Today's Headlines - more at Metro

12/07/2010

California Annual Legislative Summary, L.A. 2050, Future Of The Port Of L.A., Road-Trains, Transportation Earmarks, Megacities On The Move & More

California's Economy Will Pick Up Somewhat In 2011, Forecasts Say: The State Will Add Jobs And Unemployment Will Drop But Still Exceed The Nation's Jobless Rate
Los Angeles Times

Chinese Train Hits A Record Breaking 300 MPH ("The line is expected to reduce travel time between Beijing and Shanghai from 10 hours to 5 hours.")
Time

Conflicting Visions Of Future Of Port Of L.A. Could End In Court Fight
Long Beach Press-Telegram

Cyclists Gaining Momentum For Planning Push
Santa Monica Daily Press

D.C.'s Metro Sees Cycling As An Opportunity To Grow Ridership
StreetsBlog DC

Dem Lawmaker Wants Rep. Oberstar's Name On Fed Building ("A Democratic congressman is mounting an effort to rename the Department of Transportation headquarters after Rep. Jim Oberstar, one of serveral House committee chairmen defeated in the midterm elections.")
USA Today

Democrats And Republicans Agree On Higher Gas Taxes, Just Not In Public All The Time
AutoBlog Green

European Road-Train Tests Move Forward ("A project to link cars headed in the same direction into semi-autonomous “road trains” is moving from concept to reality...Engineers hope to increase aerodynamic efficiency and reduce congestion with no changes in infrastructure,
while giving drivers all the benefits of carpooling with the privacy of an individual car.")
Wired
Tests Within The Development Of Safe Road Train Technology Soon Ready For Takeoff (video)
via YouTube

Experts Criticize High-Speed Rail Financial Plan
San Jose Mercury News

An Extensive New Addition To Dallas' Light Rail Network Makes It America's Longest
Transport Politic

For The Want Of An Earmark
("Is it possible to shepherd a major transportation-funding bill through Congress without greasing the skids with earmarks? Or does the earmark ban simply mean members need to get more creative in seeking help for their projects? Does an earmark ban put more or less power in the hands of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which will be tasked with the minutia of the bill? Will the experience of negotiating a surface-transportation bill without earmarks convince lawmakers that maybe they're not so bad
after all?")
National Journal Transportation Blog

Guiding The Selection And Application Of Wayside Energy Storage Technologies For Rail Transit And Electric Utilities (64p. PDF)
Transit Cooperative Research Program

It's Time To Update The Definition Of "Smart Growth" (The smart growth agenda gets proposed updates for the 21st century)
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Japan To China: You've Hijacked Our High-Speed Rails
MSNBC

Main Street Roundabout Removed From Civic Center Plan
Santa Monica Mirror

Megacities On The Move: Scenarios For The Future Of Sustainable Urban Mobility
The City Fix

Metrolink Unveils Newer, Safer Passenger Cars
(video)
KABC-7

Metrorail Map And Train Locator
("Data, provided by WMATA’s developer api, gives the same information found on the information boards in metro stations. After finding the approximate time distance between stations, the application simply interpolates latitudes and longitudes between those stations (with minute granularity) to determine an estimated location.")
Unofficial D.C. Visitor Guide

No Designated Bus Lanes For Beverly Hills?
Beverly Hills Courier

Our View: Measure Leads To Tougher Consequences
("Wherever the chips fall on the High Speed Rail board issue, it's a good sign that a voter initiative designed to shine light on the process of drawing state and congressional districts is spreading to other areas of governance.")
Pasadena Star-News

Pedestrians Take To The Streets, Motorists Learn To Coexist
New Urban Network

Resources To Know: California Transit Association & Its Annual Legislative Summary
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Roundabouts: An Informational Guide
(407p. PDF)
National Cooperative Highway Research Program

Truckers Say L.A.'s "Green" Port Costs Them Money: The Dispute Who Should Pay For Leasing And Maintaining "Clean" Rigs Could Go To The Supreme Court
Los Angeles Times

The View From L.A.: Hartford Can Change, Too (A USC graduate student tells Hartford, Connecticut to look to Los Angeles as a model for public financing and transit planning to break away from auto dependency)
Hartford Courant

Why Reformers Should Care How We Pay For Transportation
StreetsBlog DC

Workshop Notes From "L.A. 2050" Event At Occidental College
StreetsBlog LA