2023

Issue No. 52 (10/14): Muni: Struggling with Old & New Challenges :: SMART to “Educate” the Public :: VTA’s BART Phase II: Update :: Mayor Dutra-Vernaci’s Highway Just gets Worse and Worse :: Alternative Analyses; too Often Ignored :: Central Subway, a Way Out?

Issue No. 51 (9/13): DTX Project Update :: A Summary of Climate Summaries :: Caltrain’s Self-Inflicted Dilemma :: Hydrogen is our Salvation: NOT! :: Recent BATWG Letter to the SFMTA

Issue No. 50 (8/23): AC Transit: Nowhere to Go but Up :: Transportation Agency Performance :: Coping with Rampant Fare Evasion :: Should Commuter Rail Systems Carry Passengers? :: Needed Transportation Agency Changes

Issue No. 49 (6/15): A BATWG Letter to the San Jose Mercury News :: Adopted Caltrain Budgets and Looming Future Deficits :: BART Addresses Rampant Fare Evasion, Finally! :: How Not to Approach a Fiscal Cliff :: Letter to Mayor London Breed

Issue No. 48 (4/16): More Shocking BART/Phase II News; Time to Shut Down BART’s Link 21 Project; BART Gaining on Fare Evasion; Large Transit Agencies say Yes to New Funding, No to Efficiency;  Caltrain Struggles to Pull It all Together; Bay Area Needs Fresh Thinking

Issue No. 47 (3/8): BART’s Very Able Inspector General Leaving; For Caltrain, More Hard Work to Come; Common Sense Gone Missing; Central Subway – San Francisco’s Great Loss; BART’s Link 21 Project: Questions in Need of Answers; Looking Forward

Issue No. 46 (1/7): The Folly of Adding Lanes :: Swimming Through Seaweed :: Another State Attempt to Grab Control over Local Zoning :: San Francisco’s Central Subway Opens :: Coordinating Across County Lines :: The Winners Don’t Always Win

2022

Issue No. 45 (11/20):  Tribute to Ezra Rapport, Is Link21 Project on Auto-Pilot?, Getting Smart about Energy, VTA’s Subway Debacle, BART Phase II – Questions that Deserve Answers

Issue No. 44 (10/14): Yes on San Francisco Proposition L; Central Subway will Bleed Muni for Years; Alameda County Transit District: Key Upgrade Elements Identified (again); BART Phase II Needs Outside Professional Review; SFMTA Steadily Painting Itself into the Proverbial Corner; SFMTA’s Leadership in Implementing Transit First

Issue No. 43 (9/16): Why DTX Deserves Top Billing; Why BART Needs an Independent I.G.; California’s Climate Change Hoax; Caltrans Unit’s Mea Culpa; A Santa Cruz Beach Rail Line? SFMTA’s Big Empties; The VTA’s Big Hole; Big Transit Challenges Ahead

Issue No. 42 (7/13):  Transbay Bus: the whole problem; Grand Jury reports on BART; CARB…reports, reports and more reports; A Plan for the Southeast Bay Area; MTC Oversight…New Steps

Issue No. 41 (6/9): Picking up the Pace; Valley Link Connectivity…Not!; Link 21 Mystery; Muni Metro Coupling; Golden Gate Sleaze Awards

Issue No. 40 (5/12): Central Subway…Fly in the MTA’s Soup; AC Transit’s Big Empties; Government Transparency…gone like the DoDo Bird; Things at SMART may be Looking Up;Covid, the Transit Aftermath

Issue No. 39 (2/17):  Better, Faster, More Cost Effective; A Look Behind the BART Curtain; Caltrain Reorganization; Getting Muni Metro Right; SMART’s not Smart

Issue No. 38 (1/22):  Bent Flyvbjerg: Why public projects often go sideways;  Transit Fare Integration; Sonoma County Pilot Project; When is Research Relevant; Transparency at BART; Union City Fumble.

2021

Issue No. 37 (12/21): Alan Pisarski’s Seasoned Advice; Leveling the Boat (improving the process); SB 9 and SB 10: California’s Meat Axe Approach to Housing; Building a Good Regional Transit Network; Downside of Widening a Highway Leading into I-580

Issue No. 36 (9/21): TJPA’s Critically Missing Link to Market Street; BART Asked to Help Reinstate this Link; VTA’s Three Month LRV Shutdown; Moving a Project

Issue No. 35 (6/21): DTX Treads Water; Dream of Seamless Transit; Unscrambling Politically-Inspired Entanglements;  SFMTA…Trouble Ahead but Plans Galore.

Issue No. 34 (5/21): Change for the Sake of Change; Eliminating the Dumbarton Transit Gap; The Case for Independent Outside Audits; Performance Measures for SMART?!  

Issue No. 33 (4/21):  Tribute to Jim Mills; Streamlining the VTA; Fasters Buses on the Bay Bridge? Dysfunctional Goverment; Seamless Transit; Is It Just Talk? 

Issue No. 32 (2/21):  BATWG Critique’s Valley Link; Union City’s Downtown Plan Needs Work;  Freight Rail Advances.

Issue No. 31 (1.11.21):  Valley Link Project a Bust; AC Transit’s New Website; Highway Expansion Myths;  The State of California’s Highways.

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2020

Issue No. 30 (12.7.20): Puncturing MTA’s Subway Balloon; Politically Scarring Union City; Valley Link High in Cost-Low in Benefits; Making Transit Work Despite COVID

Issue No. 29 (10/12/20):  Valley Link…still in its Infancy;  MTC’s Bay Area Plan 2050; VTA’s Overpriced BART Subway; COVID’s Long Term Effect on Transportation

Issue No. 28 (9/16/20):  BART in Distress; Caltrain Success Story; DTX: A Planners’ Playground; Getting Muni Metro up to Speed

Issue No. 27 (8/12/20):  DTX Gaining Favor; State Housing Juggernaut; Muni in Decline; Disfunctional Government

Issue No. 26 (7/11/20):  Grab for Alameda Co. BB funds; BART’s Transbay Study; The Underutilized Muni Metro Subway; VTA’s Grossly Overpriced Subway

Issue No. 25 (5/18/20):  Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, Restarting DTX, Unscrambling the San Jose Subway

Issue No. 24 (4/14/20):  Transportation after COVID-19, Housing/Commute Problem, Reforming SMART

Issue No. 23 (3/7/20):  AC’s Anemic Transbay Bus Service, Marin/Sonoma Voters Reject transit sales tax, BATWG Meeting Synopsis, SF Voters Lead in Effort to Balance Growth with Housing

Issue No. 22 (2/7/20):  Region Fails to Deal with Housing/Transportation Problem, Demise of SB 50, SF Mayor’s MTC Improvement Task Force, Case for a Regional Bus System

Issue No. 21 (1/5/20):  MTC Fails to Cut GHG emissions, Neglected Muni Metro Subway, Regional Traffic Mess, Gold Stars to TJPA and CCCTA

2019

Issue No. 20 (12/14/19):  Faster Bay Area, Mayor Breed’s MTA Task Force, Second Bay Rail Tube, Ill-conceived Highway Planned for Union City

Issue No. 19 (11/13/19):  MTC fails to address Region’s Traffic Problems, BART Fare Evasion and Bad On-car Behavior, SFCTA Torpedos Caltrain Extension

Issue No. 18 (10/13/19):  $100 Transportation Fix???, Are BART Riders Protected? Fresh Thinking at SamTrans

Issue No. 17 (9/10/19):  Faster Bay Area, BART Board v BART riders, Innovation at SamTrans, Agency Second Guessing in SF

Issue No. 16 (8/13/19):  Union City Highway, SF Central Subway, Growing Lack of Ethics in Public Agencies, Continuing Highway Boondoggles

Issue No. 15 (7/16/19):  BATWG Recommends Changes at AC Transit, $100 Billion to Fix Bay Area Transit?, Getting DTX Back on Track

Issue No. 14 (6/18/19):  BATWG Opposes BART Fare Hike, Videographer Ken Bukowski: Regional Watchdog, Grotesquely Overpriced BART Subway in San Jose

Issue No. 13 (5/14/19):  Should MTC Take on Housing as well as Transportation? Los Angeles Sets a New Transportation Standard, Causes of SFMTA Disfunction, SB 50 Fatally Flawed

Issue No. 12 (4/16/19):  Lack of Vision at MTC, CASA, Trains and Bicycles, BATWG’s Ten Steps 

Issue No. 11 (3/12/19):  More on BART Security, The Neglected Dumbarton Rail Connection, The Decline and Fall of MTC, People-Carrying-Capacity of Muni Metro Subway Could be Doubled

Issue No. 10 (2/13/19)  MTC’s HOT Lane Swindle, Corrupted MTC Board Selection Process, The Case for Congestion Pricing, Connecting the Sales Force Transit Center

Issue No. 9 (1/15/19):   MTC Board Selection Process, CASA, AC Transit, Southeast Bay Report.

2018 

Issue No. 8 (12/18/18):  Bay Area Planning in Disarray, Who Should Sponsor DTX?, Union City Looks Backward, SFMTA Gets Sidetracked

Issue No. 7 (11/14/18):  Regional Government Weak on Transportation, Peskin: Master Second Guesser, Caltrans Replays the 1950’s, Security versus Privacy on Transit

Issue No. 6 (10/13/18):  Open Letter to SFMTA Directors, DTX Update, Road to Leadership at MTC, Transportation Alliance of SF Appeals to SFBOS to Facilite DTX

Issue No. 5 (9/6/18):  Bay Area Rail Status Report, Muni Meltdown, Need VMT and LOS

Issue No. 4 (8/1/18):  Getting Rid of Transportationi Czar, Addressing Regional Gridlock, Pros and Cons of SB1, State GasTax Fund, Cauthen on Bay Area Transportation

Issue No. 3 (7/14/18): Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association Files Suit to Block RM3, Passenger Rail Opportunities, Comparing Cities, More Central Subway Problems

Issue No. 2 (6/13/18):  Board Rejects Plan to Send BART Trains to Livermore, Restarting the Caltrain Extension (DTX), The Flaws in RM3

Issue No. 1 (5/22/18): BATWG Opposes RM3, BART’s Well-Planned Capitol Corridor Improvements, Livermore Better Served by Out-of Traffic Buses