Today's Headlines - more at Metro

5/27/2011

Metro Board Mtg Roundup, Expo Line & Development, Gold Line Foothill Extension, 405 & Wilshire, Gas Dependence, L.A. Noire & More

405 Update: What's Going To Happen At Wilshire
LA Observed

All Aboard! Metro Approves Day Pass Price Rollback To $5
LAist

America's Waning Commitment To Transportation Funding
StreetsBlog Network

Analysis: Looming Big Shifts In Federal Transportation Funding
Transportation Issues Daily
Highway Money Fight Shifts To States
Roll Call

A Bike Lane That's Projected On The Street As You Ride
GOOD

California's High-Speed Rail Won't Go Nowhere: German High-Speed Trains Started In The Provinces, Too, But Now Have A Fast Efficient And Popular System Crisscrossing The Nation (The two small cities that California High-Speed Rail will connect are actually on opposite ends of some bigger cities, meaning they will be connected to those larger job and commerce centers. This is how German high speed rail developed)
Miller-McCune

Development Lacking Along L.A.'s Light Rail Expo Line: Several Areas Near Stops Along The New Transit Line, Which Will Extend From Downtown L.A. To Santa Monica When Completed In 2015, Are Ripe For Building And Renovation, Urban Planners Say
Los Angeles Times

Gardena Approves New Bus Routes Over Some Objections
Daily Breeze

Google Maps Adds Buttons, Gets Foursquare Feel ("New this week are redesigned transit station pages in Google Maps. Each station page now has a list of upcoming departure times, all the different lines serving the particular station and links to nearby transit stations. Google's transit initiative has been steadily expanding and now encompasses an impressive 446 cities worldwide.")
PC World

Highway Infrastructure And The Economy: Implications For Federal Policy (link to full-text document and summary)
RAND

How Archivists Helped Video Game Designers Recreate The City's Dark Side For "L.A. Noire"
LA As Subject via KCET

How Gas-Dependent Is Your State?
StreetsBlog DC
Fighting Oil Addiction: Ranking States' Gasoline Price Vulnerability And Solutions For Change
Natural Resources Defense Council
Full-Text Report (29p. PDF)

Lawmaker Wants To Put Amtrak Service Up For Bid
("House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica of Florida said Thursday there is "great potential" in the Northeast corridor - which extends from Washington to Boston, including service to New York and Philadelphia - for better, faster train service, if Amtrak will get out of the way.")
Forbes

Leimert Park MTA Stop: Board Votes To Keep Possibility Of Crenshaw Stop Alive
Southern California Public Radio

Metro's Support For Leimert Park Village Rail Station Is Verbal, Not Monetary: Board Of Directors Says It Likes The Idea Of Adding A Crenshaw Line Station In Leimert Park Village If The Sum Already Budgeted For The Whole Project Is Sufficient To Cover The Cost
Los Angeles Times

Metro Board Live Blog: :"Park Mesa Tunnel" Fails, Day Pass Reduced From $6 To $5, At-Grade Leimert Station Approved
StreetsBlog LA

New Analysis Could Mean Funding For Crenshaw/LAX Light Rail Line
Our Weekly

New NYC Transit Site Easier To Use, Unless You're Mobile
Transportation Nation
New York MTA Website

O.C. Can Be Dangerous Place For Pedestrians
Orange County Register

Opinion: It's Time To Invest Fully In High-Speed Rail
San Francisco Chronicle

Our View: Ridership Figures Support Extension: After A Slow Start, Passenger Numbers Indicate Gold Line Foothill Extension Into The Inland Valley Will Do Good Business

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Protocols For Collecting And Using Traffic Data In Bridge Design (125p. PDF)
National Cooperative Highway Research Program

Ray LaHood (extensive interview with the U.S. DOT Secretary)
Better Roads

Study Blames 2,200 Deaths [Last Year] On Traffic Emissions
USA Today

Thank You Metro For The Pat On The Back ("The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority awarded our department the top Corporate Blue Diamond Award for its sustainable transportation programs.")
UCLA Be A Green Commuter!

Wilshire Grand To Close Dec. 31: Razing Of Property for $1.1 Billion Project To Begin Next Year
Los Angeles Downtown News

Work Schedules And Sleep Patterns Of Railroad Train And Engine Service Employees In Passenger Operations (88p. PDF)
Federal Railroad Administration

Your Commute Is Killing You: Long Commutes Cause Obesity, Neck Pain, Loneliness, Divorce, Stress, And Insomnia
Slate

What are transportation community leaders around the nation tweeting about today? Check out the Metro Library Twitter Daily, our online digest in newspaper format updated every day.

5/26/2011

Crenshaw Leimert, America Fast Forward Moves Forward, 7th St Bike Lane, 710 Tunnel, Senate Transpo Bill, Planning Tools, BRT Report & More

America Fast Foward Moves Closer To Reality
StreetsBlog LA

America Fast Forward On The Fast Track (Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa : "Today's announcement to make changes to the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) puts us one step closer to realizing the vision of America Fast Forward, which means putting people back to work and building the 21st century infrastructure we need to drastically reduce traffic and commutes.")
Huffington Post

Bipartisan Group Of U.S. Senators Backs Hefty Boost In Money To Speed Rail Projects
Los Angeles Times

Boxer: Transpo Funding Will Rise In Senate Bill, Bike/Ped Will Be Preserved
StreetsBlog DC

County's Transit System May Be Overhauled
Ventura County Star

Crenshaw/LAX Line Could Determine Leimert Park's Fate
MSNBC

Crucial Vote On Crenshaw-LAX Light Rail Line
USC Annenberg Intersections South LA

Feds Won't Delay California High-Speed Rail Deadline
Silicon Valley Mercury News

Getting Ready For The 7th Street Bike Lane
KCET

How A Westside Bus Plan Could Change Veterans' Lives Downtown
Southern California Public Radio

Judge Hits Pause In Lawsuit Opposing Cameras On Metrolink Engineers
Los Angeles Daily News

Key Dem Says Higher Gas Tax Should Be On The Table For Highways
The Hill

L.A. Leaders Call On MTA To Put Rail Station In Leimert Park Village
Los Angeles Times

L.A. Transit Projects: Villaraigosa Persuades Senate Leaders To Help Speed Up Projects
Southern California Public Radio

MTA Must View Crenshaw Subway In A Regional Context
Our Weekly

No More Play ("In this excerpt from a new book on Los Angeles, L.A.-based architect Michael Maltzan reflects on the city, and how its clashes and evolving identity are part of why it represents the future of cities.")
Places

Obama's Transportation Plan To Shrink In The Senate
Reuters

Opinion: The Case Against Building The 710 Freeway Tunnel
La Canada Valley Sun

Opinion: The Train Should Stop At Leimert Park: The New Crenshaw-To-LAX Light-Rail Should Include A Station In South Los Angeles' Historic Leimert Park Village (Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas)
Los Angeles Times

Planning Tools: The Census, New Energy & Our Climate Future
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Redone Transit Center Reopens
Long Beach Press-Telegram

Road Builders: 80 Million Jobs At Stake In Transportation Bill
The Hill
80 Million Jobs Depend On The U.S. Transportation Network
Transportation Construction Coalition

Stakeholders Provide More Support Ahead Of Key Vote On Crenshaw Light Rail: Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Others Gather To Put Pressure On MTA Board To Approve A Station For Leimert Park And Move Portion Of Route Underground
Los Angeles Wave

U.S. Cities Reinventing Buses As Modern, Efficient, And Effective
Institute For Transportation & Development Policy
Recapturing Global Leadership In Bus Rapid Transit: A Survey Of Select U.S. Cities (80p. PDF)
Institute For Transportation & Development Policy

U.S. Rejects Proposed Changes To Bullet-Train Project: Federal Transportation Officials Say They Cannot Postpone The Deadline To Start Construction Of The $43-Billion Project Or Allow California To Move The First Rail Leg Out Of The Central Valley
Los Angeles Times

Vacation In The City Means A Ride On Local Public Transit: 54% Of Summer Travelers Anticipate Using Public Transportation
APTA Press Release

What are transportation community leaders around the nation tweeting about today? Check out the Metro Library Twitter Daily, our online digest in newspaper format updated every day.

5/25/2011

Wilshire BRT, Crenshaw/LAX, Metro Board Meeting, CicLAvia, National Pedestrian Safety, Senate Transpo Bill, City Transpo Rankings & More

The 10 Best Cities For Public Transportation?: How The Press Misrepresented A Recent Report From The Brookings Institution -- And Why Most City Rankings Are Problematic In General
The Atlantic

As America Ages, A Push To Make Streets Safer
(Road diets and complete streets)
NPR

Could Beverly Hills Become The Next Bike-Friendly City?
Southern California Public Radio

CicLAvia Expands In October, Forgoes July ("Due to overwhelming success, and the need to expand, CicLAvia and the city of Los Angele
s have decided to focus our energies on expanding the CicLAvia route on October 9, 2011 and to forgo the announced July 10, 2011 date.")
CicLAvia
Draft CicLAvia October 2011 Expansion Routes South And East
CicLAvia

DOT Stimulus Payments Reach $28.2 Billion: Department Still Has $20 Billion Left To Disperse
Journal Of Commerce

Dangerous By Design: How The U.S. Builds Roads That Kill Pedestrians
StreetsBlog DC

Editorial: "Drill, Baby, Drill" Won't Do It: Conservation And A Switch To Renewable Energy Sources Are The Best Hedges Against Rising Oil Prices
Los Angeles Times

Gail Goldberg Lands At The ULI
Curbed LA

Inland Empire Said To Be Among Most Dangerous Places For Pedestrians In U.S.
Los Angeles Times

Metro Board Has Three Huge Decisions On Thursday (Crenshaw/LAX, Wilshire BRT, Budget)
StreetsBlog LA

Mr. Mayor, The Black Community Needs You Now
(PDF : "He holds the key to the economic revival and survival of the Crenshaw community along the proposed light rail line from Exposition Blvd. to Florence Blvd.")
Los Angeles Sentinel

No One Likes New Taxes (But How Else Will We Pay For Roads?)
Infrastructurist

NRDC Urges LA To Adopt The Wilshire Blvd. Bus-Only Lane Without Any Exemptions

Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Numbered Subways Found To Be Pokier Than Lettered Ones
New York Times

"Operation Pothole" Is Back, Make Sure Our Bike/Bus Streets Get Fixed
StreetsBlog LA

Performance Measures For Freight Transportation
(169p. PDF)
National Cooperative Freight Research Program

Residents Asked To Send A Message -- And Petition -- To Metro Board
Our Weekly

The Roads Not Taken: People Have Imagined The Future Of Transportation At Least Since Leonardo da Vinci Sketched A Flying Machine. Here Are Some Past Ideas Of Future Travel That Never Quite Came To Pass (infographic of incredible proposals dating back to 1919)
Wall Street Journal

Senate Transportation Bill, MAP-21, Freezes Spending At Current Levels (Includes "a new section called America Fast Forward, which strengthens the TIFIA program to stretch federal dollars further than they have been stretched before.")
StreetsBlog DC

The Silly Argument Over BRT And Rail: Reserving Respect For Each Mode
Transport Politic

The Top 5 Ways To Save On Gas This Memorial Day
Infrastructurist

Transportation 4 America Report: Federal And Local Governments Need To Address Pedestrian Safety
StreetsBlog LA
Solving The Epidemic Of Preventable Pedestrian Deaths: Overview
Transportation For America
Dangerous By Design 2011: Solving The Epidemic Of Preventable Pedestrian Deaths (36p. PDF)
Transportation For America

USC Commuter Services Require Re-Evaluation

USC Daily Trojan

Westwood Hollywood Video Gets Boot, Stern Tower Coming Soon? ("The planned tower at the corner of Wilshire and Gayley would be located over the Westside Subway Westwood/UCLA (Off Street Station) Alternative. Metro is now focusing its efforts on the Westwood/UCLA On-Street Station. A Subway entrnace is planned to be located immediately adjacent to this tower on UCLA's Lot 32/36.")
Curbed LA

What are transportation community leaders around the nation tweeting about today? Check out the Metro Library Twitter Daily, our online digest in newspaper format updated every day.

5/24/2011

Crenshaw/LAX Light Rail, LA County Green Shuttles, Burbank Metrolink, How To: Transportation Research, Public Transit Maps, Freight Rail Tech & More

Approaching Transportation Research: Our Step-By-Step Guide To Getting Started, Plus Up-To-The-Minute Bibliographies For Hot Transportation Topics
Metro Transportation Library

Collision Maps Reveal L.A.'s Unsafe Routes To School
Biking In LA

Commuters Turn To Rail And Bus As Gas Prices Hit $4.00 A Gallon
Reuters

Enemies Mark Ridley-Thomas, Bernard Parks Unite Over Metro Light-Rail Funding Along Crenshaw/LAX Route
LA Weekly

Experts Expect Gas Prices To Fall, But Volatility Possible
The Hill

Gardena-Little Tokyo Bus Proposal Modified
Rafu Shimpo

Golden Gate BART And Other Failed Rapid Transit Dreams (photo essay accompanied by 1962 press release : Los Angeles is not alone in its rich history of futuristic transit visions from the past)
San Francisco Chronicle

L.A. County Rolls Out Green Cars ("A portion of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works' aging fleet of shuttle buses has gone green. Since January, the county has gradually put into service 10 new fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles into routes in the Whittier area and parts of the San Gabriel Valley.")
Whittier Daily News

The Little Engine Really Could: At Last, Technology Is On The Verge Of Transforming Freight Rail. The Result: Faster And Cheaper
Wall Street Journal

Mind The Map! The Impact Of Transit Maps On Path Choice In Public Transit
The Transportationist

Move It: How The U.S. Can Improve Transportation Policy
("Before we start writing more checks, we need to stop and think long and hard about transportation. Not only are we spending too little right now, but we're also not spending it wisely. The nation lacks a clear-cut vision for transportation, and no way to target spending to make sure all those billions of dollars help achieve our economic and environmental goals.")
Brookings

Officials Worried About Rail Safety: Drivers Reportedly Have A Habit Of Ignoring Warning Signs At Burbank Metrolink Station
Burbank Leader

Revisiting Of Rail Route Angers Cities ("The California High Speed Rail Authority's decision to revisit sending a bullet train over the Grapevine has communities throughout the Antelope and San Joaquin valleys confused and angry.")
Bakersfield Californian

Thieves Leave Elysian Valley Bikers And Walkers In The Dark
Eastsider LA

Transit And Regional Economic Development (41p. PDF)
Center For Transit-Oriented Development

U.S. DOT Wants Videos Of Intelligent Transportation ("To enter in U.S. DOT's ITS video challenge, participants must create an original video highlighting the deployment of ITS technology in their community. Videos should focus on one example of ITS deployment for any type of surface transportation, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit, auto and freight.")
American City & County

What If We Capped The Pacific Coast Highway In Santa Monica?
Curbed LA

The Wilshire BRT: LA Metro's Achilles Tendon
Huffington Post

What are transportation community leaders around the nation tweeting about today? Check out the Metro Library Twitter Daily, our online digest in newspaper format updated every day.

5/23/2011

NoHo Metro Development, Wilshire BRT, Gold Line Parking, Transit Transformation of South LA, LB Transit Mall, CAHSR & More

405 Shutdown Will Be A "Nightmare"
Canyon News

Biggest Transit Project In L.A. History Still On Hold For NoHo, But Financing Prospects Have Improved: Announced In 2007, The $1 Billion Development Is Still In The Works For The North Hollywood Metro Area

North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch


Blogging (In) L.A.: Green L.A. Girl
Blogging Los Angeles

Bus-Only Lanes Are A Bad Idea West Of Beverly Hills
Brentwood News

Buses Take Off, But Not Everybody Is On Board ("One of the hottest trends in urban mass transit is—the bus.")
Wall Street Journal

Can A Transit Line Transform South Los Angeles?
USC Annenberg Watt Way

Can This Creepy Graphic Keep Drivers From Killing Pedestrians?
Fast Company Design

Celebrate The Transit Mall's Reopening (June 2)
Long Beach Transit

Celebrating National Transportation Week In California: One Day, Many Transportation Benefits
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

"Complete Streets" Legislation Introduced In House ("
The bill calls for consideration of the “safety and convenience” of all users in “all phases of project planning and development.”)
National League Of Cities

Dodger Games By Metrolink
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Driving At Peak Time? Pay A Fee: "Congestion Pricing" Is A Better Alternative To Charging Taxes Based On The Number Of Miles Driven. It Would Save The Government Money, And It Would Save Taxpayer Time
Christian Science Monitor

Editorial: Pull Plug On High-Speed Rail? Why?
Sacramento Bee

Enhancing Internal Trip Capture Estimation For Mixed-Use Developments (165p. PDF)
National Cooperative Highway
Research Program

Experts Agree: Six-Year Transportation Bill Won't Pass This Year
StreetsBlog DC

Express Bus Corridors Increasingly Popular Transit Option ("The Orange Line BRT in California’s largest city opened in 2005, spanning about 23 kilometres and carrying nearly 27,000 people daily...There are concerns that the line is so popular that it has become a victim of its own success, n
earing its peak capacity within a short time of its opening, far sooner than was expected.")
Globe And Mail (Canada)

Finding The Means To Keep Transit Running ("As the FTA considers these future changes in what it agrees to fund, shifting more national dollars to transit operations, it must also establish standards that define what minimum standards need to look like.")
Transport Politic

Five Media Myths That Perpetuate Car Culture
StreetsBlog DC

The Future Of Rail: Freight Railroads Have Made A Strong Comeback In Recent Years. Can They Stay On Track?
("An email discussion about the future of rail with panelists from the private and public sides of the business.")
Wall Street Journal

Gas Prices Could Plummet For Summer Driving
USA Today


Gold Line Planners Seek Site For Parking Lot
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin'

Has The Monorail's Future Finally Arrived? It's Gaining Traction As A Solution In Areas Where Mass-Transit Needs Are Surging
Wall Street Journal

High-Speed Rail Makes Whistle Stop In Santa Clarita
KHTS


How Tranquil: "Greenway" Coming To Expo Line Westwood Station
Curbed LA

Inland Empire Can't Afford High Cost Of Oil
San Bernardino Sun

Little. Yellow. Dangerous. "Children At Play" Signs Imperil Our Kids
Slate

Long Beach's Rosa Parks Park Debuts Saturday
Long Beach Press-Telegram

A Mileage Tax? Who Said Anything About A Mileage Tax?
Wall Street Journal

Move It!: How The U.S. Gets Transportation Policy Wrong -- And How To Get It Right ("
For an idea of the way ahead, consider Los Angeles. Under a far-reaching plan by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the city will add and extend bus lines and create corridors to connect residential and commercial areas. The Westside Subway Extension will also include a station at Century City, one of the largest employment centers in the county.")
Wall Street Journal

Opinion: How To Fix American Transportation (Rep. John Mica, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
Politico

Opinion: What We've Done To Turn Around Los Angeles (Antonio Villaraigosa : "
Let's talk about traffic...")
Los Angeles Daily News

Outlook Dim For Highway Reauthorization ("
There is practically no chance that Congress will approve any increase in infrastructure investment this year, and only a small chance that it will pass any highway legislation at all - other than an extension of the current program that might have to include funding cuts on the order of 30 percent.")
Trucking Info

Seven Bipartisan Fixes To Our Transportation Problems
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Should California Put Its High-Speed Rail Project On Hold
Infrastructurist


The Technology Behind Bike Sharing Systems
CNN Money

Trusting The Government With Highways ("
Does the highway trust fund system need a complete overhaul (or at least the appearance of it) to win over naysayers like [Sen. Orrin] Hatch? Should policymakers take a more serious look at a privately financed toll road system?")
National Journal Transportation Blog

Where The Money Is (Hint: It Isn't The Government)
Wall Street Journal

What are transportation community leaders around the nation tweeting about today? Check out the Metro Library Twitter Daily, our online digest in newspaper format updated every day.