$70 Million of Federal Money Redirected from OAC to Struggling Transit Agencies

Word just in from Transform that the FTA has rejected BART's plan to bring its Oakland Airport Connector project into compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. From the FTA's letter to BART and the MTC:

Since my letter of January 15th, FTA staff and BART have worked diligently but unsuccessfully on the development of a corrective action plan that might be acceptable. I am required to now inform you that your plan is rejected.

This means that the $70 million of Federal stimulus funds will instead be distributed to regional transit agencies. Muni's chunk: $17.5 million rebuild the trucks on its light rail vehicles and add ADA-compliant voice announcements to those LRVs.

In unrelated(?) news, Rachel Gordon reports in today's Chronicle Comical that the SFMTA Board of Directors has postponed their upcoming meeting to discuss the doomsday fare hikes/service cuts. The meeting, which was to be held this coming Tuesday, will now take place two weeks from today at 9am, Friday, February 26th in Room 400 of City Hall.

Pedestrian Spaces to Become Permanent

Two pedestrian plazas on opposite sides of the country - both of which opened last year as temporary spaces - have taken steps toward permanency recently.

Yesterday Curbed reported via the Castro Courier that the plaza at 17th, Castro, and Market Streets will likely become permanent after a vote by the SFMTA and BOS in May or June. This plaza has been wildly successful since day one, despite being cobbled together from some of the cheapest salvaged and donated materials. The plaza tames what was once a dangerous intersection for pedestrians, but its temporary materials are looking less and less civic after this season's rains.

And from New York we have word that the seven sections of Broadway at Times Square that were closed to provide pedestrian refuges and calm traffic on a trial basis have now officially been deemed a success. "The new Broadway is here to stay," said NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. And apparently work will soon begin on designing a more beautiful plaza to replace the temporary materials used at the crossroads of the world.

A Good Day For Alleys

There's a couple pieces of good news in between all the bitchy comments over at Curbed!

The first concerns a parking lot at 17th and Folsom, behind the old Joseph Schmidt chocolate factory (thanks, HersheyCo!). This expanse of asphalt has, according to Curbed, apparently been planned for a park for some time.

Speak Out Against SFMTA Doomsday Cuts

Tonight at pm the SFMTA will be holding the second of two town hall meetings to discuss its proposed service cuts and fare hikes. The meeting will be held in the second floor atrium at One South Van Ness and will run from 6-8pm.

Please attend if you can to show support for your fellow Muni riders and let the MTA know we're watching to see if they will execute their Charter-mandated task of diligently seeking new revenue sources for Muni.

Also, if you haven't already, please use this nifty form the SF Bicycle Coalition put together to let the mayor and MTA Directors know how you feel.

Union Square Improvements

Cleaner streets, and more pedestrian-friendly, pedestrian-priority, and pedestrian-only streets are all good things.

'I Don't Respond Well to Threats'

You go, Bruce!!

Pedestrianism Vol. 6

Pedestrianism Vol. 6 - NYC High Line on Vimeo. If you didn't watch it in HD, can you be sure you've seen it?

It's been a while since my last Pedestrianism video. The spectacle of last June's Sunday Streets in the Mission District was hard to top!

But I took a trip to New York City over New Years and had the chance to see some of the cool new pedestrian spaces there (check out the photos in my Flickr stream in the sidebar). Despite the freezing cold, I walked the length of the first phase of the High Line. This elevated, linear park opened last year on an abandoned railroad track. The city of New York and its private partner have done an amazing job on the landscaping, and the space is well-used even on days as cold as the one shown above.

Be sure to watch in fullscreen with HD on (and scaling off if you have a larger screen) for the best effect.

Let the MTC Know: the OAC is not OK

As I hope you've heard, BART and the MTC are in some deep federal trouble as a result of their handling of the Oakland Airport Connector.

In short: BART mismanaged their planning of the project, changing it extensively over the years without adequately reviewing the changes. The MTC gave a large chunk of the federal stimulus money it received to the project, because the MTC totally hearts BART. Some local transit advocacy groups complained to the feds. The feds took a look at the project and were all like, 'Woah, we can't give money to a project that hasn't been thoroughly vetted under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act,' and told BART and the MTC to meet the Title VI requirements by March 5th or give up the money.

BART has pledged to meet the March 5th deadline and proceed with the OAC as planned. But the MTC is really the agency with the right to the money. They could choose to stand with BART and risk losing the money if the feds aren't happy after the deadline. Or they could re-appropriate the money to other regional transit projects so agencies like Muni and AC Transit don't have to make some seriously awful service cuts.

What do you think they should do?

Tell the MTC Commissioners themselves:

Wednesday, January 27

9:00am

MTC Headquarters

101 Eighth Street, Oakland

More info from Rebecca Saltzman after the jump

Doors are Closing...

...Please stand clear of the doors.

Image courtesy of my friend Brian.

SFMTA Board to Discuss More Service Cuts and Fare Hikes

Please let all your Muni-riding friends know about tomorrow's SFMTA Board of Directors meeting. The Board will be discussing ways to close a nearly $17 million shortfall in its budget before July 1st. Specifically, they will be responding to MTA staff recommendations to:

-Raise the cost to ride the F-line to $5

-Require riders to buy the $70 Fastpass in order to ride the Cable Cars and Express Buses

-Raise the fares for seniors, disabled and youth passes to $30/month (Triple what it was just 6 months ago)

-Reduce the frequency of buses along some lines as well as the operating hours.

Join the event on Facebook, and post it to your Facebook Wall to let your friends know. If you can attend the meeting at 2pm tomorrow, please do so! If, like many of us, you work at that time please send an email to gavin.newsom@sfgov.org and mtaboard@sfmta.com telling them:

-How the fare increases and service changes have affected you

-Riders should not bear the brunt of the current financial meltdown

-Extended hours meters and Sunday meters need to be a part of any solution

Stay tuned to Streetsblog's Facebook and Twitter pages; they will be updating them during the meeting so that you can figure out if its worthwhile to stop by City Hall after work to testify.