San Francisco Public Press (https://www.sfpublicpress.org/category/transportation/)
Bay Area political leaders are throwing cold water on a controversial work-from-home rule proposed by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission as part of a regional climate change plan. The proposed mandate, part of a long-term sustainability initiative called Plan Bay Area 2050, would require the majority of office workplaces to ensure 60% of their employees are working from home on any given day.
Muni is running only a core system of buses with no rail lines in service. But around 100,000 people still ride every day. Cat Carter, interim executive director of the San Francisco Transit Riders, hasn’t been on Muni in months, but she and others in the organization have kept busy.
San Francisco is closing several streets as part of an extension of the stay-home order in a move that addresses some criticism of a street-closure plan announced last week. The action applies to streets in Golden Gate and McLaren Parks. Last week, a Tenderloin street was also closed to through traffic.
Some city officials are dissatisfied with new transit rules that are intended to help pedestrians follow social-distancing guidelines by stepping into streets when necessary. Through its new Slow Streets Program, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will begin closing some streets to through traffic, freeing up space so that maintaining six feet of separation is easier.
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At San Francisco’s cable car barn on Mason Street, the large looms of wire that power one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions used to produce a loud, uninterrupted whirring. Now, the building’s interior is so quiet it’s unnerving.
We set out to document how people’s experience using public transportation in San Francisco would change after Muni suspended service on all but 17 of 79 lines.
Oakland joined the street-shutdown movement Thursday with its announced plan to close 74 miles of streets to through traffic. San Francisco could follow suit, but it stands out as a laggard.
As the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency makes drastic cuts to service to prevent further spread of the coronavirus, drivers are fearful and feel exposed. Five cases have been confirmed among Muni workers.
The California Public Utilities Commission, the body that regulates ride-hailing, has unanimously voted to reverse a policy that allowed safety reports filed by Uber and Lyft to be kept hidden from the public.
Uber and Lyft can no longer keep their safety reports quite so secret. Their California regulator reversed a rule shielding that data from public view.
Jason Henderson, a professor of geography and environment at San Francisco State University, studies the struggles for better street infrastructure across cities.
