710, Regional Connector, Transit Funding, ATU/MTA, OmniTrans, USDOT Definition of Congestion and more...

Acela defies California's bullet-train naysayers
Los Angeles Times

Audit: Caltrans blew millions mismanaging 710 properties - Says the agency over-spent and under-earned on 710-gap properties
Pasadena Sun

BART vendor pushed to boost job numbers to meet stimulus promises
Sacramento Bee

Bikers, Walkers Need Cities to Protect Them - Without laws protecting bikers and walkers, the goal of having truly livable cities in America remains out of reach

Governing

DTLA utilities to be removed, relocated to make way for Regional Connector
BlogDowntown

East L.A. Sounds Off At 710 Freeway Hearing - There are six expansion alternatives under review, but some are pushing to add a seventh.
Eastside Sun

Everything You Wanted to Know About Transit Funds (But Were Afraid to Ask)
DC StreetsBlog

Expo Line is Finally Open!!!

USC Undergraduate Admissions Blog

Google Maps now has transport schedules to more than 1 million bus, train, subway, and tram stops. It also has a revamped Android app.
CNET

High Occupancy Vehicle Lane Management System: Amendment A (.pdf)

Transportation Research Board

L.A. Metro, ATU reach labor agreement

Metro Magazine

Less parking for a better L.A.? The City Council is considering an ordinance that would ease requirements on the number of spaces developers must include. Would it work, or just mean chaos?
Los Angeles Times

Libertarian think tank opposes government loan for Victorville-to-Las Vegas rail

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Long Beach To Seal Beach Bus Routes End Soon - racially tinged feud between the two cities prompts Long Beach Transit to yank its Passport bus service to Seal Beach. Some Long Beach officials say it's a cost-cutting measure
Los Alamitos/Seal Beach Patch

Major Construction on 710, 405 Could Affect Long Beach Commuters
Long Beach Post

Metro Giving The Tar Pits the A Shaft
LAist

North San Bernardino to Loma Linda express bus line construction continues

Redlands Daily Facts

Omnitrans shows its new buses
Highland News

Popular Car-Free Event, CicLAvia, Eyes Santa Monica - Organizers of the big bash that closes miles of streets in the city of Los Angeles are planning Westside expansion
Santa Monica Patch

Road to nowhere - Pasadena council and crowd tear into Metro at tense council meeting on 710

Pasadena Weekly

Slideshow and Factsheet: Changes to Biking and Walking in MAP-21
America Bikes

There’s a Lot Riding on U.S. DOT’s Definition of “Congestion”

D.C. StreetsBlog

Urban Exploration: Inside The 7th Street Bridge
Blogging Los Angeles

WANNA SCRUB DOWN LA'S SUBWAY TUNNELS?  If you're willing to climb underneath the Red and Purple lines and scrub down 36 miles of tunnels, Metro's got a job for you. 

LA Curbed

Wi-Fi on Buses and Trains: Better Service Ahead

PC World

Yaroslavsky Applauds Westside Subway Progress - Metro has received environmental clearance to pursue federal funds to help pay for the extension of the Purple Line subway

Beverly Hills Patch

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.

Ports, Cargo, MAP-21, Subways, 710, Creative Financing and more...

August 16: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (Transit operators get a dress code change in 1920)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Analysis: Picking Ryan Means Picking Fight on Transportation
TransportationNation

Caltrans Signs to Start Warning of Carmageddon II
SCV News

Cargo Traffic Up at L.A. Port, But Down Again at Long Beach
Los Angeles Business Journal

Fed OK gets subway moving
Zev's Blog

FTA Adds MAP-21 Program Fact Sheets
Federal Transit Administration

FRA Recommends Congress Extend Positive Train Control Deadline
Journal of Commerce

Golden State high-speed rail is smart
Washington Post

Industry, County Planning Valley Boulevard Fixes: The $5.5 million project involves resurfacing and reconstructing Valley from the 605 freeway to Turnbull Canyon Road
Walnut Patch

L.A.'s First Freeways
KCET SoCal Focus

Los Angeles Is The Third Coolest City In America, Says Forbes
LAist

Metro's About to Build Huge Exploratory Shaft Near the Tar Pits
Curbed LA

Metro board chairman would oppose San Rafael routes
Pasadena Star News

Metro Silver Line expands weekend bus service
Press Telegram

Metro tunnels are one of the safest places during an earthquake, officials say
BlogDowntown

NBC Universal EIR Hearing

L.A. Streetsblog

OC Fair Express Smashes Ridership Record: More than 46,000 fairgoers jumped on board the buses this summer, nearly half were first-time riders, says OCTA

Laguna Niguel Patch

Pasadena City Council opposes three new freeway proposals: More than 550 people in the audience cheer members on at a meeting with regional transportation officials

Los Angeles Times

Pasadena neighborhood enters 710 battle *Updated
Alhambra Source

Port of Hueneme Cargo Numbers Reach Milestone
Ventura County Star

Port of Long Beach in 75% Emissions Reduction
Ship & Bunker

Port of Los Angeles Adopts International Clean Ship Standard
Triple Pundit

Proposed bike safety bill requires drivers to 'give 3' when passing cyclists
BlogDowntown

Romney vows to end Amtrak funding
The Hill

Somehow We're Walking More and Walking Less At the Same Time
The Atlantic Cities
Link to CDC Report

Spanish Construction Rivals Battle on New York Turf (Subway Construction)
New York Times

Syncing Traffic Lights No Sure-Fire Way to Reduce Emissions
L.A. Streetsblog

With cities and suburbs clamoring to build new transit systems, a new book showcases creative financing approaches for getting them built
Transportation for America

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.

710, Brazil's Transport Investments, Reduced Parking Requirements, Streetcars, Freight, and more...

August 15: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (Division 9 is born)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

710 Freeway traffic figures doubted
Glendale News Press

Advice for Passing a Massive Infrastructure Referendum
The Atlantic: Cities

Airline cites ONT's prohibitive costs for not moving flights there
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Brazil: $69B in transport investments by 2014
CBS News

Getting America’s Freight Back on the Move: A Plan for Investing in Our Freight Infrastructure
Center for American Progress

High-speed rail forum brings together contractors, small businesses
Fresno Bee

How Paul Ryan’s Budget Would Further Undermine America’s Crumbling Infrastructure
Think Progress

LA Cars Are Burning Cleaner: Some Pollutants Down 98 Percent
CurbedLA

L.A. officials move to reduce parking requirements in parts of the city
Los Angeles Times

LA's Got Lines! (music video on Metro rail and fixed guideway system)
YouTube

Longtime Valley activist Ruth Richter, who owned motorcycle shop in Winnetka, dies at 89 
Daily News
(former SCRTD Board Member, pictured here at the MetroRail groundbreaking.  Read more on page 2 of this June 1976 edition of Headway Newsmagazine, Ruth Ricther: A Lady in Transportation)

Muni’s all-door boarding reduces dwell time
he Transit Wire

Opportunity to share opinions on railway to Redlands extended
San Bernardino Sun

Residents show disdain for 710 plans on social media sites
Pasadena Sun

Riverside Transit: Bus system wants to shrink reliance on Dial-A-Ride
Press Enterprise

Sin City Express: Loan might make dream of high-speed train to Las Vegas a reality
Whittier Daily News

Streetcar Plans Plow Ahead: Cities Use Federal Funding to Back New Routes but Some Call Projects a Waste
Wall Street Journal

Union Pacific to Test 25 Cleaner Experimental Locomotives in California
Tree Hugger

Updated: Pasadena City Council unanimously votes to oppose 710 extension routes
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

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.

L.A. Emissions, Ryan & Transpo, iPhone Transit, Potholes, Parking Meters & More

Analysis: Picking Ryan Means Picking A Fight On Transportation
Transportation Nation

As The U.S. Presidential Election Begins In Earnest, A Study In Contrasts ("With Mitt Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan as presumptive Republican nominee for Vice President, the GOP is taking a clear stand on where it wants to take government. The effects on national transportation policy could be tremendous.")
The Transport Politic

Calif. Bill Bars Agencies From Cellphone Jamming ("Officials with the Bay Area Rapid Transit system came under fire last year when the agency cut subterranean cellphone and wireless data service in San Francisco subway stations to disrupt a planned protest. The move sparked even larger protests and had critics around the country comparing the agency to a Middle Eastern dictatorship.")

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/09/4710575/bill-would-bar-cellphone-jamming.html#storylink=cpy"

Sacramento Bee

Car Emissions In Los Angeles Are Down 98% From 1960s Levels
GOOD

Community Leaders Celebrate As Harbor Area Parking Meter Removal Begins
Daily Breeze

Editorial: Putting Potholes In Their Place
Los Angeles Times

Federal Transit Administration Issues "Record Of Decision" On Los Angeles Subway Extension
Progressive Railroading

Hundreds Of Parking Meters To Be Removed In San Pedro, Wilmington
Los Angeles Times

LA's Got Lines! (video : Awesome depiction of the current and future transit system in Los Angeles)
Move LA via YouTube

Lessons Learned: Organizing Bus Riders In Portland, OR
Americans For Transit

Making Or Breaking A Town's Appeal To Bicyclists & Pedestrians
Planners Web

New Law Puts "Bridge To Nowhere" Back On Track ("With this new transportation bill, lobbyists and transit advocates say the Obama administration ceded much of its control over the rapidly expanding credit loan program—officially known as TIFIA or the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act—that has become central for restoring the country’s stressed network of roads, rails and bridges.")
Fiscal Times

The Olympic Legacy...First Hand ("As the Games came to a close this past weekend we need to ask, how does London ensure that its Olympic site will be a catalyst for regeneration and sustainably revive an entire part of the city?")
Congress For The New Urbanism

The Once And Future Dream Of New York (Building the 2nd Avenue Subway)
New York Times

OpenPlans Wants To Put Transit Back On The iPhone
The Transit Wire

Opinion: Cracking Down On Diesel ("California can, and should, lead the world in ending the menace of soot and black carbon pollution from diesel engines.")
Los Angeles Times

Pasadena Angry Over New 710 Freeway Proposal ("Signs stating “No 710 on Ave. 64” and“Freeway extension? No way” are springing up in Pasadena's San Rafael neighborhood, a place where few anticipated the battle over the extension of the 710 Freeway would flare.")
Los Angeles Times

Parking Tool Of The Day: The Digital Driveway Network
The Atlantic: Cities

Using Uber Ridership Data To Compare Cities And Neighborhoods
The Atlantic: Cities

What Makes Some Train Station Waits Better Than Others?
The Atlantic: Cities

Where The Bike Commuters Are, Mapped & Analyzed
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog


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.

Westside Subway, 710, Bike Share, XpressWest, Omnitrans, Caltrans, Olympic Transit & More

Bikers, Walkers Need Cities To Protect Them ("Without laws protecting bikers and walkers, the goal of having truly livable cities in America remains out of reach.")
Governing

Calif.'s Omnitrans Launches Rebranding
Metro Magazine

City's Bike Sharing Program Delayed Until Next Year ("Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to make Chicago the nation’s most bike-friendly city has hit a pothole: a bike sharing program that was supposed to offer 3,000 bikes for rental this summer at 300 stations has been put off until next spring.")
Chicago Sun-Times

Dodgers Hire Ex-Pershing Square Planner For Chavez Ravine
Curbed LA

Edge Is Lost In Commuter Platform Race ("For a few months, a select group of NJ Transit commuters shared a secret edge over their rush-hour rivals: early insight into unpredictable track assignments at Penn Station. But that crucial advantage evaporated last week when the railroad blocked a data feed used to decode track assignments.")
Wall Street Journal

For Bike Advocates, Delayed Gratification (Spotlights New York-based Transportation Alternatives, the 40-year-old pedestrian, bicycle, and transit advocacy organization that has become a potent political force)
New York Times

Free Connections To The OC Fair ("If you’re going to the Orange County Fair this year, take Metrolink to the Anaheim Canyon, Santa Ana or Irvine Metrolink Station. Then show your Metrolink ticket and hop aboard one of OCTA’s OC Fair Express buses. You’ll ride FREE directly to the yellow gate at the OC Fair.")
Metrolink

FTA Green Lights LACMTA's Westside Subway Extension Project
RT&S

Getting Union Station Ready For High-Speed Rail ("Of all the changes that will be initiated by the California high speed rail project, perhaps the most significant will come at Los Angeles Union Station.")
California High Speed Rail Blog

Google's Growing Web Of Street Traffic Surveillance
The Atlantic: Cities

Guidebook For Evaluating Fuel Purchasing Strategies For Public Transit Agencies (136p. PDF : "This guidebook describes and evaluates different fuel purchasing strategies available to transit agencies and outlines the steps that an agency needs to follow to implement an effective risk management program.")
Transit Cooperative Research Program

Long Beach Hears About, Comments On 710 Corridor Expansion Plans
Gazettes

Long Beach Seeks To Charge Seal Beach For Buses
Orange County Register

Mind The Gap (And The Gold Medal) ("The surprise hit of the London Games? Apparently, it is public transportation." Athletes from around the world are taking "the Tube" and buses at the Olympics, and openly wearing their medals to the delight of locals and visitors. Even the entire U.S. Men's Basketball Team is getting in on the act)New Yorker

More Detailed Environmental Study Delays Rail Project ("A request from the federal government for a more detailed study of a proposed light rail line from San Bernardino to Redlands will delay the project — and some public meetings that had been planned for next week.")
Riverside Press-Enterprise

Multi-Modal Summer Reading
StreetsBlog DC

New Routes, New Opponents To 710 Freeway Plan ("One alternative would push highway through the San Rafael district.")
Pasadena Sun

NFL Team In Pasadena Would Boost Noise, Traffic And Air Pollution
Los Angeles Times

Olympic Legends Subway Map (What does the London Tube map look like when stations are named after the Games' greatest?)
Transport for London

On Transport, Romney-Ryan Ticket Presents Extreme Contrast To Obama
StreetsBlog DC

OpenTripPlanner Redefines Public Transit Navigation
Smart Planner

Opinion: Changing Lanes On The Pasadena Freeway
Pasadena Star-News

Opportunity To Share Opinions On Railway To Redlands Extended
Redlands Daily Facts

Pasadena City Council Supports Caltrans Home Bill
La Cañada Valley Sun

Proposed San Pedro Plan Focuses On Downtown, Attractiveness
Curbed LA

Rosecrans Avenue Upgrade First Of Many South Bay Transportation Improvements In The Pipeline
Daily Breeze

Stay Local, L.A. (Carmegeddon II is an opportunity to explore Los Angeles with a car)
Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor, Third District

Unbelievable Latin Food Tour via The Gold Line Metro
Wine Chix

Westside Purple Line Extension Gets FTA Approval
KABC Los Angeles

Westside Subway Extension's Next Step Achieved
KFWB

Westside Subway Gets Federal Permission To Seek Funding
Westwood-Century City Patch

Westside Subway Project Gets Key Federal Backing ("The action by the Federal Transit Administration allows the county's Metropolitan Transportation Authority to seek federal funding for design and construction of the subway project, which is expected to cost $5.6 billion.")
Los Angeles Times

XpressWest: A $6.9B Bullet Train From Victorville To Vegas ("The idea is ambitious enough, but Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich literally wants to take it farther. He is envisioning a 50-mile connection from Palmdale to Victorville via a high-speed train that could be run by Metrolink, XpressWest or other providers, that would link up with existing rail lines throughout Southern California.")
San Bernardino Sun


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.

710, LA & Olympics, Freeway Expansion, Arroyo Seco, Amtrak, Parking Lots & More

28 Years Ago This Week: The World Returns For Los Angeles' Gold Medal Performance In Olympic Traffic Relief (A comprehensive look back at how Los Angeles successfully moved countless Olympics spectators through venues stretching 130 miles across one of the largest metropolitan regions in the world for 16 days with no rail system)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

$1 Gas Tax? One Auto Dealer Says, "Yes, Please"
National Journal

10 Transportation Apps To Keep You Moving
Mashable

Building A Mega-Freeway In L.A.: What's The Cost?
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Calif. Bill Bars Agencies From Cellphone Jamming ("A year after San Francisco's transit agency touched off a global free speech debate by jamming cellphones to block a protest, lawmakers are taking steps to pre-empt a similar scandal.")

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/09/4710575/bill-would-bar-cellphone-jamming.html#storylink=cpy

Sacramento Bee

Caltrans Proposes Truckway Next To Widened 710 Freeway; Homes, Businesses To Be Destroyed
The Lead Type

City Can't Figure Out How Many Parking Lots It Has
LA Observed

Freeway Buckles Along 5 Freeway In Downey (video : "Caltrans engineers on Thursday worked to determine whether the excessive heat was behind a major traffic tie-up on the 5 Freeway.")
CBS Los Angeles

Front-Runner To Build SF Subway Station Has History Of Cost Overruns ("Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority lawyers and San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera previously have sought to ban Tutor from bidding on new jobs.")
NBC Bay Area

Goodbye Pasadena Freeway: Hello Arroyo Seco "Streetway'
EGP News

Gridlock On Avenue 64: West Pasadena And Highland Park Residents Call For A Halt To Plans For 710 Freeway Extension
Pasadena Weekly

Highway Expansions Are Only A Short-Term Solution: Expert
Transportation Nation

How Amtrak's Government Affairs Officers Have Built -- And Need To Continue Building -- Better Congressional Relationships
Progressive Railroading

Issues Involving Surety For Public Transportation Projects (109p. PDF)
Transit Cooperative Research Program Legal Research Digest

L.A. Controller Wendy Gruel Renews Complaints About City's Failure To Monitor, Collect Parking-Lot Taxes
Los Angeles Daily News

Making City Biking Less Scary ("Much of the problem has to do with typical transportation planning in the U.S., where streets are designed primarily as pathways for cars to move across as quickly as possible.")
The Atlantic: Cities

More Time To Respond To 10,000 Page 710 Freeway Report
EGP News

Plan Your Next Bike Trip With BikePlanner.org
Greater Greater Washington
BikePlanner.org -- A New Community-Based Trip Routing Tool
Mobility Lab

Proposed Highway Stirs Up Highland Park
EGP News

Public Transit Between Seal Beach And Long Beach To Change On August 26
OC Breeze

A Tug-Of-War Between Bus And Rail In A Brazilian World Cup City
The Atlantic: Cities

White House Honors Champions Of Change For Unwavering Commitment To Transportation Innovation
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog


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.

Expo Lawsuit, Union Station, Beverly Hills Subway, WeHo Maglev, Measure R+, 710 Fwy, MAP-21 & More

August 9: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (The Southern California Regional Rail Authority, parent agency of Metrolink, is formed)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

California Geological Survey Says BHUSD Report Does Not Adequately Assess Potential Seismic Issues At Beverly High (p. 4)
Beverly Hills Weekly

Congress' $20 Billion Tech Mandate: Make Trains Safer
Information Week

Derision Grows For Caltrans 710 Study That Argues For Massive Road Widening For Cleaner Air
StreetsBlog LA

Documenting And Preserving L.A.'s Olympic History
LA as Subject via KCET

Editorial: California Voters Face A Very Taxing Ballot Election Day -- With At Least 3 Initiatives
Los Angeles Daily News

Heathrow's Pod System Could Be Rolled Out To Other Airports
Airport World

Maglev Tube Transit Company Wants To Build Pilot In WeHo
Curbed LA

Metro Sorcerers Cast Spells Over 710 Expansion
Flying Pigeon LA

Monster Pothole In 405 Construction Zone Flattens Hella Tires, Backs Up Traffic For Miles
LA Weekly

Navigating MAP-21: How Much Money Will My State Get?
League Of American Cyclists

Olympic Cities: London Rethinks Its Iconic Underground Signage
This Big City

Opinion: A Golden State Train Wreck (George F. Will)
Washington Post

Our View: Westside Pols Game The East ("We are not against a major concentration on Downtown Los Angeles as a hub for rail transit, or against the Subway to the Sea. We are against L.A. city officials eating our metaphorical lunch, one we've paid for, by continuing to nickel-and- dime the Gold Line extension and Alameda Corridor transit issues important to our region.")
Pasadena Star-News

Pasadena Residents Express Strong Opposition To 710 Plan
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Supremes Will Hear Case In Neighbors For Smart Rail vs. Expo Construction Authority
StreetsBlog LA

Torrance Signs Off On Design For New $21M Transit Center
Daily Breeze

Voter ID Laws Marginalize People Without A Car
StreetsBlog DC

What Will LA Metro's Future Union Station Look Like? (How will the station's emerging master plan accommodate high-speed rail and development? Martha Welborne, Executive Director for Countywide Planning at Metro, discusses)
KPCC Southern California Public Radio

What's Up With Wayfinding?
LADOT Bike Blog

Worry At Both Ends Of Long Beach Freeway ("From Pasadena to the ports, residents are worried about plans to expand and extend the Long Beach Freeway.")
NBC Los Angeles


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.