While there are lessons both good and bad that other cities might draw from Muni and its parent organization, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, a few recent highlights may be most noteworthy.

On October 17, 1989 was a dark moment for the city. And yet, out of this darkness, the possibility for change emerged.

While urban planners across the U.S. talk about creating transit-oriented development, the D.C. region has built TODs in a way that's actually changing commuter behavior. What lessons can San Francisco learn from this success story?

How the nation emerges from this recession in terms of the structure of its economy, infrastructure, energy supply, and approach to the natural environment will determine our ability to compete and prosper in the 21st century.

Job decentralization has expanded the boundaries of our megaregion — increasing commute times and greenhouse gas emissions in Northern California. We propose a framework for developing strategies to drive jobs back into centers already served by regional transit.

How can we bring more jobs into the region's most transit-rich employment center? SPUR proposes a sustainable plan for transit-oriented job growth in the Bay Area.

Building a better rail system is critical for the Bay Area. Top priority should be expanding capacity in the urban cores of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. SPUR recommends how to make this happen.

In this paper, we explore the idea of reducing taxes on good things — economic growth and job creation — and replacing them with taxes on bad things, or environmentally harmful activities.

What will it take for San Francisco to get the transit system it deserves? SPUR takes a hard look at the SFMTA's Transit Effectiveness Project, the first major upgrade proposed for MUNI in nearly 30 years.

This feature includes several maps showing the geographical reach of the Northern California megaregion – as defined by travel time, population density and access to natural resources. It accompanied a major SPUR study, published in November 2007, on the same topic.

Caltrain's surface rail yards represent enormous opportunities for San Francisco. In this report, SPUR proposes a plan to knit together Mission Bay with neighborhoods to the north and west.

San Francisco is about to build its first new subway in decades. It's a great project that could be even better with a few key improvements.

Building high-speed rail in California could reinforce cities as the hubs of our economies and significantly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. So why is the proposal languishing?

This paper argues that downtown San Francisco is the region’s best chance of getting people to work without a car. But to add more jobs, downtown must overcome limits in zoning and transit capacity.

Jeff Tumlin spells out 10 lessons San Francisco can learn from Portland -- from providing free transit in the downtown area, to supplying street furniture to improving walkability.

A summary of the hidden costs of driving -- including air pollution, accident damages, congestion time and road maintenance costs, and the larger public policy implications for San Francisco.

SPUR addresses Muni’s deficit, proposing to boost revenues by increasing the speed of boarding, reducing waits at lights, improving transit stop spacing, and favoring primary transit corridors. 

SPUR staff provides a brief overview of their accomplishments in 2004.

New mixed-use areas raise parking congestion issues. Instead, SPUR recommends transit improvements, wider sidewalks, bike lanes, and supports plans for the Central Subway.

A look at traffic-calming programs in Zurich, Vienna, and Munich, a redesign of transportation planning to improve overall livability.

SPUR recommends several organizational changes for Muni, including the creation of a Multimodal Planning and Project Development Department to oversee all transit and consolidate Muni and DPT.

Josh Hart shares some of the joys of bicycling in San Francisco. He touches on unique cycling terrain like dried creek beds, and makes the plea that cycling is not dangerous, but rather, a peaceful urban experience.

In 2003, among many other things, SPUR wrote legislation to require public hearings of proposed ballot measures, helped the City nurture a fledgling biotech industry and hosting a study trip to Vancouver.<br />

Michael Alexander discusses Doyle Drive, a project that finally reached consensus after heated debate, only to be delayed by state budget woes.