Today's Headlines - more at Metro

12/02/2011

SCAG Regional Plan, Port Of L.A., Transit TV Poetry, LADOT On Google Transit, Oil For Infrastructure, Transpo Funding & More

At Crosswalks, Should Drivers Have To Be Mind Readers?
The Atlantic: Cities

BART Cell Phone Shutdown Rules Adopted
San Francisco Chronicle

Bergamot Station To Open Art Studio/Marketplace At Port Of L.A.
Daily Breeze

Bringing Poetry To Transit TV
StreetsBlog LA

Can Greater L.A. Ever Embrace Cleaner Transportation? Regional Plan Says "Yes, We Will"
StreetsBlog LA

Feds: Miami-Dade Broke Rules In Choosing New Metrorail Trains
Miami Herald

Finding Public Art Wherever You Are In Los Angeles
Curbed LA

House GOP Slows Down Its Rush To Introduce Oil-And-Infrastructure Bill
StreetsBlog DC

How Americans Really React To High Gas Prices
The Atlantic: Cities

How To Fix World Transportation: Six Innovative Leaders Debate The Future Of Getting Billions Of People, And An Infinite Amount Of Stuff, From Here To There
Business Week

Is The House Democrats' New "Buy America" Jobs Bill Just A Political Ploy?
StreetsBlog DC

Is Transpo Funding Fundamentally A PR Problem? Five Ex-DOT Chiefs Discuss
StreetsBlog DC

LADOT: DASH And Commuter Express Now On Google Maps (Google Transit)
KCET

Lawmaker Insists California Bullet Train Plan Complies With Law
Los Angeles Times

Making Good Use Of Transit Data
The City Fix

The Most Artistic Cities In America (Los Angeles ranks #4)
The Atlantic: Cities

Real Time Digital Bus Information Proves A Hit With Londoners (Information accessed millions of times in first few weeks)
Transport For London

Rethinking Streets In Northeast Los Angeles: A New Comprehensive Approach To Transportation Planning
StreetsBlog LA

Santa Ana Winds: Commuters Warned Of Potential Gold Line, Bus Delays
Los Angeles Times

West Hollywood At 27: How The Town Of Sherman Became WeHo ("For years, farms and open fields separated the town of Sherman from the neighboring communities of Colegrove and Hollywood (an independent city from 1903 to 1910). Though connected by the tracks of the Pasadena and Pacific—later bounded on each side by paved roadways for motor cars and named Santa Monica Boulevard—it was not until the early 1920s that the growing Los Angeles metropolis met the street grid of Sherman.")
LA as Subject via KCET

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.

12/01/2011

LADOT Clean Buses, County Bike Plan, Metro & Occupy, Future Of Freeways, Amtrak, Olympic Transit & More

Amtrak: Record Breaking Thanksgiving Ridership
Railroad.net

Amtrak Tests E-Ticketing On Downeaster Service
USA Today

Analyst: New Calif. Rail Plan Doesn't Meet Rules
CBS News

Are Freeways Doomed?: Several Cities Are Tearing Down Highways And Creating Bold New Public Spaces. Are We Headed For A Car-Free Future?
Salon

Behind The Scenes Of Olympic Cities' High-Tech Transit Systems
Mashable

Bombadier's Transit Vision Pairs Efficiency With Wireless Technology
Globe And Mail (Canada)

Bullet Train Critics Call For New Vote
San Diego Union-Tribune

Buses, Trains, Bikes And Occupy L.A. ("Anyone watching the drama unfold between Occupy L.A. and the LAPD last night couldn’t help but notice the active involvement of Metro in the eviction of the Occupy protests. News reports reported that between 27 and 30 Metro buses were used to bus police from Dodger Stadium to Downtown Los Angeles and any overhead shot of the LAPD’s home away from home, the Dodger Stadium Parking Lot, showed rows of Orange Metro buses being loaded with police in riot gear.")
StreetsBlog LA

California Lawmakers Say Goodbye To Their State-Purchased Cars ("But the new car program could end up digging deeper into taxpayers' pockets.")
Sacramento Bee

Can Higher Fares Save Public Transit?
The Atlantic: Cities

Dear America, We Need More Public Transportation
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Downey Link Offering Saturday Service For Holidays
Downey Beat

Epic Job Creation Fail: Paying Developers To Build Parking
StreetsBlog Network

Expo Line Turned Over To MTA
LA Observed

Extreme Weather Events In 2011 Costing Federal Highway Officials Hundreds Of Millions
Transportation Nation

Getting Creative With County Bike Plan
Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor, Third District

Google Transit Data Tool For Small Transit Agencies (26p. PDF)
U.S. Transportation Research Board Transit IDEA Program

Gov. 2.0: Livable Streets Taking Over The Internet
StreetsBlog LA

Hearing Raises Political Profile Of Hours Rule
Trucking Info

High-Speed Rail Authority: The Draft 2012 Business Plan And Funding Plan (9p. PDF : November 29, 2011)
California Legislative Analyst's Office

House GOP Slows Down Its Rush To Introduce Oil-And-Infrastructure Bill
StreetsBlog DC

Jumpstarting The Transit Space Race: Los Angeles Metro Region (links to 32 of 40 distinct Southern California transit projects)
Reconnecting America

L.A. Rolls Out Clean Bus Fleet: Ninety-Five Commuter Express Vehicles Will Run On Compressed Natural Gas And Provide Commuters With Adjustable Seats And Climate Control
Los Angeles Times

L.A. Welcomes New Clean Energy Buses: The City Introduced 95 New Natural Gas-Powered Buses To The Commuter Express Program
USC Annenberg TV News

LADOT Unveils MCI Alternative-Fueled Commuter Coaches
Metro Magazine

London's Bicycle Network: Good For Commuters, Bad For Communities
This Big City

Mapped: How Federal Funding Fails To Match Demand For Transit In The U.S.
StreetsBlog DC

[N.Y.] MTA Asks Public To Vote For Best App: 42 Apps Submitted To MTA App Quest Competition; 42 Days Of Apps Kick Off Tomorrow
MTA Press Release
MTA App Quest Website

New [N.Y.] MTA Project Makes Subway Navigation Easier For Hard Of Hearing
NY1

OCTA CEO: Employee Development Essential In Challenging Times
Metro Magazine

Quake Warning System For West Coast Nears Reality
Contra Costa Times

Right On Google's Tail, Nokia Pushes Indoor Mapping Too
Wired

Somebody's Dreaming Big In Long Beach
LA Observed

Transportation Center Gets Zarian Stamp
Burbank Leader

The Trouble With Pedestrian Malls: Once Popular, These Car-Free Zones Are Slowly Disappearing From The Urban Landscape
Governing

A Vision For The Future Of Road Safety
Huffington Post

Will Downtown Comebacks, Entrepreneurs Reverse Commercial Sprawl?
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

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.

11/30/2011

Expo Turned Over To Metro, Headway Change, Pasadena Streetcar, HSR Funding, Regional Transportation Plan & More

At Zev's Urging, Supes Demand Progressive Bike Plan
StreetsBlog LA

Bullet Train Funding Plan Faulted: The Legislative Analyst's Office Says the Financing Plan Does Not Fulfill Key Requirements Of The Ballot Measure Voters Approved To Authorize The Project
Los Angeles Times

California Officially Receives Florida's Rejected High Speed Rail Money
Sunshine State

Expo Turned Over To Metro, Now In Final Pre-Opening Stage
Curbed LA

Feed Your Expiring Meters By Cell Phone ("The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency plans to launch a new service that sends drivers text alerts if their parking meters are about to expire. People also will be allowed to plug the meters remotely using their cell phones. Existing time restrictions won't change.")
San Francisco Chronicle

FMCSA Finalizes Hand-Held Cell Phone Ban For Commercial Drivers
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

Hazardous Materials Cooperative Research Program: A Status Report (5p. PDF)
Hazardous Materials Cooperative Research Program

Headway Change? Metro Proposes Increasing Maximum Time Between Some Buses
StreetsBlog LA

High-Speed Rail In A Low-Budget Era
CityWatch

I-405 To Close Between Getty Center Dr., Ventura Blvd. For Construction
KABC Los Angeles

National Walking Survey (46p. PDF)
America Walks

New Version Of Google Maps Brings Indoor Floor Plans To Your Phone ("Google has partnered with more than 25 major businesses that handle large crowds on a regular basis — major travel sites like San Francisco International and Chicago’s O’Hare airports.")
Wired

Pasadena Has Big Streetcar Plans But No Money For Them
Curbed LA
Crown City Connection: A Business-Friendly Streetcar System Has Pasadena's Name On It
Pasadena Weekly

Port Of Los Angeles Debuts Tool To Assess Global Warming At Cargo Facilities
Renewable Energy Magazine

Second Expo Facility Workshop To Be Held Tuesday
Santa Monica Lookout

SoCal Now Ready To Fix Climate Change, Traffic, Sprawl
Curbed LA
2012 Draft Regional Transportation Plan (223p. PDF : The Draft 2012 Regional Transportation Plan/ Sustainable Communities Strategy (RTP/SCS) Appendices will be available by mid-December 2011 and the Draft 2012 RTP/SCS Program Environmental Impact Report will be available by the end of December 2011)
Southern California Association Of Governments

Speaker Boehner Says House Could Move To Stop Strike By Railway Workers
The Hill

Spring Street Green Bike Lane Will Get Re-Painted This Sunday
Brigham Yen

Top Analyst Warns State Could Waste $6 Billion Over High-Speed Rail
Silicon Valley Mercury News

Transportation Security Information Sharing: Stakeholders Generally Satisfied But TSA Could Improve Analysis, Awareness, And Accountability (58p. PDF)
U.S. Government Accountability Office

Trouble Brewing For Google Wallet
Mobile Payments Today

What Will Senate's MAP-21 Transit Section Look Like?
Transportation Issues Daily

What's Lost When Transportation Enhancements Becomes "CMAQ-AA"?
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.

11/29/2011

Inglewood Rail, Santa Monica Bike Plan, Santa Fe Springs, Virtual Reality Trains, CRA, Railroad Traffic & More

511 Travel Information Service Development & Documentation (7p. PDF)
New York State DOT

AAR: More Traffic Gains For North American Railroads Last Week
Progressive Railroading

Big New Bike Plan To Make Santa Monica Into Biker's Republic
Curbed LA
Santa Monica Bike Action Plan Finally Adopted
Santa Monica Mirror

Bus Rides For Employees Getting Cheaper
Los Feliz Ledger

Calif. High Speed Rail Isn't Quick To Take Off (Comments from State Senator Quentin Kopp and Roelof van Ark, CAHSR Authority CEO)
NPR

California Governor Jerry Brown To Put High-Speed Rail On His Holiday Gift Wish
Examiner

Caltrans Director Urges Possible Criminal Charges For Fired Worker
Los Angeles Times

Can Governor Railroad Through His $6 Billion Request?
Contra Costa Times

Capitol Corridor Train Introduces Wi-Fi Service
San Francisco Chronicle

Certain Santa Fe Springs Roads To Get Multi-Million Face-Lifts ("The City Council approved an agreement recently between itself, the I-5 Consortium Cities Joint Powers Authorities and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority regarding the use of $14.1 million of Measure R money for pre-construction I-5 improvement projects.")
Whittier Daily News

Choose Your Own Rail Adventure (Inexpensive PC-based virtual reality train simulators allow you to drive trains in and out of stations, add and subtract cars, change the weather, build your own environment, move freight, and more)
Transportation Nation

Clamoring For Crenshaw: Politicians Want 2 Westchester Stops
Curbed LA

Enviros Suing San Diego Planners Over Transportation Plan: Group Claims Plan Would Increase Pollution, Urban Sprawl
KPBS

A Feasibility Study On Embedded Micro-Electromechanical Sensors And Systems (MEMS) For Monitoring Highway Structures (100p. PDF)
National Concrete Pavement Technology Center

Fed Grant Targets Transit-Oriented Development In The Bay Area
San Francisco Chronicle

Getting Young People Back Into Cars is Auto Industry Job #1
StreetsBlog DC

Gruel: CRA Played Fast And Loose
NBC Los Angeles

Is Congress Trying To Put The Kibosh On TIGER Funding For Bike/Ped?
StreetsBlog DC

Key Step For BART To San Jose (One of the costliest transit projects in the Bay Area is a the long-awaited BART extension from Fremont to the region's largest city -- contingent upon FTA funding expected in February. VTA is seeking $900 million in federal New Starts funding for the initial, 10-mile, two-station extension to Berrryessa. The full project goes another six miles to Santa Clara (Caltrain Station), including the subway through downtown San Jose that would include a stop at the Caltrain/Amtrak Station where it would meet with the planned high speed rail train from Los Angeles)
Silicon Valley Mercury News

LADOT: Of Course We're Going To Patch The Spring Street Green Lane ("One week later, cheers have turned to grumbling as the green paint has dissolved in areas, gotten blotchy in others and basially looks like Long Beach’s Green Sharrowed Lane after a year of wear and tear from cars and bikes.")
StreetsBlog LA

The Limits Of Congestion Pricing
The Atlantic: Cities

Making Energy Efficient Streetlights A Reality
The Atlantic: Cities

Making Inglewood Rail-Ready With Windmillls, Sidewalk Streams
Curbed LA

O2 Box: Operating Cost ("If you’re going to form coherent views about transit, you have to understand what transit service costs to operate." Review of time-based costs, distance-based costs, fleet-based costs and administrative costs)
Human Transit

Will Anyone Defend CEQA?
KCET

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.

11/28/2011

La Verne Gold Line, Wilshire BRT, 5 Widening, Spring Street, TIGER IV, L.A. Sidewalks, LAX Development & More

42% Of L.A. Sidewalks Await Repairs: Los Angeles' Backlog Of Sidewalk Repairs Could Cost Up To $1.6 Billion And, At The Current Rate, Take Nearly 70 Years. The City Considers Handing The Responsibility To Property Owners
Los Angeles Times

$100 Billion Bullet Train: Democrats Fray As Cost Skyrockets, Feds Bail, And Amtrak Starts To Look Good
LA Weekly

Accessible Train Station Design For Disabled People: A Code Of Practice (313p. PDF)
U.K. Department Of Transport / Transport Scotland

Another Inroad For Los Angeles Cyclists: Spring Street Green Lane
("Los Angeles' Spring Street green lane is only 1.5 miles for now, but hopefully it's leading to a more bike-friendly future.")
Los Angeles Times

Are Bicycle-Pedestrian Projects Banned From The 2012 TIGER IV Program?
Transportation Issues Daily
Did TIGER I Overspend On Bicycle-Pedestrian Projects?
Transportation Issues Daily

Are City Buses Making Us Sick? ("Using data from the initiative, researchers noticed an "increased linear relationship" between TB incidence and time onboard a Houston bus.")
The Atlantic: Cities

California Bullet Train Project Advances Amid Cries Of Boondoggle ("For many Californians, struggling through a bleak era that has led some people to wonder if the state’s golden days are behind it, this project goes to the heart of the state’s pioneering spirit, recalling grand public investments in universities, water systems, roads and parks that once defined California as the leading edge of the nation.")
New York Times

Caltrans Plans To Widen 5 Freeway
Downey Patriot

Can America Afford Not To Bike More?
StreetsBlog Network

Commerce Opposes Planned Truck-Only Lanes On The 60 Freeway
EGP News

Congress, States Debate Heavier Trucks
Fox News

County Gas Prices Are Lowest Since August
Agoura Hills Patch

Double-Digit Drop In Passenger Volume At ONT
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Final Rule Banning Hand-Held Cell Phone, Texting Released ("A final rule specifically prohibiting interstate truck and bus drivers from using hand-held cell phones while operating their vehicles.")
Metro Magazine

Framework And Tools For Estimating Benefits Of Specific Weight Network Investments (133p. PDF)
National Cooperative Freight Research Program

Funding Rejected By GOP Governors Keeps Obama's Rail Plans On Track
The Hill

High Speed Rail As Touchstone For California's Future
California High Speed Rail Blog

High-Speed Train To Vegas Takes Another Step, Utah Looks To Connect
KCET
High-Speed Rail From Salt Lake To Vegas: Long Shot Or Good Bet?
Salt Lake Tribune

How Should We Design The Cities Of The Dreams? ("America’s urban reboot is in full swing. The awe-inspiring mega-projects — the High Lines and the Subways to the Sea — are being held up as a sign that cities are back.")
Salon

HUD Awards Bring "Bittersweet" End To Sustainability Program
StreetsBlog DC

In A Holding Pattern For Decades, LAX Development Gains Traction: Plans To Develop Parks, Educational Centers, Shopping Areas And Offices On The Northern End Of LAX Are Being Resurrected, This Time With Support From The Airport's Neighbors
Los Angeles Times

In Transit-First San Francisco, Cars Still Rule The Road
San Francisco Examiner

Innovations: State DOT And Transit Agency Partner To Ease Congestion, Increase Transit Use
Transportation Issues Daily

LAX: Airport Seeks Public Input On Northside Property
Argonaut

Monday Expected To Be Biggest Travel Day At LAX ("About 167,000 people will pass through the airport...Total LAX travel numbers are up 16 percent over the recession-depressed figures of last year.")
Studio City Patch

Muni Financing Debacle Could Cost SF $68 Million: Slow-Moving, But Far-Reaching Effects Of 2008 Financial Crisis Stands To Drain City Coffers ("San Francisco’s transit agency was among many that seized on an early-2000s boom in public-infrastructure tax shelters, in which banks and other investors gave millions of dollars in cash up front to the agencies in return for the right to claim tax breaks in subsequent years for wear-and-tear on the equipment.")
Bay Citizen

New City Program Aims To Turn Foreclosed Home Sites Into Parks
Los Angeles Daily News

Obama Administration Issues Vote Of Confidence On California High-Speed Rail
Huffington Post

OccupyLA Plans To Resist Monday Eviction ("The so-called Raid Committee discussed plans for all those who avoid getting arrested to gather less than a mile away at Union Station.")
USC Annenberg Neon Tommy

Opinion: The Death Of The Fringe Suburb ("The cities and inner-ring suburbs that will be the foundation of the recovery require significant investment at a time of government retrenchment. Bus and light-rail systems, bike lanes and pedestrian improvements — what traffic engineers dismissively call “alternative transportation” — are vital. So is the repair of infrastructure like roads and bridges. Places as diverse as Los Angeles, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Charlotte, Denver and Washington have recently voted to pay for “alternative transportation,” mindful of the dividends to be reaped.")
New York Times

Planning For Future Gold Line Station, La Verne Limits New Developments In Area
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Rosendahl Seeks Support For Hindry Avenue Station Via Online Petition
Argonaut

Stuck With A True Case Of Congestion: A Team Of Texas Traffic Researchers Confirms What Many L.A. Motorists Have Long Suspected -- The Northbound Stretch Of Interstate 110 Between I-10 And Stadium Way Is The Most Congested In The Nation
Los Angeles Times

Take A Ride Down The Spring Street Bike Lane, No Bike Required (44 photos of downtown's new green bike lanes)
Curbed LA

Train Recycles Braking Energy To Power Other Trains
Earth And Industry

Vista Hermosa Natural Park: Exploring Downtown's Newest Open Space ("When the ten-acre park opened in 2008, it was the first new park in downtown Los Angeles in more than one hundred years...The [Santa Monica Mountains] Conservancy offers a free monthly bus shuttle service from the park to the Santa Monica Mountains.")
LAist

Waving California Goodbye: More People Are Moving Out Of The State Than Are Moving In. It's The Economy, Of Course, Especially Housing Costs
Los Angeles Times

Wilshire BRT And El Monte Busway Improvements Coming...In 2015
StreetsBlog LA

The World's Most Beautiful Train Stations (Los Angeles' Union Station makes this short list)
The Atlantic: Cities

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.