[TLC News & Alerts] Downtown Parking reform moves to the full Board * Support High-Speed rail and Transbay in the state infrastructure bond * Carfree talk premieres on cable channel 29

[Tom Radulovich]

DOWNTOWN PARKING REFORM MOVES TO THE FULL BOARD
Board of Supervisors
Tuesday, February 7, 2PM
City Hall, Board of Supervisors' chambers

The legislation reforming downtown parking was unanimously  
recommended to the full board of Supervisors at today's Land Use  
Committee hearing.

This legislation will help reduce traffic congestion downtown,  
improve the affordability of downtown housing, create more car-free  
housing downtown, and preserve and enhance the quality of downtown  
streets for walking, bicycling, and public transit; see our campaign  
page (http://www.livablecity.org/campaigns/c3.html) or the PDF  
version (http://www.livablecity.org/campaigns/C3%20Parking%20fact% 
20sheet.pdf) for more information about the legislation and how to  
get involved. The legislation amended at the January 19th Land Use  
Committee hearing, where amendments were adopted that bring the  
legislation into line with the planning commission's recommendations.

At today's hearing, Board President Aaron Peskin became the  
legislation's sponsor, with supervisors Chris Daly and Sophie Maxwell  
signing on as co-sponsors. The legislation moved forward more or less  
intact, although Supervisor Jake McGoldrick put forward an amendment  
allowing units greater than 1000 square feet and with two or more  
bedrooms to have one space per dwelling unit, rather than the three  
spaces for every four units proposed for smaller units. Units with  
two or more bedrooms represent about 10% of the units built in the  
downtown. This amendment allows the higher parking ratio for units  
smaller than TLC would like; our recommendation was that it only  
apply to units over 1500 square feet and with three or more bedrooms.

This legislation is scheduled to go to the full Board of Supervisors  
on Tuesday. Please call, email, fax, or write the mayor and your  
supervisor to let them know you support the legislation, and urge  
them to support it, and to go no lower than the 3-unit, 1500 square- 
foot limit for higher parking ratios. The Mayor threatened to veto an  
earlier version of the legislation, so we want to get a veto-proof 8- 
vote majority. Contact information for Supervisors can be found on  
TLC's campaign page (http://www.livablecity.org/campaigns/c3.html).

Our friends at the SF Bike Coalition have set up a web page that  
allows you to send a customized fax to your supervisor: https:// 
www.sfbike.org/?c3reform&PHPSESSID=73b558495834101c8b480a182f06f616


SUPPORT SUPERVISOR DALY'S RESOLUTION CALLING FOR HIGH-SPEED RAIL AND  
TRANSBAY TERMINAL/CALTRAIN EXTENSION FUNDING IN STATE INFRASTRUCTURE  
BONDS
Author James Howard Kunstler called suburban sprawl "the greatest  
misallocation of resources in the history of the world". Governor  
Schwarzenegger seems determined to get in the running for the second- 
greatest misallocation of resources in the history of the world with  
his abysmal "strategic growth plan", which calls for 1,200 new miles  
of highway lanes in the Golden State. The governor's proposal is one  
of four competing proposals for a massive statewide infrastructure  
bond to be placed on the June 2006 ballot, which include Democratic  
offerings An committee of the legislature was recently convened to  
draft a compromise proposal. Unfortunately, both the Governor and  
Democrats are talking about delaying the statewide vote on a $9.75  
billion bond measure to build the California High Speed Rail system.  
This measure, originally scheduled for the November 2004 ballot, has  
already been deferred once by the legislature. The Caltrain Downtown  
Extension/Transbay Terminal project, which has twice received the  
mandate of over 70% of San Francisco voters, will serve as the Bay  
Area terminus for the high speed rail system, and is counting on $475  
million from the high speed rail bond. Delaying the statewide bond  
yet again will delay full implementation of the project.

SB 1024, the infrastructure bond option put forward by Senators  
Torkakson and Perata, includes $1 billion for project-specific level  
environmental studies, planning, engineering, right-of-way  
acquisition, and construction of grade separations, bridges, and  
tracks in each of five proposed high-speed rail corridors across the  
state. To date, the Mayor and the Board of Supes have been silent on  
the city's priorities for a statewide infrastructure bond. Transit  
champion Supervisor Chris Daly has put forward a resolution at the  
Board of Supervisors that puts the city on record as saying that $1  
billion of any infrastructure bond should be dedicated to High Speed  
Rail, and that, should the legislature decide once again to defer the  
vote on the full $9.75 billion high speed bond, that any bond this  
year should include the $475 million for Caltrain Downtown Extension/ 
Transbay Terminal, in order to allow the project to move forward as  
soon as possible. Please take a few minutes to call, write, fax, or  
email the Mayor and Supervisors to let them know you support  
Supervisor Daly's resolution. The text can be found at http:// 
www.livablecity.org/campaigns/infrastructure.html.


CAR FREE TALK PREMIERES
Friday, February 3
7:30 PM
Cable Channel 29

The first episode of Car-Free Talk, will air this Friday, February 3,  
at 7:30 p.m. on San Francisco Cable Channel 29. The show is hosted by  
the lovely Sue Vaughan, one of the city's leading car-free living  
advocates. Her first guest is Dave Room, policy director of the Post- 
Carbon Institute, based in Oakland and Vancouver (http:// 
www.postcarbon.org) and the subject will be the coming oil and gas peak.


Tom Radulovich
Executive Director
Transportation for a Livable City
995 Market Street Suite 1550
San Francisco CA 94103
415 344-0489
www.livablecity.org
tom at livablecity.org



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