February 20: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (Senator Barbara Boxer visits and praises construction for the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension. Less than two years later, the light rail line opens to broad acclaim)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog
Battle For Quieter Train Crossings Continues ("On March 5, the California Public Utilities Commission could rule on [San Clemente]'s plan to install 80-decibel horns at the seven crossings. The plan is to sound those horns in place of the 112-decibel horns of approaching trains. Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Amtrak oppose the city's request.")
Orange County Register
Bev Hills' Purple Line Battle Expands, Embroils Mayoral Races
Curbed LA
Beverly Hills Fights L.A. Subway Extension
Courthouse News Service
By-Passing Tomorrow For Easy Implementation Today ("Chuck Marohn, and his Strong Towns message, is revolutionary in that he is a credible transportation professional who is single-handedly taking on the transportation profession. And winning.")
Place Shakers
City Sues FTA To Block Subway Funding
Beverly Hills Patch
Comment: Think Small ("Peter Zellner espouses the value of fine-grain development for Los Angeles.")
Architect's Newspaper
Congress Looks For Road Repair Funds
Politico
A Day In The Life Of 3 Million London Commuters, In 1 Minute
The Atlantic: Cities
The Downtowners Of Distinction Winners ("The prizes were created to recognize the individuals who came up with and nurtured efforts that not only enhance their bottom line, but also benefit the district in which they are located. In each case, the project has made its surrounding community, and by extension all of Downtown, a better place in which to live, work or visit.")
Los Angeles Downtown News
Downtown's Worst Ideas, Concepts And Plans Of The Last 40 Years
Los Angeles Downtown News
Expo Line Construction Shuts Down Lanes In Santa Monica
CBS Los Angeles
Expo Line Inches Closer To SaMo, Construction Causing Closures
LAist
Expo Line West Rising (construction photos)
LA Observed
Good Times For L.A. Bikers, But What About The Rest Of Us? ("At City Hall, these initiatives have become a fashionable - and cheap - way of showing constituents that they're doing something to deal with congestion when in fact they're doing next to nothing. This is otherwise known as cynicism wrapped under the cloak of public service. Actually, increased ridership has only made L.A. streets more dangerous.")
LA Observed
LADOT Ready To Embrace "Floating" Bike Lanes For Westwood, But Is West L.A.?
StreetsBlog LA
LA's Traffic Lights Now Synced; Aims To Increase Air Quality, Decrease Traffic
Blog Downtown
Lawmaker Wants To Open Southland Car Pool Lanes For Off-Peak Use ("Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) said his AB 405 will create a test program that could be expanded to other congested freeways in Southern California that do not open up car pool lanes to all traffic after rush hour. It would allow single-passenger vehicles to use the car pool lanes in off-peak hours in a five-mile stretch of the 134 between the 170 and 5 freeways.")
Los Angeles Times
LAX Shuttle From Expo Line To Open In Spring
Los Angeles Sentinel
Long Beach: City Approves RFQ To Redesign "Functionally Obsolete" Civic Center
StreetsBlog LA
Massive Mixed-Use Project In Hollywood Clears A Hurdle ("Over objections, the planning agency approves the proposed $664-million Millennium Hollywood development that will consist of two towers flanking the iconic Capitol Records Tower.")
Los Angeles Times
Not To Be Outdone, LA Builds Parklets With Exercise Bikes (and swings!)
Architizer
Obama To Flesh Out Plans For Infrastructure Projects ("It revives the president’s call for creation of a National Infrastructure Bank, which could bring public and private financing together to plan projects. The proposal would also allow issuing new America Fast Forward bonds to follow up on the Build America Bonds program from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.")
New York Times
Opinion: Bike Lanes Poised To Shape The Future Of Lankershim
North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch
Plan To Ready Region For Bullet Train Network
San Diego Union-Tribune
The Preservation Of Santa Monica's Palisades Park
LA as Subject via Los Angeles Magazine
Residents Enjoy Free Public Transport In Tallinn (Beginning January 1, Estonia's capital became the largest European city and first European capital to provide free public transit to all residents. How is it going so far?)
Euro Cities
San Juan To Implement "Quiet Zones" At 5 Rail Crossings
Orange County Register
Today In L.A. History: Los Angeles Drives Traffic Innovation. Yes, Really ("Introduced during the 1984 L.A. Olympics, the citywide signal synchronization program picked up steam in 2005 when then mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa campaigned on a promise to finish the project. He can check its completion off his list as of 12 p.m. this afternoon. The system, which synched up all 4,398 of the city’s traffic signals, is not only believed to reduce travelers’ commute time by 12 percent, but will also significantly reduce the city’s air pollution—by about 1 million metric tons of carbon pollution annually—say officials.")
Los Angeles Magazine
U.S. Department Of Transportation Releases Funding To University Transportation Centers
U.S. DOT Press Release
U.S. States Ramp Up Transportation Spending With Funding Law
Reuters
Walkonomics Sets Out to Create A New Way To Measure Walkability
StreetsBlog DC
War Over Infrastructure Around Unlikely Industry NFL Stadium
Curbed LA
Will Streetcars Invade California? ("Like so many other streetcar projects around the country, the L.A. project is being put together entirely outside the traditional public transit structure. (L.A. Metro is supportive but has nothing to do with the project.) And as Tangri and others often point out, when business leaders promote – and pay for – a transit project, it’s going to have different a completely different goal: economic development rather than mobility. “We talk a lot about transit-oriented development,” he said, "But this is development-oriented transit.")
California Planning & Development Report
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