Traffic jams from BART strike prove the importance of #publictransit

BART strike: "The BART strike has paralysed commuter traffic by contributing to the largest traffic jams in the Bay area since the last BART strike in 1997."

BART benefits Bay Area $73M per day in worker productivity alone

Alaska Dispatch: "The San Francisco transit strike that has stranded 400,000 commuters, snarled traffic, and all but crippled remaining public transport systems this week is costing the Bay Area at least $73 million a day in lost worker productivity, economists say."

Ban on hiking at Lake Mead as #climatechange bakes the west

'It's brutal out there': Weekend heat wave to bake western US - U.S. News: "At low-lying Lake Mead, which straddles the Arizona-Nevada border and is anticipating 120 degrees this weekend, rangers are positioned at trailheads to discourage visitors from hiking.
Earlier in June, a group of Boy Scouts hiking in the Colorado River canyon fell prey to soaring heat. Four teenagers and an adult had to be rescued, while a 69-year-old Scout leader died."

Dark ice causing melting feedback loop

guardian.co.uk Arctic sea ice, another key measure of global heating, is now 60 years ahead of worst-case projections from the last report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007."

BART's first employee, former General Manager B.R. (Bill) Stokes, dies at 89 - ContraCostaTimes.com

BART's first employee, former General Manager B.R. (Bill) Stokes, dies at 89 - ContraCostaTimes.com: "oakland -- B.R. (Bill) Stokes, the former BART general manager who is credited with propelling the financing, construction and operation of the transportation district from its origins in 1958 to 1974, died May 15 in Sammamish, Wash. He was 89."

'via Blog this'

Jerry Brown blames climate change for state's early fire season - latimes.com

Jerry Brown blames climate change for state's early fire season - latimes.com: "SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Jerry Brown put the state’s early wildfire season in global terms Monday, saying the state would have to grow accustomed to more forest fires as a consequence of climate change."

'via Blog this'

Cars kill. Why try to mitigate it with design? Get rid of the cars.

A wooden cross at the intersection of Clayton Road and Barbis Way in Concord memorializes the death of Jose Flores Miguel. (Adithya Sambamurthy/Center for Investigative Reporting)
KQED News Fix: "Investigators concluded that the pedestrian was at fault for walking on a “don’t walk” signal, but it is unclear if the signal changed too quickly that day because authorities don’t make full collision reports available in cases in which no charges are filed or arrests are made."