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Two-Way Fell Street is a Reality

I may be a few days late in noticing it, but the paint has now been applied and the block of Fell Street between Van Ness and Franklin is now two-way!  Restoration of this block to two-way flow was planned as part of the restoration of Hayes to two-way, helping to undo one more bad legacy of the old Central Freeway spur.

Check Out the New BART Car Designs

In case you haven't heard, BART will be completely replacing its fleet of cars within the next decade or so.  You may have even participated in one of the Seat Labs that BART put on to get public feedback on hew seat dimensions.

BART has just released the design options by BMW Group DesignworksUSA for the public to see.  Check them out at BART's website.  You can see these designs presented and give feedback at any of a series of open house meetings BART has organized, or at select BART stations.

A couple of my own thoughts?  While BART says "There are side panels where art from the community could be featured," it's hard to imagine it will take long for ads to appear there.  It's a shame that no seats were removed to make more room for standees, luggage, and bikes.  That said, however, the "party seating" in option B leaves more space open near doors, which will be good for circulation

Have a look at the designs yourself and submit your own feedback to BART.

Fairness, Eh?

Image: dreyboblue

I know, I know, I should check my email more often.

While going through the spam tonight I noticed this gem from last Wednesday.  My first thought is that the "SF Small Business Owners for Fairness SF" may want to target their "outreach" a little more narrowly:

Have you ever been five minutes late to move your car...and gotten hit with a parking ticket? Are you sick and tired of forking over your hard-earned cash to the city? Don't have a $384,000 severance package to pay for your parking ticket like Nat Ford does?

If you've gotten a parking ticket in San Francisco within the past year, SF Small Business Owners For Fairness, an organization of San Francisco's minority and family owned local stores and businesses, wants to hear your story and wants to pay your ticket!

Click the link below to tell your parking ticket story and the best three stories will get their tickets paid!

http://www.itisonlikedonkeykong.com/index.php?q=content/petitions

Each year almost 2 million parking tickets are given out in San Francisco, so be sure to share the link with your friends and family!

If you've read any of my past entries it might be obvious that I see no benefit to making it easier for people to park in San Francisco.  Past that, one driver's "I was just five minutes late" is another's "there's never any parking in this neighborhood."  To what extent are these small businesses (taking them at their word that they are 'composed of minority and family owned local stores and businesses') working against their goals by limiting parking availability?

But my real objection is with the premise that making an area more accessible to drivers is good for business.  It's not.  Facts speak for themselves.

UPDATE

The Examiner reports that the organization is a front for a group that opposes SF's regulations against advertising.  Curiouser and curiouser...

I Park

Via Tom Vanderbilt.  I can't help noticing all the potential conflicts and negotiations between the pedestrians in the parking lot and the parking drivers.  I have a vague sense that drivers are generally more courteous to pedestrians in parking lots than they are once they get on the street.

Best New Idea

MrEricSir wins Thursday with his brilliant, if somewhat mean-spirited idea.

Quote of the Day

In response to the Streetsblog article on the proposal to make Haight Street two-way:

Are streets still major arteries if they are all major arteries?  -Mikesonn

DeathRace 2011

You know you're in trouble when someone's grandmother scolds you.  The SF Weekly reports that tomorrow (Wednesday, June 15) a group of seniors will protest SF's pedestrian conditions by - gasp! - crossing the street.   The group will try to traverse the intersection of Third and Yosemite Streets in the Bayview in the event they're calling DeathRace 2011.

Best of luck to them!

More Ped Space Coming to Powell Street

Initially reported to be opening in April, the city's last Pavement-to-Parks project will finally be opening along Powell Street in mid-July.  The project will close the parking lane from the end of the cable car mall all the way up to Geary and Union Square.  With a six-month trial timeline, the extra space will be available to the crush of holiday shoppers at the end of the year.

Muni, Save Me From Your Riders!

The Bold Italic has infographic - er, photoessay ... whatever you'd like to call it - on Muni etiquette.  Lord knows there's plenty to say; I doubt I'm the only one who has felt like I was watching what must have been the first time a person has ever ridden a bus in their life.  Other contributors to the discussion include Muni Manners, which doesn't seem to be as active as it once was (I'm not one to talk).

Anyone have a favorite faux pas?