By Rachel Gordon
San Francisco Chronicle

It's not too often that the Bush administration points to the San Francisco Bay Area as a role model for the rest of the nation. But the region's proposed efforts to combat traffic congestion were held up by the president's transportation chief Tuesday as an example to emulate. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters was in San Francisco to tout the Bay Area's congestion-relief plan, which includes a proposal to charge motorists an extra toll as they come off the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco. It also includes the use of high-tech parking meters and traffic signals to combat congestion on city streets. "We believe that the solution to today's traffic problems do not have to be just about building new roads and infrastructure. It's about using technology. San Francisco's leaders understand that," said Peters, who held a brief sidewalk news conference near San Francisco's Civic Center. Read more »