 - Curbed Los Angeles

Gas and Bikes

Gov. Jerry Brown and State Democratic Leaders Agree on Gas Tax Deal

Revised transportation funding legislation is needed to meet California's ballooning infrastructure deficit, but it needs a supermajority to pass, and it contains a fatal flaw for clean air activists.

April 3, 2017 - Streetsblog California

Bay Area Bike Share Renamed for New Sponsor: An Auto Company

The new, Detroit-based sponsor will help pay for a ten-fold expansion of the Bay Area's regional bike share program coming this spring and a new Palo Alto program. Low income residents will be offered discounted rates to join Bay Area Bike Share.

October 21, 2016 - Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Boston Subway T

The Sad Saga of Three East Coast Subways

With so much attention placed on the woes facing D.C. Metro, it's important to recognize that it is hardly the only subway facing critical infrastructure investment needs.

May 27, 2016 - The New York Times

California House

Affordable Housing Becomes More Affordable in California Due to Parking Reform

AB 744, a bill which requires no more than one parking space be provided for every two units of affordable and senior housing proximate to transit, was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Oct. 9.

October 14, 2015 - Smart Growth America

BART's Oakland Airport Connector Now in Service

Depending upon which Bay Area newspaper you read, the new 3.2-mile Oakland Airport connector, an elevated, driverless tram that takes eight minutes and costs $6, is either a huge success or a $484 million boondoggle. It began service on November 22.

December 1, 2014 - San Francisco Examiner

East Bay BRT Project Receives $81 Million in Federal Grants

Don't confuse East Bay Rapid Transit with Bay Area Rapid Transit: one's a bus, the other heavy rail. But calling it a bus does not do justice to what will be the Bay Area's first bus rapid transit (BRT) line composed primarily of dedicated lanes.

November 13, 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle

Transform's New GreenTrip Parking Database

A new database from the Oakland-based Transform group maps and tracks unused parking spaces in multifamily housing developments.

October 18, 2014 - Streetsblog LA

California Bullet Train

Calif. Governor Signs Game-Changing Budget for HSR, Transit, and Affordable Housing

Jerry Brown signed a $156.3-billion budget on June 20 that marks a new day for greenhouse gas-reducing transportation and sustainable communities projects due to new revenues from the state's cap and trade market now and, particularly, in the future.

June 21, 2014 - TransForm

Finally, California Has a Safe-Passing Law!

Good news for all cyclists riding on Calif. roadways came from Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday when he attached his signature to a bill making it law that drivers give bicyclists at least 3 feet of space when passing from behind - only took him 5 years!

September 25, 2013 - Los Angeles Times - Opinion

San Francisco Skyline

Bay Area's Controversial Growth Plan Approved

Over the heckles of hundreds of residents opposed to higher density and the two regional planning agencies making the decision, the Bay Area's growth plan designed to cut carbon emissions 15% by 2040 through better planning was approved.

July 20, 2013 - Pleasanton Weekly

Gridlock Grips the Bay Area

Long lines for transbay ferries and the limited number of free charter buses operated by BART, packed AC Transit transbay buses, and traffic crawling on the S.F.-Oakland Bay Bridge show the effects of the BART strike on day two.

July 3, 2013 - KCBS

'Modern' Cable Car Coming to Oakland in 2014

BART's Oakland Airport Connector will not look at all like the familiar cable car found across the Bay, but will be propelled by a moving cable similar to the Clay Street Hill RR in S.F. almost 140 years ago. The 3-mile ride to OAK will be 8 minutes.

January 3, 2013 - San Francisco Chronicle

New Gas Tax Legislation Proposed For CA MPOs

Unlike a state gas tax, SB 791 calls for regional planning agencies to prepare a measure to go before voters in their jurisdiction that would place a new fee on fuel to improve mobility, called a "regional congestion reduction charge".

August 30, 2011 - LA. Streetsblog

$70 Million in Transit Stimulus Funds at Risk

BART's people-mover connection to the Oakland Airport is jeopardized by an FTA ruling that the agency failed to reach out to minorities, potentially denying the agency of $70 million in stimulus funds. Might the funds go to other transit needs?

January 26, 2010 - SF Gate - Oakland Blog

Denser Neighborhoods Could Save Bay Area $31 Billion

Walkable, transit-accessible neighborhoods do more than just lower greenhouse gas emissions of their residents - they save them money too, states a new report, "Windfall for All", from the Bay Area's TransForm, a coalition of over 100 non-profits.

November 23, 2009 - Sacramento Business Journal

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