News

By Rachel Gordon

Muni riders under the age of 18 may be allowed to board for free by summertime.

The idea could land at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency governing board as early as March 6.

"In one form or another, free or reduced Muni for youth seems likely," San Francisco Transportation Director Ed Reiskin said Friday.

His agency has not pushed for the program but is responding to the drumbeat by youth advocacy groups and their supporters in elective office to make the city's transit system more accessible to youths by removing the economic barrier.

"In this economy, paying for transportation is a hardship for many families," said Supervisor David Campos, who has taken the lead in championing the proposal at City Hall.

Extend BART to Livermore in order to transport people to jobs there, a number of speakers argued.

Many declared that fairness should be honored, since Livermore residents have been paying for BART for almost 50 years. Health issues provided another theme, since pollution caused by traffic continues to impact the quality of life in the Tri-Valley.

By Denis Cuff

OAKLAND -- Plans for a November ballot measure to double Alameda County's sales tax for transportation to 1 cent are being rocked by a debate over allocating $400 million of the money to a BART extension to Livermore.

A coalition of social justice and public transit advocates said Tuesday the tax proposal needs an overhaul because it gives too much to expanding BART to Livermore and not enough for maintaining and operating public transit systems like struggling AC Transit.

"When you don't have enough money to take care of your existing systems, it doesn't make sense to make them bigger," said Jeff Hobson, deputy director of TransForm, a transit advocacy group. "This draft plan doesn't cut it, but it's not too late for the Alameda County Transportation Commission to get it right."

By Gwen Muranak and Rafu Shimpo (English EDITOR IN CHIEF)

Whether Little Tokyo will remain in the 9th Council District or Koreatown will be united into one district will depend on the redrawn map of the Los Angeles City Council. A 21-member citizens commission is seeking input from the public and Asian Pacific Islanders are urged to get involved.

Several members of the Redistricting Commission attended a press conference on Wednesday in Little Tokyo, including Arturo Vargas, chair of the redistricting commission, and commissioners Robert Ahn, Helen B. Kim and David Roberts.

“Redistricting means many things, it means empowerment and having the opportunity to have an equal voice and equal representation,” said Kim, an attorney and board member of the Korean American Coalition.