Expo! Expo! Expo!, Bike Nation, Expo II Bikeway, Highway Bill, Union Station, CAHSR & More

As America's Waistline Expands, Costs Soar ("The new performance testing proposed by transit officials for buses, assuming an average passenger weight of 175 instead of 150 pounds, arise from concerns that heavier passengers might pose a safety threat. If too much weight is behind the rear axle, a bus can lose steering. And every additional pound increases a moving vehicle's momentum, requiring more force to stop and thereby putting greater demands on brakes.")
Reuters

Assembly Candidates Push For Gold Line Expansion, Education Funding ("Jobs and transportation were among the hot topics at a forum Thursday night featuring the five candidates running for the 41st Assembly District serving Pasadena, South Pasadena and nearby cities.")
Pasadena Sun

Barbara Boxer Determined To See Highway Bill Passed Despite Hurdles
Desert Sun

Bev Hills PTA: Subway Will Destroy Brandon, Brenda
Curbed LA

Beverly Hills' Response To Metro's Delayed Subway Vote ("The BH City Council's request for an additional public comment period has been granted, according to the following press release from the City of Beverly Hills.")
Beverly Hills Patch

Bike Nation Responds: Open Data, Social Media, New Kiosks, New Bikes And More...
StreetsBlog LA

Brookings: Suburban-Style Zoning Linked To Educational Inequality
StreetsBlog DC
Housing Costs, Zoning, And Access To High-Scoring Schools (31p. PDF)
Brookings

Bullet Train's Low Operating Costs Are "Elephant In Room," Experts Say
California Watch

Can California Afford High Speed Rail? Jerry Brown Still Bullish, Likens It To Cathedral Building
Huffington Post

C'mon N' Ride The Train: The Expo Line Finally Opens To The Public
LAist

Cost Of Owning And Operating Vehicle In U.S. Increased 1.9% According To AAA's 2012 "Your Driving Costs" Study
AAA Press Release
Your Driving Costs, 2012 (12p. PDF)
AAA

Editorial: Cars, Trains And Partisan Posturing
New York Times

Expo Line Express: Opening Day Filled With Festivals, Free Rides (video)
Leimert Park Beat

Expo Line Grand Opening (audio)
USC Annenberg Intersections South LA

Expo Line Offers Free Parking Spaces For Cars And Facilities For Bikes ("The La Cienega/Jefferson station has 576 parking spaces and 12 bike rack spaces and the Culver City station has 586 parking spaces, numerous bike racks and 8 bike lockers.")
Culver City Patch

Expo Line Opening
(video : "Los Angeles residents celebrate the grand opening of the Expo Line at USC.")Annenberg TV News

Expo Line Opens To The Public With Free Rides This Weekend
Los Angeles Times

Expo Line Opens Today; MTA Worked Out The Glitches Until The Last Minute
LA Weekly

"Expo Line" Opens Up Trains To The Westside
My Fox LA

Expo Line Opens Variety Of Possibilities For Riders
Los Angeles Times

Expo Line Opens With Fanfare, Free Rides
Los Angeles Wave

Expo Line Safety Concerns
Annenberg TV News
Exposition Light Rail's Unfinished Safety Jobs
Najmedin Meshkati, USC via Scribd

Financing Surface Transportation In The United States: Forging A Sustainable Future -- Now! (76p. PDF : Summary Of The Fourth International Conference)
Transportation Research Board

Free Expo Line Rides Offered Today, Tomorrow Between L.A. And Culver City
Long Beach Press-Telegram

Highway Bill Conference Committee Schedules First Meeting
The Hill

L.A. Metro Unveils New Expo Line, Approves Billions More In Rail; Gadfly In Obama Mask Isn't Happy
LA Weekly

LA's Transit Dreams Coming True?: On The Tracks Of Los Angeles' New Expo Line
Architect's Newspaper

Last Bastion Of Free Parking? Loyola Marymount To Charge Students
LA Observed

Legal Challenge Looms For Regional Connector ("Thomas Properties Group, one of four Financial District property owners concerned about construction impacts along Flower Street, submitted a draft lawsuit to the agency on Thursday.")
Los Angeles Downtown News

Metro Caves To LACMA Arm-Twisting On Fairfax Subway Station
CityWatch

Metro Opens Unfinished Phase I of Expo Line To Fanfare
USC Annenberg Neon Tommy

MTA Shirks Responsibility By Sending Jobs Building Rail Cars To Japan
Los Angeles Wave

Now Arriving...! (USC professor of physics and astronomy Clifford Johnson pronounces Expo Line as a city-changing experience. His verdict: "just magical")
Asymptotia

On High-Speed Rails, A New Challenger In Italy ("It took over five years, a roughly $1.3 billion investment and a neck-and-neck race with Italy’s national rail lines to get Europe’s first private operator of high-speed, domestic trains on track.")
New York Times

Opinion: The Civic Advantage Of Coalescence ("Do you ever wonder why the subway ends in North Hollywood instead of turning east to Burbank and Glendale? Or why the Gold Line turns right when it gets to Pasadena? Or why the Westside is getting light rail and a subway extension while you get nothing?")
La Canada Valley Sun

Our View: Make Bike Lanes The New Freeways
Pasadena Star-News

Panorama: Expo Line's La Cienega/Jefferson Station
Los Angeles Times

Smart Growth Strategies Prompt Dumb Objections
California Planning & Development Report

Southland Leaders Celebrate Metro Expo Line Opening At Dedication Ceremony
Southern California Public Radio

State Of The Union: Shortlisted Teams Unveil Vision Boards For LA's Union Station Area ("The boards, presented in front of a packed house at the station yesterday, will hold no weight in the team selection. That choice will be made, by the end of June, on the much more nuts-and-bolts basis of qualifications, interviews, data collection, draft alternatives and implementation strategies, aka 'scope of work.'")
Architect's Newspaper

State Senators, Gold Line Officials Lobby For Funds To Fill Foothill Extension Funding Gap
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Touring The Expo Line Phase II Bikeway
StreetsBlog LA

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