Would more cops make freeways, streets safer?
QLet's be blunt. To reduce traffic deaths and crashes, we need more cops on our streets and freeways. Does anyone agree?
— Fred Ruiz, Hayward
AYes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirms that having more officers patrolling has a positive and measurable impact on roadway safety. It reduces dangerous driving behaviors, such as not buckling up, speeding, drunk driving, distracted driving and aggressive driving.
The study also found that enforcement is effective at reducing hand-held phone use and decreasing speeds in work zones.
QBefore the pandemic, it was impossible to find a parking place at a BART station. I was hoping to take BART recently, but the last few times I tried, there was no place to park, so I ended up driving instead.
Any ideas?
— Lesli MacNeil, San Leandro
AGive them another try. Anita-theBART-person says that on average, BART lots are presently only about a third full. They are also trying to make it easier to pay for parking at BART.
Riders can now use the BART app to pay for parking with credit, debit, Venmo or PayPal. BART is also beginning the process of upgrading the Add Fare and parking payment machines at their stations to take credit and debit cards. By July 1, this will be rolled out systemwide. The BART stations that currently accept credit/debit cards for parking payment are the Coliseum, Concord, Antioch, Dublin, Warm Springs and Daly City stations.
Clipper balance may not be used to pay for parking. Clipper cards are outside of BART's control, as Clipper is a regional transit card, run by MTC, not BART. However, the next Clipper generation will offer BART parking payment abilities. Currently, riders can set up an EZ Rider account to pay for parking by tagging a registered Clipper card on a parking validation machine.
Q
On a few late weekday evenings when I have been driving south on Highway 17, there has been construction on the Camden Ave off-ramp, closing that exit. However, there is no indication before the preceding exit (Hamilton Avenue) that the Camden exit will be closed. Thus, I need to drive farther south, exiting onto Highway 85 and then backtracking to get home. Is this a general policy that exit closures are not announced before the preceding exit?
AThe policy is never to have two consecutive off-ramps closed at the same time. This does not address your concern, though, about being notified before the prior exit that the next one is closed. It would help to shave some miles off drivers' commutes.