The Oakland Streetcar Plan

Daniel Jacobson hasn't been posting many new entries to 21st Century Urban Solutions as of late. Now it's clear why. Jacobson's just released his plan for revitalizing Oakland's downtown with a streetcar connecting Jack London Square with MacArthur Blvd via Broadway. Check it out at oaklandstreetcarplan.com.

In his proposal, Jacobson analyzes the potential economic development, environmental benefits, ridership, cost and funding, as well as the line's design and possible extensions. The analysis is meticulous, and the proposal is impressive.  Oakland officials should thoroughly read and seriously consider this plan.

Kudos to FutureOakland for an insightful, local rebuttal to Oakland's parking meter hand wringing.

Oakland's Urban Paths

The image of public stairways in my mind is one of San Francisco's hilly neighborhoods - Twin Peaks, Liberty, Telegraph, Russian and Potrero Hills. But Oakland has hills too, and a group of people working to raise awareness of their Town's own public stairs.

From the Facebook group:

The Oakland Urban Paths is a group of dedicated walkers, planners, historians and fundraisers with a common mission: to raise awareness of the paths and Oakland’s heritage through a variety of activities in partnership with Walk Oakland Bike Oakland (WOBO) and the City of Oakland.

Oakland Urban Paths is about to undertake an inventory of Oakland's 250+ paths and stairways. The effort kicks off tomorrow at WOBO's volunteer meeting. Deets have been added to the calendar in the sidebar, and listed after the jump

March of Progress

Check out this historic history of the old Key System



Thanks to 38th Notes!

Progress on Translink

Rachel Gordon, possibly the best reporter left at the Comical Chronicle, reports today that BART has finally set the date when it will begin accepting Translink cards at its fare gates. That date is early June, according to Gordon, although it's not 100% clear to me whether this represents the start of a testing phase or the full implementation. In either case, the first people to use Translink will be 1,000 regular users of BART's own EZ Rider card.

I've had a Translink card for over a year and highly recommend it. I don't put my Fast Pass on it because I'm hesitant to give up the reliability of that paper copy, but it's been worth its weight in exact change several times. I've used it to catch an all-nighter bus across the bay after BART has gone to sleep (why the Bay Area's most under-funded transit agency is the only one crossing the water at 2am - and why it was the first to implement Translink - is a great question) and I've also used it to pay for friends when we catch a bus on a whim.

Translink really allows for greater flexibility in my transit usage, and I hope BART's rollout is successful.

East Bay Livable Streets Meeting Tomorrow Night

Walk Oakland - Bike Oakland is a great group that's working to make the East Bay more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly. They're having their monthly volunteer meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, February 24th from 6:30pm - 8:30pm. The meeting will be held at Bay Area Wilderness Training. 2301 Broadway, Suite B (Enter on 23rd) in Oakland.

From Dominic R Lucchesi, an admin of WOBO's Facebook group:

Please join us tomorrow night for WOBO's monthly volunteer meeting. This time around, we will be discussing our next pedestrian campaign, as well as getting updates on the Bike Broadway Campaign. Hope to see you there! (And bring yo' friends!). Yummy snacks will be provided.

It's been added to the calendar in the sidebar. Facebook event here. Those of you concerned about ped/bike issues in the East Bay should make it a a point to attend.

For SF livable streets issues, remember to attend the Cesar Chavez Design Workshop. That meeting is also tomorrow, from 6:30 - 7:45pm at the Leonard Flynn Elementary School Auditorium, 3125 Cesar Chavez Street in SF.