Today's Headlines - more at Metro

11/18/2011

Gold Line Foothill Extension, Westchester Station?, Santa Monica Bikes, 6th Street Viaduct, Dirty Cities, Exposition Park History & More

America's 20 Dirtiest Cities (California has 7 of the 20 cities with the poorest air quality)
Forbes

Boehner Touts Vague Outline Of Oil Drilling + Transpo Bill
StreetsBlog DC

Bruins, Trojans And Getting Mr. Mirisch Back On Track
CityWatch

Building A Better Bus Route, With No Defined Stops ("In low-demand areas fixed routes can be terribly inefficient. Stops are spaced so far apart that it can seem like you need a bus just to get to the bus stop. On nights and weekends, or during bad weather, this inconvenience is magnified.")
The Atlantic: Cities

Buses Diverted For Downtown L.A. Protest Add To Commute Woes
Los Angeles Times

Congress Cuts Future Funding For California's Bullet Train
Los Angeles Times

Construction Authority Board Adopts New Policies To Enhance Agency's Transparency And Accountability ("The Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority Board of Directors, in an action that will increase the agency's transparency and accountability, last night adopted enhancements to existing policies that provide new guidelines for out-of-state travel expenditures by Board members and Authority employees and clarify reporting requirements for all expenses.")
PR Newswire

Council Adds $650K To Subway Fight: Councilman Julian Gold And His Colleagues Apply Surplus Funds To Efforts Opposing An MTA Tunnel Under Beverly Hills High School
Beverly Hills Patch

Counting Parking Spots, From Above
The Atlantic: Cities

Crowdsourcing Your Commute (Waze)
The Atlantic: Cities

Despite 2012 Spending Bill, High-Speed Rail Will Find Some Funding
Railroad.net

The Efficiency Conundrum: A Combination Of Less Driving And More Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Is Imperiling America's Highway System
The Economist

Global Expansion Of High-Speed Rail Surging
Metro Magazine

GOP Pronounces Obama Rail Plans Dead
The Hill

House, Senate Pass Budget Bill To Avert Shutdown
Washington Post

House Transportation Plan Tied To Controversial Revenue Sources
Transportation For America

How Agricultural Park Became Exposition Park ("Amenities made Agricultural Park a popular attraction among late-nineteenth-century Angelenos. In 1875, the Main Street and Agricultural Park Railroad, one the L.A.'s first street railways, began shuttling passengers to the park on horse-drawn street cars.")
LA as Subject via KCET

Los Angeles City Council To Vote On Fate Of 6th Street Bridge: L.A. Leaders Could Decide Friday To Demolish The Iconic 6th Street Bridge Because Its Concrete Is Rupturing. Concerns About The Aesthetics Of New Bridge, And The Cost, Complicate The Decision
Los Angeles Times

MTA Will Mail Propaganda Flier
Beverly Hills Courier

No Details Yet On House Transportation And Oil Drilling Bill
StreetsBlog DC

O.C. And L.A. Freeways Among Most Congested: Researchers Examined Freeway Backup During The Morning, Lunchtime, Afternoon, And Weekend Commutes
Orange County Register

Pocket Plan? Mayor Proposes 50 Small Parks To Address Lack Of Open Space
StreetsBlog LA

Pushing For A Better, Bolder Bike Plan
Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor, Third District

A Room Of their Own For 2-Wheeled Commuters (LEED May Be Discouraging More Bike Storage Rooms)
New York Times

Rosendahl Starts Petition For Westchester Station
Bill Rosendahl, Los Angeles City Councilman, 11th District

Santa Monica To Open Nation's Largest Bicycle Parking Station
Los Angeles Times

A Tale Of Transit In Two Cities (The success of San Bernardino's Omnitrans contrasted to Detroit transit system)
Metro Magazine

Ticket Sales Rise When Subways Locked ("Recent testing to determine the financial impact of locked turnstile gates at four stations, including ticket checks by uniformed inspectors, boosted vending machine sales of day passes and one-way fares by about 50% while gates were locked.")
Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor, Third District

This Week's Hot Trend: Large Bike Parking Facilities Near Rail (Santa Monica, Burbank, Culver City)
StreetsBlog LA

Webinar On Employment, Transit And Transit-Oriented Development (video of November 15 webinar : "Speakers discussed new research on spatial employment patterns in our metropolitan areas, and the types of economic activity that are most likely to benefit from being near transit. Participants also discussed the ways in which national research has been applied to inform regional economic development, transportation, and land use planning.")
Reconnecting America

Will There Ever Be A Bike Path For Expo Line Phase II?
StreetsBlog 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.

11/17/2011

Expo Phase II, California Budget, Road Use Fees, CAHSR, Sustainability, Farmers Field, Pocket Parks & More

46 Projects Get Federal Grants To Reduce Oil Dependence (including LA Metro wayside energy storage system)
Transportation Nation
Announcement Of Project Selections (12p. PDF)

The 2012-13 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook (50p. PDF : "Our updated assessment of California’s economy and revenues indicate that General Fund revenues and transfers in 2011-12 will be $3.7 billion below the level assumed in the 2011-12 budget package passed in June. Under provisions of the 2011-12 budget package, this revenue shortfall would translate into $2 billion of trigger cuts to various state programs.")
California State Legislative Analyst's Office

2012 Transpo Budget: Sustainable Communities And HSR Out, TIGER In
StreetsBlog DC

The Anatomy Of A Successful Transit Ballot Measure
StreetsBlog DC

Are Road Use Fees Just Too Creepy To Work? ("There is just this immediate visceral hatred of the concept that you’re going to put something in my car.")
The Atlantic: Cities

Boehner To Unveil 5-Year Transpo Bill [Today]
Transportation Nation

Bringing Los Angeles Streets Into The 21st Century
Southern California Public Radio

California High Speed Rail: 100 Years In The Making
California High Speed Rail Blog

California High Speed Rail Public Hearing Draws Critics
Huffington Post

Congress About To Kill High-Speed Train Program
Associated Press

Deeper Cuts To State Budget Expected: Lower-Than-Forecast Revenue Means Automatic Reductions Will Likely Kick In. A Shorter K-12 School Year Could Result
Los Angeles Times

Developing Input To "Best-Value" Vehicle Procurement Practice: An Analysis Of Supplier Evaluation And Selection In The US Public Transportation Industry (237p. PDF)
Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute, North Dakota State University

Editorial: Road Rage -- Street Repairs Are Costly For L.A.
Los Angeles Daily News

Equity Of Evolving Transportation Finance Mechanisms (196p. PDF)
U.S. Transportation Research Board

Expo Botanical Garden At Westwood And Expo One Step Closer To Reality
StreetsBlog LA

Farmers Field Design Improves But Falls Short: The New Version Of AEG's Proposed NFL Stadium By Gensler Is More Open To The L.A. Cityscape Than The Previous Design But Is Weighed Down By Wings
Los Angeles Times

For Transit Agencies, Terrorists Are Moving Targets: Riders' Eyes And Ears Among Most Critical Defenses For Rail Systems ("According to certain members of the Beverly Hills School Board, a terrorist with impeccable timing could, 10 or 20 years from now, board a subway car headed beneath the city’s high school. At the precise moment the train passes under the campus, the terrorist could detonate a device that would blast upward, delivering a catastrophic attack upon the children of Beverly Hills.")
In Transition
A Framework For Considering Climate Change In Transportation And Land Use Scenario Planning: Final Report (68p. PDF)
Federal Highway Administration / National Park Service / U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service

Gold Line Brings Development
Arcadia's Best

Guide On The Consistent Application Of Traffic Analysis Tools And Methods (90p. PDF)
Federal Highway Administration

House GOP Takes The Plunge, Unveils Transportation And Energy Bill Today
StreetsBlog DC

How Manhattan Sped Up Its Buses Without Rapid Transit
The Atlantic: Cities

LADOT Reveals Designs For Spring Street Buffered Bike Lane
StreetsBlog LA

Mass Appeal: LA's New Embrace Of Public Transit
The Frying Pan: Hot Ideas For A Cold Economy

No Shock Here, But L.A. A Leader In Congested U.S. Freeways
Los Angeles Times

Passenger Rail Car Egress: TRB Workshop (4p. PDF)
Federal Railroad Administration Office Of Railroad Policy & Development

Port Of L.A.'s Proposed Rail Yard Raising Hackles Of Residents
Daily Breeze

The Regional Concept For Transportation Operations: A Practitioner's Guide (60p. PDF)
Federal Highway Administration

Reporting Road Repairs, Graffiti Going High-Tech
Los Angeles Daily News

Slurry In A Hurry: The Mayor's Last Minute Legacy For Streets
KCET

Smartphone Payment Is Good News For African-American Public Transit Riders
Network Journal

Sustainability Is The Strongest Defense, Military Experts Say
New Urban Network

This Just In: $6.7 Million For Transportation Solutions To Cut Pollution
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Transformative Infrastructure To Boost Exports And Manufacturing ("The federal government should develop a comprehensive National Freight Transportation Plan as a framework for goods movement policy and investment that spans all modes. This process should build off the proposal contained in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP–21) to build a national freight network program and prioritize corridors on a cost-benefit analysis that would include all modal options.")
Brookings

Villaraigosa Wants A More Livable L.A., With 50 Pocket Parks
Los Angeles Times

Westside Cyclists Looking To Make The Expo Line Bike-Friendly: Bike Lovers Are Looking For A Bike Advisory Committee As Expo Design Plans Move Ahead
Culver City Patch

Westside Residents Assess Plans, Weigh In On Next Phase Of Expo Line
Los Angeles Wave

Whose Streets, Exactly?: Occupy In The Context Of Complete Streets
Next American City

A Winged Stadium For Los Angeles? (includes several renderings)
Architect's Newspaper

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.

11/16/2011

LA Downtown Streetcar, Transpo Funding, HSR Funding Slashed, CEQA, Arts For Transit, Congested Corridors Report & More

2011 Congested Corridors Report (94p. PDF : "The inaugural 2011 Congested Corridors Report is the first nationwide effort to identify reliability problems at specific stretches of highway responsible for significant traffic congestion at different times and different days. Analyses are performed along 328 specific (directional) freeway corridors in the United States.")
Texas Transportation Institute
Press Release

AECOM Announces Appointment Of New Transportation Group Chief Executive
Market Watch

AEG Reveals New, Open Design For Farmers Field
Los Angeles Times

Arts For Transit: A Conversation With Sandra Bloodworth (In 1982, the New York MTA started a multi-billion-dollar capital improvement program to rehabilitate the transit system. In 1985, as part of the program, they introduced 'Arts for Transit' that promoted design excellence by bringing artworks into the MTA stations. "Today, 'Arts for Transit' oversees a number of programs that bring visual art and performance to the MTA network)
Urban Omnibus

Budget Deal Eliminates Funds For High-Speed Rail ("Congressional negotiators have agreed to eliminate funding for high-speed rail and trim community policing grants to $200 million in the current fiscal year.")
USA Today

CA Cyclists Call On Boxer To Respect Right To The Road
StreetsBlog LA

Central Valley County Sues To Stop State From Building Bullet Train There (Days after the CAHSR Authority was dealt a serious setback over its environmental analysis for the San Jose to SF segment, a new suit has been filed by Kings County)
Silicon Valley Mercury News

CEQA At 40: A Look Back, And Ahead (Full coverage of an all-day conference Nov. 4 which brought together policymakers from all three branches of government, environmental lawyers, academics and students for a thoughtful examination of CEQA’s history and future)
California Environmental Law & Policy Center / UC Davis School Of Law
Conference Agenda

Could A Fuel Tax Hike Be Headed To A Statehouse Near You?
Land Line

CTA Board Approves Modern Fare-Collection System: Open Standards System Will Improve Convenience For Customers, Save Money (Chicago is the largest city to adopt the new technology to date)
CTA

Cyclists Get Their Own Parking Structure At Burbank Metrolink Station
Burbank Leader

Downtown Advocates Urge Transit Over Cars: Forum Addresses Transportation Issues Of The Future
San Diego Union-Tribune

Exports Post Gains At Port Of Los Angeles: Outbound Cargo Rises 28% Over Last October, With 2011 Poised To Set A Record, But Advances Can't Compensate For Weak Import Figures
Los Angeles Times

Eyes On The Street: Subsidizing Parking For Expo Meetings
StreetsBlog LA

Future "Gateway To San Gabriel Valley" Moves Forward ("The I-210 Gold Line Bridge, which will one day serve as the "Gateway to the San Gabriel Valley," moved closer to completion with the approval of its final design by Caltrans and the Construction Authority, the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority announced today. The bridge is the first component of the 11.5-mile Gold Line Foothill Extension light rail project from Pasadena to Azusa to advance from the design phase to the construction phase.")
Market Watch

How A Shaken City Kept Steady Nerves: When Tokyo Region's Technologies And Transit System Were Toppled By Quake, People Improvised And Got Home Safely
InTransition

How Green Is High-Speed Rail? (" Unless high-speed rail travel reduces emissions by more than what it generates during construction, the project may not be worthwhile from an environmental perspective. Indeed, some researchers have their doubts.")
The Atlantic: Cities

In Search Of Westside Mobility
CityWatch

Installation Of Spring Street Bike Lanes Underway
Blog Downtown

Lantana Media Center To Construct 1500-Foot Wall Before Expo Line Construction Begins: MTA To Re-Acquire Land Used To Park 450 Cars In January
Santa Monica Mirror

LaHood Still Waiting For Congress To Authorize Next-Step Funding For High-Speed Rail
Medill Reports

LAWA Working On Proposal To Develop Land North Of LAX
Daily Breeze

Local Economic Implications Of Urban Bicycle Networks
This Big City

Los Angeles Has America's Top 3 "Congested Corridors," Including 110 Freeway: We Waste A Lot Of Gas, Too
LA Weekly

Los Angeles' Streetcar Plans: Too Duplicative Of Existing Services?
Transport Politic

Metro Unveils Plan For Student Safety On Game Days
USC Daily Trojan

Mica Warns Boxer On Highway Trust Fund: House Plans Hearing On "Drill Bill"
StreetsBlog DC

More Evidence That Bike Facilities Are good For Local Businesses
StreetsBlog Network

New "Light And Airy" Design for Farmers Field Unveiled
Blog Downtown

Port Of L.A.'s Proposed Rail Yard Raising Hackles Of Residents
Daily Breeze

Rep. Mica: Highway Bill "70 To 80 Percent Completed"
The Hill

Section Of Harbor Freeway Named Nation's Most Congested: Los Angeles Dominates New Traffic Congestion Report
NBC Los Angeles

SFMTA Audit Spotlights Poor Project Management, Cost Overruns
StreetsBlog SF

"Smart" Card For SF Parking, Taxis And Maybe Muni In The Works
San Francisco Chronicle

Speed Up Measure R Spending To Fix LA Streets? Not So Fast
CityWatch

TIGER III Requests Exceed Available Funding 27 To 1
StreetsBlog DC

Transit And TIGER Funding Preserved In Compromise Spending Bill
Transportation For America

Transportation And Food Access Idea 3: Regional Food Hubs
StreetsBlog LA

Two Downey-Area Freeways Make List Of Nation's Most Congested
Downey Beat

Urban Transformation Through Transit-Oriented Development And The Sustainable City: Hollywood & Highland And Pico / San Vicente
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Westwood Is The Priciest College "Town" In The US
Curbed LA

Why American Roads Are So Bad ("Planners of the country-wide network did not predict the massive shipping shift from rail to the road, so the damage inflicted by trucks was quick. See, 80,000 pound big rigs don't just do 40 times the damage of 2000 pound cars; because of the way the weight is distributed, the effect is, in fact, much more severe.")
Gizmodo

Zipcar To Expand Car Sharing Service In Los Angeles
Southern California Public Radio

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.

11/15/2011

Expo Hearings, CEQA, Street Repair, SCAG Plan, Bridges & More

Caltrans Fires Two Over Structural Testing Issues: The Move Comes Amid Probes Into Faulty Or Falsified Tests On Various Projects, Including In The L.A. Area
Los Angeles Times

Council Members Voice Misgivings Over Villaraigosa's Street Repair Plan
Contra Costa Times

Deputy Secretary Roy Kienitz Calls It Quits At USDOT
StreetsBlog DC

Editorial: Inching Toward A Highway Bill
Transport Topics

Expo Line Hearing Tonight
Beverly Hills Courier

Expo Line Public Meetings Begin Today
Culver City Patch

Expo Line Construction Authority To Update Public On Design Of Phase II
Southern California Public Radio
Feds Short Of Disaster Funds To Rebuild Roads
Stateline

Firms Turning To Environmental Law To Combat Rivals: California's Landmark Act On Environmental Quality Is Credited With Preserving Scenic Landscapes But Is Now Slowing Key Projects And Spawning A Flurry Of Litigation. Changes Are Urged
Los Angeles Times

Fly Over The Proposed Hollywood Freeway Cap Park
(includes birds-eye video of what the 44-acre park would look like)
Curbed LA
Hollywood Central Park Website

FTA Deputy Administrator McMillan Joins SunLine Transit In Southern California To Tout Jobs And Innovation In Sustainable Transportation
Federal Transit Administration

Gas-Tax Hike Considered For California Roads, Infrastructure
KABC Los Angeles

High-Speed Rail: California Transit Agencies Aim To Integrate Lines To Create A Multi-Modal State Network (“High-speed rail is going to be a failed system unless it connects to Los Angeles, so we take our partnership with [CHSRA] very seriously, and we take high-speed rail very seriously,” says Don Sepulveda, executive officer of regional rail for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA). That’s why Sepulveda, who’s responsible for fostering LACMTA’s partnerships with high-speed and other area rail agencies, is in contact with someone from CHSRA or one of its engineering or consulting firms several times a week. Three California HSR segments are set to run through Los Angeles (specifically, Los Angeles Union Station) — the Los Angeles-to-Anaheim segment, a corridor running through Palmdale to northern California and a segment running south into San Diego.")
Progressive Railroading

Infographic: United States Has More Broken Bridges Than Golden Arches
Transport Gooru

John Wayne Airport's New Terminal Opens, Minus Baggage-Handling
Los Angeles Times

L.A. Vision, U.S. Promise: Implications Of The America Fast Forward Proposal ("Long known as a land of sprawl and disconnected communities, Los Angeles has emerged as a leader in transit investments, providing forward-thinking leadership for how infrastructure finance can and should continue, even in difficult financial times.")
Planetizen

LACBC: Send Bike Plan Back to The Drawing Board
StreetsBlog LA

Latest Subway Conspiracy Theory: Developer Is Behind Route!
Curbed LA

LAX Expected To Be Busiest U.S. Airport Over Thanksgiving Weekend
Los Angeles Times

Mayor's Street Repair Plan May Be Extended To Other Projects: The $1.5 Billion Initiative Could Also Include Trimming Trees, Removing Stumps And Replanting. Councilwoman Jan Perry Cites Concerns About Taking On $650 Million In Interest Payments For The Project
Los Angeles Times

Metrolink Launches "Bike Cars" To Transport Cyclists
Metro Magazine

Mica Responds To Boxer (letter from House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chair to the California Senator regarding MAP-21, proposing that her "proposal will essentially bankrupt the Highway Trust Fund and make it impossible to provide any funding for fiscal year 2014.")
via Politico

Occupy Santa Clarita Targets Infrastructure Needs
LAist

Orange County's John Wayne Airport Opens New Terminal After $550 Million Expansion
Southern California Public Radio

Privately Owned Train Cars -- A Better Way To See America
Forbes

Proposal To Repair Roadways Hits Block
Los Angeles Daily News

The Racetrack: Building High Speed Rail in The U.S.
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Railroads Aim to Replace Or Revamp Aging Bridges (Transit agencies and railroad companies realize the importance of infrastructure, as their train cars roll over bridges and through tunnels every day. A look at advances in bridge construction begin driven by these private industries)
Progressive Railroading

Real Time Data Available For LA Metro Buses!
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Regional Conservancy Proposes A 22-Mile Bike Lane Through The Valley
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Senate Bill May Weaken Smaller Metros, Empower State DOTs
StreetsBlog DC

Some Valley Officials Don't Support Higher Taxes In SCAG Transportation Plan
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Transit Riders As Taxpayers ("Does it make sense to view transit fares as taxes? Are transit fares different from other "user fees" like gas taxes? If so, how? What should transit riders expect in return for their fares? Do transit riders shoulder a disproportionate burden of the cost of maintaining buses and railways? What is a fair price for an easy mass transit commute?")
National Journal Transportation Experts Blog

TTI Study: California Roads Top Fuel-Waste List ("Among the top 10 fuel-wasting corridors, those in Los Angeles accounted for 72 percent of the wasted gallons, according to the report.")
Wall Street Journal

Why Cities Should Dismantle Highways
Smart Planet

Zipping From San Francisco To Oakland In 5 Minutes (High-Speed Rail's predecessor from a century ago was a zipline. "If inventor Fletcher E. Felts had gotten his way, not only would my friends be able to hop from San Francisco to Oakland in just five minutes, they would’ve been able to zip down to visit me in Los Angeles in just four hours, without having to deal with the fuss of flying or driving a car.")
Smithsonian

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.

11/14/2011

Expo Phase II, Regional Connector, BH Tunnel, CAHSR, Double-Decker I-60?, Colton Crossing, LA Road Repair & More

Beverly Hills Bids To Halt Subway Tunnel At School ("Transit planners hoping to run a 9-mile subterranean line into the city's densely packed Westside have hit resistance within a cluster of stately, red-roofed buildings surrounded by manicured hedges and lush, rolling lawn — Beverly Hills High School. Tentative plans call for drilling a tunnel 70 feet beneath the campus.")
Associated Press

Bipartisan Support For Transportation Funding Significant Step To U.S. Global Competitiveness
Sacramento Bee

Brown Will Ask Legislators To OK Billions For Bullet Train: The Governor Says The State Will Have A Broad Need For The System In The Long Term And That High-Speed Rail Is A Cheaper Alternative To More Highway And Commercial Aviation Investments
Los Angeles Times

CA: High-Speed Rail Board's New Attitude
Mass Transit

California Seeks Ruling To Use Development Funds For Budget ("The measures eliminate 400 redevelopment agencies, require them to turn over a total of $1.7 billion starting in January and create a metho for an “optional new voluntary” redevelopment program for communities that agree to give up their funds. Most of the money would go to schools and a small portion would support fire protection and transit projects.")
Business Week

Could Loyalty Schemes Incentivize Sustainable Living?
This Big City

Court Leans Toward Allowing Abolition Of Redevelopment Agencies: The California Supreme Court Examines A Law that Would Kill The Agencies And One That Would Let Them Exist If They Shared Tax Money With Schools And Others. Both Were Aimed At Cutting The Deficit
Los Angeles Times

CPUC Approves All Expo Phase II Crossings
StreetsBlog LA

Culver City Council Discusses Changes To Bus Schedules, Consider City Signage
Culver City Patch

DNA Tests Eyed To Identify And Prosecute Loose Cannon Bus And Subway Riders Who Spit On Transit Workers
New York Daily News

Double-Decker Truck Lane Proposed ("The building of a 50-ft.-high, double-decker truck lane in a creekbed along the I-60 freeway was included in the Southern California Assn. of Government’s draft Regional Transportation Plan adopted last week.")
Fleet Owner

Driverless Pod, Tunnel Among Ideas To Aid Traffic ("Some of the more ambitious ideas to ease regional congestion out of the many presented Thursday at the Valley Mobility Summit. An estimated 300 people, including government officials, activists and advocates, participated in the gathering hosted by the San Fernando Valley Council of Governments at the Airtel Hotel.")
Los Angeles Daily News

Editorial: California' High-Speed Rail System Is Going Nowhere Fast
Washington Post

Editorial: Pitfalls Of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Pothole Project: He Wants To Speed Up Street Repairs With Borrowed Dollars. That Would Create More Jobs Now But At The Expense Of Road Construction Work In The Future
Los Angeles Times

Editorial: Security Added, Steps Raise Rail Service Comfort Level
Los Angeles Daily News

First A New Dodgers Owner, Then A New Downtown Stadium: Why It'd Make Sense For AEG To Buy The Team And Move It Into Farmers Field
Los Angeles Downtown News

Fuel Exports Hit Record, Helping Keep Gas Prices High In U.S.
Los Angeles Times

Gov. Jerry Brown Makes Strongest Statement Yet In Support Of High Speed Rail
California High Speed Rail Blog

Guide On The Consistent Application Of Traffic Analysis Tools And Methods (90p. PDF)
Federal Highway Administration

High-Speed Rail Official Hoping For Obama Win, Traffic
Sacramento Bee

Huizar Looks At Broadway's Future, Sees Streetcar, Department Store
Los Angeles Downtown News

Judge: Bullet Train Must Ax Route Through South Bay, Peninsula, For Now
Silicon Valley Mercury News

Making Transit Travel Speed Maps With Open Source GIS ("The coolest thing about this map is how you can see the Orange Line (up north) and the Silver Line (extending east and south from downtown) as thick blue lines (hidden a bit by some of the other lines)—kudos to LA Metro for speeding bus service on these lines! I suspect the rail lines would show the same thing, but this map only shows bus service.")
Indicatrix
Another LA Metro Visualization
Indicatrix

Metro Receives $2 Million Transportation Grant To Aid Veterans: The Funds Will Be Used To Beef Up Its 5-1-1 Travel Information Line With Resources And Contacts To Help Veterans In The Region Get Around
Walnut Patch

Metro To Conduct Excavation Next To JVP
Rafu Shimpo

More Election Results: Transit Wins Big
StreetsBlog DC

More Frequent Trains Start Sunday On Red, Purple And Blue Lines
Southern California Public Radio

Nine Reasons For Bike/Ped Advocates To Take Heart: The Senate Edition
StreetsBlog DC

The Olmsted Brothers Plan And What Might Have Been ("Eden by Design: The 1930 Olmsted-Bartholomew Plan for the Los Angeles Region” managed when it was published in 2000 to rescue a key planning document from the dustbin of Southern California history (or at least to retrieve it from a distant shelf). It is a document that anyone with an interest in the urban design of Southern California will find both inspiring and -- because it was never implemented in anything beyond piecemeal fashion -- a little depressing.")
Los Angeles Times

Only Five Years Left To Make Transition To Low-Carbon Infrastructure
National Geographic

Opinion: Taxpayers Should Flee At High Speed: Latest Guesses On Bullet-Train Costs Exceed Entire State Budget
Orange County Register

Rail Supporters Get Back On Track With Amtrak Victory
The Hill

Railroads Attempt To Get A Better Handle On Positive Train Control Implementation
Progressive Railroading

Recap Of 2011 California Bike Summit
Bike San Diego

Rise In Number Of Bicycle Accidents Has Burbank Concerned: Based On The Number Of Complaints From The Public, Police Are Worried That The Increase Is In Part A Result Of Cyclist Behavior, Such As Running Red Lights
Los Angeles Times

"R" You Ready To Fix Our Roads?
CityWatch

RSS Feed Now Available For The Federal Highway Administration's Research And Technology Web Site
Federal Highway Administration

Service Offers Transit Directions Avoiding Stairs
NPR

Social Media For Emergency Managers Can't Start When The Emergency Does
NextGov

Transportation Officials Considering Raising Gas Tax
KABC Los Angeles

TRB Webinar: Searching TRID: The TRIS And ITRD Database (free : December 1 : "TRID, released in 2011, is the world's largest and most comprehensive bibliographic resource on transportation research information. It is produced and maintained by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies with sponsorship by state departments of transportation, the various administrations at the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other sponsors of TRB's core technical activities.")
U.S. Transportation Research Board

Use And Deployment Of Mobile Device Technology For Real-Time Transit Information: A Synthesis Of Transit Practice (90p. PDF)
Transit Cooperative Research Program

Use Of Risk Management And Data Management To Support Target-Setting For Performance-Based Resource Allocation By Transportation Agencies
(59p. PDF)
National Cooperative Highway Research Program

Westwood Neighborhood Council Discusses Subway Route, Digital Billboards
Westwood-Century City Patch

What Could Metro Do To Make The Transit Experience More Customer Friendly?
Blog Downtown

What Might The Reduction In Regional Air Services Mean For Intercity Transit?
Trillium Solutions

Why Doesn't Every Subway System Have Suicide Prevention Barriers?
The Atlantic: Cities

Why Small Cities Are Poised For Success In An Oil-Starved Future
Grist

Work Begins On Colton Crossing Rail Overpass: DOT TIGER Program Creating Jobs, Solving Problems ("Will solve a rail and road problem that has plagued San Bernardino County for nearly 129 years...As many as 135 Union Pacific, BNSF, Amtrak, and Metrolink trains pass through this crude intersection.")
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

Zipcar Opens Office In Hollywood, Plans To Add Cars Around L.A.
Los Angeles Daily News

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.