City plans redesign for West Portal intersection where there was a deadly crash (Chron) MTA Approves Speed Cameras for 33 Intersections, first in CA (Examiner) Despite Vision Zero hitting 10 years, city streets still dangerous (Chron) Here are 200 SF intersections that may see right on red bans (Chron) More pros and cons on the ‘turbo roundabout’ (Gate) SF DA urging those delayed by protest to file legal grievance (Chron) Bill would allow local governments to regulate robotaxis (PR Newswire) Oakland faces a budget shortfall, less real estate moves than expected (East Bay Times) A review of Sa ..read more

This week we’re joined by Gabe Klein, executive director of President Biden’s Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (and a former Streetsblog board member). We chat about the office’s recent white paper on best practices and solutions for electric vehicle charging. For those of you who prefer to read than listen, there’s a full transcript here, but if you want an excerpt, check out the conversation below the podcast player: Jeff Wood: Let’s talk about charging. It’s different from fueling in that 80 percent of it happens at home, but it also means that there are many folks that can be left ..read more

The number of people who died in car crashes outside traditional roadways soared 26 percent in a single year, and included more than a thousand people outside motor vehicles. Because of where they died, though, some fear these fatalities won’t count in the minds of policymakers tasked with achieving Vision Zero — or even the safety advocates who seek to hold them accountable. According to the latest report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a shocking 3,990 people died in car crashes that occurred outside of the traditional transportation space in 2021, the last year ..read more

Hundreds of affordable homes slated near future BART Station (East Bay Times) BART issuing a lot of refunds on paper tickets (Standard) Tumlin: Parking enforcement is coming (Standard) More on Gaza Freeway Protests How did the freeway get cleared? (East Bay Times) Newsom Condemns (Chron) Breed makes YIMBY joke, draws headlines, in China (Standard) Schiff wants to be first US Senator to ride AIDS lifecycle (Bay Area Reporter) Santa Cruz transportation commissioners, county supes spar over budget, state grant for coastal rail trail (Santa Cruz Local) Report: who works from home in the Bay Ar ..read more

During a panel discussion I participated in the other day, a member of the audience asked a version of question I get all the time: Why should we support active transportation if no one bikes in bad weather? I live in the Pacific Northwest, and the bike lane’s always empty when it rains — how is that “essential infrastructure”? I gave some variation on my usual two-minute answer — a lot of people do bike in the rain, even if they do so less, and we can do a lot more through policy and culture to increase those numbers. But there’s more to that answer. The truth is, the relationship betwee ..read more

(Can’t wait to share your thoughts? Skip the pitch and take the survey.) Every now and again, Streetsblog likes to get a sense of who reads our publication. Our last reader survey was in 2020, and before that in 2018. The focus of our coverage has shifted a bit over the years – partially as a result of your answers. Streetsblog wants to continue to concentrate its coverage based on where it can be effective and informative in our mission to support the safe and livable streets movement in the Bay Area. But with limited resources, decisions have to be made about which stories to cover and where ..read more

Protests shut down bridges, highways (SF Standard, East Bay Times, KRON, Patch) Public Comment Opens for San Pablo Ave Complete Streets Project in Berkeley (Berkeleyside) Supes Propose Another Crackdown on Street Vending (Chron, Examiner) I Mean…the Garage Is Right There….(Standard) Musk Addresses “Necessary” Tesla Layoffs (Gate) SF Reaches Deal with City Workers Union (Chron) Special Election for Berkeley Council Seat Is Today (Berkeleyside) This Year’s Weather Is Wacky Rain, Fog, Hot Spells, etc… (Chron, Chron) Get state headlines at Streetsblog California, national hea ..read more

The amount that average Americans drive every day has either plateaued or is still declining in roughly half of the 100 largest metro areas, new data finds — and some of the regions with the lowest mileage per person aren’t where you might expect. Between June 2022 and May 2023, residents of the Silicon Valley hub around San Jose had the lowest average daily vehicle miles traveled per person at just 12.43 miles per day, clocking roughly one-third fewer miles than the second-lowest metro, Seattle, whose residents drove 16.43. Contrary to its Motor City reputation, the region around Detroit ..read more

Opinion: New data shows why cars should be kept off Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley (Berkeleyside) First year of data on Turbo Roundabout: more crashes, less serious ones (East Bay Times) Is the builder’s remedy bringing housing? (Mercury News) Oakland development above BART is like a dense neighborhood in one building (Fast Company) Repeat Drunk Driver Gets 15-Life for Killing Pregnant Woman (East Bay Times) Meet SF’s new homeless response team (Examiner) FEMA fumbling reimbursements for COVID-19 hotels for homeless (Examiner) Tesla will cut 10k jobs worldwide (Chron) Get state headlines at&nb ..read more

When Congressional Bike Caucus founder and co-chair Earl Blumenauer retires later this year, he’s passing the baton to one of its longest-serving members: Rep. Mike Thompson, a northern California Democrat who’s dedicated much of his career to expanding access to people who ride. And along the way, he’s gotten more than a few of his fellow legislators to see what the world looks like behind a set of handlebars. We sat down with the wine country native to talk about how he fell in love with the bicycle as a sport, a means to get around, and a powerful policy tool, why he doesn’t consider himsel ..read more