Today's Headlines - more at Metro

4/07/2010

Transportation Headlines for Wednesday April 7, 2010


America's Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities
(Ratings are based on support of a vibrant and diverse bike culture. Los Angeles is not in the Top 50)
Bicycling

Boosting Property Values Near BRT
The City Fix

The Consequences Of HSR Misinformation
California High Speed Rail Blog

Crosswalks, Parking, And Other Suggestions For Blue Line Slauson Station
Curbed LA

Funds In Danger For $202 Million Rail Project
(Railroad and local transportation officials have less than two days to save Colton Crossing train overpass, but have not announced any breakthroughs and remain guarded regarding if an acceptable deal can be reached)
Riverside Press-Enterprise

L.A. Mayor Calls For Temporary Shutdowns Of Some Agencies: Villaraigosa, Battling With The City Council Over A Growing Fiscal Crisis, Seeks To Slash City Services Starting Monday
Los Angeles Times

Long Beach Signs On To Some Good Ideas
StreetsBlog LA

More Road Zombies Than Ever: 3.4 Million Americans Are Extreme Commuters
TreeHugger

Now Hear This: Subway Service Announcements Are A Train Wreck, Survey Finds
New York Daily News

Our Transit Advocate's Take: Is Metro Ready For "30 In 10?"
(roundup of responses to the question of whether Metro is up to the task of completing projects on a compressed timeline)
StreetsBlog LA

Parking And Neighborhoods Should Be Focus Of TOD Revamps
Urban Land Institute Ground Floor Blog

Pedestrian Deaths By Train Remain Steady
USA Today

Streetcar Ad Hits The Streets
Blog Downtown

Traffic Reduced in Santa Clarita, Thanks To Cross Valley Connector
LAist

Urban Biking's Next Generation: 5 Snazzy Innovations
TreeHugger

Vancouver Becomes A Transit City For 17 Days
Re:Place

Way-To-Go Vancouver Olympics: Lessons For Transport Planners
Planetizen

Which Cities Save Commuters The Most With Public Transport?
Wall Street Journal
Public Transportation Takes Us There Savings Calculator

4/06/2010

Transportation Headlines for Tuesday April 6, 2010

Analysis Of Google's Bike-There Feature, Part I
Utility Cycling

BART Expected To Avoid Service Cuts, Fare Increases In FY 2010-11 (a variety of cost-cutting measures and $26 million in state funding enough to replenish the reserves it dipped into last year to fend off the budget crisis)
StreetsBlog SF

Caltrain Goes Broke, Will Likely Wipe Out Weekend, Night And Midday Trains
(The popular commuter train service linking San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties to eliminate half its service; cities planning dense developments near train stations left in the lurch)
San Jose Mercury News

Can the High-Speed Rail Authority Dodge A Bullet?
CityWatch

Editorial: Safety First At Metrolink - Personality Tests For Conductors And Engineers Are Just One Part Of Upgrading The Rail System
Los Angeles Times

Functional Street Art
(In Los Angeles, wheat-pasted posters that indicate bike lanes have been cropping up on utility boxes all over the city)
GOOD

A Grim Assessment Of L.A.'s Finances: City Controller Wendy Greuel Declares An "Urgent Financial Crisis" And Says The Only Way To Continue Paying Bills In the Short Term Is To Begin Draining The City's Already Limited Emergency Reserve
Los Angeles Times

Hazard And Security Activities Of The Transportation Research Board (132p. PDF)
U.S. Transportation Research Board

It's Hard To Compete With Free Echo Park Parking
Eastsider LA

Jobs Increase Across Transport Modes
Journal Of Commerce

Map Of The Day: The LA Bike Map
LAist

Mutual Benefits And Close Connections: Baseball And America's Streetcars In The 19th Century (6p. PDF)
U.S. Transportation Research Board

Q. & A.: Transportation Secretary On Biking, Walking And "What Americans Want"
(interview with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood)
New York Times

Streetcar Revival: Will Your Town Be Next?
(AARP takes a comprehensive look at streetcars, exploring their past demise, their comeback and spread to as many as 40 cities, and how they increase mobility for seniors)
AARP Bulletin Today

TransPass Protest: Gender's A Sticky Issue
(SEPTA is the only major city transit agency with passes containing gender identification)
Philadelphia Daily News

What Happened To The Proposed "Transportation Tax" On Wall Street?
StreetsBlog DC

What Role For Polls In Policy Debates?
National Journal Transportation Blog

Will Bikers And Pedestrians Ever Be "Equal" To Drivers?
Infrastructurist

A Year Well-Spent: One Year Spent Car-Free
Imagine No Cars: Thoughts On Alternative Transportation And Urban Design

4/05/2010

Transportation Headlines for Monday April 5, 2010

101 Freeway Park Proposal Ramping Up: Federal Lawmaker Plays Up Plan
Los Angeles Business Journal

Americans Rebuild For "The New Urban Century"
("What's on the way out: sprawling interstates, suburban living, long car commutes. What's now in: light rail, green space and vibrant downtown districts")
CNN

Bullet Train Plan Under Fire From Local Officials: The State's Massive High-Speed Rail Project Could Save Up To $2 Billion - And Hundreds Of Homes - By Expanding And Sharing Existing Tracks Through The L.A.-O.C. Region, Local Transit Leaders Argue
Los Angeles Times

Expo Station Site Begins Transformation
Santa Monica Daily Press

Fail Rail! High-Speed Train Connecting Vegas To L.A. Comes Up 100 Miles Short
Fast Company

Finding An Appropriate Role For PPPs In The Infrastructure-Creation Process
Transport Politic

High Speed Train To Nowhere
("California is on track to devote several billion dollars to a high-speed rail system that will never be finished - because the requisite money never existed")
San Francisco Chronicle

Mass Transportation Security Mess: Report Details Chilling Inefficiencies - The Obama Administration Announces New Security Measures For Air Travel, But Trouble Rises At Ground Level
ABC News
Surface Transportation Security Priority Assessment
(30p. PDF, includes 20 recommendations for security measures)

Metro, It's Time For A Spanish Lesson
Straight Outta Suburbia / Salienda De Las Afueras
The Foreign Placename Problem In Transit Announcements
Human Transit

Metrolink Appoints New Leader: John E. Fenton Will Take Over April 16, 2010
Los Angeles Times

A New Look For Google Transit Maps
Google Lat Long Blog

Obscure Transportation Spending Watchdog To Have Meeting Monday (Independent Citizens' Advisory and Oversight Committee)
StreetsBlog LA

Pedestrian Plaza Envy: How To Make Los Angeles A Walker's Paradise
Green LA Girl

Potential Metrolink Service Cuts Scaled Back
Whittier Daily News

Private Funding And High Speed Rail
California High Speed Rail Blog

Regional Connector Meetings Ahead: Metro Planning Four Sessions To Cover Underground Alternative Starting April 9
Los Angeles Downtown News

Specifically Speaking: California's General Plans Get More Prescriptive
Architect's Newspaper

Stimulus Funding Will Help Widen The Ronald Reagan Freeway
Caltrans

Update On 110 Pasadena Freeway Construction
Eastsider LA

WeHo Wants Jetsons-Style Automated Parking Structure
Curbed LA

Whittier Pushes For Gold Line Route
Los Angeles Wave

Why Antonio Villaraigosa's 30/10 Plan Matters
Calitics

4/02/2010

Transportation Headlines For Friday April 2, 2010

Another U.S. Federal Agency On Board With Sustainable Transport
The City Fix

A Bike Race Through The Deserted Streets Of Los Angeles (Los Angeles bicycle crew organizes a bike race along the route of the L.A. Marathon the night before the race. The closed streets create a 26.2-mile urban raceway that is seen only once a year)
GOOD

Clayton County Loses Vital Bus Service, Link To Atlanta: Many Workers Fear They’ll Lose Their Jobs Without The Transportation, Cut Off Because Of A County Budget Shortfall
Los Angeles Times

Five Things You Need To Know About High-Speed Rail
Planetizen
Planetizen Launches High Speed Rail News Blog

Friday Tolls Tops $10 On 91 Express Lanes Under New Rates
Riverside Press-Enterprise

How America Led, And Lost, The High-Speed Rail Race
Progressive Fix

Is Metro Ready For “30 In 10?”
StreetsBlog LA

Metrolink Board Considers Cutting Inland Trains, Raising Fares
Riverside Press-Enterprise

Moscow Subway Attack: Five Ways To Make Mass Transit Safer
Christian Science Monitor

Name The Train: ATL Turns To Social Media
Transit Wire

New Report: Congress Should Boost Truck Efficiency By Raising Gas Tax
StreetsBlog DC

New Survey: 84% Of Transit Agencies Facing Fare Hikes, Service Cuts
StreetsBlog DC
APTA Press Release
Survey Results (8p. PDF)

Sensors Make Cities Smarter: In The Not Too Distant Future, Cameras And Sensors Will Empower Officials To Monitor Constantly Changing Dynamics
Governing

Transit Agencies Search For Silver Lining To Financial Hardship: Is There A Silver Lining To The Budget Crises That Have Plagued Public Transit Providers Across The U.S.? (Top executives at some of the nation’s hard-hit transit properties respond)
Transit Talent

The True Cost Of A Miserable Commute
StreetsBlog

Up Your Alley: Hidden Development In SF Alleys
(Whether they've formed organically over thee years or through direct encouragement from city policies, a number of activated alleys in San Francisco show that these often overlooked urban areas can play a valuable role in the urban realm)
Examiner

Using Social Media To Make Transit Fun!
Planning Pool

4/01/2010

Transportation Headlines for Thursday April 1, 2010

Can New Technology Make Mass Transit Safe?
Infrastructurist

Could Gas-Tax Bonds Pay For The Next Federal Transportation Bill?
StreetsBlog DC

DHS Has Completed Incident Planning For A Moscow-Like Explosive Attack (but it is the only one of 15 hypothetical terrorist attack scenarios with a completed strategic guidance statement, strategic plan, concept plan and operations plan)
Government Security News

Half Of All [New York] Subway Security Cameras Don’t Work
Huffington Post

Housing And Transportation Squeeze Hitting Rural America, New Report Concludes
Transportation For America

How Long Will It Take To Bring High Speed Rail To California? (interview with Jeffrey Barker, Deputy Executive Director for Communications, Policy and Public Outreach, California High-Speed Rail Authority and Pat Merrill, Assistant Vice-President for Policy & Development West, Amtrak)
KPBS

Is Caltrans Running Over The History Of L.A.’s Oldest Freeway? (Highland Park Heritage Trust asks California Office Of Historic Preservation order a stop to construction work they claim threatens or damages historic features of the Pasadena Freeway)
Eastsider LA

Letter From India: Railway Exams Not A Free Ride (audio : India's Railway Exams, given to aspiring guards, ticket collectors and drivers, ask a surprising variety of difficult questions. Competition for jobs on the railway is extreme — by one account there are 20,000 applicants for one ticket collector job)
National Public Radio

Los Angeles: The "Psychology Of The Place?"
Human Transit

Metrolink Train Crews Threaten Boycott Over Personality Test Requirement
Los Angeles Times

Metrolink May Raise Fares, Cut Service
Orange County Register

National TOD Organization Offers A Hand To Los Angeles
StreetsBlog LA

New Film Series Showcases City Transportation Innovations
The City Fix
National Association Of City Transportation Officials’ Best Practice Videos

Personal Infrastructures Take You On The Metro, A Bike, And Into Your Neighbor's House
Curbed LA

Public Gets Peek At $444 Million I-5 Project
Orange County Register

Proposed Texting Ban For Commercial Truck And Bus Drivers Pioneers Innovative E-Rulemaking Partnership
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

Restructuring The Commercial Strip: A Practical Guide For Planning The Revitalization Of Deteriorating Strip Corridors
(64p. PDF)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Success In The South Bay: South Bay Bicycle Coalition
Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition

TAD Or TOD? A Look At The W At Hollywood And Vine
StreetsBlog LA

What Happens When You Remove All Traffic Signs? A German Town Finds Out (In a counterintuitive approach to reducing car accidents and making streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists, a town has nixed all traffic signs and traffic lights in the town center)
Christian Science Monitor

What’s Bugging You? Parking Restrictions
(video : LADOT responds to complaints about outdated restricted parking signage on newly reconfigured James M. Woods Blvd. near downtown)
KABC-7