Today's Headlines - more at Metro

10/01/2010

405 Bridge Change, BH Bike Lanes, Figueroa's Future, Calif HSR "Will Be Built", Amtrak's Big Plans, Redevelopment Agencies & More

50 Excellent YouTube Videos About Urban Planning (including Transportation: #26 - #36)
Democrablog

Amtrak's $117 Billion Plan For High Speed Travel
Fast Company

Avoiding Car-Centered Language: A Directive
Human Transit

Beverly Hills: Grade-Separated Bike Lanes For Santa Monica Blvd?
Examined Spoke

Book Review: Rival Rails: The Race To Build America's Greatest Transcontinental Railroad By Walter R. Boreman: The Players In The Transcontinental Railroad Saga Were Legion, And The Knowledgeable Author Endeavors To Cover Them All ("What the Southern Pacific extorted from Los Angeles: a $610,000 bond issue, plus control of a small local railroad that was the city's link to the coast. What choice did L.A. have? The Big Four, in addition to the Southern Pacific, owned or controlled every other railroad with any chance of laying tracks into the city in 1872.")
Los Angeles Times

Calif. Gets $194M Federal Grant For High-Speed Rail
Sacramento Business Journal

California's Personal Vehicle Sharing Law Could Diminish Need To Own A Car
StreetsBlog SF

Caltrans Closes 7 Rest Areas
Etrucker

A Chat With Earl Blumenauer About Livable Communities And Right-Wing Paranoia
Grist

Cities With The Worst Traffic Nightmares: A New Study Shakes The Foundations Of How Americans Judge Traffic
ABC News

Citizens United Against Metro (p.4+ of 40p. PDF)
Beverly Hills Courier

Community Wins 405 Bridge Change
Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor, Third District

Editorial: Bridge Plan Is Getting Somewhere
Daily Breeze

Editorial: Put The Brakes On Red-Light Cameras: It's Questionable Whether The Devices Reduce Accidents, And They Certainly Don't Earn The City Money
Los Angeles Times

Feds Forcing New York To Change Font On 250,000 Street Signs
Transportation Nation

Get Big Blue Bus On Google Transit!
LA Subway Blog
Link To Petition

How Do You Count The Crowds Going Through Times Square?
(video)
BBC

How Flawed Formulas Lead Down The Road To Sprawl
StreetsBlog

Imagining Figueroa's Future: Two Workshops Focus On Corridor Between South Park And USC
Los Angeles Downtown News

Is Effective Decision-Making Possible At The Regional Scale?
(The fractiousness of Bay Area transit)
Next American City

Lawmaker Says Congestion-Relief Bill Would Create Better Flow Of Freight
The Trucker

Lots Of Cash And Little Scrutiny In City Redevelopment: City Agencies Meant To Improve Blighted Areas Are Rife With Problems That Cost The Public Millions
Los Angeles Times

New Coalition Launches To Press For A Transportation System That Works for All Americans
Transportation For America

New Report Paints Murky Picture Of Inland Commutes
Riverside Press-Enterprise

New Survey: Carless Options In San Francisco And Boston
The City Fix

Opportunity For All! Sign The Transportation Equity Pledge
Transportation For America

Patch, The WalMart Of News? AOL Takes On Longtime Local Bloggers With Its Hyperlocal News Sites In Los Angeles
LA Weekly

Poring Over The 2009 American Community Survey Numbers
League Of American Bicyclists

Reformer Elected To Head ATU Transit Union
Labor Notes

Residents Call Again For Crossing Closure: L.A. Business Owners Continue To Disagree With Them About Crossing At Doran And San Fernando
Glendale News Press

Some Santa Monicans Think Constellation Blvd Stop Is Just Fine
Curbed LA

Texting Bans Don't Reduce Crashes; Effects Are Slight Crash Increases
Highway Loss Data Institute

Van Ark: HSR "Will Be Built"
California High Speed Rail Blog