Metro Service Changes, Colton Crossing, 405 Closure, Farmers Field Transit, I-5 Project, Transpo Taxes & More

25 Senators Demand Robust Transit Funding (but not Boxer or Feinstein?)
StreetsBlog DC

Bill Ford: A Future Beyond Traffic Gridlock (video : "Bill Ford is a car guy -- his great-grandfather was Henry Ford, and he grew up inside the massive Ford Motor Co. So when he worries about cars' impact on the environment, and about our growing global gridlock problem, it's worth a listen. His vision for the future of mobility includes "smart roads," even smarter public transport and going green like never before.")
TED Talks

Colton Crossing Funding In Jeopardy
Inland News Today

Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. Plans For Future Growth
Santa Monica Lookout

Hospitals Worry Employees Won't Be Able To Get [To] Work During 405 Freeway Closure
Los Angeles Times

How To Board A Train That Doesn't Stop (Yesterday, we brought you news of the design for passengers passing between high-speed and local rail without the trains stopping. Today, another novel idea, this time from China: boarding a train from a platform without the train stopping)
via YouTube

The Infrastructure Bank As Political Cover
Reuters

Interchange Project Will Help Unclog I-5
Orange County Register

Making The Case For Investment In The Walking Environment: A Review Of The Evidence (77p. PDF)
Living Streets

Metro Service Changes Take Effect This Sunday
StreetsBlog LA

Metro To Cut Bus Lines Over Weekend
Los Angeles Wave

Mia Lehrer On What LA's Parks Will Look Like In 2031 And More
Curbed LA

Mineta Transportation Institute Survey: Will Americans Support Federal Transportation Tax Options?
PR Newswire
What Do Americans Think About Federal Transportation Tax Options?: Results From Year 2 Of A National Survey (70p. PDF)
Mineta Transportation Institute

MTA Expanding Service During 405 Closure
My Fox LA

New Downtown Bike Plan: Lanes From Civic Center To South Park
Curbed LA

Policy Options For Reducing Energy Use And Greenhouse Gas Emissions From U.S. Transportation (162p. PDF)
U.S. Transportation Research Board Special Report

President Of The United States, Conference Of Mayors [Support] Federal Safe Routes To School Funding
Safe Routes To School California

Seamless Journeys From Door To Door (7p. PDF : "If public transport is to offer a real and attractive alternative to cars, it needs to offer the same kind of door-to-door service that cars do.")
Better Transport (U.K.)

Sierra Club Pushes For Transit Plan For Farmer's Field ("Pico Station currently: A 20 year old station that looks like it's 50 years old"..."If you’re looking for a vision for a sustainable transportation plan for the Downtown Stadium, you shouldn’t look to politicians or even AEG executives. A group of Sierra Club activists, led by Jerard Wright Angeles Chapter Transportation Committee Co-Chair, have outlined a transportation plan that would fulfill AEG’s claims that Farmers Field will encourage more sustainable transportation options than a rival stadium plan in the suburban City of Industry.")
StreetsBlog LA
Farmers Field And the Pico Metro Rail Station Improvement (16p. PDF)
Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Transportation Committee

South Bay To Receive $176M For Freeway, Road Improvement Projects
Daily Breeze

Southeast Cities Advocate To Stay Together: That Includes Bell Gardens ("The southeast cities have worked together on public safety and transportation issues, such as the projects on the 710 Freeway, the Long Beach corridor and the Alameda Corrdors, so there is a good partnership there.")
EGP News

Synthesis Of Literature Relating To Cellular Telephone/Personal Digital Assistant Use In Commercial Truck And Bus Operations (32p. PDF)
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Van Nuys Airport Seeks "Local Control" As Panel Wants Independent Body To Oversee Facility
Los Angeles Daily News

Wider I-710 Bridge Through Commerce Could Affect Bandini Park
EGP News

What are transportation community leaders around the nation tweeting about today? Check out the Metro Library Twitter Daily, our online digest in newspaper format updated every day.

SF To LA On Transit, Monrovia Gold Line, Bev Hills Tunnel, More 405, I-5 Improvements, Regional Connector, Climate Change, Red Light Cams, HSR & More

405 Closure: Westside Businesses To Go About Their Business
NBC Los Angeles

Adapting Transportation To The Impacts Of Climate Change: State Of The Practice 2011 (64p. PDF)
U.S. Transportation Research Board Circular

America Stumbles Forward ("As for America Fast Forward, we have our work cut out for us. Sadly, thanks in part to partisan politics the reality remains an America stumbling, rather than speeding, forward on public infrastructure investment and economic recovery.")
Huffington Post

Caltrans Breaks Ground On I-5 Improvement Projects
NBC Los Angeles

City Again Puts Off Decision On Gold Line Deal: The City And Gold Line Officials Continue To Try To Hammer Out A Deal Before Eminent Domain Comes Into Play Next Month
Monrovia Patch

Congress Battling Over Infrastructure Privatization
Fleet Owner

Council Approves Bus Funding
Redlands Daily Facts

Council, School Officials Residents Criticize Subway Extension: Officials And Residents Share Impassioned Views Against Plans To Put An MTA Subway Tunnel Under Beverly Hills High School
Beverly Hills Patch

Dem: Amtrak Privatization Is Unconstitutional
The Hill

Fiscal Constraints Spark Debate On Transportation Funding
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

High-Speed Rail Poised To Alter China (but like the U.S., has many domestic critics as well)
New York Times

HopStop Adds Biking, Carshare, Twitter To Transit Directions
Transportation Nation

In Transit: From S.F. To L.A. Via Public Transportation ("32-hour, 14-transfer trek from this city to Los Angeles seemed crazy, too, at first glance. Going over it again and again, however — nah, still crazy.")
SF Weekly
San Francisco To Los Angeles On Public Transportation: Maps, Pictures, Insanity
SF Weekly

It's A Splitting Headache: Chino Hills Upset Over Proposed New District ("Imagine getting those dollars out of the feds when we are competing against L.A. and the Metro...It will be very hard to lobby against MTA and Metro to get what we need.")
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Lawmakers: Only So Much Can Be Done To Secure Railways, But TSA Should Do More
The Hill

Long Beach Port To Celebrate 100 Years
California State University, Long Beach Daily 49er

The Mayors' Foreign Policy (“It’s time to bring our investments back home,” Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa of Los Angeles said as he assumed the presidency of the mayors conference at its annual gathering, held in Baltimore. “We can’t be building roads and bridges in Baghdad and Kandahar, and not in Baltimore and Kansas City.”)
New York Times

Meeting On 405 Closure Scheduled For Thursday Night: Officials To Answer Questions At Skirball Center About July 16-17 Freeway Shutdown
Calabasas Patch

Moving Platforms By Priestmangoode (Industrial designers reveal some eye-catching designs for how high-speed rail can transfer passengers to local trains while still moving, instead of stopping at stations!)
De Zeen Design Magazine
Animated Video Demonstration
via Vimeo

New Car-Tab Fee To Fund Buses May Head To Ballot ("King County Metro Transit faces a $60 million deficit next year and a 17-percent reduction in service over the next two years, with the majority of the cuts expected in the Seattle-Shoreline area. There is an alternative — a new car tab fee that appears headed for the November ballot, where it would compete for taxpayer approval with other local measures.")
Seattle Times

Officials Break Seal On $380 Million Freeway Project In Santa Fe Springs
Whittier Daily News

Rail Industry Data And Trends From Progressive Railroading June 2011
Progressive Railroading

Regional Connector To Bring 3 Stations, Improvements For Flower St.
Curbed LA

SD Council Asked To Back "Transit First" In 40-Year Transportation Plan
San Diego Union-Tribune

Seniors And Transit Report Generates Widespread Coverage And Discussion
Transportation For America

Top 10 Climate-Ready Cities In The U.S.
Triple Pundit

Transit Center Plans Scaled Back: Officials Cut 130,000 Square Feet From The Design After Bids Came In Well Over Budget
Burbank Leader

Unveiled, Millennium Hollywood ("A bulk of the development will be located at the corner of Vine and Yucca, near the Hollywood/Vine Red Line Station, and will not obscure the landmark Capitol Records building, with its iconic form.")
Architect's Newspaper

With Red Light Cameras All But Gone, What's Next for Creating Safe Crossings
StreetsBlog LA

What are transportation community leaders around the nation tweeting about today? Check out the Metro Library Twitter Daily, our online digest in newspaper format updated every day.

Monrovia's Gold Line Deal, More Gold Line Trains, More Beverly Hills Subway, Public-Private Partnerships, Railroad Lawsuit, Cycling Highway & More

Advancing Regional Transportation Options: A National Workshop (46p. PDF)
Transportation Research Board Circular

America's Reviving Its Highway System For Cyclists
GOOD

Assembly Transportation Committee Schedules June 27 Vote on "Give Me 3"
StreetsBlog LA

Bending The Rules: The Arts District As A Haven For Street "Murals"
KCET

Bicycle Lanes Planned For Figueroa, Flower, Spring And Main Streets
Blog Downtown

Bike-Ped Defunding Proposal Sparks Mutiny In Mica's Home District
StreetsBlog DC

City Council To Discuss Subway Route [Yesterday Afternoon]: Residents Are Expected To Appear Before The City Council To Urge The Panel To Take A Stronger Position Against A Proposed Westside Subway Extension Alignment To Century City
Beverly Hills Patch

County Facing Slow Economic Recovery (Observations from Tuesday's 2011 "What's Next LA?" forum in downtown Los Angeles)
Whittier Daily News

Final Decision Delayed On Future Of Red-Light Cameras, LA City Council Divided
LAist

Funding Transport: The Role Of Public-Private Partnerships ("Two U.S. Congressmen want to bring competitive bidding and private sector involvement into building new high-speed rail for the country.")
The City Fix

Getting Urban Form Right Before Transit (video : land building codes' relationship to transit)
Reconnecting America

Groups Challenge California Rail Yards To Clean Up Their Act ("California’s two major rail yard operators are illegally disposing hazardous waste thereby increasing the risk of serious health problems such as chronic respiratory disease and cancer in neighboring communities.")
Media Newswire

HopStop To Offer More Than Directions
New York Times

Improving Cycling In Los Angeles By Learning From New York
This Big City

Is A Monrovia Gold Line Deal Now Likely?: A Land Deal Must Get Done Between The City And GLCA For The Gold Line Foothill Extension To Stay On Track
Monrovia Patch

Metro Adding New Trains To Gold Line To Speed Up Service During Peak Commuting Hours
Pasadena Star-News

Metro Gold Line To Introduce More Trains During Peak Hour
Beverly Hills Courier

New Report: How To Save Money On Road Construction
Infrastructurist
Delivering Taxpayer Value: Three Tools That Can Help Ensure A More Effiicient, Cost-Effective Infrastructure (15p. PDF : explains performance management process focusing on life cycle cost analysis, alternative design/alternative bid, mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide)
Whataretherealcosts.org

Opinion: Who's Clean Among Potential Bullet Train Bidders?
Hanford Sentinel

Port Of Long Beach $828M Budget For 2012 Gets OK
Commercial Carrier Journal

Public Support For Climate And Energy Policies In May 2011 (35p. PDF)
Yale Project On Climate Change Communication

Railroads Threatened With Lawsuit ("An environmental group threatened to sue two of the nation's biggest rail owners Tuesday under a novel legal theory that would classify diesel exhaust as hazardous waste.")
Associated Press

Report Says Big Southland Quake Would Have Huge Effect On Workforce And Economy: A 7.8-Magnitude Quake On The San Andreas Could Affect 430,000 Businesses And 4.5 Million Workers, U.S. Agency Says ("Because rail systems, ports and roads are likely to be damaged, shipments by truck and train from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach would be affected. Over 23% of the total value of U.S. goods passed through the two ports in 2009.")
Los Angeles Times
Labor Market Risks Of A Magnitude 7.8 Earthquake In Southern California (6p. PDF)
U.S. Bureau Of Labor Statistics Regional Report

Right Track For Los Angeles Is Light Rail ("Adding lanes to reduce traffic is like a drunk trying to drink himself sober...Building a rail line through the Sepulveda Pass won't be cheap, but 40 more years of lost man-hours, missed family time, CO2 emissions and wasted $4-a-gallon unleaded isn't exactly a bargain.")
Los Angeles Daily News

Santa Monica Approves $16Mil For Big Blue Bus
Santa Monica Mirror

Think Privatizing Amtrak Services Is A Good Idea? Think Again
StreetsBlog DC

What are transportation community leaders around the nation tweeting about today? Check out the Metro Library Twitter Daily, our online digest in newspaper format updated every day.

Wilshire Bus Lanes, LA Transit Paintjobs, 405 Closure, Regional Connector, Villaraigosa Leads Mayors, Bicycling's Gender Gap & More

10 Most Convenient Cities In America ("Despite its reputation as a driving city, Los Angeles' public transportation logs some serious miles. The city's buses alone handled more than 88 million passengers a year.")
The Street

Amtrak: Is It really The Same Old Debate? ("With government budgets strained to their breaking points, does Mica's proposal make sense now, even if it hasn't in the past? Are there areas where public-private partnerships legitimately can shift the burden away from taxpayers to provide passenger rail? Have private-sector companies been shut out of the passenger-rail business as a result of Amtrak? Are there elements of Mica's plan that can be put into place separating Amtrak from the Northeast Corridor?")
National Journal Transportation Blog

As Villaraigosa Takes Helm, National Mayors' Group Backs Red Light Cameras
Los Angeles Times

Bicycling's Gender Gap: It's The Economy, Stupid
Grist
How To Get More Bicyclists On The Road: To Boost Urban Bicycling, Figure Out What Women Want
Scientific American

Can Transit-Only Streets Work In Small Cities?
Human Transit

Charles Moore's Los Angeles ("Architect Charles Moore was an intellect and practitioner that loved Los Angeles, pushing the envelope of the city's nostalgia and utopianism while simultaneously embracing them.")
Planetizen

City Council Approves Plans For Bus-Only Lane
UCLA Daily Bruin

Determining Highway Maintenance Costs (101p. PDF)
National Cooperative Highway Research Program

Gas Prices Ease For Summer, But Don't Relax Yet
NPR

Gasoline Prices Fall Again, But The Bottom May Be Near
Los Angeles Times

Great Green Uses For Wasted Infrastructure
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

House Proposal To End Two Transit Programs Could Impact $15 Billion In Projects (21p. report : "Eliminating the New Starts and Small Starts programs would leave municipal, state and transit authority applicants around the country short of money they were counting on. In some cases, they have contractual obligations to construction companies that were written on the expectation of federal grants. In at least two cases, they have paid the bills and are awaiting federal money.")
Bloomberg Government

How Walkable Is Your Street, Neighborhood Or City? (Promising new street-level app)
Walkonomics
Rating Walkability By Combining Open Data And Crowdsourcing
Walkonomics

L.A. Transit Paintjobs Of The Past: King Tut, Disneyland & Other Notable Livery
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Sworn In As 69th President Of The U.S. Conference Of Mayors
PR Newswire

Mayors Declare Support For President Obama's High-Speed Rail Initiative
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

Meeting On 405 Closure Scheduled For Thursday Night: Officials To Answer Questions At Skirball Center About July 16-17 Freeway Shutdown
Sherman Oaks Patch

Mica Accedes To Dems' Request To Delay Action On Rail Privatization
StreetsBlog DC

Note To City Council: Don't Forget The Transportation Plan For The Stadium
StreetsBlog LA

Public Invited For Update On Regional Connector Plans
Blog Downtown

Streets Built For Bikes And Pedestrians Also Yield More Jobs
StreetsBlog Network
Pedestrian And Bicycle Infrastructure: A National Study Of Employment Impacts (15p. PDF)
University Of Massachusetts, Amherst Political Economy Research Institute

The True Cost Of Gasoline: $15 Per Gallon
The City Fix
The Price Of Gas (video)
Center For Investigative Reporting

To Spend Or Not To Spend: Addressing The Federal Role In Transportation ("At last count, EPW Chairman Barbara Boxer, D-CA, and ranking Republican James Inhofe of Oklahoma were also touting early-to-mid July to roll out their version of the bill.")
Land Line

USC Students And Faculty Will Benefit From Expo Line
Brigham Yen

With Nat Ford's Departure, What's Next For SFMTA?
Transportation Nation

World Going Through Period Of Intense Urbanization: What Does This Mean For Transit?
AltTransport

What are transportation community leaders around the nation tweeting about today? Check out the Metro Library Twitter Daily, our online digest in newspaper format updated every day.

Monrovia Gold Line Yard, Metro Parking vs. Ridership, Car Mageddon, Regional Connector, Walkability & More

50 Motorists Cited For Rail Crossing Violations
Glendale News-Press

710 Bill Gets Major Overhaul: SR 710 Bill Now Refers To Vehicle Checkpoints
South Pasadena Patch

Amtrak Privatization Debate Continues

AltTransport

Bill Would Mandate Repayment Of Federal Money In Privatizations
Wall Street Journal

Caltrans-Owned Homes Get Costly New Roofs: Roofs Installed On More Than 30 Pasadena-Area Homes Cost Taxpayers An Average Of $71,000 -- Far Higher Than A Typical Homeowner Would Pay. Caltrans Has Owned The Properties For Decades, Awaiting A Freeway Extension
Los Angeles Times

Car Mageddon (A 405 Shutdown "survival guide" has popped up on Twitter, including a link to its own fancy countdown clock and Facebook page)

via Twitter

Downtown Culver City Parking Lot Looking Sexy To Developers ("Recommendations for the project site include...access to the Washington/National Expo Line light rail station.")
Curbed LA

Editorial: Monrovia Must Cut Deal For The Gold Line Yard
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Editorial: Time For A Football Stadium Deal: With Jobs, Tax Revenue And The Revitalization Of A Public Asset On The Line, The Los Angeles City Council Should Quit Dawdling And Allow The Project To Move Forward
Los Angeles Times

Intermodal Traffic Hits 2011 High
Journal Of Commerce

LA Metro Parking And Ridership (analysis of parking spaces per boardings of major Metro rail lines)

Straight Outta Suburbia

Land Tussle Could Delay Azusa Rail By Two Years
Beverly Hills Courier

Livability Trend Puts Walking Expert In Demand (Southern California expert is considered a guru for street improvement and improving pedestrian safety and walkability)

Associated Press

Lynwood Hopes To Receive State Grant For Linear Park Project (“The entire strip has the potential to go all the way to Long Beach Boulevard, which is one of our goals. If we can make that happen, then we can truly connect our transit station and our commercial corridors with the rest of the city.”)
Los Angeles Wave

Mass Transit: From The Holey Snail To The Holy Grail
CityWatch

Metro Officials Set Meetings On Plans For L.A. Train Tunnel (Downtown Regional Connector)
Long Beach Press-Telegram

More Regional Connector Meetings
Los Angeles Downtown News

Open House In Fontana Will Offer Information About Proposed High-Speed Rail System In Southern California
Fontana Herald News

Opinion: Rebuild American Instrastructure? Companies' Offshore Profits Can Help
Washington Post

Reliability Project L01: A Guide To Improving Travel Time Reliability By Integrating Business Processes (4p. PDF)
U.S. Transportation Research Board Strategic Highway Research Program

Santa Monica's Congestion Choice (video)

Reconnecting America

Senate Introduces Fix-It-First Bill To Save Crumbling U.S. Roads
Infrastructurist

SGV Council Of Governments Board Member Says Removal Of Executive Director Might Be Best For Agency
Pasadena Star-News

Stadium Groups Tout Business Backing, Economic Impact
Blog Downtown

Step Back In Time With The Santa Fe Depot Tour
Riverside Press-Enterprise

Think Big: Transportation Overhaul Would Save Money, Create Jobs, Cut Pollution, Burn Less Oil ("Our transportation infrastructure is not merely plagued with antique equipment and battered pavement. Shaky old ideas predominate as well. In spite of the obvious purpose of transportation—connecting human beings, goods and services—we have allowed inefficiency, gridlock, lethal pollution and fiscal insustainability to rule the day.")
Daily Kos

TRB 2011 Transportation Hazards And Security Summit: Looking Beyond The 10th Anniversary Of 9/11 (Irvine : August 22-25, 2011)
U.S. Transportation Research Board

Transit Agency Weighs A Digital Upgrade For Aging Subway Cars
New York Times

Urban Exploring: Take A Downtown Urban Planning / Tunnel & Bridges Hike
KCET

US Bike Route Showing No Signs Of Growing Pains
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

Villaraigosa To Lead National Group Of Mayors: The Position Could Help Mayor Villaraigosa Secure Federal Support For Local Projects And Might Be A Springboard For The Next Phase Of His Career
Los Angeles Times

Walkable Neighborhoods: How To Make LA Pedestrian-Friendly
Huffington Post

What are transportation community leaders around the nation tweeting about today? Check out the Metro Library Twitter Daily, our online digest in newspaper format updated every day.