The SFMTA (San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency) is progressively upgrading its fleet including restoration of the Harvey Milk streetcar. The legendary Harvey Milk streetcar is back on tracks safely transporting passengers and tourists in San Francisco. This streetcar tribute painted in green and cream color honoring former San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk when he was elected to the Board of Supervisors. To reintroduce the streetcar 1051 is a sign of investment in SFMTA's fleet and is the first vehicle to return back to transit services.

The BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) administration is considering to back away from the word sanctuary when applying for infrastructure federal funding. Because San Francisco Bay Area federal funding for transportation projects are uncertain at this time, the BART Board of Directors are recommending new approach words. The BART General Manger was informed to use other words thereafter the board meeting because the word sanctuary may put its federal funding at risk. Recommending to not use the word "sanctuary" because it provokes and/or possible denial of transportation federal funding.

The VTA (Valley Transportation Authority) operators/drivers are starting training along Alum Rock Avenue in San Jose. They will be training for the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) progressive transit services starting in April for public transportation services. The BRT operators/drivers will use newly constructed median bus lanes along Alum Rock Avenue and Santa Clara Street for transportation services. The VTA operators/drivers involved with this BRT project are shared information about safety precautions while operating vehicles for passengers safety.

The federal administration released its preliminary budget with uncertain transit project funding for San Francisco Bay Area. Those projects include Caltrain Electrification, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) funding to modernize the train systems, and VTA (Valley Transportation Agency) request for BART extension to downtown San Jose. The federal grants are contingent on variable factors to include obtaining local and state funding with a great financial plan.

The Oakland International Airport (OAK) is testing guide-dogs for blind passengers and socializing them with airport locations over the weekend. The guide-dogs trainers walked around OAK airport with 25 puppy dogs to become familiar with particular environment areas. Because the airport is a noisy environment with ongoing activities and guide-dogs have to be calm for effective guiding services. The Alaska Airlines staffing members welcomed guide-dogs during their training to ticket counters and gateway boarding areas.

The Volkswagen German automaker released plans to disburse $2 billion for EV (Electric Vehicle) infrastructure as part of the court settlement. The CARB (California Air Resources Board) and EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) settled a court case with Volkswagen, and the company was penalized for cheating U.S. emission testing for vehicles. The Volkswagen company is required to spend $800 million of the settlement in California alone. The Volkswagen company formed a subsidiary to handle the investment as well as constructing, and providing maintenance of electric charging stations.

The San Francisco police officers investigated a suspicious item at the Civic Center BART station this Friday morning creating traffic problems. The Market Street traffic and pedestrians were impacted by police activities around 9:30 AM, and BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) trains were not traveling through the station. The BART station closure affected commuters in Daly City, Millbrae, SFO (San Francisco International Airport), and East Bay commuters.

The SFMTA (San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency) officials are delaying therein improvement project because of the tunnel conditions. The legendary Twin Peaks Tunnel is century old and needs improvement including replacement of railway tracks for safety reasoning. The SFMTA transit agency awarded NTK Construction as the improvement project contractor and need more time for initial project staging preparation. The starting time for the project was in April 2017, and project construction is pending to start during this Summer and complete during Summer 2018.

The LimeBike startup bicycles started rolling out their bikes in lime color and announcing $12 million venture funding allocation. It's a startup company based in San Mateo, California and hopes its flexible app-based model will help it grow faster. It's the latest in various bike rental companies and has promised cheap bicycle rides powered by GPS tracking systems in San Francisco Bay Area. The LimeBike startup company was co-founded by Toby Sun, CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and Brad Bao, Executive Chairman for LimeBike.

The BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) officials were thinking about raising passenger fares to help with administration budget deficit during 2018. The BART administration is facing a projected budget deficit of approximately $35 million next year, and passenger fares will automatically increase during next year starting January 2018. Therefore, BART administrative officials have to rethink therein approach of raising passenger fares at this time. Because passenger fares will already increase anyway automatically next year in the beginning - smart move BART and positive consideration!