Infrastructure Weak
@infrastructureweak.bsky.social
Renter; bike and transit rider Construction project manager Posts about safe street design and transit projects Berkeley, CA
I love being in Oakland and encountering a protected bike lane project that I've never heard of, let alone had to fight over for years
Robert Prinz@prinzrob.bsky.social · 3d agoIndeed this Franklin St road diet & concrete protected bikeway in Downtown Oakland was constructed in a few months w no CEQA, no council approval, no long series of community meetings required. Our bike/walk infra committee reviewed some early designs but that’s it! bsky.app/profile/prin...
South Carolina is now the first state in the nation for the Democratic Primary and this just ran in The State, the newspaper of Columbia, South Carolina. Come out to the rally and lobby day next week in Sac and help get our legislators to undo the cuts! actionnetwork.org/events/emerg...
I just contributed with @theactionnetwork.bsky.social: Help Seamless Bay Area & Transbay Coalition pass a 2026 regional transit funding measure. Contribute here:
Support Seamless Bay Area & Seamless Bay Area
Please consider making a donation to Seamless Bay Area and Transbay Coalition. Your support helps us sustain and scale up our work transforming public transit into a fast, affordable, well-connected, ...
actionnetwork.org
I'm excited for new BART platform screens that will show the train behind even when one is boarding. This will help a lot for deciding how to ride through the wye. The new train cars' exterior destination displays and announcements reduce the need for bolded train annunciation above the platform.
BART@bart.gov · last wk.These monitors are getting completely redesigned to be more useful and less confusing. They will also always show the next train including when a train is at the platform boarding. The design is done but we are waiting for the engineers to make the change.
Oh dang, it's public transit night at the @oaklandballers.bsky.social game, and AC Transit director Jean Walsh will be performing the anthem?!?!
Ballers Game with Walk Oakland Bike Oakland - Bike East Bay
Join Walk Oakland Bike Oakland for a mid-summer night with Oakland's own championship baseball team. We'll park ourselves in the bleachers on the 1st base line and root, root, root for the home team!
bikeeastbay.org
Jean Walsh@therealjeanwalsh.bsky.social · 7d agoOK people what are you doing this Saturday night? Because YOURS TRULY will be singing the Star Spangled Banner at the Oakland Ballers game! 🎶🎤🥎
YIMBYs, a new moment of triumph is upon us! Atherton, the Silicon Valley enclave that prohibits all but single-family homes, one of the most exclusionary towns in the country, has just received its first multifamily housing project (ever!) under @scottwiener.bsky.social’s SB79!
the section of Berkeley this white property owner is defending against "gentrification" from a bike lane is the most segregated area of Alameda County by share of non-Hispanic white residents. (Bike lane areas in yellow.) Median income over $200,000 and home values over $2 million.
Theo Gordon@theogordon.bsky.social · last wk.Move over zucchini lady, this guy calling 'bike lanes white lanes' and calling the Terner Center the 'Gentrification Center' is my new favorite Berkeley Council moment. #berkmtg
Like when the late Donald Shoup looked into where all the specific rules for minimum parking requirements came from and the answer was some dudes just made them up out of whole cloth
William Skudlarek@willskud.bsky.social · 6d agoWashington Building Official Association (WABO): We want to require that when elevators are installed in any multifamily housing (vs. current req. of 4+ story buildings), at least 1 must fit a stretcher. WA State Building Code council: Can you quantify the costs and benefits of this change? WABO:
Alameda County: meet your candidates Join us in downtown Oakland on Thursday Aug 20th at 6pm for a mixer to meet candidates and elected officials running for office across Alameda County this fall. RSVP required. @seamlessbayareaca.bsky.social
Meet Your 2026 Alameda County Candidates!
An informal mixer to meet candidates running across Alameda County this fall. Grab a drink, ask questions, and get a feel for who's on your ballot.
events.humanitix.com
Very cool project on the Geary Subway from @infrastructureweak.bsky.social, doing the kind of public analysis that gov should be doing. The public ought to be able to understand the tradeoffs of transit planning so they can push politicians to pursue the best ideas. medium.com/@infrastruc...
Geary metro, purpose-built for SF
Part 2: East Bay connection, downtown alignment, and the yard
medium.com
Thanks to @scottwiener.bsky.social's landmark Senate Bill 35, this project skipped San Francisco’s famously Byzantine permit process and got approved in a matter of weeks, not years. Without SB 35, these 160 affordable homes would still be an abandoned McDonald’s tied up in NIMBY lawsuits.
SF Dept. of Homelessness & Supportive Housing@sfhsh.bsky.social · last wk.Yesterday, we celebrated the grand opening of 730 Stanyan, a new affordable housing community with 160 homes for low- to moderate-income families, including families and transitional age youth who have experienced homelessness.
A lot of folks are going to Sacramento on Monday the 10th to ask the state legislature to restore the $2 billion in cap and trade funding that Governor Newsom's CAR Board cut. Join here if you can!
Rally and Lobby Day to Save Transit, Affordable Housing, Clean Air & Clean Water Programs throughout California
Governor Gavin Newsom's Appointees at the California Air Resources Board just voted to rob programs that fund transit, affordable housing, clean air, and clean water programs to give billions to Big O...
actionnetwork.org
Transbay Coalition@transbaycoalition.bsky.social · 3mo agoWild that @airresources.bsky.social wants to give billions of dollars to Big Oil by taking money away from public transit & affordable housing programs Read more: envirovotersedfund.org/cap-and-inve... and send a letter actionnetwork.org/letters/carb...
Huge congrats & thank you to Walk Bike Berkeley, North Berkeley Now, and everyone who spoke, emailed or sent postcards! Despite the lopsided vote, it was not a sure thing. Councilmembers struggled with this decision, and effective advocacy made the difference. This hard fought win will save lives.
Walk Bike Berkeley@walkbikeberk.bsky.social · last wk.Good news! Council voted 7-2 tonight to repave and rebalance Hopkins Street with pedestrian, bicycle, and transit improvements, including protected bike lanes! Thank you to everyone who pushed to make Hopkins safe for all!
The house on the right was demolished last year to build a 3,500 sf mansion + ADU The house on the left just filed plans to be replaced with five starter homes under SB 1123 CA state housing laws are delivering results.
Thanks to everyone who supported safe biking along Hopkins! The plan passed 7-2! While we wait for more official records, the below is a good summary of the key motions and votes.
Infrastructure Weak@infrastructureweak.bsky.social · last wk.Berkeley City Council decision on Hopkins bikeway referral to staff: - CM Kesarwani-drafted item passes 7-2: buffered lanes Sutter to The Alameda, bikeways to Peralta, speed cushions to Stannage. Additional minor amendments made in-meeting.
I much appreciated @taplinterry.bsky.social's comments before the vote, about implementing the plans we commit to, acknowledging that there will not be consensus. City council approved a low-stress Hopkins bikeway in 2017, 2022, and 2026 already; Walk Bike Berkeley said they count 10 council votes.
Kendra K. Levine@kklevine.bsky.social · last wk.I’m very grump about watching a Berkeley city council meeting on Zoom from a minor league baseball game because didn’t the city already make the decision? How much safer would our streets be if we actually followed the recommendations we paid for?
Berkeley City Council decision on Hopkins bikeway referral to staff: - CM Kesarwani-drafted item passes 7-2: buffered lanes Sutter to The Alameda, bikeways to Peralta, speed cushions to Stannage. Additional minor amendments made in-meeting.
berkeleyca.gov
In SF we're lucky to have an alternative: trolleybuses. But they are difficult to procure in America, as New Flyer has to spin up the production line any time an order is made. If MTA could buy outside the US, the options would open up.
Jarrett Walker@humantransit.bsky.social · last wk.All over the transit industry, zero-emission bus mandates, like those of California, are colliding with Buy America requirements that deny US transit agencies access to a competitive bus market. The result is a wave of lousy buses that are impacting service. 1/ nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/07/27/b...
Show up for bike lanes on Hopkins Street virtually or in person to make your voice heard! Berkeley City Council Meeting Tuesday, July 28 | 6 pm BUSD Board Room | 1231 Addison Street Zoom Link / Agenda (#27): berkeleyca.gov/city-council...
Council votes on Hopkins tomorrow 7/28! Tell them to make the street smooth and safe for all! 👇
Walk Bike Berkeley@walkbikeberk.bsky.social · 2w agoSend a message to the whole City Council. We’ve made it easy here actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...
Bay Area transit advocates are leading the charge to save BART, Muni, Caltrain and AC Transit from dire service cuts. To hone your advocacy skills join this free training Aug 5 at @spur-urbanist.bsky.social @transitcenter.bsky.social luma.com/m78g9xyz
Storytelling for Transit Advocates: A Hands-on Training · Luma
Two important ballot measures will be on the ballot this November: Connect Bay Area and Stronger Muni for All. Both of these were voter initiatives, and we…
luma.com
Bob Powers of BART asks for a plan for the next steps once Clipper 2 is stable. He pushes back against the "waterfall" process, where the MTC team is waiting for Clipper 2 to work to even start to think about what the next steps are for integrated, affordable fares.
Congress appropriated billions of dollars for new transit projects. Why is the Trump administration spending none of it? Why are even transit projects in red states going unfounded? New reporting in @nytimes.com (gift link): www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/u...
For all its talk, the State of California still spends 5/6 of its transpo funding on cars www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/arti...
California is demanding more housing near transit, even as it starves its transit systems to death
OPINION: We can’t have a land-use policy that says “build around transit,” with a budget policy that says, “good luck funding it,” columnist Allison Arieff writes.
sfchronicle.com
The battle of Hopkins bike lanes are back, the final battle, and I got a lot to say. I haven't attended a Berkeley city council meeting in 7 years, but on Tuesday I'll be there, and I hope you will too. darrellowens.substack.com/p/the-final-...
The Final Battle of Hopkins Bike Lanes
One of the most important climate actions goes to Berkeley City Council.
darrellowens.substack.com
AC Transit should keep the focus on what matters to bus riders, not on recommendations from out of state consultants who fail to understand California law, elected boards, or governance. This embarrassing report never should’ve seen the light of day. Thank you for showing up to call out the BS!
The Oaklandside@oaklandside.org · 2w agoAfter years of contentious relations between board members, a consulting group recommended changes to the transit agency’s meetings. The response was overwhelmingly negative.
It brings me absolute joy to share that the City of San Mateo has received our first SB79 project, and it's a beaut! - 20 units - 5 stories - Replacing a single family home - 4,400 sq ft lot - 198 units/acre - No parking included We absolutely love to see it!
I love transit advocate crayon drawings. But @infrastructureweak.bsky.social's work on Geary is next level, synthesizing 91 years of subway planning thinking. Great thinking on stations and analysis supporting automated light metro.
Infrastructure Weak@infrastructureweak.bsky.social · 2w agoI've just published this article, Part 1 of 4 about the choices that will enable San Francisco to finally build a Geary metro. medium.com/@infrastruct...
