Senate Transpo Bill, HSR Workforce Development, Highway 138, Bing Transit, Foothill Extension, Spring Street Bike Lane & More

Bing Maps Touches Up Pushpins & Popups, Transit Info
WebProNews

Caltrans To Start Widening Highway 138
Santa Clarita Valley News

The City, Covered With Logos
The Atlantic: Cities

Compare The Senate And House Transpo Bills, Side-By-Side
StreetsBlog DC

Developers Facing New Fee To Fund Transit Projects ("The Planning Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to move forward a new fee that planners estimate could raise $60 million for transportation projects over the next 20 years.")
Santa Monica Daily Press

Estimating Workforce Development Needs For High-Speed Rail In California (176p. PDF)
Mineta Transportation Institute

Feeding The Beast: The Backdoor Ways Transit Subsidizes Roads
StreetsBlog Network

Fixing The House Bill: Cutting Regulatory Burdens And Bureaucracy
Transportation For America

Foothill Extension Project Update: Falsework For The I-210 Gold Line Bridge Should Be Completely Up Next Week
Monrovia Patch

Gas Prices Force More People To Take Rural Transit
NPR

Gas Prices Spike, And American Motorists Rumble With Anger, Frustration
Washington Post

He Lived On The Streetcars In Los Angeles
LA Observed
My Getaway Car: War Reels, Liquor Store Holdups, And My Exploits On The Rails
Zocalo Public Square

Local Reaction Positive To News Of Transportation Bill Clearing Senate
StreetsBlog LA

A Meter So Expensive, It Creates Parking Spots ("San Francisco is trying to shorten the hunt with an ambitious experiment that aims to make sure that there is always at least one empty parking spot available on every block that has meters. The program, which uses new technology and the law of supply and demand, raises the price of parking on the city’s most crowded blocks and lowers it on its emptiest blocks.")
New York Times

Metro Reaches For The Holy Grail: A MetroRail/Airport Extension
CityWatch

New Bike Lanes Appear On Rampart Boulevard
StreetsBlog LA

Officials Take Second Swing At Grant Money For Highway Project
Ventura County Star

The Quest For Safer Intersections
The Atlantic: Cities

Refinements To DOT's Management Of The Highway Trust Fund's Solvency Could Improve The Understanding And Accuracy Of Shortfall Projections (43p. PDF)
U.S. DOT Office Of Inspector General

Seeing Red Over Green: Some Unhappy With Spring Street Bike Lane
Los Angeles Times

Senate OKs Transpo Bill That Would Provide Billions For LA Rail
Curbed LA

The Senate's Transportation Program ("The U.S. Senate’s passage of a transportation reauthorization bill Wednesday was big news, if only because it has now been 898 days since the last transportation bill officially expired. Three years of debates in both houses of the Congress have brought us one proposal after another, but only one piece of legislation has actually made it out the doors of one of the chambers. That is a serious accomplishment for Barbara Boxer’s leadership in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.")
The Transport Politic

Staffers: House Won't Pass Highway Bill This Month
Politico

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.

Historic LA Railroads, Senate Transpo Bill, California Complete Streets, Cars For Bikes, Interactive Bus Shelters & More

Accolades Pour In For Senate Transpo Bill From All Quarters
StreetsBlog DC

Bipartisan? Comparing The 2012 Bill To Past Transportation Bill Votes
Transportation For America

Boxer To House On Transportation Bill That Would Speed Up LA Projects: It's In Your Court Now
Southern California Public Radio

Caltrans Is Completing The Streets!
Complete Streets

County Master Bike Plan Formally Approved
Altadena Patch

Editorial: Hope For A Good Transportation Bill
New York Times

Guidebook For Understanding Urban Goods Movement (118p. PDF)
National Cooperative Freight Research Program

Highway Bill Now Over To John Boehner
Politico

L.A.'s First Railroads Connected The Region To The Global Economy (19th century archival photos illustrate how "the railroad was one of Los Angeles' first modern links with the global economy -- while an ox-cart and wagon road had connected the city to the harbor for decades, the railroad slashed the cost of transporting goods and passengers to and from the ships at San Pedro.")
LA as Subject via KCET

Life After The CRA: Panel To Discuss Post-CRA Future
Los Angeles Downtown News

Major Changes For Wilshire Grand Project: Two-Tower Effort Now Envisioned As One
Los Angeles Downtown News

New Business Plan Wins Fans At HSR Hearing
California High Speed Rail Blog

Senate Bill Restores Federal Transit Benefits
Washington Examiner

Senate OKs Transportation Bill With Help For LA Area
Los Angeles Times

Senate Passes Two-Year Transportation Bill, 74-22; All Eyes On House
StreetsBlog DC

Senate To House: Change Direction, Pass MAP-21
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Senate's Highway Bill Promises To Create Some Jobs, Kill Others
Business Week

Six Ideas For Saving Bay Area Transit
StreetsBlog SF

Steinberg Predicts Passage Of RDA Asset Bills
California Planning & Development Report

Trade In Your Car For A Bicycle At Bike Shop In Woodland Hills
PR Web

Transportation Bill Fight Reflects Party Divide (audio)
The Takeaway

U.S. Conference Of Mayors President Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Issues Statement On Senate Passage Of Surface Transportation Bill
MarketWatch

U.S. Senate OKs L.A. Transportation Bill: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Praised Lawmakers For Approving The Bill, Which Would Accelerate Major Transportation Projects In The City
Santa Monica Patch

Villaraigosa Gets His Transportation Bill Through The Senate
LA Observed

The Way Ahead For Transit, Mixed-Use Development Isn't Clear
KCET

What The Heck Is Going On With The Regional Connector (Part 3)
StreetsBlog LA

Why Would Anyone Want Their Bus Shelter To Be An Interactive Jukebox?
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.

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.

House & Senate Transpo Bills, LA Downtown Streetcar, Bergamot Station, Expo Line Development, CAHSR & More

After 30 Years Of Federal Support For Transit, Battle Lines Are Redrawn
StreetsBlog DC

Bergamot Transit Village Fight Crosses City Borders ("Community representatives from Santa Monica and its neighbors unite against what they call 'piecemeal' planning for several projects, demanding that the city adequately address traffic problems they say would go beyond its city limits.")
Pacific Palisades Patch

Bergamot Transit Village NIMBYs Now Include LA City Council
Curbed LA

Bullet Train Economic Impact Won't Occur Without Some Help: Study
Bakersfield Californian

Department Of DIY Strikes Again: "Except Bikes" Signs Appear On The Westside
StreetsBlog LA

Design For Final Segment Of High Line Revealed!
Architect's Newspaper

Editorial: BART Heads To San Jose
San Francisco Chronicle

Five Strategies For A Transformative Sustainable Communities Strategy In Southern California
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Garden Grove Opens New Traffic Center Today
Orange County Register

High-Speed Rail Chief: Bullet Train Won't Cost $100 Billion ("Agency leader says train will cost less and launch sooner under revision.")
Silicon Valley Mercury News

HR 7 Insanity: Air Pollution Funds Would Pay For Highway Expansion
StreetsBlog Network
Fixing The House Bill: Reducing Air Pollution By Providing More Travel Options
Transportation For America

Hugging The Expo Line ("In terms of the anticipated completion date of 2015, my big concern is this: does everyone understand that it is not enough to simply thread the Expo Line through existing communities and hope that people will use it? Instead, we need to support the rail line with new zoning ordinances that encourage communities of density and diversity.")
Huffington Post

Is The Biker Rights Movement Gaining Momentum?
The Atlantic: Cities

LA Streetcar Project Inches Forward; Begins Environmental Review
Blog Downtown

Leading In Lean Times: Findings From The Transportation Research Board's 2011 State Partnership Visits Program (12p. PDF)
Transportation Research Board

Metro To Vote On Rail Car Upgrade; May Include Wider Seats And Room For Bikes
Blog Downtown

More Punting On Regional Connector?
Curbed LA

Muni Posters' Goal: Decrease Phone, Tablet Thefts
San Francisco Chronicle

New Report On Statewide Organizations And Federal Funding
League Of American Cyclists
Improving The Process: How Statewide Organizations Are Winning Federal Dollars For Bicycle And Pedestrian Projects (7p. PDF)
Advocacy Advance: Tools To Increase Biking And Walking

Obama Counters Gas Price Demagoguery With Commitment To Fracking
StreetsBlog DC

Over The Top: Transit Planners Look To Gondolas To Put An End To Urban Gridlock
National Post (Canada)

Reversing A Radical Rewrite: Can Boehner Go Bipartisan?
Transportation Nation

Santa Monica Coalition Fires Legal Missive Opposing Bergamot Project
Santa Monica Lookout

Senate Amendments Promote Local (Not State) Control, Bridge Repair
StreetsBlog DC

Senate Bill Surges Forward; House Bill Bogs Down
Next American City

Senate Ready To Pass Bipartisan Overhaul Of Highway, Transit Programs; House Action Uncertain
Washington Post

Senate Rejects Amendment To Allow States To Opt Out Of Federal Transportation Program
The Hill

Wilshire Boulevard: Iconic Yet Bumpy
Park La Brea News Beverly Press

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.

Sunday Marathon Street Closures, America Fast Forward, Gas Prices, Transit Use Soars, Bergamot Station, WeHo Bike Lanes & More

10.4 Billion Trips Taken On U.S. Public Transportation In 2011: Second Highest Annual Ridership Since 1957
APTA Press Release

Chaos Reigns As Cities Try To Cope With Demise Of Redevelopment
Whittier Daily News

The Death Row Of Urban Highways, Part 3
The Atlantic: Cities

Don't Count Out HR 7 Yet: House GOP Could Revive Their Bill This Week
StreetsBlog DC

Feds Hand Out $25 Million For Transit Planning
Transportation Nation

Fixing It: Infrastructure And The Economy (21p. PDF)
National Association Of Counties

Gasoline And Diesel Prices Continue Rising ("In the last week, the average price of a gallon of regular gas increases 1.8 cents in California and 3.6 cents nationwide. The average for diesel is up 2.9 cents in the state and nationwide.")
Los Angeles Times

Here Are The Scheduled Closures For The 405 Freeway This Week
LAist

Here's Mayoral Candidate Wendy Greuel On Planning In LA
Curbed LA

How To Get A Film Permit To Shut Down Bike Lanes
Curbed LA

Is There A Smart Way For Cities To Privatize Parking?
The Atlantic: Cities

LaHood: House In "Disarray" On Transportation Bill
The Hill

LaHood To House: "Get On The Bus" With A Bipartisan Transportation Bill
StreetsBlog DC

The Life And Death Of Urban Highways (44p. PDF : "This report chronicles the stories of five very different cities that became stronger after freeways were removed or reconsidered. They demonstrate that fixing cities harmed by freeways, and improving public transport, involves
a range of context-specific and context-sensitive solutions. This perspective contrasts with the one-size-fits-all approach that was used in the 1950s and 1960s to push freeways through urban neighborhoods. The belief then was that freeways would reduce congestion and improve safety in cities. Remarkably, these two reasons are still commonly used to rationalize spending large sums of public money on expanding existing or building new freeways.")
Institute For Transportation & Development Policy / EMBARQ

Mass Transit Use Rises As Gas Prices Soar
CNN Money

MTA Ridership Soars As Gas Prices Expected To Test Record High ("Ridership on the Orange and Silver lines is up by double-digits in recent weeks, a trend that MTA CEO Art Leahy said shows commuters are doing their homework.")
CBS Los Angeles

New Study Says Diesel Emissions Can Increase Risk Of Cancer Three-Fold
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Next Target: Extending BART Under Downtown San Jose
Silicon Valley Mercury News

Portland Struggles To Remain A Leader In Public Transit ("Reduced revenue and federal funding, combined with unsustainable employee costs, are making it difficult for the Oregon city to stay on top.")
Governing

Residents Want A Reduced Bergamot Transit Village
Santa Monica Daily Press

Security, Emergency Management, And Infrastructure Protection Research Status Report (13p. PDF)
Transportation Research Board

Senate Ready To Overhaul Highway, Transit Programs; Dems Say Bill Will Create Nearly 3M Jobs
Washington Post

Senate Transportation Bill Far From Transformative, Despite Soaring Gas Prices And Rising Transit Ridership
Huffington Post

The Sorry State Of American Transport ("In short, though the facilities can somewhat be excused as resulting from insufficient capital funding and bad decisions decades ago, there’s so much that could be done right now to upgrade the passenger experience it’s not even funny.")
Urbanophile

Street Closures And Metro Bus Detours For Sunday's Honda LA Marathon
LAist

Technology Contributes To Ridership Growth
The Transit Wire

Time To Hit The Gas ("Villaraigosa is championing a specific provision in the Senate bill that would give the Transportation Department expanded abilities to extend credit to local municipalities for "mega public transportation projects...Is Villaraigosa right that simple financing fixes could speed up so many transit projects? Would the credit extensions in the Senate bill help other localities besides Los Angeles, including rural ones? Is it appropriate to focus so much attention on public transportation? What is holding up most transportation projects?")
National Journal Transportation Experts Blog

Transit Agencies Have A Powerful Story To Tell Legislators
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

Transportation And Warehousing Industry Nears 4 Million Jobs
Business Journals

WeHo Replacing San Vicente Parking With Bike Lanes
Curbed LA

What Do Women (Transit Users) Want? ("For some women riders, transit dependency may be a frightening, unwanted outcome of higher prices at the pump.")
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.

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.

405 Closures, L.A.'s Old Cable Cars & New Metro Cars, Expo II, Arcadia Bikes, Bus Bunching & More

March 12: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (The steepest cable car line in North America and an ambitious rail plan to "bring back the Red Cars")
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

66 Santa Monica Trees To Be Moved Or Removed For Expo Line
Curbed LA

Advocates: Private Transit Giant Lobbied House To Weaken Public Transit
StreetsBlog DC

Arcadia Turns Down Opportunity To Develop Bike Plan
Curbed LA

Boehner: We'll Work With Senate If GOP Balks On Highway Bill
Transportation Nation

California Unemployment Falls To 10.9%
Los Angeles Times

Check Out Metro's Possible New Rail Cars
Curbed LA

Day One Of Votes: Senate OKs Two Amendments, Rejects Keystone Pipeline
StreetsBlog DC

Despite Nod To Transit, House GOP Still All About Highways
StreetsBlog DC

Do More Bikeways Mean More Commuting By Bicycle?
Crikey

Feinstein Uses Traffic To Tout 91 Project
Riverside Press-Enterprise

High Airfares Expected For Rest Of Decade
California High Speed Rail Blog

How To Keep Buses From Bunching (Research has led to a proposal for "a method of bus coordination that abandons the concept of tightly-managed headways or schedules.")
The Atlantic: Cities

LaHood Pitches President's Transportation Budget To House Appropriations Subcommittee
AASHTO Journal

Last Chance To Tour Underground Dig Site Across From San Gabriel Mission
Southern California Public Radio

Legacy Of Early L.A. Developers Still Remains ("In the morning of March 8, 1869, law partners Alfred B. Chapman and Andrew Glassell purchased Rancho San Rafael during a foreclosure auction at the county courthouse. The land was soon further divided in what became known as the Great Partition of 1871, resulting in the division of the rancho land into 31 sections split between 28 different parties.")
KCET

A Long History Of Creating A Sense Of Place At LA's Latino Triangle Parks: Mariachi Plaza
StreetsBlog LA

Mayors Descend On Washington To Press For Highway Bill, Fight Program Cuts
The Hill

More Closures Scheduled This Week On 405 Freeway
Los Angeles Times

A New Law Of Intercity Mobility ("The reigning model of intercity mobility, used to predict patterns of movement from commuting to the spread of infectious disease, is called the "gravity law." It was developed in the early 1940sby a Harvard lecturer named George Zipf and is, of course, based on Newton's law, which says gravitational force increases when the mass of two objects is great and the distance between them is minimal.")
The Atlantic: Cities

Opinion: The Go-Nowhere Generation ("In the most startling behavioral change among young people since James Dean and Marlon Brando started mumbling, an increasing number of teenagers are not even bothering to get their driver’s licenses. Back in the early 1980s, 80 percent of 18-year-olds proudly strutted out of the D.M.V. with newly minted licenses, according to a study by researchers at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute. By 2008 — even before the Great Recession — that number had dropped to 65 percent.")
New York Times

Poll: Californians Narrowly Back Bullet Train; Voters, Not So Much
Los Angeles Times

Schumer Says Benefits For Transit Commuters Will Be In Tranportation Bill
Bloomberg

Senate Leaders Say Deal On Transportation Overhaul
Ventura County Star

Senate Set To Pass Transportation Bill Next Week
APA Policy News For Planners

Silver Lake Gets An Unusual New Park Space ("Billed as L.A.'s first 'street-to-plaza' conversion, much of Sunset Triangle Plaza originally was a two-lane swath of pavement that carried motorist s along Griffith Park Boulevard.")
Los Angeles Times

TIF Revival On The Table In Sacramento ("Even as the redevelopment wind-down process continues, the Legislature is beginning to play around with possible ways to bring it back in a more limited form. Many of the ideas involve tinkering with tax-increment financing in ways that will hold the state financially harmless. Others would allow cities to keep some or all of their former redevelopment agencies’ cash and land assets, which are likely worth several billion dollars.")
California Planning & Development Report

Tough Times At Burbank Airport After Airline's Departure
Los Angeles Times

Transit Use Grew Nationwide In 2011, Trade Group Says
Washington Post

Trio Of Experts Urge Passage Of Bipartisan Transportation Bill
StreetsBlog DC

Use Of Public Transit Grew In 2011, Report Indicates
New York Times
Public Transit Ridership Report: Fourth Quarter 2011 (31p. PDF)
APTA

Want $2.50 A Gallon Gas? Try $187 Billion In Subsidies
American Public Media Marketplace

Westsiders Tentatively Lose Expo Line Phase II Challenge
Curbed 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.

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.