When we consider the subway, it's often for reasons that have to do with decay and deterioration. The switches are outdated. The elevators are broken. The train is late (again). Of course it could be better, but rarely do we pause to take in what the system does right. Its 25 lines, 472 stations, and 665 miles of track traverse the city and offer a tremendous amount of mobility.
I live in Santa Rosa, the county seat of Sonoma County, which is 55 miles north of San Francisco and is a reasonably affordable place to live. In observance of A Week Without Driving (Sept. 28-Oct.4) I decided to experience the most controversial proposals in the Marin-Sonoma Coordinated Transit Service Plan, aka MASCOTS, (summary below): the elimination of the Route 101 bus, operated by Golden Gate Transit.
What we've learned is that this is not a race so much as a long, curved, and fragmented road - one that looks more like the fan of an alluvial plain than a racetrack - to develop and prove the technology works a nd make it a profitable business. It's not a race against others as much as an internal contest with existential stakes.
The data, which comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, shows that about 21% of San Franciscans reported working from home in 2024, continuing a decline since remote work peaked at a whopping 45% in 2021. Meanwhile, public transit usage has seen the inverse trend: last year, 25% of people reported commuting by transit, up from the 2021 low of just 11%.
Thanks to the hard work of advocates, a $750 million loan was put into the state budget so that Muni, BART, Caltrain, and AC Transit can continue to fund operations. The idea is to give these agencies a way to bridge their funding shortfalls until a regional measure can go before the voters next year. However, now that loan is in jeopardy.
It's only the first day of school in the Big Apple, but City Comptroller Brad Lander is already doling out failing grades for lackluster bus service in NYC. More than half of NYC's 332 bus lines received a D or worse on a new report card issued on Thursday from the NYC Comptroller's office. Every MTA city bus line was evaluated for on-time performance, speed and delays as part of the Sept. 4 report, dubbed Life in the Slow Lane: A Report Card for NYC Buses.
Most people think of New York City, and their wallets start to tremble. It's a city synonymous with sky-high prices-the kind of place where a single cocktail can cost you a small fortune and a hotel room requires a mortgage. It's easy to feel like you need to be a millionaire just to enjoy the city's vibrant energy. But what if I told you that this perception is just a half-truth?
A 54-year-old Richmond man remained in jail Tuesday following his arrest in what authorities said was a domestic violence attack Monday on the driver of an AC Transit bus. The driver of the bus suffered superficial cut wounds and went by ambulance to a hospital for treatment, authorities said. Contra Costa Sheriff's Office spokesperson Jimmy Lee in a statement said deputies arrested the suspect on suspicion of attempted murder and domestic violence following the 7:35 a.m. encounter outside the Richmond BART station on Nevin Street.
"It's not very expensive to operate," Reece Martin, a Toronto-based independent transportation planner, told Day 6 host Brent Bambury. "And frankly, they're not very expensive to build, either."
Sharmila Mukherjee presented findings indicating Austin's public transit recovery is 9% ahead of comparable metro areas, although ridership is still 20% below pre-pandemic levels.
The legislation addresses a critical gap in Federal transit safety regulations by establishing clear executive authority within public transit agencies for rider and operator safety.
