Category Archives: smart growth
Why Do U.S. Transit Projects Cost So Much?

This question vexes so many transit advocates, when we look at the relatively high costs to build fixed transit in the U.S. (and other English-speaking countries) compared to other advanced economies around the world. It’s a subject I tackled indirectly in my book Railtown on the history of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system and directly in the 2022 Berkeley Law report Getting Back on Track.

Now Los Angeles documentary film producer and editor Nick Andert is tackling the question in an engaging, informative and in-depth piece he posted on YouTube, featuring an interview with yours truly and Alon Levy of NYU.

For transit nerds and those who care about improving mobility in American cities, I highly recommend it:

A’s Relocation, SF Next Solutions & Rize Up Bakery — State Of The Bay 6pm PT

Tonight on State of the Bay, I’ll talk to The Athletic’s Steve Berman, who will give us the latest on the A’s possible departure to Las Vegas. He’ll also weigh in on the latest with the Niners and Warriors.

Then we’ll be joined by a panel of local citizens who participated in the Chronicle’s SF Next Project, where they came up with practical solutions to our city’s biggest problems. Guests include: 

Finally, we will check in with Azikiwee Anderson from Rize Up Bakery after a recent break in.

Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 6pm PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!

Cruise Suspends Self-Driving Cars, Rosanna Xia on ‘California Against the Sea’ & Berkeley’s Girls Garage— State Of The Bay 6pm PT

On tonight’s State of the Bay, I’ll be speaking with Ricardo Cano, transportation reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, about why state regulators have revoked permits for Cruise’s driverless autonomous vehicles. What are the implications for the autonomous vehicle industry here in California and beyond?

We’ll also hear from Los Angeles Times environmental reporter and author Rosanne Xia about her new book “California Against the Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline.”

And finally, we’ll sit down with Emily Pilloton-Lam, founder and executive director of the Berkeley non-profit Girls Garage.  

Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 6pm PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!

Bay Area Sports, Housing & Censorship — State Of The Bay 6pm PT

Anti-worker or pro-worker? Why California labor unions are fighting over a housing  bill | Jefferson Public Radio

On tonight’s State of the Bay, I’ll be interviewing Steve Berman, the “Bay Area Sports Guy,” now of The Athletic, to hear his insights. Was the 49ers’ shocking loss yesterday a fluke? Will the Warriors’ intriguing new roster work? And can the new WNBA team thrive here?

Then we’ll talk housing in the Bay Area. Governor Newsom recently signed a whopping 56 new housing bills. Cities are under pressure to build more, and fast. Will these new bills help? Joining us will be:

Finally, we’ll hear about a new exhibit on censorship called unBANNED, with Tamsin Smith, curator at Arion Press Gallery in the Presidio.

Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 6pm PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!

What Can California Do To Make Walking Easier & Safer? KQED Forum 10am PT

Being a pedestrian isn’t easy in California’s car-centric culture, so what can be done to improve walkability? I’ll be a guest on KQED Forum today at 10am PT to discuss, as part of Forum’s “In Transit” series where I’m a regular guest.

Much of the infrastructure in the state is built with cars in mind, and that means that walkers and wheelchair-users can confront serious safety risks in a state where an average of three pedestrians are killed every day. How is the state is addressing pedestrian safety issues, and what do you notice when you don’t use a car?

Joining me on the show will be Tim Weisberg, deputy director, marketing and public affairs, California Office of Traffic Safety.

You can stream live or tune in on KQED in Northern California.

Congestion Pricing To Reduce Traffic — KQED Forum 10am PT

I’ll be a guest on KQED Forum today at 10am PT discussing congestion pricing — where cities charge drivers to enter congested areas during peak times, as a way to limit traffic and pay for transit. The show is part of Forum’s “In Transit” series where I’m a regular guest.

London, Stockholm and Singapore all use congestion pricing, but it has yet to be adopted in any U.S. city. Los Angeles is now studying the concept, and LA Metro will soon release a report examining which parts of the city could benefit most from congestion pricing.

Joining me on the show will be Mark Vallianatos, executive officer in the Office of Strategic Innovation, LA Metro.

You can stream live or tune in on KQED in Northern California.

Making California Safe For Bicyclists & Oakland A’s Relocation — KQED Forum 10am PT & KALW’s State Of The Bay 6pm PT

This morning at 10am PT, I’ll be joining KQED’s Forum to discuss how California can make our roads and pathways safer for bicyclists. Biking is a more climate-friendly and healthy way to get around, but sharing space on California’s roadways with vehicles is notoriously dangerous and sometimes deadly. What can be done to make biking safer and encourage more people to ride?

Joining me on the panel will be:

  • Jared Sanchez, policy director, California Bicycle Coalition
  • Darwin Moosavi, deputy secretary for environmental policy and housing coordination, California State Transportation Agency
  • Anthony Molina, chair, Fresno County Bike Coalition

Stream live at 10am PT or tune in at 88.5 FM KQED in the San Francisco Bay Area!

Then at 6pm PT, I’ll be hosting State of the Bay on KALW, where we’ll start by interviewing State Senator Scott Wiener about his bill SB 58 to decriminalize psychedelics in California.

Then I’ll interview former Oakland Athletics vice president Andy Dolich, author of Goodbye, Oakland, about the future of the team and sports in Oakland, given the team owners’ apparent decision to relocate to Las Vegas. Can Oakland find a way to keep their last major sports franchise from leaving?

Finally, we’ll hear all about the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s new satire, Breakdown.

Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 6pm PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!

America’s All-Electric Future, Climate Gentrification & Berkeley’s Natural Gas Ban — Your Call 10am PT & State Of The Bay 6pm PT

You get a double shot of me on KALW today. This morning at 10am PT, I’ll guest host Your Call’s One Planet Series, when we’ll discuss what it will take to electrify the US economy with clean energy. How feasible will this be, and what will it cost? Joining us will be:

  • David Reichmuth, senior engineer in the Clean Transportation program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
  • Ari Matusiak, chief executive of Rewiring America, a leading electrification nonprofit working to electrify our homes, businesses and communities.

Later in the program, we’ll have a conversation with award wining filmmaker Katja Esson about her new documentary RAZING LIBERTY SQUARE, about a public housing project in Miami for Black residents during a time of legal segregation (preview above). The city is ground-zero for sea-level-rise, and when residents learned about a $300 million revitalization project in 2015, they knew that their neighborhood is desirable because it is located on the highest-and-driest ground in the city. Some of them prepared to fight a new form of racial injustice called Climate Gentrification, which Esson followed for the film.

Then at 6pm PT on State of the Bay, I’ll talk with Kate Harris, Berkeley city councilmember and author of the 2019 ordinance banning natural gas in new construction. A panel of judges on the US court of appeals has just reversed that ban. What does this mean for our environment and what will lawmakers do next?

Then we’ll cover how the pandemic has decimated transit ridership, causing California’s transit agencies to face major funding shortfalls just as federal Covid relief funds are due to expire. We’ll talk with Laura Tolkoff, Transportation Policy Director for SPUR, and Rebecca Saltzman, Bay Area Rapid Transit director for district 3, about what agencies are doing to avoid falling off this fiscal cliff.

Finally, we’ll continue our series ” Have you met?”…. we’ll meet teacher and comedian, Chris Corrigan as he reflects on the ever changing Bay Area.

Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 10am PT for Your Call and then again at 6pm PT for State of the Bay. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!

Infill Housing & Conservationists Finally Team Up

A major new piece of housing and climate legislation was introduced in California this month, and it’s been a long time coming. AB 68 (Ward) finally sets forth a powerful template for where the state should encourage new housing and where it should avoid planning for more, based on climate and environmental hazards. It represents the culmination of a long-sought alliance between major housing advocates like California YIMBY and conservation groups like The Nature Conservancy.

So where should the state build more housing, according to AB 68? It defines those places in the following “climate smart” ways:

  • In a high or moderate income area, as defined by state affordable housing tax credit maps, to prioritize more housing in high-opportunity and well-resourced areas and minimize displacement of low-income renters
  • Within 1/2 mile of major transit or an area where residents drive below-average distances on a per capita average, in order to reduce overall driving miles in the state
  • Within a mile of a cluster of at least six types of locations like restaurants, bars, coffee shops, supermarkets, parks and hardware stores, among others, to ensure rural and exurban infill areas aren’t left out, as well as places without access to transit.

If a housing development is proposed in these areas, the project gets “ministerial” approval (i.e. exempt from environmental review), and a local government cannot limit the development beyond any of the following:

  • Setback greater than four feet from any side
  • Height limit less than 50 feet
  • Maximum lot coverage of less than 60 percent
  • Minimum parking requirement
  • Floor area ratios (i.e. the building’s total floor area in relation to the size of the lot/parcel, indicating overall density) less than 1.0. to 1.5, depending on criteria met

There are additional requirements to protect existing affordable housing and ensure consistency with SB 375 plans, among others.

And where should planning for denser development in the state be limited? AB 68 describes these “climate risk lands” as within high-severity wildfire and flood zones, or having a sea level rise risk according to the latest science. They also must be not currently zoned for housing or have existing urbanized communities on them.

In these areas, local governments cannot increase existing housing densities or allow subdivisions, and they cannot approve any extension of water or sewer services, unless certain exceptions can be met, such as an approved housing element and a statement of housing necessity, among other conditions.

In short, AB 68 finally provides the much-needed, legislatively endorsed map for where the state should grow and where it should avoid putting more people into harm’s way. If successful, AB 68 will arguably be the single biggest climate bill that the state has passed in over a decade, given the centrality of land use and housing to meeting our climate goals. The fight to pass it will not be easy, but AB 68 has a powerful coalition to support it, along with a well-conceived solution to the state’s urgent and related challenges of climate and housing.

How To Save LA Metro Rail — My LA Times Op-Ed

LA Metro Rail — the sprawling network of light rail and subway lines criss-crossing Los Angeles County since the first line opened in 1993 — is facing an existential challenge. Just like other transit agencies around the country, ridership since the pandemic has plummeted, still around just two-thirds of its pre-COVID peak.

What can be done to fix it? In my new Los Angeles Times op-ed today, I offer a number of fixes. Most of it involves building more apartments and compact housing within walking distance of the Metro Rail stations, which would ensure the system isn’t reliant just on white collar office workers who are unlikely to return to work full time.

But the agency also needs to address its crime and personal safety issues, which can be partly helped by having more riders. State leaders should consider these needs if they decide to take action to rescue LA Metro and other California transit agencies facing a “fiscal cliff” as federal COVID funds expire.

I’ve been documenting Metro Rail since before the publication of my book Railtown (UC Press) in 2014. And there’s no doubt that the ridership and fiscal crisis the system now faces is the greatest in its three-decade history. Hopefully these recommendations can help the region make the most of this multi-billion dollar investment, fulfilling the economic, environmental and quality-of-life promise of rail in Los Angeles.

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