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On Tuesday, San Francisco Assemblymember Phil Ting proposed a bill to convert Downtown San Francisco’s empty office spaces into housing. The way they would convert the spaces, Ting says, is through tax incentives.

“We can address two problems with one bill. AB 2488 empowers San Francisco to create vibrant, walkable, mixed-use communities that open the door to new economic, social and cultural opportunities. The prospect is exciting,” said Ting.

Private colleges and universities in California could be penalized for continuing use of legacy admissions under a bill in the state Legislature.

California wants residents to buy electric vehicles to fight climate change, to the point of ending the sale of new gasoline-fueled cars in 2035. 

AB 645 was made law last year in California. It allows for six California cities to pilot speed safety cameras for five years on city streets. 

Los Angeles, Glendale, Long Beach, San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland are the cities included.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) will be implementing 33 speed cameras within San Francisco.

A Bay Area lawmaker is proposing a new bill aimed at ensuring that bridges throughout the state remain toll-free for pedestrians and cyclists.

Assemblyman Phil Ting has introduced AB 2669 to guarantee that walking and biking across publicly owned California bridges, including the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, remains free of charge.

The California DMV is investigating allegations a driverless Cruise vehicle nearly hit a 7-year-old boy after failing to yield to him and his family while they crossed the street in San Francisco last year, according to DMV records obtained by the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit.

The key to cutting emissions from cars and light trucks that are heating the planet could lie with the nation’s super drivers, the small percentage of American motorists who drive, on average, about 110 miles per day.

If a car speeds through a school zone or breaks some other traffic law, the driver should get a ticket. But what if there is no driver? That’s the challenge confronting state lawmakers as California’s laws aren’t ready for autonomous vehicles. At least one lawmaker wants to fix it.

After a disastrous year for Cruise, one California lawmaker wants more scrutiny on the robotaxi industry coming into 2024—and is preparing legislation that would treat robotaxis the same as human-operated vehicles when they speed or commit other moving violations. 

Assemblymember Phil Ting, who represents parts of San Francisco and San Mateo County, told The Standard that he’s in the process of rolling out legislation that would further regulate driverless vehicles.

If California wants to build its way out of its long term housing shortage, plenty of things stand in its way in 2024: high interest rates, sluggish local approval processes and a persistent shortage of skilled construction workers, among others.