KALW News - Politics and Watchdog Reporting

A menu of congestion pricing options

KALW News — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:44:38 +0000

KALW’s Ben Trefny interviewed reporter Matthew Roth of Streetsblog San Francisco on congestion pricing in San Francisco as a means of creatively solving transit problems. In this web exclusive, Roth explains which pricing options are on the table.

Politics and Watchdog Reporting

Connecting the dots: top news stories for Wednesday July 28

KALW News — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:06:10 +0000

Occasionally, getting people to the polls is a glamorous job. After all, P. Diddy, Justin Timberlake, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson all rocked the vote back in their day. But usually, voter outreach is a rough business. Of the 13,000 people you might call to encourage to vote, you'll talk to about 3,900. Of those, about 2,300 will like what you have to say, and of those, only about 1,380 will show up to vote in November…

Politics and Watchdog Reporting

Connecting the dots: top news stories for Tuesday July 27

KALW News — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:00:06 +0000

A new study indicates that emergency room wait-times in California average 274 minutes. Iowa has the shortest wait-times, and California is 99 minutes behind…

Politics and Watchdog Reporting

Gauging the impact of ethnic voters in California

KALW News — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:54:28 +0000

So, come November, Oaklanders will vote for a mayor. And that’s when people across the state will return to the ballot box to vote for other elected officials, including governor, along with a host of new initiatives. So, how familiar are you with the upcoming ballot measures that may affect your life?

Politics and Watchdog Reporting

The Planning Problem: A documentary on high-speed rail

KALW News — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:08:43 +0000

All over the country, regional planners are working on high-speed rail networks. President Barack Obama has said now is the time to build a modern passenger train system:

BARACK OBAMA: There's no reason why we can't do this. This is America. There's no reason why the future of travel should lie somewhere else beyond our borders. Building a new system of high-speed rail in America will be faster, cheaper and easier than building more freeways or adding to an already overburdened aviation system – and everybody stands to benefit.

Politics and Watchdog Reporting

California High Speed Rail Authority opts to ignore ridership problems

KALW News — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:04:27 +0000

The California High Speed Rail Authority met Thursday to review the findings of an analysis on ridership projections for the $40 billion Los Angeles-San Francisco high speed rail. But despite serious questions about whether ridership and revenues will meet goals, the members of the authority essentially essentially di

Politics and Watchdog Reporting

New federal transit grants announced; SF scores $6.8 million for Phelan Loop bus station

KALW News — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:55:28 +0000

Federal Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the latest winners of federal transit grants yesterday morning, and San Francisco is on the list: the SFMTA’s proposed Phelan Loop Bus Facility, near the Balboa Park BART, will get almost $7 million.

Politics and Watchdog Reporting

2010 Census: Will the post office deliver?

KALW News — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:22:25 +0000

Census workers are still hard at work to accurately count everyone in America. From now through July 10th, they’ll be following up with the nearly 50 million households that didn't mail in their 2010 census forms. It's important--the count helps determine how over $400 billion in federal funds for programs and services are allocated.

Politics and Watchdog Reporting

Peer-review: California high speed rail projections unreliable

KALW News — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:57:13 +0000

For months, watchdog groups and critics of the California high speed rail project have claimed that a study of projected ridership on the proposed super-train was wildly incorrect. The High Speed Rail Authority has acknowledged that one of its numbers was off by an order of magnitude, but has maintained that the model still produces valuable information. These statistical models are incredibly complex, and it’s impossible to assess these competing claims without considerable expertise and a lot of time.

Politics and Watchdog Reporting

Early morning at the Bay Bridge: you got exact change?

KALW News — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:18:11 +0000

As promised, I made my way down to the Bay Bridge toll plaza at 5am today to witness the inaugural moments of the

Politics and Watchdog Reporting