The Burlingame Voice

Waymo coming way mo' closer to B'game

Eighteen months ago, we watched with arms-length fascination as driverless robotaxis hit the streets of San Francisco.  We asked "What could go wrong?" here.  Cruise has since retracted its service in SF and elsewhere after a grisly accident where its robotaxi was the second vehicle to hit a pedestrian.  Now Waymo is ready to come down the Peninsula as reported by the Chronicle.  The DMV is apparently game:

The company leading the robotaxi race wants to expand driverless ride-hailing to Los Angeles and 22 Bay Area cities in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties — even as San Francisco is suing to rein in its expansion.  Last Friday, Mountain View-based Waymo applied to the PUC, which regulates commercial robotaxi service in California, to expand its paid driverless operations to a swath of Peninsula cities including Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Mountain View and San Mateo, as well as much of Los Angeles County.

Another state regulator, the Department of Motor Vehicles, gave Waymo approval on Jan. 11 to operate on highways and city streets in a service area spanning San Francisco to Sunnyvale, according to the company’s PUC application.

One of the juiciest operating permits would be to and from SFO

San Francisco International Airport officials confirmed last year that Waymo sought permission to map roads in and surrounding the airport as it seeks to eventually bring its driverless ride-hailing service to the region’s busiest airport.

“I’m being very candid and straightforward about it — I’m using that as an opportunity to try to force a more collaborative relationship with Waymo,” Aaron Peskin, president of the Board of Supervisors, told the Chronicle in November. “And if they take us up on it, great. And if they don’t, then I’m going to have the Board of Supervisors keep them off the airport until they do.”

Let's not let EssEff take complete control.  B'game should be asking questions and seeking proof that Waymo can navigate odd roundabouts and weird lane patterns like California Dr.  What is the algorithm like regarding pedestrians in (and now legally outside of) crosswalks.  One hears that robotaxis are obeying traffic laws more than HV (human-driven vehicles), but how do they react to crazy drivers breaking the law by going around cautious robos?  If your destination is a building on El Camino, where will Waymo park to disembark?  Will they just add to the Amazon, UPS and DHL mess we have now on ECR?  All worthwhile questions for our leadership to ask.  It may not be as sexy as sea-level rise in 2050, but it's still important.

Contract negotiations: city staff turnover--not a lot to see here

Unless I missed it, which is possible due to some travel, the news has been quiet regarding the heated contract negotiations at City Hall.  We last covered it in October here.  There was the one-day strike back on December 4th as reported by the DJ here:

More than 100 Burlingame workers picketed in front of city hall Dec. 4 for a one-day strike based on alleged free speech violations by city management that closed down many city services, including the Community Center, the Easton Library and the finance department.  The strike is the first by Burlingame’s municipal workers since 1981.

Aside from the "free speech" claims, the more substantive claim was that low pay was causing much turnover of city staff.  As usual, I am reluctant to go along with broad statements when the actual data is easy to get.  With that in mind, a simple inquiry to the city led to the data through mid-December when I made the request:

• There were 27 CN (casual non benefited) employees who separated with the City in 2023 to current.
• There were 2 CP (Casual with PERS) employees who separated with the City in 2023 to current.
• There were 31 FT (Full Time) employees who separated with the City in 2023 to current.
• There was 1 PN (PERS non-contributory) employee who separated with the City in 2023 to current.

Is the departure of 31 full-timers a lot?  Normal?  A problem?  I'm not sure, but when you think of all the departments as listed here, it doesn't seem like a crisis.  All of these negotiations rightfully happen behind closed doors, but the public statements--mostly by the union reps--bear examination.  And now you have "the rest of the story".

Jan 30 update:  There's a bit more to the story.  I was going to use the DJ article about AI and County employees for a separate post, but commenter Timothy Hooker made such an elegant point below about operational efficiency from tech (see Jan 29) that I will just add the headline here.  Supes, please do not make promises to retain long-term headcount that is no longer needed.  Just don't, OK.

Canyon Dr. Landslide

If you are reading the Voice you are probably also engaged enough in city and county affairs to be on the text alert system for all sorts of incidents (e.g. traffic, wildfires, flooding, etc.).  If so, you got the notice of the landslide that closed the eastbound lane of Canyon Rd just down the hill from Fey Dr. last Sunday night.  I never got an all-open text, but curiosity caused me to drive through the site yesterday and it is open.

Canyon Dr. is a cool part of B'game (some of it I believe is unincorporated B'game).  It's delightfully winding and has some steep sides like where the slide happened.  This is it.

Broadway: Planners gotta plan

For the Here We Go Again file:  the Daily Journal is reporting on the "Broadway Specific Plan" meeting held last week with more color than usual since it seems the reporter went to the meeting (as opposed to watching council happening on-line afterwards):

A grand vision of plazas, parklets, mixed-use development and possible parking changes for a revitalized Broadway in Burlingame met reality at a Jan. 17 community workshop where concerns were surfaced about the retail thoroughfare’s existing character and limitations.

I'm not sure which grandees came up with the grand vision, but apparently it did not go over well with attendees:

“The consideration is, you’d have to ask people, do you want a second Burlingame Avenue at this location?” building owner Dave Simpson said. “No!” some in the crowd chorused in response.

The negative comments on the DJ website under the article are even more brutally pointed and draw in the prevailing dislike for the mess that has been made of California Dr. which we track here.  Some of the comments are even negative about the decade-plus reworking of the Avenew that I think came out well, but Broadway is clearly a different street and many would like it to proudly remain so.  Comments about rising rents after "upgrades", lack of space for gathering places and especially the traffic flow from our F-rated Broadway intersection are everywhere.

Some very smart commentary notes that if there are plans to change traffic flow on Broadway, they need to expand the planning scope to include the two nearest parallel streets – Lincoln and Carmelita.  Very true, but likely to bring out even more boo-birds.  I spend quite a bit of time on B'way and like the ambiance.  But let's face it.  Planners have to plan.  Perhaps we can start with the always-wise question:  What problem are we trying to solve?

Local Jazz: Swinging Songs of Disney

Wedged as we are between EssEff and Stanford/Palo Alto, we need to take advantage of any opportunities for local live music that pop up.  The Monday night jazz jam at Max's Opera House has been going strong as has the Wed-Sat schedule at Broadway Grill.  Both venues' live music adds to the ambience for a nice dinner out.

Local non-profit Jazz at the Ballroom is another option for pop-up jazz.  The organization has done events at the B'game library, at private homes and the Hillsborough Raquet Club which is a nice venue for medium sized affairs.  This Saturday, January 27th, Jazz at the Ballroom brings Professor Cunningham and his Old School band to the club for "Swinging Songs of Disney".  The band is billed as

This award-winning New York based band performs the most swinging and grooving repertoire deeply steeped in the New Orleans tradition; from early jazz to early R&B— the likes of Sidney Bechet, Fats Waller, even Fats Domino. It is one of the most sought-after Hot Jazz Bands on the international festival and Lindy Hop dance scene.  The group is fronted by in-demand vocalist/reedman Adrian Cunningham, an Australian native based in NYC, and one of his home country's finest jazz exports. The ensemble consists of some of the most energetic and accomplished musicians on the New York circuit and has been a regular hit in the NYC underground party and swing dance scene.

So, they are stretching out a bit into Disney songs like ""Everybody Wants To Be a Cat" to "I Wanna Be Like You" and "Under the Sea.".  Uncle Walt would be pleased.  You can see the details and reserve tickets here.  I saw the JATB last event at the Hillsborough Raquet Club--it was easy to get to and park, cash bar and up close and personal seating.

Remembering John Webb: Voice co-founder

It is with a heavy heart that we relay the unexpected passing of a Voice original, co-founder John Webb, on January 2nd.  The early days of the Voice can be a little fuzzy in the memory department, Russ and I reminisced about them on Mark at the MIc's podcast here, but my memory of John and his now-deceased wife Denise are quite sharp.  John wrote one of the early pieces for the printed Voice and I recall his level-headedness and strong love for B'game.  The level-headedness probably came from, or certainly contributed to, his long service in law enforcement.

Living right across from McKinley, John directly felt the pressures on our town that started the Voice effort.  At our early meetings, he was passionate without being over-the-top.  That was a valuable rudder in the early days.  You can read more about John from his obituary on Legacy.com here.  RIP.

Solar stupidity: How to stunt a good thing

The feared attack on roof-top solar has materialized.  We covered it in the proposal stage in December 2022 here.  Now the chickens are coming home to roost.  One has to go through a lot of mental gyrations to think this is good for the environment, grid security or the threatened move to electric heat and appliances in homes.  The Ninth Circuit Court has stunted the later move for now, but look what has been done to people's desire for some degree of grid independence:

Bay Area rooftop-solar businesses are reeling from a statewide change that gutted compensation for homeowners returning surplus power to the electrical grid, causing applications for new solar to plunge to a 10-year low and leading to layoffs in an industry that had expected to lead the vanguard toward more sustainable, environmentally friendly energy use.

Owners of residential solar systems had been receiving enough utility credits to pay for most systems in seven years, industry representatives said, but for systems ordered after April 15, 2023, it will take 11 years. Residents with systems predating the change will continue to receive the same compensation.

“They clobbered the economics,” said Barry Cinnamon, owner of rooftop-solar company Cinnamon Energy Systems in Los Gatos.

Sales of rooftop-solar setups have plummeted about 80% since the commission shrank by 75% the compensation new solar owners get for surplus power, the California Solar & Storage Association said. The group estimated 2,700 jobs have been lost in the Bay Area, of 17,000 statewide. Nearly 13 million homes in California have solar, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

There are varying estimates of how many California homes have solar.  I think that 13 million is a typo or they are counting multi-family differently.  Another estimate puts it at 6.3 million and says that is 45% of all homes.   Other estimates put it closer to 40%.  Either way, there is a long way to go.  With the much longer payback period the rate of adoption will stay slower except in new construction where it started to be required in 2020. Now we can expect new housing prices to go up even faster than before.  What a stupid move.

Crosswalk Safety: 2024 changes bring "daylight"

The SF Chronicle is highlighting a new law that prohibits parking within 20 feet of all crosswalks regardless of whether the curb is painted red or not.  It went into effect Jan 1.

The cleared space makes it easier for people in cars to see pedestrians approaching the crosswalk — an idea known as daylighting.  For pedestrians, daylighting means that they don’t have to venture into the intersection and peek around parked cars to see whether they have a clear path to cross. The San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency has begun issuing warnings for violations of the new parking law, though the agency and others across the state cannot issue fines until 2025.

Under California’s new law, if the curb is painted red near a crosswalk or intersection, drivers should follow that distance, even if it is less than 20 feet, the same way parking is currently enforced. But if there is no paint or signage, drivers should follow the 20-foot distance, wherever they are in California, according to SFMTA.

It's a state law so it applies here in B'game as well.  When broadly enforced by Parking Enforcement this will likely be a sizeable number of parking spots taken out of service all over town.  Not that it's a bad idea, it just has consequences.  I've been reviewing the laws around crosswalks and pedestrians since I walk through the ECR-Howard Ave. crosswalk to Safeway and the Avenew regularly.  It's treacherous.  I've nearly been hit several times and have seen others experience similar close calls.  Part of the issue is how wide Howard is there.  Because of the shape of the southern curb, it gives drivers the impression that it's six lanes wide.  The fact that it is five lanes wide, and drivers are focused on northbound ECR traffic as they turn left onto Howard, puts this crosswalk on my list of "keep your head on a swivel" spots.

Coyote Alert: Middle of town

I'm guessing the B'gamers and H'boroughers who live up the hill or near Mills Canyon are much more familiar with coyote sightings than us flatlanders.  Even though I am a flatlander, I'm more familiar with them due to spending a good amount of time in Tahoe.  I think this guy, who was photographed yesterday morning walking down the middle of Central Ave., is a juvenile.  Central Ave is a block west of ECR and right at the southern edge of B'game--on street north of the Barriolhet border.

Watch your pets as they are reported to easily jump an eight-foot fence.

 

California Dr. Project: Not even close to popular

Let's kick of the New Year with chapter three (or four) of the story of the California Dr. fiasco.  Two months ago, we covered some of the confusing and dangerous aspects of the project here.  But there's nothing like a good anecdotal story or two to clarify public sentiment.  On December 15th, I had the pleasure of seeing Stevie Nicks at the Chase Center with five B'game ladies.  It's fun being the token man and I got to sit in the third row of the SUV--i.e. the wayback seat.  Stevie put on a great show, it being her "hometown gig"--she and Lindsey Buckingham went to Menlo-Atherton High, and she had many stories to tell.  So, everyone was in a good mood on the way home.

Our driver has lived here for 35+ years and works in town as well.  As we arrive in B'game, she gets off at B’way and bangs a left on Carolan.  Another lady says something about the circuitous approach to our destination and the driver says, “I never take California anymore”.

The car ERUPTS with middle-aged screams and a chorus of boos.  Some samples:  "What idiot designed that?"  "What a waste of money?"  "Why did they need another bike lane when there is one right here?" " Somebody is gonna get killed with that stupid middle of the street parking."  "You can barely see the new islands."  "Why can’t they leave well enough alone?"

And there I was, sitting in the wayback, half-smiling and half-grimacing.  My lovely wife had grown tired of me talking about the design flaws, so this was nice confirmation that it's not just me, but all her friends as well.  These ladies only scratched the surface as they are not familiar with the odd, shifting signage, misplaced striping, pedestrian inconvenience and other non-standard features like lanes that are different widths.  Some other stories have come my way from concerned citizens including one from one of B'game finest who has hit the concrete island while responding and now takes El Camino if he needs to get somewhere fast.

There's not much chance this will get undone anytime soon, but a couple of bad accidents or delayed first responses might put a redo on the drawing board.  In the meantime, be careful and have a Happy New Year.

Update:  Jan 4, 2024  Here are the traffic/bike statistics for Trousdale that Gerald references in the comments below.