Today's Headlines - more at Metro

4/18/2009

Transportation Headlines for Saturday April 18, 2009

Archiving Angeles (AA): Third & Spring
MetBlogsLA

Big Blue Bus Fleet Is Becoming Greener
Santa Monica Mirror

Big Boston Cuts Underscore National Transit Crisis
Wired

Bogota: Home of the World's Most Advanced Bus System?
Fast Company

Bullet Train Reactions, SoCal to Vegas Train Off the Rails?
CurbedLA

Bus operator types and driver factors in fatal bus crashes: Results from the buses involved in fatal accidents survey
University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI)

Civilized Riding - The Dutch bicycle is increasingly imported to the United States and is starting to be seen on the streets of New York
New York Times

Editorial - Funds appear to sidetrack Obama's vision for rail - The president's goal of high-speed passenger trains is laudable, but where's the money going to come from?
Los Angeles Times

Elevating Cities: Obama and the Cities - The new president has a whole new notion of urban policy
Governing

End of the line coming for Claremont trolley
Daily Bulletin

Expresslanes Project on the 10 and 110 freeways in Los Angeles
Carollyn Nguyen

High speed rail possible? Yes, this is America
USDOT Fastlane

LA is the second hardest city to get by in
MetBlogsLA

Michael Chiacos: Why Are We Cutting Public Transit Funding? Amid a recession and with ridership growing, now is not the time to discourage commuters
NoozHawk

New Flyer honored for ‘green’ practices
Metro Magazine

New York City's First On-Street, Two-Way, Physically Separated Bike Lane
Tree Hugger

Obama Endorses CA High-Speed Rail, Among Others
Construct LA

ORCA smart card limited rollout gets underway
Sound Transit

Port's environmentalist leader is named a top Villaraigosa deputy - S. David Freeman will oversee DWP and green issues
Daily Breeze

Report: Fuel cell buses deemed global success
Metro Magazine

Safe Driver Who Keeps On Trucking - 2 million miles without an accident
NPR

Seattle Transit agencies unveil all-purpose pass
Seattle Post Intelligencer

SFMTA light-rail facility wins national public works award
Progressive Railroading

Simi gets $350,000 to plant Hwy. 118 trees
Ventura County Star

States to compete for high-speed rail funds
San Francisco Chronicle

Stimulus Package Driving Hybrid Bus Orders
CNBC

Streetscast: An Interview with MTA Chief Nat Ford
SF StreetsBlog

Sunset Blvd. Gets a New Pedestrian Crosswalk in Echo Park
LAist

Sustainable Transport and Urban Planning Makes a City Fast
The City Fix

Using Pricing to Reduce Traffic Congestion. A CBO Study
Congressional Budget Office

Villaraigosa Appoints Councilman Huizar to L.A. County Metro Board
Hispanic Business

Why Frank McCourt Isn't Paying for the Dodger Trolley
Sons of Steve Garvey

4/17/2009

Transportation Headlines for Friday April 17, 2009

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act should include a national transportation plan, National Center for Intermodal Transportation says
Progressive Railroading

Bullet Train from Los Angeles to… New York?
MetBlogsLA

California Transit Association Recommends Long-Term Funding Ideas
SF StreetsBlog

California transportation and jobs will benefit from federal stimulus dollars
State Senator George Runner

Doug Failing – Caltrans
Arcadia’s Best

Fuel Cell Buses Embraced Among Transit Agencies and Passengers; Performance and Reliability Better than Expected in Revenue Service
Business Wire

Google Transit update: Loop routes show up more nicely
Trillium

Lets’s Get Serious About Transportation Funding – Tap the Fuel Price Collapse
Urban Land Institute

MTA Westside Subway Extension project public scoping meeting April 23
The Argonaut

New IBM Study Highlights Exploding Demand for Smarter, Faster Rail Systems
PRNewsWire

Obama Calls For High-Speed Rail
NPR

Obama Outlines Plan for High-Speed Rail
Wired

Obama Pushes Vision for High-Speed Rail
Washington Post

Obama wants to get moving on high-speed rail - The president says $13 billion in federal money will be a 'down payment' on the 'long-overdue' railway system
Los Angeles Times

Orange County Transportation Authority retooling Web site to engage customers
Interactive agency Sensis using Web personas, gap analysis to refresh OCTA site
PRLog

Paying the Fare on Metro is Costly
Beacon Media

Railroaded? Regarding “Los Angeles Infrastructure or Bust,” by Beth Barrett (April 8) Letters to the Editor (Scroll down page)
LA Weekly

Reauthorization 2009: The Year of Transportation
PBS Blueprint America

Residents Say Put Subway to Sea on the Fast Track - Meetings Held to Evaluate Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevard Routes
Beverly Press

Seeking the Light in the Expo Rail Line
CityWatchLA

State Transportation Commission OKs financing plan for I-215 widening
Press Enterprise

VTA plans few cuts in service and no layoffs
Mercury News

What Can Los Angeles Expect for the Rights to Its Meters?
LAStreetsBlog

4/16/2009

Transportation Headlines for Thursday April 16, 2009

2nd Annual Wilshire Center Earth Day / Car Free Day
Wilshire Center

Arizona DOT: Public-Private Deals Can Deliver Infrastructure, Reduce Costs
Reason

Big Blue busted
Santa Monica Daily Press

CARB Awards $6.8 Million To Support The Construction of Hydrogen Fueling Stations
HybridCarFreak

Dana Point approves rail-crossing safety upgrades
Orange County Register

Earmark requests by Californians in Congress get increased public scrutiny - The House now requires members to post their requests online. The special spending used to be quietly slipped into legislation
Los Angeles Times

First Visit of the new U.S. Secretary of Transportation to Europe - Joins Other Confirmed Ministers at the 2009 International Transport Forum
Sys-Con

GIS Helps State Understand "Unintended Things," Says California's Geographic Information Officer
Government Technology

Greyhound to stay put in downtown Riverside as transportation center pondered
Press Enterprise

In praise of government: MARTA + iPhone = awesome (google transit)
Creative Loafing

Judge tosses out portions of L.A. housing density law - The ruling throws scores of proposed developments into doubt if the density is greater than authorized by state law, and might affect projects already approved or under construction
Los Angeles Times

L.A. could learn some lessons from Tokyo
Los Angeles Times

L.A. Port Activity Picks Up
LA Business Journal

L.A. to partner with 3 universities on clean technology - A goal of the joint effort with Caltech, UCLA and USC is to better compete for federal money for such programs and a proposed state climate change center
Los Angeles Times

Lessons from Chicago: What Could Happen to Parking in L.A.
LAStreetsBlog

Metro Harbor Subdivision Transit Corridor – Community Outreach Meetings
Facebook

Now boarding the bus: TV - City joins with WRAL to offer shows, weather, ads
Raleigh News Observer

Oil Industry Braces for Drop in U.S. Thirst for Gasoline
Wall Street Journal

Paris Using Ultracapacitors in Buses
EcoGeek

Portland Streetcar Project Praised By Transportation Secretary
OBP News

Safe Streets Coalition: How About a Stimulus for Bike/Ped Projects?
LAStreetsBlog

San Diego Transit Officials Discuss Possible Fare Increase
10 News

Study: 12 percent of San Diego adults use transit
Metro Magazine

TSA Announces Appointment of New Head of Strategic Communications
PR Newswire

United States of Transit Cutbacks - Jobs and Pocketbooks Threatened as Transit Agencies Face Cutting Jobs and Service, Raising Fares
Transportation for America

U.S. to Signal Strategy for Rail Funds
Wall Street Journal

USC, city mull intersection modifications
Daily Trojan

Waxman’s Climate Change Bill Good for Green Transportation
LAStreetsBlog

Wetland Parks Bring Nature Back to South Los Angeles (formerly Metro’s South Park facilty)
LA Watts Times

4/15/2009

Transportation Headlines for Wednesday April 15, 2009

Bay Area members of Congress post 'earmark' wish lists online
Mercury News

California Eliminates Transit, Expands Freeways
Planetizen

California Recovery Task Force Announces Rapid Progress On Transportation Projects
Imperial Valley News

Claremont council mulls future of trolley service - Closure, route changes among options amid dips in ridership
Daily Bulletin

Downtown streets to be repaved
Santa Monica Daily Press

Economic Stimulus Funds 2000 Transportation Projects
Infrastructure Watch

Environmental groups to seek congressional help on clean-truck program - Clean-air advocates will ask lawmakers for help in revising laws after a federal court ruled many of the provisions of the port cleanup plan unconstitutional
Los Angeles Times

Expansion of CTA Bus Tracker Nears Completion with the Activation of 19 Routes
Chicago Transit Authority

Expansion on 10 Freeway set to start soon
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Get Up, Lumbering Tower: Mayor's Coming to Ride New Gold Line
CurbedLA

Homeland Security Secretary Visits Los Angeles
LAist

Industry's approval of stadium complex challenged
Daily News

L.A. Metro Reminds Transit Customers to “Tap” Their New Smart Cards Every Time They Use the Metro System
Metro

LA Port Traffic Decline Slows
Journal of Commerce

LAX's drop in passenger and cargo traffic has a ripple effect
Los Angeles Times

LB port passes 1st test of ID card
Press Telegram

Metro Spends Squat on "No More TAP Cards" PR Campaign
The Bus Bench

Obama pegs Porcari as deputy USDOT secretary
Progressive Railroading

Prepared text of Villaraigosa's State of the City speech
Los Angeles Times/LA Now

Private Ownership of Public Street Parking Meters in LA?
LAist

Report Assesses Regional Possibilities in Recovery Act
National League of Cities

Ridley-Thomas To Lead New MTA Chief On Tour Along Crenshaw Transit Corridor
Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas

SANDAG Will Be First MPO to Update Regional Plans Under Historic Anti-Sprawl Bill
Smart Growth Online

SEPTA charts new route on Google
Metro International

Smart Growth Act of 2009 Introduced on Capitol Hill
Smart Growth Online

Stimulus Repaves Roads – For $25 Million Per Mile
NewsMax

Toronto transit CIO takes IT to the streets
The Industry Standard

Train wouldn’t send passengers straight from Disneyland to brothels
Orange County Register

TWIC rule trips port workers
Daily Breeze

U.S. Cities Where It's Hardest To Get By - Los Angeles is a somewhat surprising chart topper
Forbes

U.S. readies plans for high-speed rail development
Reuters

U.S. transportation secretary calls Portland's streetcar, light rail a "model" for nation
The Oregonian

WRAPUP-NY's MTA, California join Build America bond wagon
Reuters

4/14/2009

Transportation Headlines for Tuesday April 14, 2009

15 Large Ships May Pollute Just as Much as 760 Million Cars
Opposing Views

AnsaldoBreda representative to address May So.CA.TA meeting
SoCATA

Assemblyman Paul Krekorian: Let’s Make Our Speeding Streets “Safe Streets”
StreetsBlogLA

California Cities Need A Predictable Fund For Transit Operations
StreetsBlogSF

California road projects - Caltrans adopts a list of 57 transportation projects totaling $625 million to be the first in line to receive federal infrastructure money
Los Angeles Times

Caltrans Retentions Waived; More Design-Build Approved; Green Building, Renewables Get a Boost in New California Laws
Construction Weblinks

CNG station up for review - Council likely to approve new site that is expected to drastically reduce city fueling costs
Glendale News Press

Dual-Hub BRT presentation at April CAC meeting
Metro Citizens' Advisory Council

Gasoline prices climb in California, U.S.
Los Angeles Times

Giving new meaning to “green” transit
NRDC Switchboard

Highway projects 'ahead of schedule and under budget,' Obama says - Is it efficiency, or just the economic crisis? States went into overdrive to get stimulus funds for projects and contractors, hoping to stay afloat, submit aggressively low bids for the work
Los Angeles Times

Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano visits Southland
KPCC 89.3 FM

How to Develop a Pedestrian Safety Accident Plan
Transportation Research Board

Inland counties consider breaking with LA-based commuter information network (511)
Press Enterprise

Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners approves port expansion - The $750-million project will merge two aging terminals and create an estimated 14,000 jobs
Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Port's Rivals Make Gains
Wall Street Journal

Metro seeks public input on Westside subway extension
Los Angeles Times/LA Now

MTA to hold public meetings on Purple Line subway
Daily News

Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center Case Study Compendium
Transportation Research Board

President Obama at DOT: "Ahead of schedule and under budget"
USDOT Fastlane

Protesters mourn 'death' of public transit - Protesters continue opposition to bus cuts, officials look to fare evasion as a problem
Orange County Register

Putting Twitter’s World to Use
New York Times

Research Report of Chinese Urban Rail Transport Industry, 2009
PRLog

Sensitive Security Information (SSI): Designation, Markings and Control, Resource Document for Transit Agencies
Transportation Research Board

State Implementation of ARRA Transportation Provisions: Web Resources
Transportation Research Board

TAP Puts Senior Citizens Out To Pasture
The Bus Bench

Ticket to US bullet trains - The Recovery Act provides $8 billion for high-speed rail – a strong start, but a vision is needed
CS Monitor

Weak Economy Helps Stimulus Dollars Go Longer Way
Congressional Quarterly

WeHo Taxi Fee Hike Granted
WeHo News