Bienvenido!, National Train Day, Expo Open House, Gold Line Foothill Workshops, 710 & More

16 Jaw Dropping Videos Of Overcrowded Subways
Urlesque

AASHTO Spring Meeting (May 2-6 : Las Vegas)
AASHTO

Amidst Budget Impasse, GOP Tries And Fails To Gut Clean Air Act
StreetsBlog DC

Amtrak Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary On May 7 At Union Station
MMD Newswire
Los Angeles' National Train Day Events
National Train Day

Bienvenido! (Welcome to El Pasajero, Metro's new Spanish language news blog -- the first of its kind at a major public transit agency in the United States -- which launches today)
El Pasajero
More information here in English from Metro's The Source

Caltrain Cuts Postponed
Silicon Valley Mercury News

Cheviot Hills Expo Line Legal Fees
Curbed LA

Cost Of Keeping Vehicles Running On The Rise
Sacramento Business Journal

Denver To Eliminate Diagonal Crossings At Intersections ("A tradition that started 60 years ago in downtown Denver and became commonplace in intersections around the world is about to end in its city of origin.")
Denver Post

Expo Light Rail Line Project Status Update Open House: Downtown & Mid-Corridor (April 28 : 2p. PDF)
Build Expo

Federal Judge Upholds Caltrans Program To Support Minority And Women-Owned Businesses
Caltrans Press Release

Forget The Environment, High-Speed Rail Is Good For Business
Fast Company

Freight Index Reports Shipments Up 6.9 Percent
Journal Of Commerce

Gold Line Foothill Extension Station Planning Workshops Upcoming
StreetsBlog LA

House Votes To Stop EPA From Regulating Greenhouse Gases
Wall Street Journal

How Much High Speed Rail Will $2.4 Billion Buy? Transportation Nation

How To Play In The Streets At CicLAvia This Sunday
GOOD

L.A. Day / L.A. Night (Essay accompanied by photos from an upcoming book looks at "the heart of the dichotomy between public and private architecture, the pre-eminence of infrastructure, the balance between neighborhood and sprawl.")
Places

Los Angeles Transit Gets A Breath Of Fresh Air ("Why’s a health nonprofit holding a salon series about green transit?")
Southern California Public Radio

Meeting Offers Details On Possible Metro Green Line Extension To Torrance
Daily Breeze

[New York] MTA's Signs Off The Rails ("New screens revealing the wait for an approaching train got high marks when the authority surveyed riders last year. The authority is starting to post some newly designed construction signs that are uniform and provide consistent information.")
MarketWatch

"On The Record" On 710 To 210 Freeway Gap: Residents From El Sereno, Monterey Park And Alhambra Feel Burdened By Traffic And Proposed Solutions
EGP News

Overcoming The Challenges Of Congestion Pricing (webinar series : April 14 & 19)
Federal Highway Administration

Realize The Possibilities Of Improving Transportation Options For All Americans
Partnership For Mobility Management

Residents Voice Freeway Concerns And Provide Alternatives: Residents Of Northeast Los Angeles And The San Gabriel Valley Offered Alternatives To The Proposed 710 Freeway [Extension]
Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch

StreetsBlog Challenges Leaders: Ride With Me For Bike To Work Week
StreetsBlog LA

Supervisor Calls Mass Transit Crucial To County's Future: In State Of The County Address, Supervisor Don Knabe Says Transportation Projects Can Mean Jobs And Funds For Southland
Los Angeles Wave

"This Is The Renaissance Of Rail": All Aboard The Mass-Transit Express? Maybe, But Don't Expect A Smooth Ride (an interview with Amtrak CFO D.J. Stadtler)
CFO

TIMS Website Maps Highway Crashes, May Lead To Safer Roads, UC Berkeley Researchers Say
Silicon Valley Mercury News
Transportation Injury Mapping System
UC Berkeley Safe Transportation Research And Education Center

Unconventional Wisdom: Integrating Transportation And Energy Policy
The City Fix

USC Research: Freeway Pollutants Cause Brain Damage In Mice
StreetsBlog LA
USC Press Release

Will Mozart Help Prevent Crime? (In Portland, "the regional transit department has approved the playing of classical music in an effort to ward off the kind of crimes that happen when people just hang around. A bill making its way through the Oregon Legislature would expand the program to all light rail stops in Clackamas, Washington and Multnomah counties deemed high-crime areas by police or residents.")
KATU

Work On I-5 Alters Route For Some Bob Hope Airport Travelers
818 Now

Wilshire / La Brea Station Plans, Orange Line Bike Path, CicLAvia, 710 Forums, "America Fast Forward," PTC & More

7+Fig To Become FigAt7th As Part Of Revamp

Blog Downtown

Boxer Tests Out "America Fast Forward" At Senate Committee Hearing
StreetsBlog DC

CicLAvia Event To Close City Streets On Sunday
Los Angeles Daily News

CicLAvia: The Streets Are Alive With The Sounds Of Liberty

Huffington Post

Concerns Dominate 710 Fwy. Forum: Residents Urge Metro To Consider Tunnel Alternatives At Tuesday Meeting In La Canada Flintridge

La Canada Valley Sun

County Bicycle Plan Could Include Bike Boulevard With Traffic Slowing Measures: The Los Angeles County Master Bike Plan Was Presented At A Meeting At The Altadena Library On Tuesday Night

Altadena Patch

Do Not Yield In 710 Fight

La Canada Valley Sun

A Far-Too-Long Rebuttal Of Randall O'Toole On Parking ("Donald Shoup and Randal O’Toole – they just can’t get enough of each other!")
Market Urbanism

Future Stations Of The Past: 1980s Plans For A Wilshire / La Brea Subway Stop & Overhead Metro Rail

Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

House's Latest Continuing Resolution Would Cut Transit Funds

Progressive Railroading

International Practicum On Implementing High-Speed Rail In The United States
APTA

LCF Residents "Demand" To Be Included In 710 Study Area: The Current Study Area For The Impact Of The 710 Expansion Does Not Include La Canada, Which Residents Say Would Suffer Increased Pollution And Traffic Congestion If The Project Is Approved (video)

La Canada-Flintridge Patch

Longing For CicLAvia

Huffington Post

New Google Maps Feature Nudges Drivers To Consider Alternatives
California Streets

Orange Line Extension Bike Path: Suggestion Box Is Open

Curbed LA

Update: Metro Orange Line Extension Bike Path

LADOT Bike Blog

Our Streets, No Cars, Lots Of Bikes: Cyclists And Strollers Will Rule Several Miles Of LA Streets

NBC Los Angeles

PTC Scaled Back To Save $500M

Railway Gazette International

Sofitel Hotel Drops Plan To Seek Helipad Permit

Los Angeles Times

Sustainable Streets: Multimodal Complete Streets Support Mobility, Community, And Ecology

Green Source

Traffic Calming (video)
StreetsFilms

White House Fears Gas Prices Could Tank Obama
Los Angeles Times

Your Scene: Civic Center Subway Station In Downtown Los Angeles

Los Angeles Times

Mobile Wallets For Transpo, The Palmdale Connection, 7th St. Bike Lanes, BRT, Bus vs. Rail, Intelligent Transpo & More

7th Street Bike Lanes Will Miss This CicLAvia, Be Around For Next

Curbed LA

AAR Asks USDOT To Modify Six "Obsolete" Rail Regulations

Progressive Railroading

Budget Drama Casts Fresh Doubt On Plan For Transportation Funding

New York Times

Bus Rapid Transit: A Transit Fast Track Without The Track

Grist

A Call To Plan Cities For Tomorrow, While Bracing For Transit Cuts Today
StreetsBlog DC

Caltrain Plans To Close Several Stations And Cut Service

California Streets

Cell Carriers To Roll Out "Mobile Wallets" In Utah ("A joint venture between three of the nation's four largest cell phone carriers will soon offer the United States' first commercially available mobile fare payment program to a public transportation system.")

Associated Press

A Green Lesson From The World's Most Romantic Cities

The Atlantic

Freeways Without Futures

Congress For The New Urbanism

History Repeats Itself In Bus vs. Rail Protests ("History appears to be repeating itself in Los Angeles.")

KCET

House members Make Their Case For Transpo Investment (And Earmarks)
StreetsBlog DC

How Downtown's Civic Center Park Looks To The Birds

Curbed LA

How Far Should Bike And Transit Advocates Take Their Alliance?
StreetsBlog Network

Infrastructure Investment And U.S. Competitiveness ("Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Michigan) and Russ Carnahan (D-Missouri) have introduced landmark legislation authorizing Uncle Sam to choose six cities to test “intelligent transportation systems.”)

Council On Foreign Relations

Intelligent Transportation Takes A Baby Step

Wired

LA County Metro Puts New Light Rail Line Through Its Paces

Southern California Public Radio

LaHood: Use More Water Transportation

The Hill

Main And Los Angeles Streets, Downtown -- Worth The Walk

More Than Red Cars

Metro's Expo Line Begins Test Runs

USC Annenberg Neon Tommy

An NFL Stadium In Downtown? 10 Planning Recommendations For AEG, LA (includes several transportation recommendations, including free day passes on Metro and transforming Pico/Flower station into a transit hub)

Curbed LA

The Palmdale Connection: Fast-Tracking A California High-Speed Rail, DesertXpress Link-Up Makes Sense

California Progress Report

Quentin Kopp Steps Down From CHSRA Board

California High Speed Rail Blog

To Be Determined: A Quick Review Of L.A. County's Bike Plan
StreetsBlog LA

UITP Marketing Awards: Public Transport As Part Of Modern Urban Lifestyle

The City Fix

Westside Light Rail: It's All About The Land Use!

CityWatch

Expo Line Tests, 710 Conversations, BRT Survey, LA Parking Revenue, LB Transit Mall, The End Of Oil & More

Amtrak Applies For High-Speed Rail Money
Transportation Nation

Another Green Piece In South L.A.: First Phase Of Wetlands Open ("The ribbon cutting of the first acre of the South LA wetlands, located in a former MTA rail yard at Avalon and 54th streets.")

KCET SoCal Focus

Better Access To Transportation Services for People With Disabilities A Key part Of DOT Proposals
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

Bike Collisions Are On The Rise In Los Angeles County
Travelin' Local

BRT Survey: Land Use Is Top Hurdle For Projects (Bus Rapid Transit survey results)
Metro Magazine

California Bike Coalition Seeks More Representative Caltrans Standards

StreetsBlog SF

A Chat With Joe Linton, Let's Get Excited For CicLAvia (CicLAvia returns this Sunday, April 10)
StreetsBlog LA

City Looking At Other Ways To Bring In Money From Parking Garages ("Los Angeles city officials on Monday began looking at other ways to bring in more money from parking spaces.")

Contra Costa Times

Connectors Between 5, 14, 210 Freeways Slated For This Week

Los Angeles Daily News

Cost Of Driving Has Risen 3.4%, Study Finds (compared to one year ago)

USA Today

Could LA's Plan To Build 30 Years Of Transit Projects In Just 10 Work For The US?

Treehugger

Dear Urban Cyclists, Go Play In Traffic: From Dublin To Bogota, Bicycles Are Taking Over City Streets. What's Next, Lanes For Hopscotch And Pogo Sticks? (P.J. O'Rourke's take on bicycling: "The reason it took mankind 5,000 years to get the idea for the bicycle is that it was a bad idea. The bicycle is the only method of conveyance worse than feet. You can walk up three flights of stairs carrying one end of a sofa. Try that on a bicycle.")

Wall Street Journal

Downtown Long Beach Transit Mall To Reopen After $7M Revamp

Long Beach Press-Telegram

Eastside To Westside: Metro Tests New Line At 23rd And Flower

Los Angeles Downtown News

Eyes On The Street: Expo Tests Underway
StreetsBlog LA

A Fast Forward Approach To Transportation Investment

New Republic

First Tests Bring Expo Line Closer To Culver City: The Announcement Over The Weekend That That Expo Construction Authority Will Be Begin Running Slow Speed Tests Along The Eastern End Of The Line Cheers Locals

Culver City Patch

In The Budget Debate, Scarcely A Mention Of The Word "Transportation"
StreetsBlog DC

Intercity Passenger And Freight Rail: Better Data And Communication Of Uncertainties Can Help Decision Makers Understand Benefits And Trade-Offs Of Programs And Policies (72p. PDF)
U.S. Government Accountability Office

L.A. Stadium Battle, A New Front In Auto-Driven Sprawl And Transit Oriented Density
StreetsBlog LA

Lowlights From The Transpo Bill Hearing: A Tea Partier Tries To De-Fund Transit
StreetsBlog DC

Metro Begins Tests For Expo Line, A Controversial Topic In South Los Angeles

USC Annenberg South Los Angeles Report

MTA To Finalize Acquisition Of Union Station: Agency To Create Oversight Committee, Master Plan
Los Angeles Business Journal

Oil Will Be Gone In 50 Years: HSBC ("There could be less than 49 years of oil supplies left, even if demand were to remain flat according to HSBC’s senior global economist.")
CNBC

Plans For Mobile Network On London Underground Shelved: Boris Johnson Proposal To Have System In Place For 2012 Olympics Ditched Because Of Funding Issues And Technical Complexity
Guardian (U.K.)

Public Invited To Go "On The Record" Regarding SR-710 Project: Metro Is Now Taking Public Comments Regarding The SR-710 Project, Both In Public Meetings And Online

Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch

SF Fast Pass Expires As Muni Switches To Clipper (the paper transit pass debuted in 1974 for $11 per month)
San Francisco Chronicle

Station Design And Virtuous Society
Human Transit

Talking Trains (Again) With IBM's Head Of Rail Innovation

Infrastructurist

Test Trains To Run On Expo Track

Santa Monica Dispatch

Transportation And Transit Apps Slay In NYC App Contest
Transportation Nation

Twaffic: Will Twitter -- And Tweets About Traffic -- Change The Way We Drive?
Slate

Well Measured: Developing Indicators For Sustainable And Livable Transport Planning (83p. PDF)

Victoria Transport Policy Institute

Expo Testing, DesertXpress, Business Investment in HSR, High-Speed Sports Fans & More

The 42 Most Powerful People In Downtown

Los Angeles Downtown News

All Aboard The Expo Line: Expo Line Ready For Business

NBC Los Angeles

Behind The Numbers: California's Bridges Might Be Worse Off Than We Think

StreetsBlog LA

Beverly Hills Remains Steadfast Against Tunneling Under Homes, High School: Local Residents And Public Officials Favor The Santa Monica Boulevard Route At A MTA Community Meeting This Week, While People From Outside The City Counter That The Other Proposed Station Would Draw More Riders

Beverly Hills Patch

California High Speed Rail System: A Positive Impact For Fans And Sports?

Niners Nation

The Case For Business Investment In High-Speed Rail & A New Strategy For America's Highways

Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Communities Work To Unclog Congested Roads

USA Today

A Commute Too Far (Profiles L.A. Metro employee Brian Boudreau, who travels 174 miles roundtrip every day, "one of 3.4 million Americans who have "extreme" commutes.")

Wall Street Journal

Desert High-Speed Train Draws Detractors ("Opponents of the project worry it will take money from High Desert cities and potentially destroy pristine landscapes and sensitive wildlife.")

Riverside Press-Enterprise

DesertXpress Feels Like Monorail Redux ("Are the high-speed train's representatives truly going to believe that Las Vegans will spend $50 each way to Victorville, then rent a car and drive to Los Angeles?")

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Editorial: New Take On Gridlock

Ventura County Star

The End Of The Line: Ambitious High-Speed Rail Program Hits The Buffer Of Fiscal Reality

New Geography

Expo Light Rail Line Notice Of Train Testing (2p. PDF)

Build Expo

Expo Line To Begin Running Test Trains To Westside: After Numerous Delays And Cost Overruns, The First Phase Of The Project Is Scheduled To Begin Carrying Commuters Between Downtown And La Cienega Boulevard In November

Los Angeles Times

Expo Line Trains Entering Exciting Testing Phase

Curbed LA

Foothill Transit Expands Zero-Emissions Bus Line Into Pomona And La Verne

San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Industry To Build Solar-Panel Carports, Power Electric Cars At Metrolink Station

San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Infrastructure: What's It Going To Take? ("Who needs to make the first move, Congress or the White House? Is it possible to have a conversation about the details of highway, rail, or transit plans when the top-level debate is dominated by spending concerns? What can industry groups do to convince policymakers that they need to do more than just talk?")

National Journal Transportation Blog

Is The SFMTA Too Big And Unwieldy To Function Properly?

San Francisco Examiner

LA City Council Awards $5.4 Million For Biking And Walking Plans

Beverly Hills Courier

Light Rail Takes Two More Steps Toward Santa Monica

Santa Monica Mirror

Metro To Begin Slow Test Runs Of Trains On Expo Line Light Rail Train Tracks

Beverly Hills Courier

More On The T&I Stakeholders Meetings: The Advocates Edition

StreetsBlog LA

Opinion: California High-Speed Rail: It's On Track, Climb Aboard!

San Diego Union-Tribune

Opinion: Extending The 710 Freeway Is Vital

La Canada Valley Sun

Opinion: UCLA Should Fully Subsidize BruinGo By Implementing More Efficient Parking Policies

UCLA Daily Bruin

S.F. Muni Transit's On-Time Performance Slips

San Francisco Chronicle

Smart Communities Can Strengthen America's Economy ("We have introduced the SMART Technologies for Communities Act. This bipartisan legislation provides communities with the resources necessary to implement intelligent transportation systems (ITS) that will help to reduce congestion, improve safety and improve the air we breathe by reducing air pollution.")

The Hill

Full-Text Of Legislation

South Pasadena May Undergo More Street Renovations

South Pasadena Patch

Testifying About Our Broken, And Broke, Transportation Law

Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Testing Of Expo Line To Begin

Los Angeles Wave

UCI's Transit Week Will Promote Public Transportation

UC Irvine Today

Your Scene: Civic Center Subway Station In Downtown Los Angeles

Los Angeles Times

Your Scene: Union Station At Night

Los Angeles Times