Today's Headlines - more at Metro

7/07/2010

Revolutionizing The Bus, Expo Line TOD, Federal Transportation Tax, Retrofitting Suburbia, 1922 L.A. Traffic Relief & More

1922 Los Angeles: Unprecedented Growth, Congestion And A Plan For Relief
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

CalTrans Fail? (New signage announces 5-10-60 "Fyws")
Curbed LA

Council Set To Finalize LUCE (Santa Monica Land Use and Circulation Element)
Santa Monica Daily Press

Derided No More, Suburban Life Is Turning Serious
(Academia is slowly embracing suburban studies as a legitimate field of scholarly inquiry)
Associated Press

A Desire For More Streetcars: More Than Half A Century After The Streetcar's Heyday, This Transportation Mode Is Poised To Make A Comeback
Governing

Ellen Dunham-Jones: Retrofitting Suburbia (video : noted architect and Congress For New Urbanism Board Member discusses transforming "underperforming asphalt properties" into walkable, sustainable vital centers of community)
Ted: Ideas Worth Spreading

Flip Flop: Parts Of Orange County May Become L.A. County, And Vice Versa
LAist

Gas Taxes Give Us A Break At The Pump
USA Today

How Social Media Is Changing The Way Government Does Business
Mashable

In Westside Los Angeles, A Rail Line Stirs A Revival ("In addition to removing tens of thousands of cars from the road — 64,000 daily riders by 2030, according to transit authorities — the 15.6-mile Expo Line is expected to spawn a variety of mixed-use real estate projects, as some of the city’s previous rail lines have done.")
New York Times

Is This The Sustainable City Of The Future?
Guardian (London)

Keep The Traditional California Dream, Or Is It Time For A New Vision?
Fresno Bee

Potential Rail Car Cost-Saving Strategies Exist (41p. PDF)
U.S. Government Accountability Office

Public Works + Twitter = Cost-Cutting Info Sharing
LAist

Separation Of Vehicles: CMV-Only Lanes
(108p. PDF)
National Cooperative Freight Research Program

Slideshow: 12 Worst Government Websites (The list includes two federal transportation sites, as well as the City of Los Angeles)
Information Week

Subway On The Street: The [New York] MTA Has A Simple, Not Very Expensive Ticket For Improving How The City Gets Around - Revolutionize The Bus
New York Magazine

What Do Americans Think About Federal Transportation Tax Options? Results From A National Survey: Research Brief (2p. PDF)
Mineta Transportation Institute
Full-Text Report (65p. PDF)

What's Alan Lowenthal's HSR Game?
California High Speed Rail Blog

Will New York's Bus Rapid Transit System Cause A Bus Revolution?
Infrastructurist

7/06/2010

Over The Grapevine, Shaping L.A., Dump The Pump Wrap-Up, Writing Congress About 30/10, Oldest Pullman Porter & More

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America's Veterans Need More And Better Transportation Options
Transportation For America

Are Blue Bikelanes Better Than Black?
Treehugger

Art Review: "Through The Grapevine" At The Center For Land Use Interpretation
("The stars of show are the three roadways: the Ridge Route from 1915, Highway 99 from 1933 and Interstate 5 from 1970.")
Los Angeles Times

BART Plan Exposes City's Challenges
Wall Street Journal

Bicycle Highways: Should Cities Build Specialized Roadways For Cyclists?
Slate

California Salivates As Obama Administration Offers $2.3 Billion For High-Speed Rail
San Mateo County Times

Car Ownership Or Ease Of Driving: Which Is the Real Challenge?
The City Fix

Dumping The Pump: U.S. Transit Agencies Respond (a representative round-up of creative activities during the 5th Annual Dump The Pump Day on June 17)
Passenger Transport

How The Media Gets High Speed Rail Wrong
California High Speed Rail Blog

Inland Empire Commuters Hit The Road: A Study Shows Riverside County Residents Are Trekking To LA And San Diego Because Jobs Close To Home Are Hard To Find
NBC Los Angeles

The Latest Employment Report: Construction Jobs Get Hammered
Infrastructurist

Live Tube Map Halted As TfL Hit By 50-Fold Growth In Web Calls: Temporary Halt Put On Newly Introduced API Feed As Implementations Catch The London Open Data Experiment Unprepared For Demand
Guardian (London)

Metro-FlickrLA: Pacific Electric Painted Metro Blue Line Train
MetroRider LA

Metro-FlickrLA: Wilshire-Western Station
MerroRider LA

NAVTEQ: A Growing Interest In Transit Data
GPS Business News

Oldest Living Pullman Porter Looks Back: Lee Wesley Gibson, 100, Began Working For Union Pacific In 1936
Los Angeles Times

Opinion: Shaping The City Of L.A.-- With A New City Planning Director To Be Named Soon, It's Time To Streamline The Land Use Process And Make It Smarter And More Efficient -- For Los Angeles To Finally Take Charge Of Its Cityscape
Los Angeles Times

Opinion: Time To Change The Map On High-Speed Rail?
San Jose Mercury News

Santa Monica Introduces "Sharrows" On 14th Street: "Sharrows," Or "Shared Lane Arrows," Are One Of The Elements Of A Larger Bike Plan That Santa Monica Is Developing
Los Angeles Times

Taiwan High-Speed Posts First Operating Profit
International Railway Journal

Technology Innovations Cut Costs, Boost Safety In Public Transportation; New Processes Add Visibility, Collision Warning, Antibacterial Support
Passenger Transport

Tube Line Sales Completed
Railway Gazette (U.K.)

US Bicycle Route System Begins Connecting America
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

USC Plans $900-Million Shopping And Residential Upgrade: Neighbors Are Divided On The Project, Which Would Replace University Village. Work Could Start In Two Years
Los Angeles Times

Washington Gets America's First Electric Highway
GOOD

What Does American Exceptionalism Mean For Livable Streets?
StreetsBlog DC

What Ever Happened To Public Transportation?
Huffington Post

Will High-Speed Rail Drive Business?
National Journal Transportation Blog

Working Families Brace For The Strain Of 20% Hike In Bus Fares
LA Beez

Writing Congress About LA's 30/10 Mass Transit And Jobs Initiative
Huffington Post

7/02/2010

HSR Profitability Questioned, Beverly Hills Tunneling, Avoiding Congestion Pricing, "Safety Train" & More

Beverly Hills Community Opposition Building Against Westside Subway
LAist

Bus Fares Increase As Los Angeles Metro Executives Get Huge Salaries
LA Weekly

Bus Cuts Drive Americans Back To Cars
Guardian (London)

California High-Speed Rail Ridership Forecast Not Reliable, Study Finds
UC Berkeley News
Review Of "Bay Area/California High-Speed Rail Ridership And Revenue Forecasting Study" (59p. PDF)
UC Berkeley Institute Of Transportation Studies

Drivers Try To Avoid Higher Tolls On Bay Bridge
(Traffic patterns are changing as commuters try to avoid congestion pricing hours in place before 10a.m.)
San Francisco Chronicle

High-Speed Rail Project's Prospects Called Unpredictable: A UC Berkeley Report Says The Ridership Forecasts Are So Unreliable That It Can't Be Determined Whether The Train Would Be Profitable Or Run In The Red
Los Angeles Times

Kids Safer On The Subway (A recent study shows that traffic fatality rates are lower for children in areas where public transit is widely used)
The City Fix

L.A. Losing Millions In Uncollected Parking Tickets And Fines: An Audit By City Controller Wendy Greuel For Fiscal Year 2008-09 Showed That Only 53% Of Some $533 Million In City Billings Was Collected, Resulting In A Loss Of $260 Million Annually
Los Angeles Times

Let's Hear It For L.A.
CityWatch

Metro Debuts New Rapid Service Between Downtown And Santa Monica
LAist

Metro Meets Some Community Opposition: Residents Speak Out Against Tunneling Under Neighborhood Homes
Beverly Hills Patch

Metrolink Fares And 91 Express Lanes Tolls Increase
Orange County Register

Our Cities, Ourselves: Ten Architects Re-Imagine Urban Transport In 2030
The City Fix
Bicycles As Transport: From Alternative To Mainstream

Park 101 Costs And Next Steps Outlined By Study
(Includes new conceptual sketches and plans. "The five phases of the project to cap the 101 freeway through Downtown with park space would cost $387 million, but would generate $408 million in private investment.")
Blog Downtown

Park Powers Forward: Green Component Of Grand Avenue Plan, Including A Dog Park, To Have Groundbreaking Ceremony July 15
Los Angeles Downtown News

Ride Report: Metro Rapid Line 733
MetroRider LA

"Safety Train" Ride Shows Danger To Pedestrians
San Francisco Chronicle

Santa Monica Announces Sharrows, New Bike Lane And More
LAist

Telling The Story Of Chicago, One Train Stop At A Time
StreetsBlog Network

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Is Charging Ahead In His Political Career
("Few expected this Republican in the Obama cabinet to cause such a stir. Yet, from his high speed rail advocacy to campaigning for road safety ("just say no to texting") to pushing livable communities, 64-year-old Ray LaHood has changed D.O.T.")
Washington Post

US House Panel Approves $67.4 Billion Transportation Bill
Dow Jones Newswires

What Does the Berkeley ITS Ridership Report Actually Say?
California High Speed Rail Blog

Who Is The Most Interesting Person You Have Met On Public Transportation?
GOOD

Youths Welcome Subway In Beverly Hills: Metro's Proposed "Direct Connection" Subway Plans Give Local Teens A Chance To Get Out Of Town
Beverly Hills Patch

7/01/2010

Subway Wraps, Orange Line Light Rail?, Park 101, World's Worst Commutes, Weight Loss Via Transit & More


Cities With The World's Worst Commutes
(Los Angeles? Worst in the nation, with 43% saying they believe traffic has gotten worse in the last three years, but doesn't fare too poorly when compared internationally. Moscow? Don't ask.)
Huffington Post
IBM Global Commuter Pain Study Reveals Traffic Crisis In Key International Cities

High Speed Rail Supporters State Their Case At Union Station And Beyond
StreetsBlog LA

HUD Chief Preaches Livable Communities At Conference On Cities
StreetsBlog Network

Irvine Co. Gives 20,000 Acres Of Open Space To Orange County (The parcel is five times the size of Griffith Park and doubles O.C. parklands overnight)
Los Angeles Times

Judge Throws Out Challenge To Metrolink Cameras That Monitor Engineers
Los Angeles Times

L.A. Council Approves Truck-Driving Academy Atop Old Lopez Canyon Landfill
Los Angeles Times

L.A. Planning Director Goldberg Announces Retirement
California Planning & Development Report

L.A. School District Purchase CNG Buses
Fleet Owner

Meet Alhambra Gateway, San Gabriel Valley's Arc De Triomphe
Curbed LA

MTA To Raise Fares 6%: A One-Way Ticket Will Rise To $1.50 And A Daily Pass Will Increase To $6. Fares Will Remain The Same For Students, The Disabled, Medicare Recipients And People 62 Or Over
Los Angeles Times

Next Steps... (StreetsBlog LA to cease publication July 23)
StreetsBlog LA

Now, Anyone Can Monitor Reliability
Human Transit

Officials To Mull Rail Station In Valley: California's Planned 800-Mile High-Speed Rail System Will Include One Station In The Valley Along The Statewide Route
Glendale News Press

Park 101 Pseudo-Update: Latest Rendering Reveal
Curbed LA

Riders Who Take Mass Transit Regularly May Lose Weight
National Public Radio
The Effect Of Light Rail Transit On Body Mass Index And Physical Activity (8p. PDF)
American Journal Of Preventive Medicine

SoCal Seeks High Line West: Port City Of Wilmington [Is] Completing Its Own Elevated Park, A Buffer Between Loading Docks And Domiciles
Architect's Newspaper

Subway Wraps: Innovative Transit Revenue Streams (Not Sandwiches)...
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Terrafugia Transition "Flying Car" Gets Go-Ahead From US Air Authorities
(light aircraft can convert into a road-legal automobile and will go into production after being given a special weight exemption by the FAA)
Telegraph (London)

What About Upgrading The Orange Line To Light Rail?
Ride The Pink Line

Wonktime: The Great Los Angeles Parking Debate
LA Weekly