Today's Headlines - more at Metro

10/19/2012

Measure J, Union Station, Gas Prices & Transit, BRT, TOD, Patsaouras Plaza, Cycle-Friendly L.A. & More

October 19: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (Los Angeles Railway is incorporated, tying together 150 miles of double-track streetcars lines across the city in 1910)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

5th National Bus Rapid Transit Conference (12p. PDF : links to conference proceedings are now online here)
(August 20-22, 2012 : Las Vegas, Nevada)

BTS Marks 20 Years Of Delivering Quality Transportation Data ("The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) is the data arm of DOT, responsible for collecting a wide variety of information about airlines, border crossings, freight movement, maritime trade, household travel, and much more. BTS was founded to help us understand the health of our nation’s transportation systems and infrastructure and how they impact our economy and way of life.")
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

Caltrans And Partners Restore Former L.A. Union Station Tracks, Platforms
RT&S

Can Tax Reform Make Transit-Oriented Development Communities Affordable?
Smart Growth Network

City Finds New Route To Fund Freeway Expansion
Thousand Oaks Acorn

Federal Housing Administration Clears Way For More Walkable Development
StreetsBlog DC

For The Misinformed, Here's What Measure J Really Stands For ("Jumpstart an enhanced mobility, environment and quality of life that our children and grandchildren will thank us for, and jumpstart a 21st Century LA County that is again an example of what the rest of the nation ought to be.")
CityWatch

Gas Prices Helped Boost LACMTA Ridership In September
Progressive Railroading

Great California Shakeout At Los Angeles' Union Station Gets Crowd To Drop, Take Shelter
Pasadena Star-News

Here's A 144 Square Foot Model Of DTLA Built For Streetcars
Curbed LA
Model Of Downtown Los Angeles As A State Of Mind
KCET

In Capitol Heights, Little Change In Spite Of "A Whole Lot Of Planning" Around The Metro (What happens when transit doesn't bring expected development?)
Washington Post

LA Named Official "Bike-Friendly Community" By Cycling Organization
Blog Downtown

L.A. Public Library Inherits Treasure Of Maps ("The site was once used by the Los Angeles and Mount Washington Railway, which was operated from 1909 to 1919...A section of steel cable used to move the railway's trolley cars up and down the steep hillside remains embedded in concrete in a corner of the lot.")
Los Angeles Times

Largest Skyscraper On West Coast Approved For San Francisco Transbay Transit Center
San Francisco Examiner
S.F. Transbay Tower Plan Gets Final OKs ("The new office building will be part of a 145-acre Transit Center District that will include commercial high-rises, residential towers, hotels and retail space, all wrapped around a planned Transit Center that will be the hub for local and regional bus lines, as well as the underground terminus for the proposed Caltrain extension and the statewide high-speed rail line.")
San Franciso Chronicle

League Of American Cyclists Awards Los Angeles Bronze Medal For Bicycle Friendliness
StreetsBlog LA

Los Angeles Awarded Bronze For Bike Improvements
Pasadena Star-News

Measure J Would Extend Sales Tax Hike To 2069, Accelerate Transportation Projects
Contra Costa Times

New Bridge For Baldwin Hills
Curbed LA

A New Model: Cycle Hire, For Hire ("A Massachusetts start-up called Zagster aims to take the idea of bicycles on demand and deliver it to university and corporate campuses, apartment complexes, hotels and resorts.")
New York Times

Patsaouras Plaza Busway Station Hits Snag
StreetsBlog LA

Photos: Expo Rail Making Its Way To Santa Monica
Santa Monica Patch

Protesters Rally Against Proposed Railyard On Long Beach Border
Long Beach Press-Telegram

SFMTA Reveals Plan To Streamline Traffic Calming Projects
StreetsBlog SF
Traffic Calming Program ("The SFMTA's Traffic Calming Program is part of our Livable Streets effort, which is working on improving safety on San Francisco's streets. The Traffic Calming Program redesigns streets and sidewalks to make them friendlier for pedestrians, children, bicyclists, and motorists.")
SFMTA

Supervisor Michael Antonovich Joins Beverly Hills, L.A. Groups In Coalition To Defeat Measure J
Beverly Hills Courier

Why Amtrak Keeps Breaking Ridership Records And Will Continue To Do So
The Atlantic: Cities


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

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

10/18/2012

Expo II, Union Station, Measure J, Planning Apps, Xpress West, TIFIA, BNSF, LA History & More

October 18: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (DASH is born 41 years ago as canopied SCRTD Mini-Buses take to the streets)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

7 Proposals For Turning LA Parking Spaces Into Parks
Curbed LA

All Of SoCal History Comes Alive At The 7th Annual LA As Subject Archives Bazaar! (Love Los Angeles and Southern California history? A free, all-day event at USC on October 27th features more than 80 historical collections on display, panel discussions and much more)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Attention Public Transit Agencies: Get Moving To Secure TIFIA Funding
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Bakersfield Battle Looms Over High-Speed Rail
Bakersfield Now

BNSF Falsely Marginalized Communities "Better Off" With Proposed Railyard; Public Hearing Tonight
StreetsBlog LA

A Brave New World: How Apps Are Changing Planning
Planetizen

Culver City Police Announce Parking Alert For USC Football Game ("Those planning on taking the Expo Line from Culver City to this Saturday’s football game should arrive early at the Expo parking lot on National Boulevard.")
Culver City Patch

De-Wonkifying Transit ("The [Rail~Volution] panel, titled “The Blogosphere: Transforming the Information Landscape,” was headed up by moderator Jeff Wood of Reconnecting America. Over the course of an hour and a half, Jeff led myself, Steve Hymon of The Source, and Matthew Johnson of Greater Greater Washington through a discussion of everything ranging from the impact blogs and social media can have on policy decisions to how to deal with commenting trolls.")
StreetsBlog LA

For Cleantech Companies, Land Is A Problem
Los Angeles Downtown News

Gas Prices Will Jump Again, Critics Say ("You think 50 cents in one week is bad - wait till the state adopts the Low Carbon Fuel Standard", warns one critic, predicting increases three times as much. The regulation was devised by the CA Air Resources Board to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.")
San Francisco Chronicle

High-Speed Rail: To Sue Or Not To Sue?
KGET-Bakersfield

The Impressive Design Of Subway Stations In Munich
Complex Art + Design

Improvement To Stewardship And Oversight Agreements Are Needed To Enhance Federal-Aid Highway Program Management (24p. PDF)
U.S. DOT Office Of Inspector General

Is Your Region...Creative, Innovative, Productive...Or Just Populated? (4p. PDF)
Martin Prosperity Insights / University Of Toronto

Lawsuits, Schmawsuits: Expo Line To SaMo Going Full Throttle
Curbed LA

Long Beach City College To Offer Truck Driver Training Program
Contra Costa Times

Los Angeles' Sprawl Is Denser Than New York's Sprawl
Curbed LA

Measuring The Transportation System From A Supply Chain Perspective (36p. PDF)
Transportation Research Board

[D.C.] Metro: Full Wireless Access Delayed Until 2015
Washington Post

More Tracks At LA's Union Station For Train Travel ("Metrolink managed the construction project, which cost nearly $25 million. Most of the funding, about $22 million, came from the State of California's Proposition 1B. The remaining funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation and Orange County Transportation Authority Measure M.")
KPCC Southern California Public Radio

Opinion: Increase The Gas Tax
USA Today

Presidential Debate: No Transpo Talk, Just Gas Prices And Oil Production
Transportation Nation

The Problems With Measuring Traffic Congestion
Reuters

Santa Monica City Council Supports Half-Cent Tax Increase Ballot Measure
Santa Monica Mirror

South LA Opposition To Measure J
USC Annenberg Intersections South LA

Study: Los Angeles Traffic Most Congested In US ("TomTom uses anonymous GPS data to pick the metro areas with the worst gridlock.")
MSN Autos

Union Station Shakes It Out For California Earthquake Drill (At 10:18 a.m., "as part of the Golden State's annual earthquake drill dubbed "The Great ShakeOut," Union Station will be telling passengers to duck and cover Thursday morning and even holding a train evacuation drill to prepare in case of a future shake.")
Blog Downtown

Uttering The "D" Word: How Do You Mandate Superior "Design" Or Even "Beauty" In A Planning Document?
Metropolis Magazine

What's New At Los Angeles Union Station? ("More tracks and a reconstructed train platform! Three new tracks and a renovated platform were celebrated at Los Angeles Union Station today, upgrades that promise to expand capacity and improve service for Metrolink and Amtrak passengers.")
LAist

XpressWest High Speed Rail Line To Las Vegas Is A Huge Taxpayer Gamble
PolicyMic


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

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

10/17/2012

TOD, FlyAway, Measure J, MAP-21, TIFIA, LaHood, Downtown Streetcar & More


All Aboard: You Can Now Buy LAX FlyAway Bus Tickets Online ("And you don't have to print--you can get the tickets on your smartphone for scanning.")
LAist
Los Angeles World Airports FlyAway Press Release

Bus Riders Union, Crenshaw Subway Coalition, Union De Vecinos, L.A. Groups Join Beverly Hills To Fight Measure J
Beverly Hills Courier

Car Dealership Plans Mixed-Use Project Just East Of Santa Monica ("At Olympic and Bundy in West L.A., the Martin Automotive Group begins planning a new "town center" to connect to the future Expo Light Rail.")
Santa Monica Patch

First Guidance On MAP-21 Issued By Federal Transit Administration (video)
Examiner

Five Factos That Will Determine Whether TIFIA Benefits Transit
StreetsBlog DC

Opinion: Infostructure Is The New Infrastructure ("We aren't going to need 20 lanes on the New Jersey Turnpike, or $100 billion high-speed rail lines, to save us from national gridlock.")
Wall Street Journal

Is Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Preparing For Departure?
Politico

LaHood May Stay If Obama Re-Elected
Transport Topics

Measure J Faces Opposition From Unions, Schools
USC Annenberg TV News

Monorail In The Black, But It Needs An Image Boost
Vegas Inc.

See The Goonies At Grand Park, Help The Streetcar
LA Observed

TfL's Real-Time Bus Information Service Makes Millions Of Journeys Easier In Its First Year ("In the year since its launch the service has made millions of journeys easier, dealing with 620 million requests for information - an average of 1.6 million requests via the internet and smart phones and 36,000 requests via text each day.")
Transport for London Press Release

Ventura Parts Ways With Smart-Growth Guru ("Eight years ago, Rick Cole was seen as the right person to transform the beach city into a model of eco-friendly growth. This year, a new council majority accepted his resignation.")
Los Angeles Times

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

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

10/16/2012

Measure J, WLA Transit-Oriented Mixer, Bike Lanes, General Plan Transpo Element, College Commuters, Port Traffic & More

BART And Shanghai Metro To Develop Sister Agency Affiliation
Mass Transit

Berkeley Embraces Its Inaugural Sunday Streets On Car-Free Shattuck Avenue (Berkeley is the latest California city to adopt a CicLAvia-type plan)
StreetsBlog SF

Endorsement: Yes On Measure J -- It's Traffic Relief In L.A. County Faster, Cheaper
Long Beach Press-Telegram

Federal Housing Administration Clears Way for More Walkable Development
StreetsBlog DC

First Transit To Continue Relationship With City Of Sierra Madre
Mass Transit

How Not To Design A Separated Bike Lane
TreeHugger

LA's Future: Secret Planning, Less Participation? ("How many people know that the City is upgrading its General Plan Transportation Element? Probably very few....")
CityWatch

Lesson From Space: Yes On "J" (Two divergent opinions)
CityWatch
Measure J Stands For Jacked
CityWatch

Metrolink To Receive $7.8 Million In State Funds For Grade Crossing Improvements
Progressive Railroading

More Community College Students Commuting To Multiple Campuses ("Students are choosing to commute — by bus, car and train — to different campuses because severe funding cuts have forced colleges to cut classes and consolidate programs.")
Los Angeles Times

Rail~Volution Kicks Off In L.A. With Calls For More Transit, Livable Communities
StreetsBlog LA

Scaling Back On Infrastructure ("Where should we focus our efforts, given the limited attention span of the federal government? What should we be talking about? Technology? Private-sector involvement? What are the big ideas? And how can we shrink the big ideas into a backpack that we can carry to the summit?")
National Journal Transportation Experts Blog
TEDx Santa Monica, City 2.0 ("On the transportation front, Amanda Eaken of the Natural Resources Defense Council, spoke on the use of smart phones in transportation routing, and the growing shift in cultural priorities. Internet access is becoming more important for many younger people today than owning a car, but contrary to many media outlets running with stories about this being people staying at home connecting digitally, it is enabling a new system of mobility. One that allows easily figuring out the alternatives to driving in our cities by walking, bicycling and transit connections, and that is changing the meaning of freedom of mobility.")
StreetsBlog LA

West LA Car Dealership Plans Transit-Oriented Mixer-User ("The Martin family has operated a GM dealership at Olympic and Bundy for the past 40 years and now they want to build a "new community gathering spot" for the Expo Line light rail, which will open a station across the street from them in a few years.')
Curbed LA


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

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

10/15/2012

Measure J Editorials, Gold Line Bridges, Westside Subway, LA Downtown Development, Earthquakes, GHGs, Torrance Centennial & More

Amtrak Echoes With Travel, Campaign History
CNN

BART Teams With UC Berkeley To Adopt Earthquake Early Warning System
Mass Transit

BHUSD Board Officially Votes To Oppose Measure J
Beverly Hills Patch

Calif.'s SunLine Begins $10.7M Transit Hub Project
Metro Magazine

Caltrans Recognized For Transportation Policy By National Complete Streets Coalition
Mass Transit

CCA's Carol Schatz On LA's Downtown Development Boom
Planning Report

Construction Of New Interchange In Northwestern Fontana Will Be The "Project Of The Century," Mayor Says
Fontana Herald News

Editorial: Taxing The Future For Transit Today: Proposed L.A. Transit Tax Extension -- To 2069 -- Serves As A Cautionary Tale For Orange County ("Asking now to extend the tax until 2069 is unsupportable given that officials cannot anticipate the technologies and population patterns nearly six decades into the future. Furthermore, Metro's fiscal and safety records are hardly stellar.")
Orange County Register

Endorsement: Yes On Measure J ("Borrowing and construction costs are unusually low at the moment, so it's probably cheaper to build now than later. Accelerating construction would boost jobs at a time when Los Angeles could badly use the economic stimulus. And although Measure J would tie up the tax money generated by Measure R for even longer than the original measure, that doesn't mean it will tie the hands of transit planners in the future — they can still build projects not on the Measure R list, using the proceeds of two previous sales tax initiatives, Measures A and C.")
Los Angeles Times

Federal Aid Essentials: FHWA Has Launched A New Information-Sharing Initiative To Help Local Public Agencies Manage Their Highway Projects
Federal Highway Administration

First-Time National Standard To Help Cities Keep Tabs On Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Next American City

Forefront Excerpt: The Last American Superhighway
Next American City

Gold Line Extension About To Go Into Bridge-Building Overdrive
Curbed LA

"Graffiti Pit" Site Could Become A Park ("With Grand Park open, city and county officials look at purchasing notorious downtown eyesore.")
Los Angeles Downtown News

LA Densification Must Offer Suburban-Like Amenities: Green Spaces And Places
Planning Report

Locating Affordable Housing Near Transit: A Strategic Economic Decision (8p. PDF)
Reconnecting America Policy Brief

Los Angeles Traffic Is Still The Worst In The Nation
LA Weekly

Managing The Pain Of Likely Cuts ("Transportation funding will likely suffer cuts, but some are better than others. Are there obsolete programs more worthy of the axe? Or, more positively, do some programs deserve more funding because they offer a better return on investment? What can transportation advocates do to mitigate the impact of what are sure to be painful cuts?")
National Journal Transportation Experts Blog

Metro Holds Update Meeting On Westside Subway Extension
Westwood-Century City Patch

[New York] MTA To Set Up Video Cameras To Collect Rider Comments
The Transit Wire
MTA Will Install Video Cameras To Let Straphangers Comment About Fare-Hike Proposals ("Footage and transcripts from 'hearings' will be made available to MTA board members.")
New York Daily News

National Conference To Highlight Development Along The Gold Line ("The Rail~Volution conference in Los Angeles this weekend will host a mobile workshop exploring the planned development along the Gold Line Foothill Extension.")
Arcadia Patch

Our View: Yes On Measure J For Traffic Relief ("Future voters should be footing some of the bill for transportation projects they will benefit from by paying a mere 50 cents on every $100 spent in the county through 2069. That leverage would allow current taxpayers the ability to see some of the projects come to fruition and actually enjoy the benefits now.")
San Gabriel Valley Tribune / Pasadena Star-News / Whittier Daily News

Privatizing Amtrak Won't Lead To Better Service
California High Speed Rail Blog

Research On Fatigue In Transit Operations (68p. PDF)
Transportation Research Board

Santa Monica Throws Community Values Under The Bus
Huffington Post

Torrance At 100: The South Bay City's Origins As A Model Industrial Town ("The Pacific Electric Railway's decision to locate its shops in Torrance helped make possible the town's founding." Aerial photo circa 1924)
LA as Subject via KCET

West Hollywood May Curb Its Free Street Parking ("A plan being drafted by the city's Transportation Commission would extend the hours of more than 2,000 parking meters...All city meters would charge on Sundays.")
Los Angeles Times


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

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