San Francisco
Making the vegetable garden permanent in front of City Hall would have been a wonderful thing. Sigh. Click the first image to enlarge:
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Personal computers have been a driving force (arguably the driving force) in my life, allowing me to earn a living, communicate, write and create, among other things. Computers have become tools nearly all of us use on a daily basis, of course. Perhaps at this point we even take computers for granted. I’m pretty sure we do.
Forty years ago today, Douglas Engelbart and a group of researchers gave a demonstration in San Francisco of a computer system they had been working on since 1962. The machine was called NLS (oN-Line System) and included features such as a mouse and networking that would be further refined at XEROX PARC and elsewhere in the early 1970s, and become the basis for the computers we’ve been using ever since.
A video of the 90 minute presentation is available at http://sloan.stanford.edu/MouseSite/1968Demo.html.
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Here’s the video (noted in the last post) of Gavin talking about transit issues and the Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP), which is a series of major updates to the Muni system to address the changes in ridership patterns and new transit technologies.
Gavin talks about hiring more drivers, changing routes, spacing out stops more effectively for better throughput, computerized traffic management systems/notifications, having more fare inspectors on trains and buses, environmental impacts, Translink, security, automated parking citations via cameras on buses and other issues.
One thing I found particularly interesting is the plan for new bus shelters, which will include solar panels and wind power generators, more NextMuni info and possibly wireless Internet access (I’d love to see the green roofs included as well). There are also plans for a free bike sharing strategy tied to the bus shelters.
Other items: double decker buses, the Culture Bus program, congestion pricing, emission reductions, parking meter technology and many other issues. I was pleased to here Gavin say that Muni is the greenest transit agency in the US! It’s very interesting stuff and well worth watching.
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Ah, I caught this in time to post it before this meeting actually takes place this evening!
From Greg Dewar at the N-Judah Chronicles:
Tonight! MUNI Town Hall Meeting with Sup. Mirkarimi and MTA Director Nate Ford!
This week has been quite a week for all things transit talk. First, we had Our Mayor go all Fidel Castro on us with a 7 1/2 hour speech on YouTube, which included this 41 minute piece on transportation issues. At the suggestion of a reporter from the Examiner, I watched it and it was kinda boring, with the usual “yeah things are not perfect but yeah things are great” spin you get out of City Hall.
Continue reading San Franciso Muni town hall meeting tonight
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The proposed Central Subway project that calls for running light-rail service into San Francisco’s Chinatown has received federal environmental clearance, city officials said Tuesday. On the same day, the Municipal Railway’s governing board approved a $147 million-plus contract for program and construction management of the project.
“These developments are significant milestones for a project that is crucial to the future of transportation in San Francisco,” said Municipal Transportation Agency chief Nathaniel Ford.
The $1.3 billion Central Subway, which would extend the new T-Third line from the South of Market into Chinatown, must still secure federal funding. City officials hope to start construction on the 1.7-mile rail project in 2010 and open for service six years later. Planners envision a surface boarding platform at Fourth and Brannan streets and subway stations serving Moscone Center, Union Square and Chinatown.
The project management contract was awarded to Central Subways Partners, a joint venture of AECOM USA Inc. and EPC Consultants, and is not to exceed $147,375,171. The Board of Supervisors must still sign off on the agreement.
Central Subway given feds green light
For more about the Central Subway, see the SFMTA’s Central Subway Overview page: http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mcentral/centralover.htm
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