authority and i will be presenting the item that begins on page 17 of your package. the transportation authority has the services of a project management oversight consultant, retaining them for a number of years for a variety of major capital projects. particularly with regard to monitoring expenditures of prop k funds. the original contract to sfgov.orto [unintelligible] was awarded in 2008 and we are requesting approval of the second one year extension in the amount of $1 million, bringing the total contract value to $5,474,000. i will mention that they are a 100% minority-owned firm, including a number of subcontractors that provide specialized expertise for these firms and business enterprises, small business enterprises to our under-represented business enterprises and for our of locally owned business enterprises. three of them are owned by women, the other is owned by asian-pacific. there are 12 women in the position of authority in principle parameters. supervisor mar: thank you for being so specific and concrete. >> one of the owners of the firm is available to answer questio

the transportation authority -- and i chaired the finance committee of the transportation authority. we just a lot of -- i think it was $20,000, and the mta is contributing money as well, but it is well worth it when it helps save lives and keep our communities safer, so thank you very much, everyone. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor. there is another body that the voters have empowered to essentially manage and regulate traffic, and that is the sfmta board, and they took an action a couple of weeks ago to legislate the first batch of these zones to create, which has enabled under our recent 2007 state law, the creation of these school zones that allow us to create the 15 miles per hour safety zone in front of schools. on behalf of the sfmta board, i am happy to welcome up to the microphone, one of my bosses, director brinkman. [applause] >> thank you. i am so glad to be here. there is a growing body of research that shows we can make the schools -- the streets safer, and one of the ways we can do that is reduced speeds. if all else fails and a collision results, this speed limit s

i would like to point out the diversity at the transportation authority as being a great source of pride for me. my guiding principle has been confidence and making sure that we have the brightest and most qualified people in every position. with that as a guiding light, i have two who are asian and probably more women on a percentage basis than any other city agencies. we have gay people, a trans gender employee. i do not think we have an african-american right now. yes, of course, my god. see, that is my problem. supervisor cohen: what african- american, that is the problem. supervisor mar: faugh supervisor kim has a comment supervisor kim: -- comment. supervisor kim: maybe we should give a breakdown of the ubd's over the last year. if we are going to start talking about staff, i am curious about the breakdown. >> ok. supervisor kim: not right now. >> we will be happy to provide that. i guess my comment, i just made a mistake in that one of our key principal planners, the lead person on the brc and high profile projects, i do not think of my staff in those terms. they come to the autho

i would like to point out the diversity at the transportation authority as being a great source of pride for me. my guiding principle has been confidence and making sure that we have the brightest and most qualified people in every position. with that as a guiding light, i have two who are asian and probably more women on a percentage basis than any other city agencies. we have gay people, a trans gender employee. i do not think we have an african-american right now. yes, of course, my god. see,

watson, looks like it takes a 2/3 of the county transportation authority members and a majority vote of the ballot. >> the general fund purpose, so it would be the county board of supervisors. in your role as supervisors, you would have that opportunity. >> what is the timing on that in your estimation at this point? >> he has met all the time lines and is in good shape. the legislature recesses' thursday until august 15. when they come back, he will have four weeks to get it out of the assembly. after that point, augus15 will be the -- not august 15, september 15 -- whatever the friday is closest to the 15th -- for legislative action, and the governor would have 30 days to act on it. the latest, probably the fail- safe way to look at it is mid-

nathaniel ford is the director of the transportation authority. prior to joining the municipal authority. he served for the atlantic authority for 5 years. he started as a train conductor in the new york city transit system. let's give it up for director ford. jim dierck is a principle, but not only a principle and an educator. he is someone who designd and developed innovative concepts where there was an incident that involved safety. for the work he was recognized at the national principle of the year. and he is somebody who is on the ground and has worked to empower young people at his school. he took his school from a different circumstances to be one of the highest performs school districts in the state. jim dierck. margaret brodkin is the director of the department for children youth and families. i emphasize that because it is one of the most critical agencies in the city and county. margaret was a former director the colman advocates who is responsible for many of the children and families here in san francisco much he served as director. i

welcome to the regular meeting of the transportation authority finance committee. today i am joined by supervisor farrell, [reads names] i but like to thank [unintelligible] at sfc tv for providing access. >> item #one. approval of -- item number two, approval of minutes of the may 10, 2011 meeting. supervisor mar: any corrections? seeing no one, let's open this to public comment. seeing no one, public comment is closed. without objection, madam clerk, please call the third item. >> item #3. recommend award of two-year consultant contracts to nelson\nygaard consulting associates, fehr & peers, and dowling associates, inc., in a combined total not to exceed $400,000, for travel demand management professional services, with an option to extend for one additional year, and authorizing the executive director to negotiate contract terms and conditions. >> good morning, commissioners. item #3 begins on page 7 of your packet. this is a procurement for travel demand management services. the need was driven by a number of servicers, chief among them was the demand managemen

s.b. 517 by senator lowenthal, page 22 of the matrix, simply places the high-speed rail authority under the secretary of transportation and then in both cases, both bills, dissolves the authority board, requiring new appointments by the speaker pro tem and the governor, the governor appointees to be subject to senate confirmation, which they were not previously. in both cases, they require that the members have certain expertise -- lock, financing, high-speed -- a list of expertise. my only political observation is the legislature is intent on reforming the authority. they will do one or the other of these or some combination of this. i'm not sure how it will turn out. he has taken ownership in my view of the project, and, you know, the focus in the administration to date has been on the budget, and they have not had a lot of time to analyze and spend time understanding the complexities of the issues swimming around. so it will be interesting to see how these bills fare when he gets a chance to take a look at them. if you want a brief report, there's a couple of activities in the state budget related to transportation

dou downto you xhnt leave muni out -- you can't leave muni out of the conversation and the transportation authority and dealing with funds for the project, but we just want to make sure that m.t.a. is at the table because for any of the issues, it will be critical that muni is able to transport people. people don't mind taking transit if it works and gets people to places in a timely fashion. they have a problem taking transit otherwise. and congestion pricing is successful and transit can accommodate the number of people to take it and it was a better alternative when they were forced in that direction. and so something to think about right there. and i do love district and i think this commissioner moore is making sure that the existing freezing rain structure can be included in that district. and done before the city there and excite for the sidewalk widening and it is another big issue and that is another area that i was particularly excited to see. there was something else

have not started to work on the power part at all in >> a closure on 101 this weekend the transportation authoritybriefly shut down a highway 1 01 on sunday morning to install new utility lines mean they're going to place new ones in. >> a sneak peek at the concert for this weekend ball >> on thursday afternoon the workers were putting finishing touches on the tents to the recycling area everyone is getting ready for the friday night headliner fish you can see all the instruments are being put in place crews are testing delight for friday night's show that means everything has to be the perfect another thing the light john boehner kron 4 got a sneak peek even during the daylight it looks fantastic music is the main part of the festival ticket have your hairstyle, and if you need to catch up on sports to there is a place for that as well if food is your thing and you're in luck >> we ask the restaurants to provide water to dishes that they do well it could be a grilled cheese and super or of special coffee we ask them to bring san francisco's best. >> i'll look at wall street . [ man ] i got this n

do that, but it is really about being vigilant and looking at the fund the come through the transportation authority. we have been extending sidewalks in some places to help with pedestrians, trying to put in islands, plantings to slow down traffic. bike lanes have helped. a bit controversial where i live is a bike lane. people do not see as many bikes, but we are seeing more and more common now that the bike lanes are coming in. that makes it safer for pedestrians. we have a bike way on a major street. you do not have as much time to cross, and you cut down one lane for the cars and a pedestrian can then walk more swiftly along the street. that is something that i have been supporting and want to see more of. >> switching gears, let's talk about the issues facing the city as a whole. what are some of the things that you feel could be improved upon? >> we could always go back to muni. part of the difficulty with muni is funding we are losing from the state. i think it is $65 million of year that we have lost. that creates a huge impact. we are also challenged by traffic. the buses are slow because t

i know that the transportation authority that we also said on, each member of the board of supervisors -- we are trying to think about how to manage the congested in the heaviest, densest parts of the city. we're trying to look at different ways to insure that we're keeping the air clean, but also ensuring that it is not too congested, especially in the downtown area. but i let -- i love my work on the board of supervisors. it is often hard as the father of a soon-to-be middle schoolers to balance my work and roll on the board, but it has been a wonderful honor to serve the people of the richmond district and the city, and i love the challenges before us as well, so i appreciate your questions about all the things we are doing. >> it looks like we are out of time, so we have to wrap these things up. we have been talking to a supervisor mar from district 1. thank you for talking with us. what's the next episode when we will return with a number of our 11 city supervisors.

ridership on the valley transportation authority bus and light rate service in the south bay has increased more than 7%. experts say high gas prices are the largest reason for the transit increase but higher bridge tolls are also playing a roll. only a.c. transit reported a decline. both blame resident cuts in service. >>> just ahead, no more alerts. new study that mayave you reading the last page of your book first. plus.... >> the exciting back to school welcome some bay area >> wow! this is reception incoming freshmen got at big rally at san francisco's lincoln high school. their program uses upperclassmen to get past the anxiety filled first days of high school. >> you feel i'm not going to fit in here but when we hang around them, each of them, bee break the anxiety and teach them this is a safe place. >> that is so nice. >> the mentoring program continues all year long. the school year is all san francisco schools begins on august 15th. >> the sound of music will fill the streets today after one of the most important music festival in the country. outside lands has a lot o

ridership on the valley transportation authority bus and light rate service in the south bay has increased more than 7%. experts say high gas prices are the largest reason for the transit increase but higher bridge tolls are also playing a roll. only a.c. transit reported a decline. both blame resident cuts in service. >>> just ahead, no more alerts. new study that may have you reading the last page of your book first. plus.... >> the exciting back to school welcome some bay area freshmen got before classes start next =x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x it's the little things in life that make me smile. spending the day with my niece. i don't use super poligrip for hold because my dentures fit well. before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. so it's not about keeping my dentures in, it's about keeping the food particles out. [ char

speak positively on the cooperation that is now the dialogue that has begun between the municipal transportation authority and rec and park. are encouraging this dialogue and synthetic is long overdue. we started in earnest on the rehabilitation of the park. we had only heard rumors of the mta boss involvement. it is good to see concrete evidence. writing today by saul painters and a crew out there, under the bridge, painting away. just a happy to incidents, i am sure. thank you for helping us to encourage this. supervisor wiener: thank you. public comment is closed. this is a really important area. not just for district 8, but for all of the surrounding neighborhoods is a regional destination in a lot of ways. i am optimistic and would continue this to the call of the chair. supervisor mar: please call item no. 3. >> item #3. resolution of the board of supervisors of the city and county of san francisco determining and making certain findings under the california environmental quality act relating to the construction and improvement of certain firehouses and determining other matters related thereto. sup

bart saw an increase of 8%, ridership for the valley transportation authority is up more than 7%. 11 agencies were surveyed. ac transit and santa cruz met throw were metro were the only ones that reported a decline and that was small. >>> casey anthony was found not guilty. ahead we will tell you why a judge issued a new warning for her. >>> a cooling trend started in the bay area, meteorologist steve paulson will be up in minutes to tell you if it will continue through the weekend. >>> tensions continue at an armored car company in the north bay. we will tell you about tactics police are using to try to solve a robbery that played out like a movie script. >>> pg pg&e is still working on a power outage there where a truck slammed into a pole. that shut down the road and knocked out power to 3800 customers. they have restored power to all but a few and will finish around 2:00. the truck will be removed and the road re-opened after that. the driver suffered min error injuries. >>> police are going over video in their search for gunmen who stormed into an armored car warehouse last night

so we worked with the county transportation authority to help restore at least half of those spots, so about 6% was restored. that is not enough. we need to do more. we need to do more to ensure the system is as reliable as possible. i do think we have to focus on best practices and how the agency is managed. it is an $800 million operation, and one of the things we started last year is be called for a management audit. the management audit looks at how the agency is being run, whether or not it is following best practices. it is bringing common sense into the operations in the city agency, and muni actually has not had a management audit in almost 15 years. that is a long time for an operation of $800 million to go without a management audit. we're now going to the second phase of the audits, which is going to come out very shortly because we do want to look the best practices. i think we also need to look at our investment in the system. part of the problem is a lack of reliability in what we have, whether it is our bosses, what happens -- buses, what happens at some of the stations,

. >> in other news around the bay, the transportation authority will briefly shut down highway 101 between mountain view and palo also to install new utility lines. the closure is estimated to be around 50 minutes long and will occur between for hopper and 5 on sunday morning. >> a woman was found dead. when the husband said he came home and found a pet will hovering over his pregnant whites. the man moved to the people to the backyard, the dog was able to escape and was shot by police. 8:52 a.m., we're back with more of a couple of minutes. >> everyone >> it is a rejoicing that karma caught up with connie west. when connie was was performing in norway. take a look at this video. he went to the stage, the stage was slippery and he fell. yÑ hot woofs >> addresses the open until we have seen positive territory. the dallas of 179 points. ash >> her there have been no wild swings, at least for the moment. nothing like what we have seen over last four days. >> terry connelly from the business school of gold the university is joining us today. we have weathered a horrible week of ups and downs.

2012 and during that time we'll be working with the mayor's office -- excuse me -- the metropolitan transportation authority tanned others to develop parking strategies to make improvements to the neighborhood parking availability and, again, the rest of the portion of the site will continue to function as it is until the mayor's office of housing will move forward with their project which i understand could be quite a few years. this is the area surrounding the park. here's some images of some of the housing down the street from the park. and one of the images i show from red star. you see that compared to the housing. and here's the park site plan. i know this came before you. this plan is conceptual. it shows a playground. we're thinking of both area for adult and kid play. lawn areas. and some very, very state-of-the-art environmental sustainability features. i really think that this park in many ways is a flagship park for sustainability in our system providing bioswells. and the new park design we've ever implemented including low-impact design which is the reuse of water collection on the site. using

is supervisor and senior adviser of the traffic and transport division at the chamber of commerce, amsterdam. they are partners with businesses and public authorities to develop a robust and economically healthy region. they supervise a team of professionals in the port industries, barge, rail, and road transport. sounds like mta. the chamber of commerce amsterdam is known as an element of innovative approach to connectivity and mobility. he is strong and establishing unique partnership to create groundbreaking solutions. he started a task force formability management for employers and employees to reduce car trafficked by 10%. -- he started a task force for mobility management for employers and employees to reduce traffic by 10%. >> i will give you the perspective of the business community in amsterdam. athis is the region of amsterda. this is the inner city of amsterdam, and the rest of the city are the suburbs. the whole city, there are 2.2 million people, but the real city of amsterdam, there are less than 800,000, which i think is about the same as san francisco. i will also pass around a few sheets. the important thing is that amsterdam is on

the head of the transportation authority here says once sustained winds hit 39 miles per hour, they can't guarantee that you continue to run the trains. they may start shutting them down. it would take eight hours to shut the entire system down. that could be the wild card for a lot of folks making their planning as they watch this storm march northward. as to when to make their move. when, perhaps, to evacuate. now when we talk about evacuations in new york city, we're not talking about all 8 million people. roughly it's about 250,000 people who live in these low-lying areas. lower part of manhattan behind me, staten island, brooklyn and queens going to long island. those 250,000 people may be subject to mandatory evacuations once they are called. the city right now is in high gear, making all kinds of contingency plans. the mayor says they are planning for the worst case, and we'll all see what happens over the next 48 hours. back to you, chris. >> thanks, lester. >>> the nation's capital is also expecting a strong encounter with hurricane irene. the storm's impending arrival already fo

2012 and during that time we'll be working with the mayor's office -- excuse me -- the metropolitan transportation authorityd others to develop parking strategies to make improvements to the neighborhood parking availability and, again, the rest of the portion of the site will continue to function as it is until the mayor's office of housing will move forward with their project which i understand could be quite a few year