remains so based on recent surveys by the convention and visitors bureau, now known as the san francisco travel association. i'm here today to express a concern about safety for launching cyclists into traffic in the union square area, and i would like to elaborate on that. already, we have lots of pedestrian traffic around the square, which is where the service will operate. automobiles transferring through the area and also into the garages in the area. more recently, an explosion of tour bus operators that has at any time two or three tour buses parked to load and unload passengers on the south side of the square. add to that central subway construction that has just begun. stockton street is torn up, as our -- are gary and soon ellis street. all traffic south were down on stock and is now being diverted at sutter or coast. coast is the street that would be used by cyclists as they depart from union square. we in no way are critical of the park wide activities group. we know they have a stellar reputation. we would urge you to, if you approve this lease, eliminate the nine-month trigger point at which t

san francisco. we'll have the numbers and how this travel boom is keeping thousands of people employed. >>> the city by the bay is attracting bigger crowds. the san francisco travel association said today the number of visitors jumped 3%. tourism spending increased more than 6%. >>> mark ibanez here with the latest on the beard. a lot of fans were worried about him. >> yeah, opponents fear the beard and giant fans fear anything at all negative happening to bryan wilson. ie an injury and i was down there this past weekend. the word in the press box saturday was that bryan wilson had suffered a strained oblique. if you know the history of that injury it takes about 30 days to heal. updated status now diagnosed as just a mild side strain in his left side actually. he will be ready for opening day which believe it or not is just a week from thursday. meantime, lots of giants having a good spring and most notably aubrey huff. he had 26 homers last year. great guy in the middle of the line up. solid spring once again, likes what he sees so far. the team lots of interchangeable parts and lots of versatility again. >> we can mix and match, go from place to place. it's not really goi

san francisco. according to the san francisco travel association, tourists spent more than $8.3 billion in the city last year. that's an increase of more than 6% compared to 2009. the travel association says all those visitors support more than 67, 67,000 local jobs. >>> is twitter getting preferential treatment in san francisco. lawmakers are expected to vote tomorrow in giving twitter tax breaks for moving into a troubled part of the city. >> it's one of the hardest places to run a business. >> reporter: owner says she pays tens of thousands of taxes each year including payroll taxes. she could get a break by moving her business to the the tenderloin. twitter was expected to move to the peninsula because it was cheaper but is now expected to stay. >> reporter: the building twitter is eyeing is a historic furniture mart. the area has suffered from decades of blithe, empty store fronts and damage. >> certainly the city needs to create jobs, but there's a concern that people who have been paying their taxes every year are not going to get any breaks. >> given our product, and our demographic profile

san francisco. according to the san francisco travel association, tourists spent more than $8.3 billion in the city last year. that's an increase of more than 6% compared to 2009. the travel association says all those visitors support more than 67, 67,000 local jobs. >>> is twitter getting preferential treatment in san francisco. lawmakers are expected to vote tomorrow in giving twitter tax breaks for moving into a troubled part of the city. >> it's one of the hardest places to run a business. >> reporter: owner says she pays tens of thousands of taxes each year including payroll taxes. she could get a break by moving her business to the the tenderloin. twitter was expected to move to the peninsula because it was cheaper but is now expected to stay. >> reporter: the building twitter is eyeing is a historic furniture mart. the area has suffered from decades of blithe, empty store fronts and damage. >> certainly the city needs to create jobs, but there's a concern that people who have been paying their taxes every year are not going to get any breaks. >> given our product, and our demographic profile

released figures show visitors to san francisco are leaving more than their hearts in the city by the bay. new numbers released by the san francisco travel association show visitors spending was up more than 6% in 2010 compared to 2009. the number of visitors rose more than 3%. in all, the association says almost 16 million people visited san francisco, spending more than $8 billion. in case you're wondering, that averages out to about 44,000 visitors each day, spending almost $22 million a day. >>> doll up and blow the cobwebs off your makeup were the words. one of the two lead plaintiffs, an employee from concorde alleges her supervisor gave her those instructions at wal-mart. a crass action suit could involve as many as 1.6 million women. wal-mart denies mistreatment to of its female workers. >>> a fire broke out yesterday morning, and contra costa county firefighters say dan hernak saw the fire and sprung into action, getting three women out of the house, including an 84-year-old and a 90-year-old. all three women were injured but are expected to survive. >> a pilot in florida died this weekend when the his soviet era aircraft crashed at an air

also, the powwow -- the travel association is having their first travel association meeting. maybe commissioner adams could help me with this. san francisco -- vice president adams: san francisco tourism is what it is called, but they have not had it in san francisco in 20 years. san francisco is the number-one tourism destination in the united states, and 2 below or three in the world. commissioner clyde: this will take place through may 26, which coincides with small business week. i am very excited for san francisco. this is going to be a great opportunity for us, with thousands of travel writers, planners, and the media. it is an extraordinary event and it generates business in the area for years to come. that is may 21 through 26. the last thing i would like to talk about is the durbin amendment to the -- let's see. there is a large piece of legislation regulating banking right now. the durbin amendment to the dodd-frank bill will limit the cost of bennett card transactions. by now it is proposed to 12 cents per transaction, a 75% reduction. this amendment is supported by the national federation of retailers and retail associations a