HSR Jobs, GIS Atlases, Sunset Bridge, Parking Meters Turn 75, HSR Impact On Freight, "SpeedSpike" & More

75 Years Later, Drivers Still Frustrated By Parking Meters (It's the parking meter's 75th birthday, and understandably, not everyone feels like celebrating)
American Public Media Marketplace
Oklahoma City, Site Of First parking Meter, July 16, 1935 (video)
Oklahoma History Center via YouTube

City Visualizes High-Speed Rail
San Francisco Examiner

Closures To Begin On 405 Freeway, Sunset Boulevard For Bridge Project: The Heavily Traveled Structure Will Be Demolished And Rebuilt In Two Phases
Los Angeles Times

Commuting Market Share Is The Wrong Way To Judge Transit
Urbanophile

Ensuring The Efficient Workings Of A Bike-Sharing System
Transport Politic

Free Towing Has Hitch: Cost Of Program Concerns Officials
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

FRA Final Rule To Strengthen Railroad Bridge Safety Programs
Metro Magazine
Full-Text Bridge Safety Standards Final Rule (114p. PDF)

The Future Of Work: Part II - Los Angeles (Interactive exploration of the future of Los Angeles courtesy of Michael Matzan Architecture, Gensler, cityLAB-UCLA. Each project has a "Commute" section)
Newsweek

Gas Prices Around The World: What It Costs To Fill 'Er Up (From $9.59 a gallon to just 6-cents per, which cities are the most expensive and cheapest?)
Daily Finance

Geographic Databases For 2010 Released (The National Transportation Atlas' 29 datasets, 11 of which are updated for 2010 release, are in shapefile format, compatible with most GIS software, and include intermodal terminals, national railway crossings, non-attainment areas and transit rail lines and stations, and debuts the Federal Railroad Administration's Railroad Bridges Database)
U.S. DOT

High-Speed Railroading: America's System Of Rail Freight Is The World's Best. High-Speed Passenger Trains Could Ruin It
The Economist

High-Speed Train Would Create Equivalent Of 50,000 One-Year Construction Jobs: Most Permanent Jobs Would Be Based In Victorville, Calif.
Las Vegas Sun

The Humble Bus Takes Off ("At a time when flights have been cut and ridership on trains has been relatively flat, traveling by bus has been on the rise. Last year, bus service increased 5 percent, and it rose nearly 10 percent in 2008.")
New York Times

If We Build It, They Will Board
Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor, Third District

Is Public Transit Really Cheaper? (audio)
Transportation Nation

LA Must Commit To Becoming A City That Works
CityWatch

L.A. Officials To Mark 20th Anniversary Of Metro Rail System: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Says There Have Been More Than A Billion Boardings On Its Rail And Bus Lines Since The Blue Line Opened, But Critics Say Ridership Has Been Reduced
Los Angeles Times

Lautenberg's FREIGHT Act: A Roadmap To A Cleaner Freight System (Focusing Resources, Economic Investment, and Guidance to Help Transportation Act of 2010)
Environmental Defense Fund Way2Go Blog
Press Release

Living Near Traffic Pollution Tied To Heart Deaths
Reuters

Minimum Knowledge About Minimum Parking Requirements
The City Fix

Mixed-Use Proposal Could Add Development, Event Station Near Dodger Stadium
Blog Downtown

The Planning Problem: A Documentary On High-Speed Rail ("After Boston's Big Dig (the tunneling project that went $5 billion over budget) and California's Bay Bridge Replacement (which is expected to cost taxpayers $7 billion more than estimated) the people of this country are legitimately skeptical.")
San Francisco Chronicle

Rail Group Sees US Recovery Stalling
Journal Of Commerce

Recession Breeds Wave Of Supercommuters
MSNBC

Stimulus Funds Give High-Speed Rail A Kick In The Caboose
Washington Post

Transportation Earmarks May Find Way Home ("Hundreds of millions of dollars in unspent transportation earmarks would be returned to the federal treasury under a bill introduced Wednesday by Rep. Betsy Markey.")
Loveland Connection

UC's Little-Known Pavement Research Center Results In Smooth, Safe And Silent Rides
San Jose Mercury News

Washington Uses Transit To Generate Development
Next American City

What's The Delay In Passing The New Highway Bill?
Asphalt Contractor

Where The H_ Is My Bus? NYC Tries To Answer
Transportation Nation

Will Your Transponder Rat You Out For Speeding? That's Where The Toll-Road Advocates Are Taking Us ("In a nutshell, the program -- called 'SpeedSpike' -- uses positioning satellites to track motorists as they travel between traffic cameras. By calculating the time it takes a driver to move from one point to the other, SpeedSpike can determine whether or not the motorist has been speeding.")
NJ.com