As I fretted over the finishing touches to my opus on the Tao of freeway ramp metering lights for Sunday’s papers, I got an e-mail from Clear, the company that promises a sort of FasTrak version of airport security.

Funny thing about this phenomenon. The media loves these guys, although I’m not sure people truly understand what’s offered by Clear, now at 12 airports including San Francisco International and San Jose’s Mineta International, and Clear’s smaller competitors, who operate at only Reno and Jacksonville.

The news release, which was quickly followed by a copy conveyed by my editor asking me to do a short article about it, announced that Clear had opened an enrollment counter at Oakland International in anticipation of opening its Clear Lanes toward the end of March.

It sounds like a great Read the rest of this entry »

First, I feel compelled to say that any government agency as big in the hearts of its countrymen as the Trans-portation Security Administration deserves some points for actively seeking feedback.

And there is no more free-flowing an arena for that as the blogosphere.

So behold: The Evolution of Security.

Just the thought of the TSA doing a blog made me and countless others chuckle. Here’s but one example of its ripeness for exploitation, from Steve Johnson’s “Hypertext“ column-blog in the Chicago Tribune:

4. The use of the term “evolution” in the blog’s title does not constitute endorsement by the TSA or this administration of the concept of evolution, generally. TSA believes it may Read the rest of this entry »

When I called attention to another local news outlet’s story on AC Transit’s love affair with Belgian-made Van Hool buses a week ago, I said I would be waiting impatiently to read this week’s sequel.

Looks like the East Bay Express’ Bob Gammon saved the best for last. This week’s story gives AC Transit officials a lot more to explain, and it certainly left me wishing I had done all that digging through the bus agency’s records.

While I enjoyed reading last week’s story, it didn’t convince me that these buses had dragged down the entire agency nearly as much as the drop in Read the rest of this entry »

Item 1: I’m going on vacation. No blog posts until Jan. 16 or so.

Item 2: I’m flying out of SFO this evening, and I’m hoping that howling I hear outside subsides enough for my plane to take off.

Catch up with you later…

I hesitate to call attention to someone else’s correction, particularly because I’ve had two of my own in short order. For a journalist, that’s enough to keep you up at night.

Still, we learn from our mistakes, and even fatal mistakes can teach others, to paraphrase Al Franken.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s spokespeople provided a teachable moment for me when they quoted their boss saying:

“With motor vehicles contributing to roughly 40 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, it is imperative that we be granted the fuel waiver from the federal government.”

The occasion was today’s decision in Fresno by U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Ishii that California has the power to regulate tailpipe emissions for cars and light trucks, a category that includes SUV’s.

The governor has championed the Read the rest of this entry »

At the risk of beating a dead horse, I decided to post this chapter-and- verse analysis of the alleged disrespect paid to Marines who spent their two-hour layover on the tarmac of Oakland International Airport Sept. 27. It’s by Steve Irwin (not to be confused with the late Crocodile Hunter), an airport security consultant and former U.S. Air Force member who used to work at Oakland. He keeps up a website on aviation security and other matters at www.californiaaviation.org.

The recent PR disaster at OAK could have been easily resolved by airport management with just three simple Read the rest of this entry »

This morning I received one of the biggest responses ever to any story I’ve written in the Bay Area. Unfortunately, the story had little to do with transportation and nothing to do with commuting.

A half-dozen vitriolic e-mails from readers from Virginia to Washington State, one electronic query from a staffer of one member of Congress and a phone call from another representative’s representative.

Still, journalists like to know that their “content,” as I now like to call it (because most people get it for free. Some day, I will be standing at an intersection with a cardboard sign saying, “will provide content for food.”), is being read by the widest audience possible.

The story, in cased you missed it, was about a planeload of troops fresh from Iraq on their way to Read the rest of this entry »

One thing that I, as a former Washingtonian (as in DC), couldn’t help but notice when I arrived in the Bay Area in March of last year was how much the BART system resembles the capitol’s Metro system.

The cars appeared identical, although I learned Read the rest of this entry »

A Caltrans spokesperson mentioned that a journalism student called the other day about a story on the economic impact of the “Bay Bridge collapse” on San Francisco businesses.

The student was politely told that the bridge was still up and running, and that businesses weren’t affected. There will be a quiz later.

You can quibble about the affect of the April 29 MacArthur Maze eastbound I-80-I-580 connector collapse on downtown business on both sides of the Bay, but it does seem that there has been some economic impact from the aforementioned collapse of the Bay Bridge.

Being in the news business, I’m often comparing what people have heard or what people think they heard with what Read the rest of this entry »

At long last, people who don’t mind dragging their bags on and off of BART (or don’t have a car) will have to pay $3, starting March 1, to get from the Coliseum BART Station to Oakland International Airport. Senior citizen and airport employee fares will double as of March 1 to $1 and $2, respectively.

The current $2 charge for AirBART has been in effect since 1985, so one can’t be too shocked that the Oakland port authority decided today to raise it. At least it’s not going to $4 like the bridge tolls.

And consider that the extra $1 is for a good cause: Buying new natural gas buses. I’m guessing hydrogen fuel cell buses would require Read the rest of this entry »