This Day in History: McAllister Street 1909

This Day in History: McAllister Street 1909
By Jeremy Menzies

Here’s a look back to April 29,1909 with two photos showing an important change to McAllister Street in the Western Addition. McAllister has been served by a transit line since at least the 1880s. Beginning with a cable car run by the Market Street Cable Railway, McAllister served as an important part of the city’s east-west transit system. 

These two photos show construction work to remove the old cable car tracks and replace them with electric streetcar rails:

Laborers dig cable car “yokes” out of the street on McAllister between Scott and Pierce streets. Yokes are heavy steel frames that support both the rails and the cable channel on a cable car trackway.

Prior to the 1906 Earthquake and Fires, San Francisco’s transit system was largely made up of cable car lines, which made navigating the steep hills easy. However, the cable cars were slow and costly to operate compared to newer electric streetcars.  Following the ‘06 disaster, in an effort to rebuild and modernize the system, nearly all cable car lines were replaced by electric streetcar lines.  

Workers install ties and rails to run the 5 McAllister Streetcar Line on McAllister and Pierce. 

As can be seen in the photos, the work to replace the cable tracks was labor intensive and difficult. Due to the way cable car lines were built, the work to remove them had to be done almost entirely by hand with picks, prybars, and shovels. Laying streetcar tracks was marginally easier with the help of special work streetcars. All the work to lay and align the new tracks was done by hand. 

Today, the 5 and 5R routes carry on the legacy of these cable and streetcar predecessors by continuing to serve this same stretch of McAllister.

Published April 30, 2022 at 02:41AM
https://ift.tt/RVq19KC

Show HN: Djaz-Envelope: DocuSign like e-signature https://ift.tt/yrSPTBC

Show HN: Djaz-Envelope: DocuSign like e-signature Landing: https://djaz.io Application: https://app.djaz.io Share one or more documents to sign or view by recipients. This is called Envelope in Djaz. You can also just sign own document without using Envelope. And than include it in Envelope for viewing. Watch here for details: https://youtu.be/-hlThDTyvDQ April 30, 2022 at 01:43AM

Show HN: Porting Zelda Classic to the Web https://ift.tt/4aTZ27M

Show HN: Porting Zelda Classic to the Web I spent the last two months porting Zelda Classic, a 20+ year old C++ Allegro program, to the web. If you're a fan of the 2D Zelda games, you'll likely find some very enjoyable games here. I also write at length about the process of porting a large C++ application to the web. https://ift.tt/3bpswNc April 30, 2022 at 12:27AM

Show HN: WeakVim, My attempt at a modular, transparent starter kit for Neovim https://ift.tt/aD4Z6UT

Show HN: WeakVim, My attempt at a modular, transparent starter kit for Neovim Hi all, I _love_ Neovim. However, I think many parts of it could be easier to configure or understand, especially when it comes to LSPs. There's a ton of plugins that fill the gap, but some of them are sparse in documentation. There's also distributions like LunarVim that attempt to add a Doom Emacs-like layer above. My approach is a bit different, simply giving an opinionated, modular, and documented configuration that an interested user can easily modify to their needs. It makes use of the most helpful plugins I've encountered to create the best experience I could muster while retaining an air of simplicity. I hope this is helpful to someone out there! https://ift.tt/ykR8OzY April 29, 2022 at 05:33AM

SFMTA Recently Approved Budget Serves San Francisco

SFMTA Recently Approved Budget Serves San Francisco
By Stephen Chun

Delivering on Your Service Priorities 

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 & 2024 SFMTA Budget was passed by the SFMTA Board of Directors last week. It will be submitted to the Mayor’s Office by May 1, and the mayor will then send the budget to the Board of Supervisors on June 1.  

This budget cycle, we approached outreach as a city-wide listening session. Rather than presenting a pre-set budget to our stakeholders, customers and the wider community for feedback, we focused on soliciting feedback and then crafted our budget to address the top community priorities. 

Community Survey Highlights 

• Surveys were offered in English, Chinese, Spanish and Filipino both online and in print. They included an open-ended question to ensure San Franciscans had a real opportunity to provide specific feedback about service priorities. 
• 1,295 responses from online and paper surveys in four languages  
• 917 additional comments from listening sessions, phone calls, and emails 
• Feedback from the SFMTA Board of Directors and Citizens Advisory Council 

Budget Highlights: Equity, Reliability and Safety   

As a direct result of your feedback, the SFMTA FY 2023 & 2024 budget has doubled down on our long-standing commitment to ensuring equity in San Francisco’s public transportation network. To improve reliability, we’ve made the largest investment in decades for State of Good Repair, which refers to the condition in which the SFMTA’s capital assets can operate at a full level of performance. To ensure that all our riders feel safe, we’ve increased investments in Muni safety, including funding a new Safety Equity Initiative designed to reduce gender-based harassment and violence on Muni.  

EQUITY   

For San Francisco to be an equitable community, we must fully invest in a robust transportation system that ensures that everyone--especially people who have the fewest transportation options and rely most on Muni--can access jobs and services throughout San Francisco. This means that we made the following investments to ensure Muni remains safe and affordable for all who rely on it, including: 

• No fare increases for the two-year budget period (pause fare indexing)  
• Free Muni for All Youth continues  
• Pilots of new fare programs , such as a 10-Trip Pass 
• More Muni service, especially for neighborhoods identified by the Muni Service Equity Strategy  

RELIABILITY 

To make Muni faster and more reliable, we’ll be investing an unprecedented amount in State of Good Repair because a broken bus or train reduces reliability and impacts all our riders. Based on what we have heard and the feedback we have received, the updated 5-Year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) will fund critical investments in transit speed and reliability projects, through significant investments in State of Good Repair:  

• Continue replacement of the Breda Light Rail Vehicles  
• Replacement of the subway’s Muni Metro Train Control System  
• Muni Bus Fleet Mid-Life Overhauls  
• Upgraded Facilities for improved maintenance  

The FY 2023 & 2024 budget also invests in street improvements that have proven to increase Muni reliability, such as transit lanes, bus bulbs and smart traffic signals. Similar improvements on the 9R San Bruno, 5R Fulton and 14 Mission have improved the rider experience and increased both reliability and ridership. 

To further increase reliability, we must invest in larger infrastructure projects, like upgrading our 100-year-old bus yards so we’re able to repair modern buses more quickly. We are aggressively pursuing state and federal grants to support San Francisco’s transportation infrastructure needs and fill holes on the capital funding side of the budget. We will know how much funding is needed after voters decide on the Muni Reliability and Street Safety Bond measure that’s on the ballot in June 2022. 

SAFETY 

The FY 2023 & 2024 Budget includes 53% more funding than the previous two-year budget for Quick Build projects that slow down vehicle speeds and increase pedestrian visibility and safety, which will help us achieve our Vision Zero goal to eliminate traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries.  

We also know that for the SFMTA to increase ridership and reduce car use – one of the most important changes in our fight against climate change – riders need to feel safe. Consequently, the FY 2023 & 2024 Budget: 

• Increases the number of staff in our Security Intelligence Center. These staff will analyze data, gather intelligence and review security video footage to identify patterns and direct security response 24 hours a day. 
• Funds a new Safety Equity Initiative designed to reduce gender-based harassment and violence on Muni.  
• Fully funds the security budget and staffing from our last two-year budget cycle that included 20 new Muni Transit Ambassadors who began riding Muni routes at the end of 2021 to assist customers, defuse and deter conflicts, prevent acts of vandalism and assist bus operators.   

The 2-year Consolidated Operating and Capital Budget will go into effect on July 1 and will end on June 30, 2024. To learn more, view our full budget. 

Published April 29, 2022 at 05:31AM
https://ift.tt/wnkqdpK

Show HN: My own GPLv3 Monitoring app, but paid. Cross platform, native C++/Qt https://ift.tt/BCA0okF

Show HN: My own GPLv3 Monitoring app, but paid. Cross platform, native C++/Qt https://ift.tt/fSzv51T April 29, 2022 at 02:46AM

Bikeshare Pricing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Bikeshare Pricing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
By Adrian Leung

With Spring in the air and a recent expansion of up to 275 stations in SF, more people are riding bikeshare. Our major goal is to make bicycling easy by making bikes available while simultaneously reducing the burden of ownership (e.g. theft, storage, maintenance).  We’ll see discount codes for new members in Bike Month May. And Lyft is providing ride credit for anyone riding a regular pedal bike in the last 30-days, who’ve never tried the e-Bikes. 

We get a lot of questions about pricing—How does pricing work? Who sets it? Is this Private or Public? We figured a dedicated FAQ could help to cover the basics. 

How much does bikeshare cost?

Bikeshare is the most affordable mobility option in San Francisco and the Bay Area. An annual bikeshare membership costs about $14/month, which includes unlimited 45-minute trips on regular pedal bikes with no additional fees anywhere in the five-city service area.  

Why do e-bikes cost more? 

E-bikes contain batteries that need charging and more expensive parts like motors and sensors that require more maintenance and more work to locate and redistribute. The city and our bikeshare operator, Lyft, try to balance these costs with maintaining and improving service for all San Franciscans, especially ones who can't afford higher prices.  

The 2015 bikeshare agreement grants exclusivity to the contractor for station-based bikeshare. In 2019, the SFMTA sought to offer e-bikeshare operator permits to increase competition. An ensuing lawsuit resulted in Bay Wheels exclusivity and SFMTA approval power over pricing while allowing the operator to push towards financially sustainability.  

How is pricing decided? 

The annual membership pricing was specified by the 2015 regional agreement, managed by Metropolitan Transportation Commission and unanimously approved by SF Supervisors. E-bike per minute pricing is subject to SFMTA approval (keeping increased operating costs and program financial sustainability in mind), and all other pricing, like per-trip unlock fees and overages, is up to Lyft. 

How has the city used pricing approval power to expand equity measures for bikeshare? 

The city can’t lower e-Bike prices, but it has negotiated public benefits like  

• Per-minute caps on Bike Share For All members, and trips that start or end in outer areas; 

• Free Bike Share For All Memberships, discount programs for new members;  

• Waivers for out-of-station parking fees in neighborhoods without stations; 

• Continued station expansion with city-wide service.  

• Click here to open a dynamic map of the different ebike pricing service areas in San Francisco.

Why is there a 45-minute time limit?  

Bikeshare is designed for shorter duration trips. The system works by circulating—sharing—bikes between users. When a bike is checked out, it reduces the number of total available bikes in the system and increases the possibility there won’t be enough bikes for people who need them and this hurts system dependability. If a rider needs a bike for longer than 45 minutes, they can always check out a new bike mid-trip to complete their ride. For longer trips, the city recommends looking into other non-bikeshare options, like bike rentals.    

What are the costs associated with bikeshare, and who pays for them? As a public private partnership, all expenses—including labor and maintenance--are paid by the operator, and San Francisco and its regional partners offer this service at no cost to taxpayers. Bikeshare provides living wage union jobs to station technicians, bicycle mechanics, and system rebalancers, and city planners and engineers support the research, expansion, communications, and customer service needs for the program.

  

What’s next for pricing?  

The current e-bike agreement ends in 2024; the regional regular pedal station-based contract ends in 2027. The city and regional partners are exploring services, pricing, and partnerships that may come next, with the goal of continuing to expand bikeshare as an accessible, sustainable transportation choice for San Francisco.  

If you have thoughts on bikeshare pricing, we want to hear from you. Feel free to reach out with ideas to bikeshare@sfmta.com. 

And to celebrate National Bike Month, starting May 1, Bay Wheels is providing 20% off annual or monthly Bay Wheels membership. Enter one of the codes below at checkout and enjoy membership benefits for less. 
 
20% off Annual Memberships: BWMAYANNUAL20 
20% off Monthly Memberships: BWMAYMONTHLY20 

Published April 29, 2022 at 01:20AM
https://ift.tt/t1VB5iP