Welcome to Monitor Notes, a weekly roundup of news items, event announcements, and updates on past Bay Area Monitor articles.
Old Train of Thought
With new trains arriving, BART’s board is looking at early plans for decommissioning its old fleet. Interested in how it’ll be handled? Attend the board meeting tomorrow or watch a livestream of the presentation. While the board has multiple operational issues to consider, many residents are most eager to know whether the old cars will be repurposed, donated, or sold off as scrap metal. FTA requirements play a big role in the fleet’s fate, however. A BART news article explains some decommissioning dynamics.
Take Charge
To speed electric vehicle adoption in California, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s Charge! Program is ponying up grant funding to public and private organizations so they can buy and install charging stations. So, consider spreading the word if you know a group that needs equipment. Employers are among those who’ve been stepping up, installing more stations to attract and keep staff. Anyone seeking grant information must attend a webinar. The next one is February 7. Steer here for more dates and grant details.
Pollution Pictures
A mobile mapping platform from Aclima offers residents details about smoke from the Camp Fire and its pollution effects at the “hyperlocal level” in cities and coastal ranges. Aclima followed the movement of particulate matter and the later changes in concentration as the fires raged, noting that localized data helps policymakers create climate mitigation strategies to address greenhouse gas emissions, which are contributing to wildfire intensity and frequency. See what Aclima gleaned from Day 1 of the fire on November 8 and the period that followed.
Just Keep Swimming
Popularity in Bay swimming is increasing. Yet the open water activity presents dangers, according to a San Francisco Estuary News feature by the Monitor’s Aleta George. Sharing the water with wild animals means sharing it “in sickness and in health,” she wrote. A recent bacterial infection affecting local marine mammal populations isn’t likely to hurt swimmers. But water is tested weekly while awareness builds about contaminants such as micro-plastics and how they affect swimmers. George interviewed several Bay bathers for their take on these risks and what it’s like to submerge with sea lions.
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