Metro Transit App, Expo Pics, Building BRT, Business Of LEED, Nevada's 90 MPH Proposal, Metrolink 2 Years Later, Shoup Vs. Cato & More

Broad LA Coalition Pushes Congress For Transportation Funds
Southern California Public Radio

Build HSR In Central Valley First?
California High Speed Rail Blog

Building The Open City Stack ("By coordinating and leveraging the collective efforts of cities around the country, the organization would ultimately foster the creation of a “civic stack” of software and data standards that could allow cities [to] adopt open city technology – such as constituent relationship software or transit tracking – while avoiding the time and expense of reinventing the wheel.")
Next American City
Introducing Civic Commons ("Civic Commons’ mission is to help governments share technology more effectively...Civic Commons will support the sharing of actual technology as well as the many related resources such as policy language, contract language, case studies, etc., needed to make this possible.")
OpenPlans

Can LA Afford To Go Green In Today's Economy? Is It The Wrong Time Or The Only Time? (September 17 panel discussion : "The Westside Urban Forum brings together the worlds of economics, politics and the environment for a frank and urgent conversation. With the May of Los Angeles recalibrating his goals, big-oil supporting a rollback of clean air regulation on this November's ballot, and a bad economy continuing to ravage Los Angeles, is it now or never? What are the real costs of going green? What are the financial benefits? Who will end up footing the bill?")
Westside Urban Forum

CleanTech Manufacturing Center RFP
CleanTech Los Angeles

Cutting Through The Fog Of LA Planning: Seven Developments To Watch
CityWatch

Daimler To Launch The Twitter Of Ride Sharing
Giga Om

Does Our Transportation Funding Violate The Civil Rights Act?
Great City

FTA: Houston's Metro Broke Federal Laws ("FTA officials say METRO violated both federal purchasing laws and Buy America requirements when it handed over two light rail contracts to a Spanish rail car vendor. FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff called METRO’s purchasing process “alarming and disturbing” in letter he delivered in person to Houston Mayor Annise Parker and METRO officials.")
Transportation Nation

Gov 2.0 Summit 2010 (68 thought-provoking video highlights of conference held September 7-8 in Washington, D.C. : "Leaders inside and outside government are turning to the Web 2.0 principles of participation, collaboration, transparency, and efficiency to address the challenges facing our country and the world. This is the agenda of the Gov 2.0 Summit.")
Gov 2.0 Summit via YouTube

Green Building: A Real Estate Revolution? (LEED Certification : Part 1 of 2)
NPR
Critics Say LEED Program Doesn't Fulfill Promises (Part 2 of 2)
NPR

How Mobile Devices Could Lead To More City Living
The Atlantic

The Infrastructure Bank Is A Triple Win
New Republic

LA Civic Leaders Break Ground On Olvera Street Mural Visitor Center
Southern California Public Radio

Look Out? Building A BRT Line In California Is No Simple Matter (Part 1 of a 3-part series)
Next American City

MBTA Releases Real-Time Data For All Bus Routes
Transit Wire

Metro's First Offering Isn't Great, But There Are Transit Apps For L.A.
Blog Downtown

Mid-Corridor Construction Photo Gallery (Expo Line)
Friends 4 Expo

Perspectives: A Tale Of Two Gold Line Extensions; 60 Freeway Route Will Best Serve SG Valley
Pasadena Star-News

Shoup: Cato HQ The Perfect Lab For Reforming Commuter Parking Subsidies
StreetsBlog

Stop Or I'll Sue: California High Speed Rail Opponents And Their Bag Of Tricks
AltTransport

Time To Accelerate Freeway Teardowns?
Citiwire

Two Years After Chatsworth Crash, Metrolink Tries To Move Forward
Southern California Public Radio

Want To Drive 90 In Nevada? Buy A Pass

New York Times

Warmth Of Human Bodies Waiting Below Ground For Paris Metro Will Heat New Apartment Complex
Popular Science

Westside Subway Study Is Defective: The Manhattanization Of LA
CityWatch

Westside Subway Won't Relieve Much Traffic, According To MTA's Draft Environmental Impact Report
Los Angeles Times

What Are The Primary Infrastructure Projects Obama Should Fund?
Infrastructurist

CALPIRG & 30/10, Car-Free SD, CicLAvia, Vegas Crossroads, Archives Bazaar & More

5th Annual L.A. As Subject Archives Bazaar: Save The Date For L.A.'s Premiere Historical & Cultural Event On October 23rd (And It's Free!)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

California Getting $149 Million From U.S. For Distressed Properties: City Of L.A.'s Cut Is Nearly $10 Million
LA Weekly

Dallas Covers Highway With Greenery: Cities Are Increasingly Decking Highways With Piles Of Greenery And New Development
Governing

Days Of Free Parking At Broken Meters In L.A. Coming To An End
Los Angeles Times

Dear Uncle Sam: Transit Design Really Does Matter ("For too long the conversation has been about transit efficiency and what local governments can do to change land use. The attention needs to turn to improving transit design as well. Continuing to follow the old transit facility design playbook is not going to work if we want livable communities.")
Planetizen

Feds Say [Houston] Metro Violated Procurement Laws In Rail Project
Houston Chronicle

Green Transportation Depends On Reining In Space For Cars
StreetsBlog

Highway Deaths Fall To Lowest Level Since 1950
Associated Press

Local And State Elected officials Join 300 Businesses Call For Action On The Subway To The Sea And The Regional Connector
CALPIRG
Build L.A. Transit Now! ("Please sign our letter to Sen. Boxer, asking her to help Los Angeles secure the loans we need to build L.A. transit now.")
CALPIRG

Making Subway Bad News Look Better
New York Times

Nationwide Survey Of Safe Driving Cities Ranks Glendale Near Bottom
Glendale News-Press

Noise On BART: How Bad Is It And Is It Harmful?
San Francisco Chronicle

The Oakland Airport Connector: BART's Little Engine That Could? ("The fatigue is palpable, but the battle over BART's Oakland Airport Connector (OAC) is nowhere near its conclusion.")
StreetsBlog SF

Obama Plan Could Help Dems. But Not The Way You Think
Transportation Nation

Obama Transportation Plan Likely To Have To Wait
Washington Post

Opinion: Banking On 30/10: Obama's Infrastructure Bank Idea Is A Worthy Goal, And Not Merely Because It Could Help Fast-Track LA. Transit Improvements
Los Angeles Times

Plaza Plan For Balboa Park Unveiled: Proposal To Clear Cars Out Of Historic Square Might Mean Parking Fees For A Future Garage (With the centennial of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition that created San Diego's Balboa Square approaching, the city is considering turning back the neighborhood to its former car-free glory)
San Diego Union-Tribune

A Stress Test For America ("The runner-up [behind Detroit] on the stress index is Los Angeles, which is saddled with the most expensive housing and second-worst air pollution among the 50 biggest metros. It’s also afflicted with an unemployment rate of 11.6 percent.")
Portfolio

Ten Historic Buildings Along The CicLAvia Route
CivLAvia

Transportation Expert Says Las Vegas Could Become Crossroads Of West
Las Vegas Sun

Trench Project For San Gabriel Railroad Crossings Moves Forward
Whittier Daily News

What Does President Obama's Transportation Initiative Mean?
Smart Growth America
President Obama's Transportation Initiative Is A Good Start To A Fiscally Responsible 21st Century Infrastructure (2p. PDF : press release)

What Is A "Call For Projects" And Why Is The City Gearing up For It?
StreetsBlog LA

What's The Best Side Effect Of Using Human-Powered Transportation?
GOOD

Zev Yaroslavsky - The Orchestrator: The County Supervisor, Soon Entering His Final Term, Discusses Local Politics And Rumors Of A Possible L.A. Mayor Candidacy (interview)
Los Angeles Times

OC Vs. LA!, Foothill Transit Hybrids, Transit Security Awareness Campaigns, "Car Capacity," Scan A Barcode - Find A Library & More

Airport Fight Gets Boost (The Southern California Associated Governments on Thursday threw its weight behind local management of ONT, sending a letter to Los Angeles City Administrator Miguel Santana favoring it.")
Riverside Press-Enterprise
Editorial: Fair Flight?

Barriers To Using Fixed-Route Public Transit For Older Adults (251p. PDF)
Mineta Transportation Institute

Bringing Transit To The Masses (Omnitrans new service)
San Bernardino Sun

Car Capacity Is Not Sacred ("The crucial point is that car infrastructure not only encourages driving, it also sabotages mobility by any other means. It’s a vicious cycle: roads beget sprawl begets car dependence begets roads, and so on. And the result is an ever-expanding built environment in which walking, biking, and transit are not viable options. The only way to break the vicious cycle is to invest our limited transportation dollars in infrastructure that will help make walking, biking, and transit more attractive than driving."
Publicola

City Announces L.A. Bicycle Plan Meetings
LAist

DOT Envisions Human-Free Car Operation
Federal News Radio

El Pueblo Takes First Step To Rehabilitate Pico-Garnier Block: Property Could Bring Department Nearly $1 Million In Annual Rent
Los Angeles Downtown News

Exploring The Effectiveness Of Transit Security Awareness Campaigns In The San Francisco Bay Area (72p. PDF)
Mineta Transportation Institute

First Impressions Of Obama's Big Infrastructure Announcement
StreetsBlog

Foothill Transit Introduces The Hybrid Of The Future
USC Annenberg Neon Tommy

High-Speed Passenger Rail Safety Strategy (31p. PDF)
U.S. Federal Railroad Administration Office Of Railroad Safety

Local Governments To Bail Out Train Safety Plan
Riverside Press-Enterprise

Mapping The Land Lost To Parking ("Using a technique called a figure ground map you can really get a feel for what's for people and what's for cars. I made a quick one for the area around the Pico Blue Line station in Los Angeles. What's the priority here?")
Straight Outta Suburbia

NJ Transit Introduces "Quiet Train Cars" On Northeast Corridor Express Trains
NJ.com

Obama Wants $50 Billion Invested In Transportation, Villaraigosa Chimes In About 30/10
LAist

Obama's Infrastructure Stimulus: What We Know Now
Infrastructurist
Obama's Infrastructure Stimulus: What We Still Need To Know
Infrastructurist

OC vs. LA: 52 Undeniable Reasons To Live Here & Not There (including drivers, traffic flow, modern highways, surface streets, left-turn lanes, parking)
Orange Coast Magazine

On Infrastructure, Time To Dump The Ideology
National Review Online

Opinion: California's Dismal Economy Needs An Infrastructure Boost: What Better Way To Solve The State's Employment Problem Than Spending On Critical Infrastructure?
Los Angeles Times

Pay To Park: New Parking Meter Stickers Carry A Warning
LAist

Philly Subway To Capture Energy From Braking Trains
CNET

Republicans Line Up To Oppose Obama's Transportation Proposal
StreetsBlog DC

Review: Public Policies For Pedestrian And Bicyclist Safety And Mobility: An Implementation Project Of The Pedestrian And Bicyclist Safety And Mobility International Scan (68p. PDF : Transportation professionals from the United States with expertise in bicycling and walking visited five countries in Europe to identify and assess effective approaches to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety and mobility. The countries visited — Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom — were chosen because of their innovative approaches to pedestrian and bicycle transportation, as well as the potential transferability of their policies and practices)
Federal Highway Administration International Technology Scanning Program

Scan A Barcode, Find A Library: Bringing The World's Library Collections To Your Phone
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Sound Experts To Weight In On Noise Levels At RR Crossings
Orange County Register

Transit Panel Hopes To Raise Fares For Bus Services
Ventura County Star

Union Jobs In LA Disappearing At Rapid Rate
Southern California Public Radio

Waste Underground: Turnstile Boondoggle (video)
Fox News

Westside Subway & Downtown Connector Studies, Obama's $50B Transpo Plans, L.A. & Climate Change, Alameda Corridor & More

Augmented Reality Coming To DC Bus Stops Today
Read Write Web

Bridge Work Begins Over 210 ("Iconic Freeway Structure" for the Gold Line Foothill Extension)
Arcadia's Best

Broadway Is Busy With Pedestrians, If Not Car Traffic
New York Times

California High Speed Rail News Flash: Program Director Tony Daniels Leaves HSR Project
Examiner

Car Sharing Should Expand To Hollywood, Recommends City Report
LAist

Chinese Laborers Finally Rest In Peace: Those Whose Bodies Were Excavated During Construction Of The Metro Gold Line's Eastside Extension And Then Reinterred At A Nearby Cemetery In Boyle Heights Are Honored With A Memorial Wall And Garden
Los Angeles Times

Clever Crosswalk Squashes Jaywalking, By Making It Legal ("Korean designer Jae Min Lim has the clever idea to turn crosswalks into, well, “J”s. By curving the typical Zebra crossing to take up a wider swath of road, you carve out a nice, safe path for pedestrians -- one that reflects how they actually walk." Includes intriguing photos and diagrams)
Fast Company Design

Debt Load Weighs On Alameda Corridor: The Rail Expressway That Helped Make The L.A. And Long Beach Ports Complex The Giant It Is Could Become A Burden Thanks To The Recession
Los Angeles Times

Does The President's Plan For Fixing America's Transportation Infrastructure Go Far Enough?
Brookings

Fast Rail Won't Stop In The SCV
Santa Clarita Valley Signal

Get Out The Shovel: Metro Wants Regional Connector Underground
Curbed LA

How Can Los Angeles Adapt To Coming Climate Change? ("Climate change can't alter the blue skies or access to the beach and mountains, but it will pose four tangible threats: The summers will grow hotter, the air will be smoggier, there will be more fires, and there will be much less water.")
Scientific American

How Do Parking Lots Affect The Environment?
Environmental Research Web

If Transit Investment Produces Jobs, Why Isn't There More Of It?
Next American City

Incorporating Health Objectives Into Transport Planning
Planetizen

The Jam Busters: Can Maths Keep Us Moving? - With Car Use Increasing All The Time, In A Few Years We Could Be Facing Global Gridlock. Can The Calculations Of Mathematicians And Engineers Keep Us Moving?
Independent (U.K.)

LA Artists Fight To Save City's Legacy Of Murals
Associated Press

Living On Earth, A National NPR Radio Show, Looks At Cycling And Los Angeles
StreetsBlog LA
It's No Copenhagen
Living On Earth

Measure Your Neighborhood's Transportation Costs
New York Times

Not The Best Of Times For L.A.'s Labor Unions ("If the 30-10 plan gets approved, you are looking at putting 150,000 people back to work...Nothing comes close to creating that number of jobs and get us back on track. That's not just construction, it's suppliers and services, health care, entertainment. Everyone will benefit from it.")
Los Angeles Daily News

Obama Seeks $50 Billion In Transportation Spending To Create Jobs: The President Says The Plan Would Put Construction Workers Back On The Job Without Adding To The Deficit. Republicans Say It's More Unnecessary Spending
Los Angeles Times

Perspectives: A Tale Of Two Gold Line Extensions: Washington Boulevard Route Serves More Riders
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Promoting A Second Stimulus With The Goal Of Actual Job Creation
Transport Politic

Proposed Westside Subway Will Do Little To Relieve Traffic Congestion, Report Shows: The Draft Environmental Impact Report Does Say, However, That The Project Will Give Riders More Options And Allow Them To Travel Across Town Much Faster Than The Buses On Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles Times

Railroad Track Separation Project Stalled, City Debates Alternatives
Whittier Daily News

Regional Connector Report Released: LTCC Hosts Meeting On Sept. 13 To Update Community On Metro Transit Project (Little Tokyo Community Council)
Rafu Shimpo

The Road To Transitville: Everyone Loves 30-10, But Building A Dozen Major Transportation Projects In A Decade Requires A Long Stop In Washington
Los Angeles Downtown News

Rural Transit Takes Off In California
Environmental Defense Fund Way2Go Blog

SCAG Takes A Pass on History, Moves Forward With Lower GHG Reductions
StreetsBlog LA

Top Twitter Feeds On Urban Planning (updated for Fall, 2010)
Planetizen

Traffic Death Experts Ignore The Role Of Dangerous Streets
StreetsBlog

"Train Geeks" Give Railroad Agency High Marks
Washington Post

True HSR Cost Accounting
California High Speed Rail Blog

U.S. Plays Catch-Up On High Speed Rail
New York Times

Vote: Which Downtown Streets Should LA Turn Into Pedestrian Plazas?
Curbed LA

Westside Subway Report Released: It Won't Relieve Westside Traffic Congestion, But Does That Matter?
LAist

Will Subway To The Sea Equal More Congestion?
CityWatch

Zippy! Draft Study For Subway Released, Westwood To Union Station In 25 Minutes
Curbed LA