Planetizen Newswire
Keep up with essential planning news and commentary, delivered to your inbox every Monday and Thursday.
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Two years after voters in the nine-county Bay Area agreed to hike tolls on the region's seven state-owned bridges, regional business leaders are hoping they will approve a one-cent regional sales tax to fund $100 billion in transportation projects.
San Francisco Chronicle
The lone survivor of Sen. Scott Wiener's trio of "Housing-First Policy" bills awaits a decision by Gov. Jerry Brown. Senate Bill 828, intended to increase the amount of land zoned for housing in California cities, was weakened by amendments.
The Real Deal
Gov. Jerry Brown, Peninsula congresswomen, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and state legislative leaders gathered in Millbrae with shovels-in hands to mark the beginning of a four-year construction project to electrify Caltrain.
The Daily Journal
The oldest commuter rail line west of the Mississippi is also unique in another way—it lacks a dedicated source of operating revenue. Legislation has been introduced to allow Peninsula counties to vote to increase sales taxes by 0.125 percent.
The Daily Journal
A week ago, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao indicated she would not sign-off on the $647 million federal grant for the $2 billion Caltrain electrification project. On Monday, she changed her mind.
The Mercury News
With five days left in the legislative season, Gov. Jerry Brown halved the fuels tax increases proposed in the Democratic bill as a sweetener to tax-averse Republicans, though they haven't show any willingness to date to compromise.
San Jose Mercury News
Gov. Jerry Brown has an environmental goal that conflicts with an infrastructure goal: reducing oil consumption and raising funds to pay for deferred road needs. The solution may be the Road User Charge, which lies in the hands of a new committee.
Inside Bay Area.com
If two major business and labor groups have their way, the 1970 CA Environmental Quality Act will be 'modernized', to quote the CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. The CA Alliance for Jobs has joined SVLG, as has a top aide of the governor.
Capitol Alert (Sacramento Bee blog)
TIME's senior national correspondent posits that once the first shovel begins digging int the Central Valley, the $68 billion project will be hard to stop, regardless of the fact that no federal funding awaits as long as the GOP controls the House.
Time
