Los Angeles Transportation Headlines

11/17/2010

Expo Won't Be Aqua, Alameda Corridor East , No Rail On Wilshire, GPS Risks, New Transpo Safety Campaign, Pedestrian Advocacy & More

Announcing The Subway Announcement Lady
New York Times

Bachmann: Transportation Projects Shouldn't Be Earmarks
Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Beijing-LA Alliance To Fight Traffic ("In an unusual alliance, the transportation agencies of Los Angeles and Beijing have come together to swap ideas on how best to get people walking, biking and riding public transit." MTA Deputy CEO Paul Taylor discusses)
KCRW

China Leads World In High-Speed Rail Tracks (and is on the verge of having more HSR tracks than the rest of the world put together)
NPR

Development's Traffic Impact Questioned: NBC Universal's Expansion Plan Assumes Public Transportation Use, Officials Said
Burbank Leader

Don't Call It The Aqua Line: It's The Aqua-Colored Expo Line
Curbed LA

Downtown Parking May Change: City Officials Are Looking Into Plan To Ease Requirements To Attract Businesses
Glendale News-Press

Editorial: MTA's Legal Trouble
Daily Breeze

Editorial: Paying To Use Those Carpool Lanes
Long Beach Press-Telegram

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Joins Call For Redirecting HSR Money
California High Speed Rail Blog

GPS Addict? It May Be Eroding Your Brain
MSNBC

The Horrors Of "Transferring," Circa 1974
Human Transit

How Pedestrian! The Walking Movement Flexes Its Muscle
StreetsBlog DC

LA Transportation Officials Unveil New Airport, Train Station Safety Campaign
Southern California Public Radio

Lawmakers Seek More Rail Money For California: Senators Say California Would Gladly Take Funds For High-Speed Rail Passed On By Other States
ABC News

Light Rail On Wilshire? Why, That Would Be Illegal!
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

London Unveils New High-Tech Double-Decker Bus
USA Today

McConnell Earmark Ban Support Could Mean Even Less For Transpo
Transportation Nation

More Security Sought At Perris, Corona Transit Centers
Riverside Press-Enterprise

Oberstar Says Farewell, Talks About Future Of Infrastructure Debate
Trucking Info

Oberstar's Final Words Of Wisdom
StreetsBlog DC

Our View: Help ACE Finish What It Started (Alameda Corridor East Construction Authority)
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Pending Expiration Of The Federal Commuter Tax Benefit Presents Mass Transit Riders With Financial Challenges In 2011, Finds New TransitCenter Economic Report
Business Wire

Rail System Still Needs Identification Requirements
Government Security News

Taxis: The New Frontier Of Sustainable Transportation
The City Fix

TCRP Study Of Social Media: Want To Take Part?
Transit Wire

Tools To Help Companies Manage Their Social Media ("A small suite of emerging technologies is offering solutions to help companies manage their social media presence, by archiving business communications or managing individual employees posts on sites like Twitter and Facebook.")
New York Times

Transportation Official To Step Down From High-Speed Rail Panel: Richard Katz, Who Also Serves On The Boards Of The L.A. County MTA And The Metrolink Commuter System, Will Leave His Post Dec. 1
Los Angeles Times

U.S. Falls Behind Other Nations In Reducing Traffic Fatalities And Injuries; Report Identifies Safety Strategies That Could Succeed In U.S.
News From The National Academies

Waze Combines Crowdsourced GPS And Pac-Man
Wired

11/16/2010

WeHo Transit Corridor, Congestion Pricing, L.A. Great Walk, Port Recovery, Brick "Road Carpet" & More

AEG Wants A Green Stadium For Downtown L.A.: No New Parking Required
StreetsBlog LA

Amazing Brick Machine Rolls Out Roads Like Carpet
Inhabitat

Editorial: Get Ventura County On A Faster Transit Track
Pacific Coast Business Times

Five Sustainable Building Materials That Could Transform Construction
This Big City

From The Nation's Railroads, Some Positive Economic Signs
Los Angeles Times
Rail Time Indicators: A Review Of Key Economic Trends Shaping Demand For Rail Transportation (34p. PDF)
Association Of American Railroads

The Great Los Angeles Walk, 2010 (Saturday, November 20 : Wilshire Boulevard, 15.6 Miles, Pershing Square to the Pacific Ocean)
Great LA Walk
Curating The City: Explore Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles Conservancy

How The Unions Can Help LA Pay For The Wilshire Subway Extension
Huffington Post

Hwy. 101 Widening Foes File 3 Appeals ("The project involves converting the highway from a four-lane expressway into a six-lane freeway...At issue is whether the County Board Of Supervisors acted lawfully when it approved the $116 million project in September")
Ventura County Star

In Cutting Bus Stops, San Francisco Points Towards A More Efficient Bus System
Transport Politic

LA Metrolink Launches New Mobile Website
Railway Track And Structures

MTA Considering More Freeway Toll Lanes To Reduce Congestion
Los Angeles Times

New Report: U.S. Interstate Bullet System Achievable By 2050
Infrastructurist
A Track Record Of Success: High-Speed Rail Around The World And Its Promise For America (53p. PDF)
U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Op-Ed: Scrutiny Will Keep MTA Finances On Correct Path
Los Angeles Business Journal

Outlook For Highway Reauthorization Unclear After Election
Trucking Info

Ports Of L.A. And Long Beach Post 18% Growth In Container Traffic: The Combined Cargo Total For October Compared With A Year Earlier Offers A Better-Than-Expected Sign Of Recovery
Los Angeles Times

Santa Monica Gears Up For The Season With New Traffic Strategies
LAist

Some Like It HOT: Metro Studying More Roads For Congestion Pricing
StreetsBlog LA

State Projects Will Drive Funding For High-Speed Rail
Washington Post

A Train To Somewhere (Three Los Angeles examples of very short rail lines - The Grove, The Getty, Angels Flight - suggest that seemingly pointless but fun point-to-point transit systems could be the best way to use transit to improve urban areas)
Gelato Baby

What Now For The West Hollywood Transit Corridor?
StreetsBlog LA

Who's Driving This Public Transit System? ("Most experts conclude that transportation infrastructure does not lend itself to complete privatization because transport systems have network effects (economies of scale and scope) and external impacts, so pure privatization without regulation or subsidy generally leads to an inefficient transport system. Some functions can be contracted out, but most experts recommend that governments maintain strategic planning, management and performance standards, and provide subsidies needed to achieve strategic objectives.")
Planetizen

11/15/2010

Expo & Real Estate, 5th & Flower Station, Gas Tax Hike Proposals, Transit And Sprawl, Taxi Safety & More

Arcadia To Vote On Updated General Plan ("City officials aim to set the stage for downtown revitalization by allowing residents to live in traditionally commercial areas around the future Gold Line station.")
Pasadena Star-News

BART Passed Over On Federal Loan For Airport Connector This Fiscal Year
StreetsBlog SF

Boosting Jobs With The Right Kind Of Housing And Transportation Efforts
New Republic

Budget Cuts Lead Cities To Bus Rapid Transit Over Rail
AltTransport

Buses, Bikes And Businesses Battle To Be King Of The Road ("San Francisco Muni...wants to establish 250 miles of transit-only lanes along roadways in The City and add 100 dedicated bike lanes. The goal is to move drivers out of their cars and also to increase the average speed of the transit system, which hovers at 8 mph now.")
San Francisco Examiner

Can We Ditch Our Cars And Embrace High-Speed Rail?
LAist

Clock Running Out On Montebello Railroad Crossing Project
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

The Community Plan Ordinance And Street-Level Planning: A Few False Alarms
CityWatch

Experts Say Sydney Could Learn From LA (''Let's look at a great example, which is Los Angeles...They have made tremendous investments in all kinds of mass transit - light rail, bus rapid transit, sometimes using the existing street grid, and they're doing some heavy
rail.")
Sydney Morning Herald

The Fifth And Flower Tumble: Loss Of Key Regional Connector Station Raises Worries In Downtown
Los Angeles Downtown News

Fuel Tax, Anyone? (an expert panel weighs in)
National Journal Transportation Blog

Is Los Angeles Ready For 30/10? (LA Neighbors United)
StreetsBlog LA

Los Angeles In Maps: What's Next?
KCET Departures

Los Angeles On $100 A Day ("Seven days and six nights without a car turned out to be not only possible but in many ways afforded me a more unfiltered view of Los Angeles than I would have gotten behind the wheel.")
New York Times

Many More Amtrak Services On Google Transit
Trillium Solutions

The Mean, Stupid And Expensive Capital Of The U.S.? Survey Says Los Angeles Is A Contender ("When it came to public transportation, pedestrian-friendliness and friendliness generally, Los Angeles ranked dead last among 35 major U.S. cities.")
Los Angeles Times
America's Favorite Cities
Travel + Leisure

NYC Transit Union Chief Seeks To Unmask Blogger ("A growing number of people are turning to courts to try to unmask their online detractors.")
Wall Street Union

Proposed Gas Tax Increase Fires Up Debate
CNN Money

The Quest For Oregon's "Next Top (Transportation) Model"
Bike Portland

SF Considers Downtown Congestion Pricing
KGO-7

State's Taxi Industry Seen As "Wild West Of Safety" ("Thousands of Californians ride in taxi cabs every day, but the industry is far less regulated than virtually every other form of public transportation.")
Desert Sun

Transit Plaza Design Unveiled
Arcadia's Best

Transit's Role In Sprawl Repair ("What if we learned from Los Angeles's path? Instead of waiting until it's really expensive, as Los Angeles did, what if we take early, gradual, inexpensive steps to make our arterials safe and attractive for transit? That doesn't mean ripping up our single-family neighborhoods, but it does mean rethinking our arterials so that they're safe and attractive places for pedestrians, and so that they provide appropriate levels of priority to transit.")
Human Transit

VISTA Fares To Climb 25 Percent
Camarillo Acorn

Want A 15-Cent Gas Tax Hike? These Groups Do
Contracting Business

Westside Real Estate Agents Talking Expo With Clients
StreetsBlog LA

11/12/2010

MTA Legal Audit, I-5 Widening, Gas Tax & The Deficit,Transit & Social Justice, L.A.'s Green School Buses, Transit Apps And Dating & More

Adding Cabbie Know-How To Online Maps: Nobody Knows How To Get Around A City Like A Taxi Driver - A New Method for Creating Online Maps Taps Into That Expertise
Technology Review

As A New Congress Sets Up Shop, Questions About The Future Of Transportation Funding
Transport Politic

Asleep At The Wheel: The Prevalance And Impact Of Drowsy Driving (16p. PDF)
AAA Foundation For Traffic Safety

California Investigates Bullet Train Agency Officials: The Inquiry Focuses On Overseas Trips Paid For By Foreign Governments Jockeying To Help Their Homeland Firms Secure State Contracts
Los Angeles Times

China's First Driverless Subway Lines Opens
Mass Transit

Could A Coal-N-Highways Dem Take Overstar's Place On Transpo Committee?
StreetsBlog DC

Derailed: Why High-Speed Trains Haven't Caught On In The U.S.
Fox Business

El Monte Takes On $22M In Debt To Advance Transit Village
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Estimated State Budget Deficit Reaches $25.4 Billion: The Economy, New Restrictions Approved By Voters, Phantom Savings In The Budget And The End Of Temporary Taxes Add To Gloomy Forecast By Legislative Analyst's Office For The Next 18 Months
Los Angeles Times

Event To Teach Bruins How To Travel L.A. Without Car
UCLA Daily Bruin

Five Social Media Transit Apps That Can Get You A Date
AltTransport

High Speed Rail Could Ask Planes And Trains To Work Together (a look at the sensibility of rail vs. flying short distances, and how JetBlue and Southwest executives differ on the comparison)
Marketplace

How Viable Is High-Speed Rail In California?
Marketplace

Litigation A Major Expense For MTA: Audit Finds Agency's Legal Costs Are Soaring, With Lax Oversight
Los Angeles Daily News

Los Angeles School Buses Getting Greener
School Transportation News

Mapnificent: How Far Can You Go In 15 Minutes? ("Mapnificent is less of a trip planner and more of a tool for figuring out larger-scale mobility. You can pick a point on a map and select a time from the point that you could use public transit, walking or biking to get there. For example, the map tells you where you could live or work within a commute of 30 minutes using public transit.")
The City Fix

Measure R Dollars At Work: Massive Widening For I-5 Near Santa Clarita
StreetsBlog LA

MTA Audit Finds Big Legal Spending With Little Oversight: The L.A. County Transit Agency's Attorneys Spent Millions On Legal Contracts Without Board Approval And Lacked Protocols To Control The Costs Of Prolonged Litigation, A Review Finds
Los Angeles Times

New Buses To Ease Overcrowding (Sunshine Shuttle Service in South Whittier)
Downey Patriot

Oil Is Going To US$300 A Barrel, Peak Oil Coming Soon
Financial Post

Our Stagnant Gas Tax Rate Is Making The Deficit Worse
StreetsBlog DC

The Playlist Does The Locomotion: Notable Train Films
Indie Wire

The Power Of The Pursestrings Shifts To A Livability Denier In The House
StreetsBlog DC

Preparing The Automobile City For High-Speed Rail ("It’s up to Roger Sherman, AIA, to find a way to make high-speed rail mass transit work in car-obsessed Los Angeles...Sherman is currently working with three sites in the Los Angeles area: Anaheim, Norwalk, and Burbank. For each, he is developing a series of scenarios that can be implemented given certain variable criteria.")
American Institute Of Architects

Reconnecting America Releases Analysis Of Federal Sustainable Community Grants: Report Details The Innovative Ideas, Common Themes And Unique Concepts Found In The Applications
Reconnecting America

Richard Branson's New High-Speed Project
Forbes

Scooter Style (In Los Angeles, "Scooters are being turned to by Downtowners not just for being stylish, but also as a functional way to move around.")
Blog Downtown

S.F. May Hit Drivers With Variety Of Tolls (which could total as much as $1,560 a year)
San Francisco Chronicle

Tensions With States Grow Over High-Speed Rail
Reuters

Think Public Transportation Isn't A Social Justice Issue? Think Again ("Public transportation speaks volumes about a society. It speaks about racism, economic injustice and the patterns of historical development as a nation -- economic, social, cultural, political, environmental -- which are embedded in a transportation system many people take for granted.")
Huffington Post

U.S. Department Of Transportation Supports Walk-Friendly Communities
The City Fix

U.S. Trade Deficit Joined At Hip To U.S. Oil Dependence
StreetsBlog Network

What Does It Take To Win A Planning Grant From The Feds?
StreetsBlog DC

With Oberstar Out, Who Will Be Top Dem On Transportation Committee?
Infrastructurist

11/10/2010

West Hollywood Subway, BUR-Metro Shuttle, I-5 Widening, Port Job Dangers, Japan's Fastest HSR & More

Are Dense WeHo Developments A Problem Without Subway?
WeHo Daily

California High Speed Rail To Break Ground In Central Valley In 2011
PR-USA

Changing Vehicle Travel Price Sensitivities: The Rebounding Rebound Effect (17p. PDF)
Victoria Transport Policy Institute

Clipper Card Has Some Worried About Privacy Issues (Public transportation not covered by state law protecting privacy)
San Francisco Examiner

D.C. Metro To Invest In Security Protection Against Improvised Explosive Devices
Metro Magazine

The Easier, Safer Rides Of The Future ("The Department of Transportation is funding research to build "intelligent" cars that can warn you of potential accidents and suggest less-congested
routes.")
Marketplace

Feds Award OCTA $38M For Positive Train Control
Metro Magazine

Fiscal Concerns Eased By Riding Public Transportation: Riding Public Transportation Can Save Individuals Up To $9,515 Annually
APTA Press Release

Help Us Set The April 2011 CicLAvia Date
CicLAvia

Input From Pasadena Community Sought For New Land-Use And Mobility Plans
Pasadena Star-News

Japan Kicks Off World's Fastest High-Speed Rail Project, While Our Politicians Do Nothing
AltTransport

Judge Limits [D.C.] Metro Liability In Fatal Crash
Washington Post

LaHood To States: Proceed With Rail Projects Or Give Up Stimulus Funds
CNN

LA Neighbors United Asks Feds To Halt Transit Assistance For City Of Los Angeles
PR Newswire

[D.C.] Metro's Talking Buses Now Advising You On Traffic Safety
(“Pedestrian, this bus is turning! Pedestrian, this bus is turning!”)
TBD

NASA's Aviation Reporting System Improves Railroad Safety
NASA

New Free Shuttle Between Bob Hope Airport And North Hollywood Metro Station
Los Angeles Times
Press Release (2p. PDF)

New York's City Hall Subway Station (slideshow : New York's famous City Hall subway station has been closed for decades but can now be viewed again by in-the-know riders of the 6 train)
Yahoo

No Wage Increase For Bus Mechanics
Orange County Register

Obama Says U.S. Gridlock Hurts Trade Posture
Journal Of Commerce

Oberstar Legacy Will Outlive 36-Year Term
Mass Transit

On The Waterfront: Port-Related Jobs Are High On Danger List ("Six of America's 10 most dangerous occupations include industries employing some 25,000 people working regularly in the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.")
Long Beach Press-Telegram

Opinion: Clueless On Failed Subway
WeHo News

Rapid Bus Transit A Cheaper Alternative To Rail
Marketplace

Rahall To Seek Top Dem Spot On Transportation Panel
The Hill

San Francisco Passes First Open Data Law
Fast Company

State Plans I-5 Widening: Improvement To Add Lanes Throughout the SCV Will Cost About $500M
San Clarita Valley Signal

Statistical Methods And Visualization (links to 11 papers that explore modeling injury severity of multiple occupants of vehicles; methods to estimate crash counts by collision type; spatial correlation in multilevel crash frequency models; predicting rear-end crashes at unsignalized intersections; using incident management data to identify hot spots; and regression to the mean in before-and-after speed data analysis)
Transportation Research Record

Subways Threaten LA's Residential Character
CityWatch

They're Watching: More Oversight Of Expo Project Coming
Curbed LA

Transportation: A Moving Target Of Opportunity: Robust Technologies In Transit, Airports, Rails, Highways And Other Infrastructures Signal Jobs For System Integrators
Security Info Watch

Union Pacific Rallies Railroad Fans To Vote Early And Often To Bring Legendary Steam Locomotive To Their Towns
MarketWatch

West Hollywood City Council's Big Dreams Of Subway-Oriented Development Goes Down In Flames, Traffic Destined To Be A Nightmare
LA Weekly

What Questions To Ask If/When AEG Announces Their Plan For Downtown Stadium
StreetsBlog LA

11/09/2010

Congestion Pricing, New & Notable, OCTA Agreement, Expo Oversight, Driverless Cars, Aging Drivers, Roundabouts & More

Amtrak Ridership Up: Credit "Have iPhone, Will Travel" Crowd

Chicago Sun-Times

Are We Ready For Driverless Cars?

Infrastructurist

As Boomers Age, 1 In 5 Drivers Will Be Oldsters

Associated Press

Blueprint 2010-11: Doing More With Less (4p. PDF : Eight strategic changes for the City of Los Angeles)

Los Angeles Department Of City Planning

"Congestion Pricing" Could Be The Future Of Transportation Financing

Marketplace

Eyes On The Street: Give Me 3 Starts To Go Down

StreetsBlog LA

Estranged Bedfellows: Trains And Conservatism

StreetsBlog Network

Have Your Say: What Should Be Our Nation's Top Transportation Priorities?

AltTransport

Los Angeles Has Safest "Big City Neighborhood" In America

Huffington Post

New Congress To Revisit Obama Transport Priorities ("TIGER grants have been oversubscribed and state capitals want them extended, but there is no commitment from Congress to do that...Mica also said he hopes to craft a six-year transportation spending blueprint by spring, relying less on new federal outlays and featuring plans to attract private investment for road, rail, waterway and other infrastructure improvements.")

Reuters

New & Notable: America's Failing Infrastructure, "Climatopolis," & Why Do Shepherds Need A Bush?

Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Obama Still Believes In A Bipartisan Push For Infrastructure. Do You?

StreetsBlog DC

OCTA Comes To Agreement With Maintenance, Service Workers

Southern California Public Radio

A Realistic Technology And Engineering Assessment Of Algae Biofuel

Production (178p. PDF)

UC Berkeley Energy Biosciences Institute

Road Safety, Speed Limit Increases On Schitzophrenic T-Committee Agenda

StreetsBlog LA