For much of Jon Costantino’s career, using public transportation was a daily affair. But moving up in his career, both figuratively and literally, pushed him back behind the wheel.

High-speed trains linking Northern and Southern California have been a point of contention for more than a decade. For some, such “bullet trains” are the ideal solution to growing transportation needs; for others, they represent a boondoggle with enormous economic risk.

On a breezy, blue-sky day in late November, West Sacramento city and regional planning officials gathered near Raley Field to celebrate the opening of Tower Bridge Gateway, a reconstructed boulevard connecting Highway 50 to Tower Bridge.

Husband-and-wife team Alex and Feysan Lodde launched MediVan in 1975 with one bus, three employees and a truckload of dedication. Now called MV Transportation Inc., the privately owned passenger transportation company is the largest of its kind in the United States.

As chief executive officer of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), McKeever oversees planning and funding processes for cycling transportation projects, so he’s interested in what works and what doesn’t.

Thousands of Sacramentans soon can walk out their front doors and take a few steps to the American River Parkway, to light-rail, to shops and restaurants and maybe even to their workplaces.

For 15 years, the California High-Speed Rail Authority and its backers have discussed, planned, studied and lobbied for the kind of fast trains seen elsewhere around the world.

An unemployed engineer and an e-waste recycler walk into a bar. The engineer takes the recycler’s electric bike for a spin. And, a year later, The Electric Bike Shop opens its doors in East Sacramento.

McClellan Jet Services is Sacramento’s one-stop shop for all things airplanes.

When the president announced his federal stimulus plan, jurisdictions across the nation crossed their fingers for funding, and Placer County got in line.