... interesting complaint Curmudgeon, but unless you oppose everything, in someways it is better to start paying for the choo-choo as an offset for money that currently subsidizes airports and air travel - should the cost of oil ever go up, then trains may be the cheapest form of travel - definitely cheaper than airplanes - but wait, look at the new Sacramento air terminal extravagant structure and the downtrend of users .... Oh, and no one is disarming anyone under SB140 ... except those who are felons and with "serious mental illness" ..... oh but wait ....

... oh, you mean the folks who are trying to bring us high speed rail, better mental health services for the poor, an end to gay discrimination (if only the US Supreme court upholds the California Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage by rejecting the defense of Prop 8 - and California governors refused to uphold this proposition that makes all gays second class citizens), and the separation of church and state by permitting open access to abortion and family planning measures, more solar energy (yes the 30% goal in California is six times what exists in other states today), and steps, even baby steps, toward better gun control: e.g. SB 140, signed tis month and authored by Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), allocates $24 million to identify and seize assault weapons owned by convicted criminals and individuals with serious mental illnesses." ... and while accidents and mistakes continue to happen, at least California has in place regulations that attempt to protect workers and reduce the chances of a West Texas blast here; while governor Perry even after the Texas disaster continues to crow about how Texas is business friendly = who cares about the murder of the innocents ...

good alternative Chris - we really need to make downtown bike friendly - and your approach seems like a good place to start a discussion; one problem with roundabouts like those on Capitol is that the city forces the bikes to merge with the cars ...

.... another reference on street lights:“Lighting is a major source of our energy use, and the money we save from these LED streetlights will allow us to invest in other important city projects,” said Matthew Bullis, public works director for the city of Madera. As PGE continues to promise better, more energy efficient LED street lighting than sodium-vapor lights.

A Triple Hit with LED street lights: 75% reduced electricity use, reduced carbon footprint and make the community safer, since "LED output color is much closer to daylight" and has better color rendering. Again, to restate: LED "lights are brighter and law enforcement agencies say they can see vehicles and suspects better at nigh" with LED street lights. Again, as cited by PGE et al., LED street lighting would be more effective than the SMUD proposed high-pressure sodium. LED street lights "save massive amounts of energy; reduced CO2 emissions and greenhouse gasses while the HPS bulbs have added toxic Mercury.