Today's Headlines - more at Metro

11/12/2010

MTA Legal Audit, I-5 Widening, Gas Tax & The Deficit,Transit & Social Justice, L.A.'s Green School Buses, Transit Apps And Dating & More

Adding Cabbie Know-How To Online Maps: Nobody Knows How To Get Around A City Like A Taxi Driver - A New Method for Creating Online Maps Taps Into That Expertise
Technology Review

As A New Congress Sets Up Shop, Questions About The Future Of Transportation Funding
Transport Politic

Asleep At The Wheel: The Prevalance And Impact Of Drowsy Driving (16p. PDF)
AAA Foundation For Traffic Safety

California Investigates Bullet Train Agency Officials: The Inquiry Focuses On Overseas Trips Paid For By Foreign Governments Jockeying To Help Their Homeland Firms Secure State Contracts
Los Angeles Times

China's First Driverless Subway Lines Opens
Mass Transit

Could A Coal-N-Highways Dem Take Overstar's Place On Transpo Committee?
StreetsBlog DC

Derailed: Why High-Speed Trains Haven't Caught On In The U.S.
Fox Business

El Monte Takes On $22M In Debt To Advance Transit Village
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Estimated State Budget Deficit Reaches $25.4 Billion: The Economy, New Restrictions Approved By Voters, Phantom Savings In The Budget And The End Of Temporary Taxes Add To Gloomy Forecast By Legislative Analyst's Office For The Next 18 Months
Los Angeles Times

Event To Teach Bruins How To Travel L.A. Without Car
UCLA Daily Bruin

Five Social Media Transit Apps That Can Get You A Date
AltTransport

High Speed Rail Could Ask Planes And Trains To Work Together (a look at the sensibility of rail vs. flying short distances, and how JetBlue and Southwest executives differ on the comparison)
Marketplace

How Viable Is High-Speed Rail In California?
Marketplace

Litigation A Major Expense For MTA: Audit Finds Agency's Legal Costs Are Soaring, With Lax Oversight
Los Angeles Daily News

Los Angeles School Buses Getting Greener
School Transportation News

Mapnificent: How Far Can You Go In 15 Minutes?
("Mapnificent is less of a trip planner and more of a tool for figuring out larger-scale mobility. You can pick a point on a map and select a time from the point that you could use public transit, walking or biking to get there. For example, the map tells you where you could live or work within a commute of 30 minutes using public transit.")
The City Fix

Measure R Dollars At Work: Massive Widening For I-5 Near Santa Clarita
StreetsBlog LA

MTA Audit Finds Big Legal Spending With Little Oversight: The L.A. County Transit Agency's Attorneys Spent Millions On Legal Contracts Without Board Approval And Lacked Protocols To Control The Costs Of Prolonged Litigation, A Review Finds
Los Angeles Times

New Buses To Ease Overcrowding (Sunshine Shuttle Service in South Whittier)
Downey Patriot

Oil Is Going To US$300 A Barrel, Peak Oil Coming Soon
Financial Post

Our Stagnant Gas Tax Rate Is Making The Deficit Worse
StreetsBlog DC

The Playlist Does The Locomotion: Notable Train Films
Indie Wire

The Power Of The Pursestrings Shifts To A Livability Denier In The House
StreetsBlog DC

Preparing The Automobile City For High-Speed Rail ("It’s up to Roger Sherman, AIA, to find a way to make high-speed rail mass transit work in car-obsessed Los Angeles...Sherman is currently working with three sites in the Los Angeles area: Anaheim, Norwalk, and Burbank. For each, he is developing a series of scenarios that can be implemented given certain variable criteria.")
American Institute Of Architects

Reconnecting America Releases Analysis Of Federal Sustainable Community Grants: Report Details The Innovative Ideas, Common Themes And Unique Concepts Found In The Applications
Reconnecting America

Richard Branson's New High-Speed Project
Forbes

Scooter Style
(In Los Angeles, "Scooters are being turned to by Downtowners not just for being stylish, but also as a functional way to move around.")
Blog Downtown

S.F. May Hit Drivers With Variety Of Tolls (which could total as much as $1,560 a year)
San Francisco Chronicle

Tensions With States Grow Over High-Speed Rail
Reuters

Think Public Transportation Isn't A Social Justice Issue? Think Again
("Public transportation speaks volumes about a society. It speaks about racism, economic injustice and the patterns of historical development as a nation -- economic, social, cultural, political, environmental -- which are embedded in a transportation system many people take for granted.")
Huffington Post

U.S. Department Of Transportation Supports Walk-Friendly Communities
The City Fix

U.S. Trade Deficit Joined At Hip To U.S. Oil Dependence
StreetsBlog Network

What Does It Take To Win A Planning Grant From The Feds?
StreetsBlog DC

With Oberstar Out, Who Will Be Top Dem On Transportation Committee?
Infrastructurist