Temporary Mayor Ed Lee released a draft of the transportation plan for the America's Cup this morning and (no surprises here) it contains quite a few lofty goals for moving the estimated 200,000 daily riders to and from the waterfront. Not the least of which is his promise "to deliver the most transit-, bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly major sporting event in history for residents and visitors alike." Sure and getting to and from AT&T park is always a total breeze too.

Current Muni and sporting event-related woes aside, train enthusiasts might be excited to learn the proposed plan includes the creation of a new line, the E-Embarcadero, to shuttle riders from the Caltrain Station at 4th and King to Fisherman's Wharf. Naturally, the proposed line will run historic streetcars for maximum nostalgic effect, which is still better than trying to fool tourists with those buses that look like cable cars.

For the cyclists in attendance: there will be bike valets for storing bike while you mill about waiting for a boat to pass or whatever it is you do at a regatta. The city also plans to coordinate with bike rental companies to set up strategic rental locations around town. At the same time, the Bike Sharing program Newsom pushed for will also being going live in Spring 2012.

In terms of traffic closures, the current draft proposes closing off the Northbound side of the Embarcadero to vehicles and keeping one lane of Van Ness restricted to buses. Likewise, riders on a few lines like the 30-Stockton and the 47-Van Ness will get increased service and possibly express service to go along with it. The real losers (besides all of us who thought the 30 could not get more packed) are the folks in residential areas near the northern waterfront where vehicular access will be limited. But you guys obviously saw that coming already, right District 3?

Lee will have a little more time than Willie Brown's notorious 100 days to get things in order before the races start in late 2012 and this current draft will surely change after the public gets ahold of it, but the city will need to approve the environmental impact review before the transportation plan - a.k.a. "the people plan" - can be approved. Both final versions are expect to be completed by the Fall of this year.

[SFExaminer]
[Chronicle]
[SFBC]