Today's Headlines - more at Metro

6/05/2012

Metro Lawsuits, Crenshaw Line, Expo Line, HOT Lanes, Transit Ridership, Farmers Field, CAHSR, Measure R & More


June 5: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (The "Wilmington Link" is officially dedicated and opened, completing one of the Southland's most important highways)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

3 Burning Questions About House's Soon-To-Come 2013 Spending Bill
Transportation Issues Daily

28 BART Escalators Out Of Service ("What makes matters worse is no one is working on them...One escalator at the West Oakland Station has been out for more than seven months.")
San Francisco Chronicle

As Transit Ridership Continues To Increase, FTA Helps Transit Agencies Meet Demand
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

Bellflower Wins Award For Downtown Plan
Long Beach Press-Telegram

Better Bike Beverly Hills In The Los Angeles Times
StreetsBlog LA

Boxer To Speak To Reporters, Address Cloud Over Conference Committee
StreetsBlog DC

Brown Seeks To Reduce Environmental Protections For Bullet Train ("With legal challenges mounting, governor circulates legislation designed to diminish the possibility foes could stop the project with an environmental suit.")
Los Angeles Times

Buyers' Remorse For California's "Bullet Train To Nowhere"
Telegraph (U.K.)

California's Green Exception (subscriber content : "California's environmental laws have made industrial development increasingly difficult -- to the extent that they are now interfering with other green priorities. Witness the request by the state's High-Speed Rail Authority to seek a legislative waiver against green lawsuits, of all things.")
Wall Street Journal

Caltrans To Offer Solo Drivers Premium Access To Carpool Lanes
CBS Los Angeles

Cities Facing Worst Fiscal Situation Since 1980
The Atlantic: Cities

Construction Begins On Crenshaw Light Rail Line
Los Angeles Wave

Creating An Effective Program To Advance Transportation System Management And Operations: Primer (18p. PDF)
Federal Highway Administration

Crenshaw District Light Rail Line Construction Begins
KABC Los Angeles

DOT Official: Obama Support Of High-Speed Rail "Remains As Strong As Ever"
The Hill

Environmental Report For NFL Stadium In Downtown L.A. Blasted
Los Angeles Daily News

Experts Say Rail Plan Improved, But Still Flawed
California Watch
Comments On Revised Business Plan (12p. PDF)
California High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group

Expo Line Landscaping Lunacy
CityWatch

Foothill Transit To Lower Fares On Silver Streak
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

FRA Chief: America Is Driving Less And Congress Needs To Catch Up
StreetsBlog DC

Gasoline Prices Continue Falling Nationwide
Los Angeles Times

Highway Infrastructure: Federal-State Partnership Produces Benefits And Poses Oversight Risks (54p. PDF)
U.S. Government Accountability Office

House Dems To Highway Conferees: Steer Clear Of Environmental Provisions
The Hill

How Legal Challenges Are Affecting Work On 4 LA Rail Lines (Expo Line, Crenshaw Line, Westside Subway Extension, Downtown Regional Connector)
Curbed LA

L.A. Councilman Calls For Traffic Specifics From Stadium Developer  ("Bill Rosendahl asks AEG to make clear how it would minimize car trips to the stadium on game days and make firm commitments to create park-and-ride facilities.")
Los Angeles Times

New Understanding Of Traffic Congestion
Planetizen

Opinion: This Is How We Ride (Artist and musician David Byrne. "More than 200 cities around the world have bike-share programs.")
New York Times

Putting Transit To Work In Main Street America: How Smaller Cities And Rural Places Are Using Transit And Mobility Investments To Strengthen Their Economies And Communities (37p. PDF)
Reconnecting America

Reforming The Buddy System ("How should the federal-state partnership on infrastructure projects be structured? Is a performance-based system all that's needed? Or do states need much more oversight? Can they get by with less? Is it time for some grand reform of the federal-state relationship or will tweaks suffice?")
National Journal Transportation Experts Blog

Residents Along Crenshaw-LAX Corridor Expected To Contend For Light Rail Jobs
CBS Los Angeles

The Rise Of The Citizen Cyclist
The Atlantic: Cities

Santa Monica City Council Backs Bill Eliminating Measure R Expiration Date
Santa Monica Mirror

Series Links Transportation Infrastructure Decisions And Public Health
Mobilizing The Region
Designing Healthy Communities ("A provocative new 4-hour series...looks at the impact our built environment has on key public health indices – obesity, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, cancer and depression. Dr. Jackson connects bad community design with burgeoning health costs, then analyzes and illustrates what citizens are doing about this urgent crisis by looking upstream for innovative solutions.")
PBS

Stiffer Roads Could Save Billions. That's Right: Stiffer Roads ("Asphalt may feel hard, but it actually squishes when your car rolls over it. That little indentation costs us tons of extra cash. Time to firm up our streets.")
Fast Company Exist

Tolls To Let Drivers Buy Their Way Into The Carpool Lanes
NBC Southern California

Transit Lobby To Congress: Ridership Up, Funding Needed
The Hill

West LA Nabe Council Wants To Kill Expo-Adjacent Apartments
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.

We invite you to visit Metro's The Source, your window to what's happening with agency news, funding and policy issues, and how to get the most out of transit and Los Angeles.