Today's Headlines - more at Metro

11/16/2012

Expo II Proceeds, CAHSR, MAP-21, Metro Ridership, Next Transpo Secy & More

Bullet Train's Segment Completion Date Pushed Back ("The high-speed rail authority adds 12 months to the schedule for 130 miles of Central Valley track, meaning it would be finished by December 2017 rather than a year earlier.")
Los Angeles Times

Calif. High-Speed Rail Faces Crucial Court Ruling (Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley is expected to decide Friday whether to grant a preliminary injunction that would temporarily halt the ambitious infrastructure project.")
Associated Press

California High-Speed Rail Project Faces Crucial Decision In Lawsuit Over Environmental Review
Washington Post

Court Rules On Motion To Halt Expo Light Rail Construction ("Ruling in Expo's favor keeps work to the "build a modern transit system" from downtown Los Angeles into the Westside remains on track.")
Culver City Patch

Freakonomics Hucksters: "Save The Earth, Drive Your Car"
StreetsBlog DC

Gold Line Bridge Will Be Done In A Month
Monrovia Patch

How MAP-21 Pushed Transit To The Edge Of Its Own Fiscal Cliff
StreetsBlog DC

Judge Refuses NIMBY Request To Stop Work On Expo Extension
Curbed LA

LA Metro To Implement Clean Energy Flywheel Technology In Its Red Line ("VYCON’s kinetic energy technology essentially uses the flywheel system to store energy generated by braking, and then uses that energy when the train accelerates.")
Techno Buffalo

A Mass-Transit Proposal To Connect A City Using Aerial Gondolas (Are they coming to Austin?)
Fast Company Design

Metro Ridership Rose Double Digits In LA County
Diamond Bar-Walnut Patch

Mica Likely To Lose Transportation Committee Post
Orlando Sentinel

More Angelenos Riding Buses, Boarding Trains Thanks To Smartphone Technology
LAist

The Same "Empty Buses" Fallacy, Over And Over
Human Transit

T Says Smartphone Ticket App Is A Hit With Commuter Rail Riders
Boston Globe

A Sidewalk To Bridge Red And Blue
Better Cities & Towns

Top Metro Execs Asked About Crime Spike On Buses And Trains
NBC Los Angeles

Who May Be The Next Transportation Secretary? (16 potential nominees, including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and OCTA CEO Will Kempton, are assessed)
Governing

Will The Next Transpo Chair Continue Attacks On Bike/Ped Funding?
StreetsBlog DC


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.

11/15/2012

Westside Subway, TAP, Pedestrian Hollywood, iPhone Transit, CAHSR, ExpressLanes, Lankershim Bike Lanes & More

California Regulator Issues Citations And Fines Against Transportation Services Uber, Lyft, And SideCar
TechCrunch

De-Uglifying Hollywood: How To Make Our City Pedestrian-Friendly
StreetsBlog LA

Exclusive: Crime Spikes On Metro Buses And Trains ("Robberies are up 42 percent over the first ten months of last year, and assaults are up 13.5 percent.")
NBC Southern California

Finally, iPhone Maps That Aren't A Total Disaster ("One of the biggest losses for people who live and visit metropolitan areas and need to know how to get around is Apple Maps's lack of public transportation information. Nokia has that.")
The Atlantic: Cities

Glossary For Regional Transportation Systems Management And Operations Terms: 2nd Ed. (38p. PDF)
Transportation Research Board

High-Speed Rail Jobs May Give Priority To Down-On-Luck Workers
Fresno Bee

High-Speed Rail Must Tame California's Tricky Terrain
San Francisco Examiner

Housing Near Transit Creates Thriving Communities
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Interactions Between Transportation Capacity, Economic Systems, And Land Use (62p. PDF)
Strategic Highway Research Program

Is Mass Transit Bad For The Environment? ("According to the Department of Energy’s Transportation Energy Data Book, in 2010 transporting each passenger one mile by car required 3447 BTUs of energy. Transporting each passenger a mile by bus required 4118 BTUs, surprisingly making bus transit less green by this metric. Rail transit admittedly fares better, at 2520 BTUs per passenger mile, but even this is not the kind of slam-dunk advantage over the auto that transit advocates might hope for.")
TreeHugger

L.A. Freeway Tops 91 For Highest Peak Toll Rates
Orange County Register

LACMTA Begins Utility Relocation Work For Westside Subway Extension Project
RT&S

Lankershim Bike Lanes Could Arrive By Mid-2013
North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch

Long Beach: More Public Meetings To Be Held For Daisy-To-Myrtle Bike Path
StreetsBlog LA

Mayor Brien Turns On Beverly Hills, Praises Metro Tunnel Project
Beverly Hills Courier

Metro, City, Get Serious About Funding CicLAvia
StreetsBlog LA

New Look For Expo-Adjacent Retail The Platform In Culver City
Curbed LA

Next Steps For The Bike Movement In Santa Monica (Part 1 of 2)
StreetsBlog LA

NYC Transit Brass Cite Gains In Restoring Service ("The New York City subway system is now operating at 98 percent.")
Wall Street Journal

Rose Bowl USC/UCLA Game Ahead: Traffic & Parking Tips
Pasadena Patch

Single Drivers May Use HOV Lane For Fee
KPCC Southern California Public Radio

TAP Solution For Metrolink 2.0 ("Thursday at the Metro Board Executive Management Committee meeting the new solutions will be debated.")
StreetsBlog LA

Transportation Official Says 710 Tunnel Will Be Hard To Beat ("A Southern California Association of Governments official said Wednesday the twin-bore tunnel is the only viable option to complete the 710 Freeway from I-10 to I-210.")
Long Beach Press-Telegram

Voters Approve Transportation Spending, AASHTO's New President And More
Governing

What Kind Of Leadership Would Bill Shuster Bring To The Transpo Committee?
StreetsBlog DC


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.

11/14/2012

Gold Line Bridge, ExpressLanes, CAHSR, Parking & Solo Driving, LA Bikes & More

November 14: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (A 1933 report proposes a  comprehensive rail rapid transit system for Los Angeles and even predicts the need for a San Fernando Valley rail transit line along the current Orange Line right-of-way)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

10 Strategies For Attracting Development Near Transit In A Slow Growth Market (20p. PDF : adapted from last year's report on TOD in San Francisco)
Citizens For Modern Transit (St. Louis)
10 Strategies For Attracting Investment Near Transit: Lessons Learned From The San Francisco Bay Area (20p. PDF)
ULI San Francisco

Arcadia Gold Line Bridge Construction Nears Completion
Pasadena Star-News
Basket Bridge Construction Video
Metro Gold Line Foothill Construction Authority

The Architectural Spectacle That Is Munich's Metro (photoessay)
The Atlantic: Cities

California Kicks Off Cap And Trade For Carbon Emissions ("After 2015, the law also will include transportation fuels, meaning that oil refineries will need permits to account for the emissions from all the vehicles in the state.")
Whittier Daily News

Can The Asian Example Save California High Speed Rail?
Asia Society

ExpressLanes Quietly Open On I-110, Media Finds "Grumbling"..But Not Hysteria
StreetsBlog LA

For Pedestrians, Cities Have Become The Wilderness
The Atlantic: Cities

How L.A.'s First Toll Road Could Help Reduce Traffic (video : interview with Metro's Executive Officer for Congestion Reduction Initiative Stephanie Wiggins)
KCET

L.A. To Consider Free Parking At Meters For Some Veterans
KCET

Metro Breaks Ground For Westside Subway Extension (video)
Culver City Patch

Mica Waiting For Leadership Election To Address Transportation Committee Chairmanship
The Hill

New Balance To Build Train Station As Part Of Its Boston Headquarters ("Another corporate sponsor is making a major investment in rail transit.")
StreetsBlog Network
New Balance To Build Commuter Rail Station As Part Of Boston Headquarters Expansion
Architect's Newspaper

Obama's New Cabinet Can Make The Trains Run On Time ("He can set the tone for his new term with changes in a less-likely place: the Department of Transportation. The current secretary, Ray LaHood, is probably stepping down in 2013, and Obama’s signature transportation policy, a national high-speed-rail network, is in disarray.")
Bloomberg

Opinion: From The Valley To Downtown -- By Bike
Los Angeles Times

Pondering The Transponder: Sell Your Soul, Pay The Toll
Blogging Los Angeles

Shoup: Free Parking To Blame For California's Solo Car Commuting Habit
StreetsBlog DC

SoCal Bullet Train Route: Skyscraper-Tall Viaducts, 500-Foot Deep Tunnels, One Of The Steepest Grades In The World
Curbed LA

South L.A. Neighborhood Bike Ambassadors Confer With Planners On Bike And Mobility Plans
StreetsBlog LA

Trains, Pains And Fallout From The Election
Los Angeles Downtown News

Transit As A City's Bloodstream: The Video
Human Transit

We Shouldn't Be Surprised That Most Transit Referendums Won
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.

11/13/2012

ExpressLanes, Regional Connector, Gas Tax, OC Traffic, Bicycle Modeling & More

$1 Billion Plan To Ease Gridlock In South (Orange County)
Orange County Register

Alameda County Transportation Sales Tax Increase Still Trailing ("The Measure B1 sales tax increase was trailing Monday with 65.79 percent of the vote in support -- short of the 66.666 percent required for approval.")
Silicon Valley Mercury-News

Attacks On Bus Drivers Appear On The Rise, Fueling Safety Concerns
Kansas City Star

Bicycle Modeling Tool To Aid Infrastructure Development Decisions
Government Technology

Bullet-Train Planners Face Huge Challenge ("The 141-mile section from Bakersfield to L.A. will travel over two mountain ranges and more than half a dozen earthquake faults. Experts see it as the project of the century.")
Los Angeles Times

CHP To Begin Enforcing New Toll Lanes On 110 Freeway
KTLA

Communities Vote To Tax Themselves To Support Transit
StreetsBlog DC

Councilman Eric Garcetti Wants Certain Veterans To Park For Free At Los Angeles City Meters
Los Angeles Daily News

Enticing Car-Lite Households To Take The Next Step
StreetsBlog Network

Expanded Transportation Performance Measures To Supplement Level Of Service (LOS) For Growth Management And Transportation Impact Analysis (203p. PDF)
Florida DOT

Fullerton Wants Commuters To Share Bikes
Orange County Register

Gasoline Use In State Down From A Year Ago
Sacramento Bee

How To Be Savvier With Public Transportation
USA Today

Hundreds Come Out For DIY Public Hearing On Proposed Long Beach Railyard
StreetsBlog LA

Is Speed Obsolete?
Human Transit

Judge Lets Work Continue On Regional Connector
Los Angeles Downtown News

L.A. County Toll Lanes Get Smooth Start, Despite Some Grumbling
Los Angeles Times

LA's First Toll Lanes Open; Trips Cost Up To $15.40
Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Adopts Congestion Toll
USC Annenberg TV News

Map: 110 Freeway "FasTrak" Express Lanes Take A Toll On Drivers Starting Nov. 10
KPCC Southern California Public Radio

MBTA Mobile-Ticket Era Begins For Commuter Rail Riders Monday
Boston Globe

Moving The Dial On The Gas Tax (Is it time to talk about a gas tax increase? How could the idea be made more palatable to conservatives? Would a gas tax hike be easier to swallow if it was temporary? What longer-term strategies for infrastructure payment should be on the table? Will Washington be able to cope with such a discussion?")
National Journal Transportation Experts Blog

Nation's Highways Remain An Issue For An Obama Second Term
Washington Post

Newly Unflooded New York Subway Still Looking Pretty Horrible
The Atlantic: Cities

NY Commuters Still Struggling Through Post-Storm Transit Mess
Reuters

Our View: Are Toll Lanes A Slippery Slope?
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Pay Lanes: How It Works
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Public Transportation Systems Reaching Out To Veterans, APTA Says
Progressive Railroading

Residents Invited To Hear About Efforts Leading To Widening Of 71 Freeway
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Supporters Continue Push For Downtown Streetcar As Vote Nears
Blog Downtown

Texas Debuts Fastest Highway Speed Limit In Nation: 85 MPH
Los Angeles Times

That's Hot! High Occupancy Toll Lanes Open On 110 Freeway
CBS Los Angeles

TTC and LACMTA See Rise In Ridership
RT&S

Twin Redondo Hotels Start Work This Year Near Green Line
Curbed LA

An Update On The Expo Bikeway
Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition

Vine Street Again Possible Transit Center Site
Riverside Press-Enterprise

The Vote 2012
The Transport Politic

Yes, We Have No Carbon Tax
StreetsBlog DC


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.