Orange Line Extension, MAP-21, Measure R+, Gold Line Foothill Extension, HSR & More

$17B Transit Bill Would Extend Sales Tax Hike Through 2069
CBS Los Angeles

401 Broadway Proposal In Santa Monica Goes From Car-Free To Robo-Garage
StreetsBlog LA

Advancing High-Speed Rail Policy In The United States (88p. PDF)
Mineta Transportation Institute

Advocates: Transpo Bill Ignores Trends, Shrinks From 21st Century Challenges
StreetsBlog DC

Amenity Or Necessity? Street Standards As Parking Policy (66p. PDF)
Mineta Transportation Institute

America's Generation Y Not Driven To Drive ("From 2001 to 2009, the average annual number of vehicle-miles traveled by people ages 16-34 dropped 23 percent, from 10,300 to 7,900, the survey found. Gen Y-ers, also known as Millennials, tend to ride bicycles, take public transit and rely on virtual media. More than a quarter of Millennials - 26 percent - lacked a driver's license in 2010, up 5 percentage points from 2000, the Federal Highway Administration reported.")
Reuters

Buses, Limos And Shuttles At LAX Cited In Inspection Crackdown
Los Angeles Times

California Bullet Train Vote: High-Speed Rail Faces Contentious Decision
Huffington Post

Cash For Gold, Yes; Cash For Gold Line, No
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Central Cities Now Growing Faster Than Suburbs, Confirming Trends For Walkable Lifestyles, Shorter Commutes
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Cheat Sheet For MAP-21, New Federal Transportation Bill (Concise breakdown of what is in the bill, what is not, in two parts)
Transportation Issues Daily
Cheat Sheet Part 2

Congress OKs Transportation Bill Expected To Speed Up L.A. Projects
Northridge-Chatsworth Patch

Congress Passes Major Transportation Bill, Preserving The Status Quo ("MAP-21 will provide federal funding for highways and transit over the next 27 months. Passing the bill was an accomplishment for a do-little Congress, but serious issues about how to pay for transportation in the future have yet to be resolved. Nonetheless, there are some interesting features in the bill for new transit capital projects.")
The Transport Politic

Driverless Transport Pods Finally Starting To Catch On
GOOD

EIR For 710 Corridor Project Released For Review
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Expansion Of Measure R Half-Cent Sales Tax To Hit Ballot In November
NBC Los Angeles

Federal Transportation Bill Includes America Fast Forward Provisions
StreetsBlog LA

Gold Line Foothill Extension Funding Still Up In The Air Following Metro's Measure R Vote
Pasadena Star-News

HSR Is Good For The Economy -- And Good For The Budget
California High Speed Rail Blog

How Smart Should Our Maps Be? (The future of maps isn't directions, it's information)
The Atlantic: Cities

How The Transportation Bill Failed America ("Lawmakers had the opportunity to achieve transformative change. They didn’t seize it.")
The Atlantic: Cities

Hundreds Ride The New Orange Line Buses For Free This Weekend ("Metro held two separate community shindigs on Saturday, one in Canoga Park and the other in Chatsworth in celebration of the new four-mile dedicated busway and bike path along Canoga Avenue.")
Northridge-Chatsworth Patch

LA Starts Process To Close Gaps In The Backbone Bike Network
Curbed LA

Long Beach 710 Freeway To Expand to 14 Lanes
KABC Los Angeles

Long Beach To Cut Seal Beach Bus Service After Charges Of Racism
Los Angeles Times

Mayor Applauds Passage Of Federal Transportation Bill ("$101 billion plan passed today that could bring light rail through the Sepulveda Pass, as well as a Westside subway extension.")
Sherman Oaks Patch

Metro Offers Free Rides All Weekend Long To Mark Orange Line Extension
CBS Los Angeles

Metro's Orange Line Debuts, Offers Free Rides (video)
KABC Los Angeles

No Train For You: Gold Line Stops At Azusa
KCET

O.C. Toll Roads To Stop Taking Cash, Cut Toll-Booth Jobs ("The county is looking to save money by eliminating toll booth operators and phasing out cash payments, in addition to raising toll rates.")
Los Angeles Times

Orange Line Busway Extension Draws Thousands
Los Angeles Daily News

Orange Line Extension Opens With Free Rides
Los Angeles Times

Origins: The Street Names Of Sherman Oaks
Sherman Oaks Patch

Perceived And Actual Wait Time Measurement At Transit Stops Using Bluetooth (27p. PDF)
Transportation Northwest

Photos: Orange Line Opens For Riders (photo gallery)
Los Angeles Daily News

Public Transit Routing And Layer Now Available In The Google Maps API
Google Geo Developers Blog

Seeking Common Ground To Solve Our Transportation Problems (What does the President of Shell Oil add to a panel on smart transportation?)
The Atlantic

Southern California's Mobility 21 Applauds Passage Of Federal Transportation Bill
Business Wire

Still Much To Accomplish, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Says, As Clock Ticks On His Term
Los Angeles Daily News

The Tea Party's Selective Disdain For Transportation Subsidies
StreetsBlog Network

U.S. Politicians Slash Bike Funding
Bike Biz

Why America's Love Affair With Cars Is No Accident ("The auto industry campaigned against the relatively bloody rise of cars in the early 20th century via TV, the term "jaywalker" and school safety patrols.")
Scientific American 

Will California Bite The High-Speed Rail Bullet?
BBC


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.

We invite you to visit Metro's The Source, your window to what's happening with agency news, funding and policy issues, and how to get the most out of transit and Los Angeles.