Today's Headlines - more at Metro

12/03/2010

Revised Bus Lanes, Next CicLAvia, New Freeway Lanes, LoGrande Speaks, Oberstar Departs, Social Media Tackles Traffic, 2010 Urban Planning Books & More

1 Mile Break In Wilshire Rapid Line Won't Affect Funding
LAist

Announcing Sunday April 10! And More... ("The 4-10-2011 route will be pretty much the same as the 10-10-10 route – 7.5 miles from East Hollywood to Koreatown to MacArthur Park to Downtown to Little Tokyo to Boyle Heights. We’re also looking to set the date for two more
CicLAvias later in 2011.")
CicLAvia

Board OKs 1st Section Of CA's High Speed Rail Line: Officials Approve $4.3B Construction Proposal Of California Bullet Train's 1st Segment
Associated Press
Press Release
California High Speed Rail Authority

Clock Ticks On A Popular Way To Pay For Infrastructure
StreetsBlog DC

Cyclists Pedal Faster On Wednesdays, Reveals Smart Bike Data: The First Analysis Of Data From Shared Bicycle Networks In Europe, Reveals Some Surprising Urban Cycling Patterns ("For the first time [urban planners] have real data to show where to build cycle lanes and how well they will be used. So expect to see more of this kind of analysis as data from smart bike systems in other cities becomes available too.")
MIT Technology Review

Downtown Adds 54 Percent Of County's Apartments In 2010
Los Angeles Downtown News

Eagle Rock Residents Pushing For A Slimmer Colorado Boulevard
StreetsBlog LA

Expo Line Mess Offers Cautionary Tale For Subway Lovers
LA Observed

The Future Of Los Angeles As "Multiple Cities In One": Los Angeles City Planner Michael LoGrande And Los Angeles Times Architecture Critic Christopher Hawthorne Discuss City Planning
Eagle Rock Patch

High Speed Rail Authority Approves What Critics Call "Train To Nowhere": First Segment Would Run From Tiny Borden To Corcoran, An Area Hit So Hard By The Recession And Agriculture Declines That It Has Been Dubbed The New Appalachia
Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Engineers Say Economic Health And Public Well-Being Will Benefit From Gas Tax Increase
PR Newswire

The Money That Won't Go Away
("There is money available "to do something" about the mess that is Glendale Boulevard where it cuts through the west side of Echo Park. The sum is $12 million, and exactly how best to spend it has left the MTA, Caltrans and neighborhood residents at odds for over a year.")
LA Observed

MTA Says Changes To Proposed Rapid Bus Lane Won't Jeopardize Funding
Los Angeles Times

New And Notable: Smart Growth Manual, "Unplanning," & Asphalt And Politics
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

New Eastbound Lane Opens On 91 Freeway
Southern California Public Radio

New I-10 Lane Means Four Through S.B. County
Riverside Press-Enterprise

Oberstar Gets Standing Ovation In Final Transportation Hearing
Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Planning Director LoGrande Working On NFL Stadium, Partnering With Metro
Curbed LA

Rancho Palos Verdes Withdraws From MAX Commuter Bus Service
Daily Breeze

Rep. Oberstar Chairs Final Transpo Hearing After 46 Years Of With Committee
Transportation Nation
Exit Interview: Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) (audio)
The Takeaway

Santa Monica: City Council Authorizes Three-Way Land Swap With Metro, Santa Monica College For Light Rail Maintenance Yard
The Argonaut

Santa Monica Prepares For Bicycle Master Plan
Santa Monica Lookout

Social Media Tackles Traffic ("One traffic-related social network service already up and running is called Roadify. With Roadify, commuters send and receive updates that help them find available parking, catch the next bus or train, or avoid traffic snarls before it’s too late.")
Wired

Street Sign Squabble Is MUTCD Ado About Nothing
Wired

Top 10 Urban Planning Books Of The Year For 2011 (Ninth annual list of the ten best books in urban planning, design and development published in 2010)
Planetizen

Toy Express To Make Stops In Region ("Metrolink's 14th Annual Holiday Toy Express will begin its 2010 tour Saturday in Burbank and Glendale.")
Pasadena Star-News

Why A Gas Tax Is About Deficit Reduction
The New Republic

Wrecking Ball About To Hit Transbay Terminal
San Francisco Chronicle

12/02/2010

Gas Tax Proposal, MUTCD Explained, Expo Expose, L.A. Live Controversy, Rosa Parks Anniversary, Zipcar's Green Factor & More

55 Years After Rosa Parks Stayed In Her Seat, FTA Pursues Equal Transit Access For All
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

Attorney General Says Local Transit Officials Cannot Serve On State Bullet Train Board
Los Angeles Times

Breaking Down The Cost Benefit Of High-Speed Rail
GreenTech Media

City To Sue Itself Over Two Hour Parking
Beverly Hills Courier

Controversy Over High-Speed Rail's Starting Point, Big Decision Tomorrow
Curbed LA

Deficit Commission: Raise The Gas Tax, And Soon
Transportation Nation

ExpressPark Aims To Give Smarts To Downtown's Parking Spots
Blog Downtown

Free Workshop For Disabled Transit Riders Dec. 16
Santa Clarita Valley Signal

GOP Demands A Stop To Stim Spending. What Will It Mean For Rail Projects?
StreetsBlog DC

Growing Conservative Strength Puts Transit Improvements In Doubt
Transport Politic

Head To Head: Is High-Speed Rail A Valuable Addition To Infrastructure, Or A Boondoggle?
Sacramento Bee

L.A. Live: Pinnacle Of Modern Design, Or Bad Urbanism? ("While accessibility via transit is one of the components that made L.A. Live a banner project for the ULI, it doesn’t mean the development itself is an accessible one.")
StreetsBlog LA

L.A.'s Light-Rail Fiasco: How Rail Service To The Westside Jumped The Track ("Just as L.A. transit planners are lobbying Washington for money to build a dozen projects over the next decade, the Expo Line has become an embarrassing public failure.")
LA Weekly

MTA To Cut Nine L.A. Bus Lines By Dec. 12
LA Weekly

Private Hiring, Construction Show Some Strength
NPR

Ray LaHood: Street Signs Plan "Makes No Sense"
CBS News

Republicans Cut House Climate Panel
The Hill

Resources To Know: The MUTCD -- A Book In The News This Week You May Never Have Heard Of That Impacts You Every Day
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Sports Arena On Its Way Out, But Does LA Need Another MLS Stadium?
Curbed LA

Wheels When You Don't Need Them: As Zipcar Moves Into The Black, Is It Less Green?
Next American City

Why The U.S. Will Not Get China's High Speed Rail
The Atlantic

12/01/2010

L.A.'s Bridges, First Stretch Of CAHSR, More On L.A. Jaywalking, LA Marathon Route, Tighter Transit Security?, Freight Rail Creating Green jobs & More

Amtrak To Let Passengers Bring Guns On Most Trains
Sacramento Bee

Borrowing From Matt Yglesias, California's High-Speed Train May Be Positive
USC Annenberg Neon Tommy

C-Minus For Safety, But LA Bridges "In Good Shape"
CBS Los Angeles

California's Confusing Choice For Its First Stretch Of High-Speed Rail
("If you're going to do the Central Valley first, why not at least try to link Fresno to the larger city of Bakersfield? Here's why...")
GOOD

California Would Feel Federal Transit Spending Cuts ("In California’s urban regions – which is where our transportation policy is made – the focus is increasingly on modes other than private automobiles. California is an urban state and grows more so by the year. There’s a recognition that we cannot build out way out of urban congestion with highways and roads, which is precisely what many land use planners have been saying for decades.")
California Planning & Development Report

Cash-strapped MTA To Eliminate 9 Bus Lines
Daily Breeze

Concerns About Safety? Muggings? LAPD Announces "Zero Tolerance" On Downtown Jaywalkers
StreetsBlog LA

Destination 2035: Moving Toward A Greener Tomorrow
(OCTA Draft Long Range Plan : 174p. PDF)
OCTA
Draft Executive Summary (8p. PDF)
Slideshow (13p. PDF)

Editorial: High-Speed Boondoggle Could Derail
Orange County Register

Expo's Farmdale Stop Clears Hurdle, Station Construction Can Start
Curbed LA

Failure To Extend Transit Commuter Benefits Equals Higher Costs For The Middle Class
APTA Press Release

The Final Push To Preserve An Important Benefit For Transit Riders
StreetsBlog Network

Full Speed Ahead: Creating Green Jobs Through Freight Rail Expansion
(16p. PDF)
Blue Green Alliance ; Economic Policy Institute

Helping Scandal-Plagued Bell: Here Come The Urban Planners
Curbed LA

High-Speed Rail Projects Land In Tug Of War Between Governors
USA Today

Honda LA Marathon Unveils 2011 Course: Stadium To The Sea 2.0
(Sunday, March 20 : "Race to be more runner-friendly, add loops through Chinatown & Little Tokyo; starts at Dodger Stadium, finishes just steps from the Santa Monica Pier.")
Honda LA Marathon Press Release
Course Map
Honda LA Marathon
Animated Fly-Through Map (video)
via YouTube

In Los Angeles, A Subway System Grows
Second Avenue Sagas

Lather, Rinse, Repeat
("it’s been the same messages to be revisited, repeated and rehashed for those new to the subject of why we don’t have an coherent transit network to serve the entire City and County of Los Angeles.")
CityWatch

Napolitano Eyes Tighter Security For Trains, Ships, Mass Transit
Fox News

An Odd Twist In A Tale Of Honesty: After A Seriously Ill Vietnam Vet Turns In Nearly $1,000 He Finds On An MTA Bus, The Transit Agency At First Says He Can Keep The Money If It Is Not Claimed. But Later He's Told That's Against Policy
Los Angeles Times

Officials Mark Start Of Esplanade Improvement Project
Daily Breeze

Studies Show The Connection Between Travel Times To Food Stores And Public Health
The City Fix
The Grocery Gap: Who Has Access To Healthy Food And Why It Matters (44p. PDF)
PolicyLink ; The Food Trust

Tis The Season For Tickets: LAPD Plans Holiday Crackdown On Jaywalking And Other Offenses
Los Angeles Downtown News

Traffic Signal Retiming Practices In The United States (92 p. PDF)
National Cooperative Highway Research Program

Where The Rubber Meets The Rails: BART To San Jose Will Ride On Old Tires
San Jose Mercury News

11/30/2010

Expo's Farmdale, Monrovia's Future Gold Line Station, 91 Widening, Wilshire Options, Jaywalk Warning, New & Notable, Planning Director LoGrande & More

91 Freeway Commutes Could Be Eased This Week With The Opening Of A New Lane
Los Angeles Times

Amtrak California Unveils New Website
Sacramento Business Journal

Another Day, Another Revelation That A Gas Tax Hike Is Necessary
StreetsBlog DC

Application Of Physical Ability Testing To Current Workforce Of Transit Employees
(96p. PDF)
TCRP Legal Research Digest

Best Buy Stations Gadget Machines At T Stops
("The MBTA will collect 7 percent of gross sales during the six-month pilot program.")
Boston Herald

California May Build Train To Nowhere
Fresno Bee

City Parking Smartens Up With Streetline ("San Francisco-based Streetline, recently named IBM’s Entrepreneur of the Year, mounts low-cost sensors in parking spaces, retrofits existing meters and ties them into a mesh wireless network to draw a real-time picture of the spaces available, the cars needing tickets and how much to charge for parking. The system is being tested across the country and may be coming soon to your city.")
Wired

Earmark Ban Goes Down To Defeat In The Senate
StreetsBlog DC

Evaluation Of Shared Lane Markings (8p. PDF : evaluation of MUTCD standards for marking indicating where motorists and bicyclists are expected to share the road)
Federal Highway Administration Tech Brief

Expo Update: FTA Gives Thumbs Up To Farmdale Station
StreetsBlog LA

Federal Transit Programs: Federal Transit Administration Has Opportunities To Improve Performance Accountability
(46p. PDF)
U.S. Government Accountability Office

A Future Gold Line Station: Once An Elegant Stop On The Santa Fe Line
("Built in 1925, the Santa Fe Station connected Monrovia with the rest of the San Gabriel Valley, and may receive a new lease on life with the construction of the Gold Line Foothill Extension.")
Monrovia Patch

Interactive Planning And A Q&A Session With Michael LoGrande
StreetsBlog LA

LAPD Charging Jaywalkers $191 In New Crackdown
Los Angeles Times

Metro To Eliminate Some Bus Lines In December
My Fox LA

Metrolink Positive Train Control System (video)
Metrolink via YouTube

More Progress Needed To Reduce Metrolink Collisions, Experts Say
Whittier Daily News

New And Notable: Los Angeles From The Air Then And Now, Makeshift Metropolis & Down The Asphalt Path
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

An Open Letter To The New Planning Director Of Los Angeles
("Do Good Planning": "A shift in how we plan our transportation creates the opportunity to revitalize neighborhoods around old and new rail stations and new and improved bus lines, and build new homes for people who live and work here; all while making Los Angeles a better place to live.")
Occidental College Urban & Environmental Planning Institute
Q&A With L.A.'s New Planning Director On December 1
Occidental College

Public Spending On Transportation And Water Infrastructure: A CBO Study (62p. PDF)
Congressional Budget Office

Read This: Local Governments Told To Buy New Street Signs - Federal Highway Administration Is Ordering Local Governments To Buy New Street Signs That They Say Are Easier To Read
ABC News

Santa Ana Has A Desire Named Streetcar
OC Weekly

Theft And Vandalism Just Not A Problem For American Bike-Sharing
Streetsblog

Traveling Down Wilshire: Better Options To Come
Southern California Public Radio

Under One Roof: CHP, Caltrans To Share Fontana Building
San Bernardino Sun

U.S. Department Of Transportation Calls For New Round Of Comments On Compliance Dates For Key Traffic Regulations
U.S. DOT

What Does Planning Director Have In Store For L.A.?
Los Angeles Times

11/29/2010

Wilshire Rush-Hour Bus Lanes, CAHSR's First Segment, Metrolink Grant For Collision Avoidance, A Look Back At Trains Of The Future & More

The 30/10 Initiative: A Weapon Of Mass Financial Destruction
CityWatch

An Alternative To Mayor Villaraigosa's California Dreamin' Agenda: Better Buses And Bikes
Los Angeles And First

Archive Gallery: Thrilling Trains Of the Future
(Popular Science digs through their archives to unearth a collection of fantastical, futuristic trains such as amphibious monorails, suspended railways and "two-headed trains")
Popular Science
Image Gallery

Bus-Only Lanes Proposed For Wilshire Boulevard: The Lanes Would Be In Effect During Rush Hours And Would Go From MacArthur Park To Centinela Avenue, With A Gap In Beverly Hills. Residents Of Westwood's "Condo Canyon" Push For An Exemption
Los Angeles Times

California Congressman Undermines California Bullet Plans
Infrastructurist

California Planners Recommend Fresno-Hanford For First Phase Of State's High-Speed Line
Transport Politic

City Signs Off On Expo Line "Buffer Zone"
Santa Monica Daily Press

Could Price Of Ride On Angels Flight Get Too Steep?: Operators Of The Little Funicular Railway Are Weighing The Effects Of A Fare Hike
Los Angeles Times

Editorial: Rail Omen
Riverside Press-Enterprise

Editorial: Time For L.A. To Pay The Toll?
Daily Breeze

The Future Of Colorado Boulevard: Caught Between Residents' Dreams And L.A.'s Reality, Colorado Boulevard Has A Long Way To Go Before Bikers And Pedestrians Can Truly Share The Road
Eagle Rock Patch

Government Agencies Navigate The Promises And Pitfalls Of Social Media: As Law Enforcement, Transportation Agencies And Other Departments Rush To Interact With The Public Through Twitter Accounts And Facebook Pages, Guidelines For Using Social Media Have Been Slow To Follow ("At a League of California Cities conference earlier this year, two presentations illustrated the conflict: one was on the benefits of Facebook, and the other was a blunt reminder that the site falls under the Public Records Act.")
Los Angeles Times

If Only The Millions Of Thanksgiving Travelers Took The Train
GOOD

In Los Angeles, Big Step Ahead For Mass Transit
("This auto-obsessed city — a place where people love their cars almost as much as they hate the traffic — has embarked on the biggest expansion of its mass transit system in decades, an effort to change the way people navigate its sprawling and clogged streets and freeways.")
New York Times

Pringle's Double-Barreled Defense Of Anaheim's ARTIC Station
Voice Of OC

A Reality Show About...Car Parking
The City Fix
Parking Wars
A&E

Stimulus Help For State Roads, Rail Lines Almost Complete
San Jose Mercury News

Switching Gears: More Commuters Bike To Work
NPR

Transit Agencies: This Is Why You Should Have Your Data In GTFS Format With A License That Allows For Non-Commercial Derivatives
LA Subway Blog

Why Transit Will Never Be Energy Efficient
Antiplanner

Will Roads Of The Future Be Paved With Sandstone?
Next 100

WMATA Launches Website For Public Input On 30-Year Transit Plan
CityBizList