BECA deal, China misadventures: Key issues in India-US 2+2 dialogue today https://ift.tt/3mq2aYh

The Indo-US 2+2 dialogue on Tuesday will have onboard a key landmark defence pact that will provide for sharing of high-end military technology, geospatial maps and classified satellite data between their militaries. Both sides are expected to have on table a plethora of key and strategic issues including China's attempts to expand influence in the Indo-Pacific region as well as its aggressive military manoeuvres in eastern Ladakh. Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the Wilson Center in Washington, said that there won't be any "big surprises" or "major developments" in the crucial 2+2 meet ahead of the U.S. Presidential election. Kugelman, during his conversation with India TV, noted that such meetings between India and the U.S. would continue even if Joe Biden comes to power.

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Slow Streets Become Spooky (Safe) Streets for Halloween

Slow Streets Become Spooky (Safe) Streets for Halloween By Eillie Anzilotti Halloween festivities on Minnesota Slow Street in 2020 This Halloween season, Slow Streets are becoming Spooky Streets. All across San Francisco, community groups are transforming their local Slow Streets into neighborhood gathering places for trick-or-treating, costume parties and more. On October 31 from 3 to 6 p.m., organizers from Kid Safe SF and the Great Highway Park Initiative are turning the Great Highway into The Great Hauntway , a beachside block party with a costume contest, arts and crafts and a “spooky disco.” That same day, neighbors in Sunnyside are gathering on Slow Hearst Street for a Halloween party at 4 p.m. On Minnesota Street, the Dogpatch Neighborhood Association is hosting their second annual MinneSLOWta Spooky Slow Street Stroll on October 30—the same day that Slow Sanchez Street will host a Halloween Stroll . Safe, car-light spaces for people to walk, bike and roll are essen...

Bikeshare Pricing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Bikeshare Pricing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) By Adrian Leung With Spring in the air and a recent expansion of up to 275 stations in SF, more people are riding bikeshare. Our major goal is to make bicycling easy by making bikes available while simultaneously reducing the burden of ownership (e.g. theft, storage, maintenance).  We’ll see discount codes for new members in Bike Month May. And Lyft is providing ride credit for anyone riding a regular pedal bike in the last 30-days, who’ve never tried the e-Bikes. We get a lot of questions about pricing—How does pricing work? Who sets it? Is this Private or Public? We figured a dedicated FAQ could help to cover the basics. How much does bikeshare cost? Bikeshare is the most affordable mobility option in San Francisco and the Bay Area. An annual bikeshare membership costs about $14/month, which includes unlimited 45-minute trips on regular pedal bikes with no additional fees anywhere in the five-city service area....

New T Third Connecting Chinatown to Sunnydale Starts Saturday

New T Third Connecting Chinatown to Sunnydale Starts Saturday By Christopher Ward New Muni Metro map. This Saturday the T Third starts its long-awaited new route connecting Chinatown-Rose Pak Station from 4th & King in Central Subway, Mondays through Fridays, 6 a.m. to midnight every 10 minutes and Saturdays and Sundays, 8 a.m. to midnight every 12 minutes. The K Ingleside will now travel between Balboa Park and Embarcadero Station. Customers using Embarcadero & Folsom, Embarcadero & Brannan and 2nd and King platforms should transfer to the N Judah at Powell Station or 4th & King. Watch the new Muni Metro service map animations . The following bus service changes also start this Saturday: The T Third Bus will now run along 3rd and 4th Streets in SoMa and on Stockton Street north of Market Street to align with the new T Third rail line and will no longer travel on the Embarcadero and Market Street. The 6 Haight/Parnassus will now...

18,000 Upgraded Parking Meters are Coming Citywide

18,000 Upgraded Parking Meters are Coming Citywide By Jessie Liang Beginning early next year, SFMTA will be replacing more than 18,000 parking meters throughout San Francisco. The parking meter hardware upgrade is taking place under a $70 million contract with MacKay Meters, Inc, which was approved by the Board of Supervisors. According to the agreement, more than half of the 28,000 paid parking spaces in San Francisco will see their meters replaced. With this project we expect to save an estimated $6 million in operating costs over the next decade. The new meters will improve the user experience by providing a wider and brighter screen, accepting contactless payment, and allowing customers to receive a parking receipt via text message. Many of the city’s parking meters and paystations purchased in 2014 are nearing the end of their useful life due to subsequent technology improvements and the age of the hardware. In addition, t...

New Dashboards Give a Window into Muni Service Changes

New Dashboards Give a Window into Muni Service Changes By Kate McCarthy An inspector manages Muni service. New dashboards that help inform changes to Muni service are now live at SFMTA.com/MuniData Many factors inform our decisions about Muni service adjustments. These include making sure changes to service support the SFMTA’s values, which are economic vitality, environmental stewardship, trust and equity. We also evaluate travel patterns. You can now explore these patterns using the new Muni data dashboards (SFMTA.com/MuniData). When looking at possible Muni service changes, the first thing we do is turn to the Muni Service Equity Strategy for guidance. Using the Muni Service Equity Strategy, we prioritize providing Muni service along routes that more often serve people of color, members of low-income households, and/or those who are dependent upon transit service, including people with disabilities and seniors. We also use ridership data to analyze where riders are boa...

New top story from Time: Protests Against an Abortion Ban Continue for a Fifth Day in Poland

https://ift.tt/2HDCNDx WARSAW, Poland — Women’s rights activists and many thousands of supporters held a fifth day of protests across Poland on Monday, defying pandemic restrictions to express their fury at a top court decision that tightens the predominantly Catholic nation’s already strict abortion law. In Warsaw, mostly young demonstrators — women and men — with drums, horns and firecrackers blocked rush-hour traffic for hours at a number of major roundabouts. Some of them took off their shirts and stood topless on top of cars. Many held banners with an obscenity calling on the right-wing government to step down. A group of far-right supporters held a counter-protest in front of a church and police in riot gear kept the two groups apart, using pepper spray at one point. Some of the people protesting the court ruling were detained and others sat down in the street to stop the police van taking away the detainees. A protesting woman was taken to hospital with slight in...

New top story from Time: Police and Protesters Against the Shooting of Jacob Blake Clash for a Third Night in Kenosha

https://ift.tt/34zqgdm KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters during a third night of unrest in this southeastern Wisconsin city following the shooting of a Black man whose attorney said he was paralyzed after being shot multiple times by police. A group of protesters walked toward a fence that was put in place Tuesday around the courthouse and started shaking it. Police behind it moved toward protesters as some threw water bottles and fireworks over the fence. Armored vehicles then rolled in and tear gas was fired into the crowd. When police ordered protesters to disperse, the crowd responded by chanting “Black lives matter.” Police then fired rubber bullets. Jacob Blake, the man shot by police responding to a domestic disturbance on Sunday, is paralyzed, and it will “take a miracle” for him to walk again, his family’s attorney said Tuesday, while calling for the officer who opened fire to be arrested and others involved to...

New Express Service Comes to the 1 California

New Express Service Comes to the 1 California By Melissa Culross Newly painted Muni flag stop indicating the pilot 1X California Express Beginning February 21, 2023, a pilot program will offer express bus service on the new 1X California Express between the Richmond neighborhood and the Financial District. The SFMTA plays a significant role in San Francisco’s economic recovery, and this pilot that serves downtown is part of that. We have been working on improving travel time and reliability over the last several years. Travel times are now 11% quicker on the 1 California thanks to new transit lanes on California, Clay and Sacramento streets. But our work is not done on the corridor! The new 1X California express will provide another option for riders to zoom from the inner Richmond into and out of downtown even faster. We also expect this service to ease crowding on the 1 California as more people head back to the office. Three morning 1X California Express buses will ...

Geary Boulevard Improvement Project Update

Geary Boulevard Improvement Project Update By Amy Fowler Geary Boulevard is a critical east-west arterial and one of the busiest bus corridors in North America, connecting downtown San Francisco to the Richmond District. The SFMTA has been busy working on the second phase of planned improvements on Geary, called the Geary Boulevard Improvement Project , to improve Muni’s 38 Geary bus service and address traffic safety between 34th Avenue and Stanyan Street. The project is building on the success of the Geary Rapid Project , which was recently completed on time and on budget and has already shown promising travel time savings on the eastern half of the Geary corridor. Last fall, we asked neighbors in the Richmond about their priorities for transit, safety and driving issues on Geary via pop-up events on the corridor and a Virtual Open House. Thanks to input from over 600 community members , the SFMTA has used this feedback to draft the detailed, block-by-bloc...

New Sculptures Light up Van Ness Avenue

New Sculptures Light up Van Ness Avenue By Luis “Loui” Apolonio Light sculpture at Van Ness Avenue and O'Farrell Street Spectators gathered both online and in person to watch new lighting sculptures on Van Ness turned on for the first time on March 31, 2022. The whimsical and brightly colored sculptures located on the new Van Ness BRT boarding platform between Geary and O’Farrell are made of steel with LED lights inside on a timer set to illuminate at night. The lighting event was kicked off with SFMTA Director Jeff Tumlin and MTAB Chair Gwyneth Borden serving as emcees. Mary Chou, Director of Public Arts and Collections at the San Francisco Arts Commission, spoke about the art installation itself, as well as the process for selecting the artist who would be awarded the project. In addition, Maddy Ruvolo, a member of the SFMTA’s Accessible Services team and a recently appointed member of President Biden’s U.S. Access Board, shared the importance of having accessibility as a ...

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