A national reckoning over race and police violence has erupted at BART, where the swift fallout from one board director’s comments showed how raw the issue has become — and how much it has haunted the Bay Area transit agency.It began during a budget discussion at the transit agency’s board meeting Thursday, during which several people called in urging the board to defund its Police Department. Though BART has no such plans, the idea still captivated people, given that it’s catching on with other departments around the country.One commenter decried BART police as murderers, recalling the...…A national reckoning over race and police violence has erupted at BART, where the swift fallout from one board director’s comments showed how raw the issue has become — and how much it has haunted the Bay Area transit agency.It began during a budget discussion at the transit agency’s board meeting Thursday, during which several people called in urging the board to defund its Police Department. Though BART has no such plans, the idea still captivated people, given that it’s catching on with other departments around the country.One commenter decried BART police as murderers, recalling the...WW…

The Vallejo police officer who shot and killed an unarmed 22-year old man outside a Walgreens on Tuesday is a six-year veteran of the department who has been involved in three non-fatal shooting incidents, according to sources familiar with the case and public records.Police have said Sean when a Vallejo police officer opened fire from his vehicle — the bullets piercing his own windshield, and one fatally striking the San Francisco resident.Officers were responding to reports of a break-in at the Walgreens at Broadway and Redwood on Tuesday at around 12:30 a.m. when they encountered...…The Vallejo police officer who shot and killed an unarmed 22-year old man outside a Walgreens on Tuesday is a six-year veteran of the department who has been involved in three non-fatal shooting incidents, according to sources familiar with the case and public records.Police have said Sean when a Vallejo police officer opened fire from his vehicle — the bullets piercing his own windshield, and one fatally striking the San Francisco resident.Officers were responding to reports of a break-in at the Walgreens at Broadway and Redwood on Tuesday at around 12:30 a.m. when they encountered...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateSan Francisco’s transportation board has pulled back a 30-cent fare increase in a deal with two supervisors that followed months of jockeying in City Hall.In exchange, Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Dean Preston withdrew a proposed charter amendment that would have stripped power from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, including its authority to decide fares.Speaking to reporters Wednesday outside the Kirkland bus yard — a big parking lot near Pier 39 where Muni stores its red-and-gray coaches — Peskin thanked his...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateSan Francisco’s transportation board has pulled back a 30-cent fare increase in a deal with two supervisors that followed months of jockeying in City Hall.In exchange, Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Dean Preston withdrew a proposed charter amendment that would have stripped power from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, including its authority to decide fares.Speaking to reporters Wednesday outside the Kirkland bus yard — a big parking lot near Pier 39 where Muni stores its red-and-gray coaches — Peskin thanked his...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateFor years, Bay Area commuters shared a daily ritual. They packed cheek-by-elbow into a stuffy BART train, or pushed their way onto Muni Metro, or crammed together in buses that seemed to lurch with all the weight.In a region where the whole economy depended on pumping everyone downtown, crowding was a sign of success. Then the coronavirus swept in, forcing workers to stay home and upending the norms of highways and transit in ways that no one had ever expected.Muni officials shut down the light rail at the end of March, wrapping...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateFor years, Bay Area commuters shared a daily ritual. They packed cheek-by-elbow into a stuffy BART train, or pushed their way onto Muni Metro, or crammed together in buses that seemed to lurch with all the weight.In a region where the whole economy depended on pumping everyone downtown, crowding was a sign of success. Then the coronavirus swept in, forcing workers to stay home and upending the norms of highways and transit in ways that no one had ever expected.Muni officials shut down the light rail at the end of March, wrapping...WW…

After a long board meeting Tuesday night, two San Francisco supervisors — Shamann Walton and Aaron Peskin — posted a Twitter selfie with a toy train, bragging that they had approved a November sales tax measure to save Caltrain.By Friday afternoon, the measure appeared to be dead, and the Peninsula rail system in severe danger of shutting down.The Board of Directors for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency voted against San Francisco’s version of the ⅛-cent sales tax during a special meeting Friday.To get on the November ballot, the sales tax measure needs approval from four...…After a long board meeting Tuesday night, two San Francisco supervisors — Shamann Walton and Aaron Peskin — posted a Twitter selfie with a toy train, bragging that they had approved a November sales tax measure to save Caltrain.By Friday afternoon, the measure appeared to be dead, and the Peninsula rail system in severe danger of shutting down.The Board of Directors for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency voted against San Francisco’s version of the ⅛-cent sales tax during a special meeting Friday.To get on the November ballot, the sales tax measure needs approval from four...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateIn San Francisco, a city where it’s difficult to move a bus stop without causing an uprising, the head of transportation has taken on a much greater challenge: He wants to reinvent the subway.When Muni Metro restarts Aug. 22 after an unprecedented five-month shutdown, it will have modified rail routes and fewer trains running in the tunnels each hour. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency hopes this leaner model will make the system more reliable. But he’s also operating under intense pressure from COVID-19, a fickle...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateIn San Francisco, a city where it’s difficult to move a bus stop without causing an uprising, the head of transportation has taken on a much greater challenge: He wants to reinvent the subway.When Muni Metro restarts Aug. 22 after an unprecedented five-month shutdown, it will have modified rail routes and fewer trains running in the tunnels each hour. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency hopes this leaner model will make the system more reliable. But he’s also operating under intense pressure from COVID-19, a fickle...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateCaltrain, faced with financial ruin as it runs a near-empty commuter rail line along the Peninsula, may have to shut down altogether.Officials made the grim prediction Tuesday after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors declined to introduce a /cent for the November ballot — a vital lifeline that would have generated $100 million a year. It needed approval from four transit boards and Boards of Supervisors in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. By opting not to support the measure, the San Francisco supervisors...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateCaltrain, faced with financial ruin as it runs a near-empty commuter rail line along the Peninsula, may have to shut down altogether.Officials made the grim prediction Tuesday after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors declined to introduce a /cent for the November ballot — a vital lifeline that would have generated $100 million a year. It needed approval from four transit boards and Boards of Supervisors in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. By opting not to support the measure, the San Francisco supervisors...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateNinety-year-old David Grinberg was enjoying a daily routine — crossing the street after reading his newspaper on a park bench in the Panhandle — when a car struck and killed him in the crosswalk at Fell and Baker streets.The crash on a fall evening in 2017 left a cloud over the neighborhood. But it also animated residents who for years had urged the city to design a safer roadway, with shorter crosswalks and barriers to divide cyclists from traffic.On Saturday, a project in the works for nearly a decade was open for business....…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateNinety-year-old David Grinberg was enjoying a daily routine — crossing the street after reading his newspaper on a park bench in the Panhandle — when a car struck and killed him in the crosswalk at Fell and Baker streets.The crash on a fall evening in 2017 left a cloud over the neighborhood. But it also animated residents who for years had urged the city to design a safer roadway, with shorter crosswalks and barriers to divide cyclists from traffic.On Saturday, a project in the works for nearly a decade was open for business....WW…

Officials in San Francisco and Santa Clara counties have set new conditions to approve a November sales tax measure for Caltrain, the Peninsula rail line that’s facing financial ruin.Under the proposed agreement obtained by The Chronicle, all funds generated by the one-eighth-cent sales tax would go back to the county in which they are collected. The money would be deposited in an account controlled by the county’s transit agency, which would then have the authority to give all of it — or a fraction of it — to Caltrain.Top staff at the rail agency say they desperately need the tax to pass....…Officials in San Francisco and Santa Clara counties have set new conditions to approve a November sales tax measure for Caltrain, the Peninsula rail line that’s facing financial ruin.Under the proposed agreement obtained by The Chronicle, all funds generated by the one-eighth-cent sales tax would go back to the county in which they are collected. The money would be deposited in an account controlled by the county’s transit agency, which would then have the authority to give all of it — or a fraction of it — to Caltrain.Top staff at the rail agency say they desperately need the tax to pass....WW…

A ghostly, ear-rattling thrum emanating over the Golden Gate Bridge and throughout San Francisco’s Presidio neighborhood appears to be the result of high winds gusting through new slats on the bridge handrails.Officials at San Francisco’s 311 call center acknowledged the issue on Twitter after it snowballed Friday night, with multiple users posting recordings of the deafening noise.We can heat this in our house more than three miles away from the bridge. It's crazy making.— Ray Ryan (@rjrjr)Some of these audio recordings were taken in cars tooling across the bridge. In one posted Friday...…A ghostly, ear-rattling thrum emanating over the Golden Gate Bridge and throughout San Francisco’s Presidio neighborhood appears to be the result of high winds gusting through new slats on the bridge handrails.Officials at San Francisco’s 311 call center acknowledged the issue on Twitter after it snowballed Friday night, with multiple users posting recordings of the deafening noise.We can heat this in our house more than three miles away from the bridge. It's crazy making.— Ray Ryan (@rjrjr)Some of these audio recordings were taken in cars tooling across the bridge. In one posted Friday...WW…