(CNSNews.com) – San Francisco, home to the congressional district of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), has requested nearly $2.2 billion in federal money as part of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Main Street Economic Recovery Plan. The plan outlines the requests of 641 individual cities and carries a total cost of $96.6 billion to U.S. taxpayers.
The funds, according to the report, would go toward public works and infrastructure projects that are supposed to be “shovel ready” – a term used to describe projects that are ready to begin but lack necessary funding.
San Francisco’s share of those projects – 29 in total – run the gamut from repaving roads and revamping water lines to installing cameras in the city’s 1,250 public buses and rail cars.
The cameras, for which the city wants $2 million, would be used to monitor and record the performance of the operators of each of the city’s buses and rail cars, according to the plan.
San Francisco’s proposals would create 12,704 jobs, at a cost of $172,813 per job according to the plan submitted to the conference by Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office. The City by the Bay has a population of approximately 764,976 according to the report.
The plan divides the projects up into 10 areas: community development, energy, transit equipment, city streets/roads, airport technology/infrastructure, Amtrak infrastructure, water/wastewater infrastructure, school modernization, public housing modernization, and public safety.
The city would like $527 million to renovate terminal two of the San Francisco airport – a project notable because, according to the report, it will create no new jobs. Another project – creating only four jobs – involves $900,000 for an energy efficient streetlight demonstration.
Among San Francisco’s other requests are $11 million to improve and expand the city’s Moscone Convention Center, a privately managed facility with over 2 million square feet of space and the sight of this year’s MacWorld Expo, Apple Computers’ annual technology show.
One of the most significant projects requested by San Francisco is $200 million to build the “Grand Central Station of the West Coast.” Formally named the Transbay Highspeed Rail Terminus, the project would serve as the central Amtrak and high-speed rail hub of the West Coast, despite the fact that high-speed rail lines do not serve the current Transbay terminal.
San Francisco also wants $4 million to install solar panels for its San Francisco Solar Project, which has already installed 2 megawatts of solar systems. The solar plan would create 15 jobs.
The city would like U.S. taxpayers to pick up a $275 million tab for mid-life maintenance on its 151 light-rail trains, as well as a $26 million maintenance bill for 330 buses. The city needs another $26 million to repair accident damage on nine light-rail cars. The projects would create a total of 300 jobs.
The city would like $600,000 to replace hydraulic vehicle lifts used to repair its fleet of diesel buses as well as $2 million to install passenger counters in 60 of its light-rail vehicles. It wants $1.7 million to refurbish its Central Control and Communications facility, using the money to replace equipment that is past its useful life.
San Francisco would also like U.S. taxpayers to provide $1.1 million to plan the building of a new Central Control and Communications center as well as $378,000 to build an interim facility while the new one is being built.
The city has requested a $5 million grant to fund its Transit Effectiveness Project, which will improve terminals, build operator bathrooms, improve signs, and purchase 16 small vehicles for the transit system.
U.S. taxpayers will also be asked to provide $54 million to install new traffic light controllers for SFgo, the city’s Integrated Transportation Management System, which includes the Central Control and Communications facility. The traffic light project would create 500 jobs.
The city is also asking for $8 million to build a Sustainable Civic Center, a project the city categorized as a water project, which would create 60 jobs.
The plan does not outline what types of jobs would be created, nor does it say what benefits and salaries would accompany those jobs. The city does not say what it would do with its 12,704 new employees once these projects are completed, nor does it say how it will pay for future public safety, health, and infrastructure projects once the federal money is spent.
Pelosi and Mayor Newsom’s offices did not return calls for comment.