Metro Library and Archive Transportation Headlines

Expo Line, Metro Construction Jobs, LA Airports, Transportation Bill, HSR, Bike Share & More

2012-01-27T08:07:00.001-08:00

January 27: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (Metro's Gold Line Eastside Extension testing brings rail back to the area for the first time in 46 years and completes 3.7 million construction working hours without a single lost-time injury)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

3 Of 10 Procedural Hurdles To Enacting Transportation Bill May Be Cleared In Coming Week
Transportation Issues Daily

Agreement Requires Metro Construction Jobs Go To Low-Income And Disadvantaged Workers
LAist

Airports Fight It Out In Los Angeles ("Since LAWA only benefits from rents, and not from sales taxes, it isn’t as motivated to strike a deal on rents as Ontario would be.")
Bond Buyer

Almost Open: Expo Line To Start Pre-Revenue Testing Monday
LAist

Big Metro Projects Will Offer Jobs To Disadvantaged Workers
Los Angeles Times

Bold Vision For The Future Of Sustainable Transport
The City Fix

Compton's Martin Luther King Jr. Transit Center Reopens ("A joint project of the city and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.")
Los Angeles Times

Editorial: Does California Need High-Speed Rail?: The Right Idea In The Wrong Place
New York Times

Fullerton Picked For Test Bike-Sharing Program
Orange County Register

Gold Line Authority Lobbies To Secure Funding For Project Shortfall ("With stalled progress on transportation funding at the federal level, the GLCA continues its quest to secure the remaining $600 million for the Gold Line extension.")
Monrovia Patch

Growing Commerce In The South L.A.'s Black Hub ("I’m not only hopeful, but confident that this is going to be a major destination for the City of L.A.,” he said. “We have the light rail traversing across the community with the Expo and the Crenshaw/LAX lines. That will bring a lot of transit-oriented development.")
Los Angeles Wave

House Bill Threatens To Eliminate Bicycle And Pedestrian Funding
League Of American Bicyclists

LAFCO Defers Action On East Los Angeles' Cityhood
EGP News

LaHood: Politics Means No Surface Transportation Bill This Year
Transportation Nation

Los Angeles Councilmen Offer Motion To Determine Way To Sell ONT To City Of Ontario
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Love In A Subway Car ("Just in time for Valentine's Day, the Philadelphia transit agency is asking couples who met on board to share their stories.")
The Atlantic: Cities

Mayor's New CicLAvia Video Pushes Business Benefits Of L.A.
StreetsBlog LA

Metro Art Tours
365 Los Angeles

Metro Begins Pre-Revenue Operations On Expo Line Next Week
StreetsBlog LA

Metro Board Unanimously Passes "Construction Careers Policy"
StreetsBlog LA

Metrolink Overhauls Website With More Information For Riders
Los Angeles Times
Creative Productions Develops New Robust Metrolink Website ("New user-friendly design, and enhanced functionality helps regular commuters, and those new to riding the train, plan trips and customize favorite routes within seconds.")
MarketWatch

Metro's Expo Line To The Westside Enters Its Final Testing Phase
Southern California Public Radio

"No Train Please Act": Petition To Repeal California High-Speed Rail Approved
Huffington Post

NYPD Subway Police Now On The Same Channel As Precinct Police Upstairs
New York Daily News

Senator Boxer: 1000 Groups Urging Us To Pass Transportation Bill Now
Transportation Issues Daily

Should The Feds Fund City Transpo Projects? Blumenauer And Shuster Discuss ("If the Transportation Research Board annual meeting were a music festival, the headline act would have been yesterday’s panel of six secretaries of transportation, including Ray LaHood (the incumbent) and Alan Boyd (the first to ever hold the post).")
StreetsBlog DC

Transportation Bill Heats Up Again In Congress
StreetsBlog DC

Transportation Lobby Asks: How Do We Get Funded? ("Former House Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar and WaPo columnist George Will...discuss how the transportation industry can convince a spendthrift Congress to open the checkbook for infrastructure spending.")
National Journal

Wrapping Up TRB In Ten Tweets
The Transit Wire

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.

Metro Construction Jobs, L.A. Street Engineering, LA Street Grid History, Long Beach Bikes, LA/2B, CAHSR & More

2012-01-26T08:54:00.001-08:00

The 10 Coolest Airport Public Transportation Routes
USA Today

2012: The Year Of Transportation Infrastructure
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

4,114 Stoplights In Los Angeles And The Intricate Network That Keeps Traffic Moving ("Yu is a soft-spoken engineer with great power: He sets the timing for all of L.A.’s stoplights. His department has to take it all in: bikes, trains, big events and, of course, lots and lots of cars. Los Angeles has one of the nation’s worst reputations for automobile congestion, but that’s a simplistic way of looking at things. Its freeways are still the most congested in the nation, but L.A. has 36 times as many miles of surface streets as it does freeways.")
Forbes

Asthma Caused By Air Pollution Costs Long Beach And Riverside $18 Million A Year
Southern California Public Radio

Bike Lessons From Long Beach (video : "Over the past five years, Long Beach has been accelerating its bicycle amenities in innovative ways.")
Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor, Third District

Blogging From TRB: Transportation And Air Quality
The City Fix

Building Your Brand Tweet By Tweet
Talking Transportation

Bus Agency Reports Record Number Of Riders ("Western Riverside County buses did booming business in late 2011, breaking previous ridership records.")
Riverside Press-Enterprise

Chamber Of Commerce Mobilizes Behind Highway Bill
The Hill

City Of Ontario Bids $50M To Take Back Struggling Airport
CBS Los Angeles

Creating "The Most Bicycle Friendly City In America"...In Southern California (" In just a few years, [Long Beach] has allocated more than $20 million for bike-related projects, adding new bike routes to city streets, building protected bike lanes, painting shared lanes, and installing the signage, signaling and parking that restate non-verbally the city’s new motto, now prominently displayed on a wall outside City Hall: “Long Beach, the most bicycle friendly city in America.")
The Atlantic: Cities

Editorial: Engineering A Jobs Program: Putting People From Low-Income Neighborhoods To Work On L.A. Transit Projects Is Worth A Try
Los Angeles Times

Flagging Westwood-To-LAX Shuttle Hangs On As Ridership Study Resumes
Los Angeles Daily News

Frequency And Real-Time Info Help Transit Riders Most
Greater Greater Washington

Funds OK'd For High Desert Corridor Passenger Rail Planning
ENR California

House On The Verge Of Releasing A Transportation Bill Tied To Increased Oil Drilling
Transportation For America

House Republicans To Introduce "At Least" Five-Year Transport Bill
Journal Of Commerce

House To Introduce Five-Year, $260 Billion Highway Bill
The Hill

In Kazakhstan, A Beautiful, Futuristic New Subway System (includes some must-see photos)
The Atlantic: Cities

LA/2B Townhalls -- Participate In The Mobility Element Update
LADOT Bike Blog

L.A. County Takes Step To Promote Exercise, Reduce Obesity ("Supervisors approve an ordinance requiring new developments in unincorporated areas to have bicycle parking and wider sidewalks, and to make it easier to start community gardens.")
Los Angeles Times

LaHood: Still Our Goal To Connect 80 Percent Of Americans To High-Speed Rail By 2036
Transportation Nation

New Urbanists Release Principles For Sustainable Street Networks
StreetsBlog DC
Sustainable Street Network Principles (32p. PDF)
Congress For New Urbanism Project For Transportation Reform

Public Transit Association Applauds State Of The Union Despite Rail Snub
The Hill

Signature Gathering Can Begin On Initiative To Repeal High-Speed Rail Project
San Francisco Examiner

Tomorrow's Metro Board Agenda: Construction Jobs, 710, Bikes, Bikes, Bikes
StreetsBlog LA

Torrance Opts To Consider Cuts, Fare Hikes Rather Than Leaving MAX
Daily Breeze

Train Wars: A Documentary Film About America's Culture War And High Speed Rail In California
Train Wars

The Unlikely Green Alternative To The Keystone Pipeline? Railroads
TIME

Video Summary Reports Catch On: TxDOT Shares Best Practices And Research Results On YouTube
Texas Transportation Institute

Why Jerry Brown Is Standing Firm On Shaky California High-Speed Rail Plan ("Another report critical of California's $100-billion high-speed rail project – the second this month – has not shaken Gov. Jerry Brown's faith in the plan. He has his eyes on his legacy, some say.")
Christian Science Monitor

Why L.A. Has Clashing Street Grids ("Several distinct political and cultural regimes have passed through Southern California, and each has left its distinct mark on the landscape. The result—clashing street grids, along with errant boulevards defying the grids' attempts at order—is a palimpsest of past cultural influences on the Los Angeles cityscape.")
LA as Subject via KCET

Will Congress Block Infrastructure Spending? President Obama's Defeat Is More Important Than Job Creation
Center For American Progress

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.

Metro Construction Jobs, SOTU & Transportation, Twitter & Transit, ONT, Redevelopment, LA Inspires Toronto & More

2012-01-25T08:38:00.001-08:00

January 25: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (Expanded transit for East Los Angeles)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

5 Big Proposed Changes In The New House Transportation Bill Proposal
Transportation Issues Daily

Boston Launches App Challenge To Link Transit And Bike Share
Transportation Nation

Building La-La Land: Fascinating Pictures Trace Life In Los Angeles From Rural Outpost To Bastion Of American Fame And Fortune
Daily Mail (U.K.)

California Sues San Diego Over Emissions
Forbes

Check Out Ocean Park's New Look, Under Construction Now (Includes "a cornucopia of complete streets design features: 100 new trees, new crosswalks with overhead flashers, a stormwater collection system, 75 pedestrian-scaled light poles, wider sidewalks, painted bike lanes, bike racks, street furniture, and trash and recycling cans.")
Curbed LA

City, County, State Play Hot Potato With Los Angeles RDA
California Planning & Development Report

Congestion In America: A Growing Challenge To U.S. Energy Security (48p. PDF)
Securing America's Future Energy

The Economist And The Redundancy "Fallacy"
Human Transit

Editorial: Keeping Trains Safe -- Train Operators Wary Of Cost, Tight Deadlines
Los Angeles Daily News

FedEx CEO Frederick W. Smith Calls For Transportation Policy That Rewards Fuel Efficiency
Commercial Appeal

Federal Transportation Bill Moving In House
Transportation Issues Daily

Fighting Over Labor ("Did Democratic leaders do the right thing in granting unionization changes in order to jump-start an otherwise popular and noncontroversial transportation bill? Did Republicans do the right thing raising the union issue, knowing that the FAA bill would be the only place they would get any traction? Does this deal set a precedent for labor negotiations in future transportation bills? When is it appropriate to address union rules in transportation policy?")
National Journal Transportation Experts Blog

Find Hotels By Travel Time
Google Inside Search

For Long Beach And Los Angeles, What A Difference A Few Years Makes
StreetsBlog LA

Has Congestion Pricing Lost Its Buzz?
This Big City

Hollywood Bowl Park-And-Ride Bus And Shuttle Tickets To See Price Increase
CBS Los Angeles

How Los Angeles Found Religion On Transit: A Lesson For Toronto? ("The story of LA’s dramatic conversion puts us to shame...In just three years, LA laid the political groundwork, hashed out the plans, began collecting the revenue, established accountability mechanisms, and commenced construction. As it happens, some of the earliest projects have involved road/overpass repairs, which just strikes me as incredibly savvy staging.")
Spacing Toronto
A New Toronto Transit Proposal Delivers More Bang For The $8.2 Billion Buck
Toronto Star

"I Hate The Blue Line" And Other Things Transit Systems Can Learn From Twitter
The Atlantic: Cities

Infographic Of The Day: Could Twitter Help Us Create Smarter Transit Routes?
Fast Company Design

Infrastructure: It's Time For Congress To Act
National Journal

Is Nothing A Politically Acceptable Way To Pay For Transportation?
StreetsBlog DC

L.A. Council Members Want To Study Ontario's Airport Proposal
Los Angeles Times

Maglev Gone, But High-Speed Rail Remains ("The idea of a magnetic levitation train didn’t stick around for long in regional transportation plans developed by the Southern California Association of Governments. Local planners instead are concentrating on connections within Southern California, so that when — and if — bullet trains ever come, conventional trains have a steady and direct route to get to them.")

Riverside Press-Enterprise

Mass Transit's State Of The Union: Room For Improvement
Huffington Post

Metro Considers Construction Jobs Policies To Ignite Economies In Lower Income Areas
StreetsBlog LA

Metrolink To Address Community Concerns Over Cypress Park Maintenance Center
Eastsider LA

Mixed-Use Development Delivers Huge Public Returns Compared To Sprawl
StreetsBlog DC

Moody's Downgrades California Redevelopment Bonds (Updated)
California Planning & Development Report

New House Transportation Proposal Would Reform Project Environmental Review
Transportation Issues Daily

Obama Aims To Use War Savings On Infrastructure
Chicago Tribune

Obama's Vision For A Transportation Makeover Struggling To Leave The Station
Public Radio International

On Infrastructure, Hopes For Progress This Year Look Glum
Transport Politic

A Peculiar Parking Pattern ("A high number of cars parked at downtown L.A. meters carry disabled placards that let owners park for free.")
Los Angeles Times

The President's Transportation Transformation (audio : A year ago President Obama announced his plans for high speed rail lines and other cutting edge transportation for the nation. But after many defeats in Congress, including the de-funding of high-speed rail, the President’s transportation initiative suddenly seems less futuristic and more focused on rebuilding the old highways of the past. To answer where the president stands on the eve of his re-election is Alex Goldmark, reporter for Takeaway flagship station WNYC’s Transportation Nation team.")
The Takeaway

Rep. Mica Promises Highway Bill Next Week
The Hill

Right-Wingers Launch Effort To Repeal High Speed Rail At November 2012 Election
California High Speed Rail Blog

Republicans Eye Highway Bill As Vehicle For Keystone
Reuters

San Francisco, Medellin Win Sustainable Transportation Award ("The ITDP award has become a coveted badge of honor for transportation directors, both in the U.S. and internationally. Its awards ceremony now draws a large cadre of major city transportation directors, as well as international mayors and federal transportation officials.")
Transportation Nation

"Social Equity" To Be Weighed In Transit Funding Under U.S. Rule
Business Week

SOTU: Is Obama Retreating On Infrastructure?
StreetsBlog DC

State Auditor Issues Financial Warning On California Bullet Train ("California bullet train project has become 'increasingly risky' because of fiscal uncertainties, auditor says.")
Los Angeles Times

Streetcar Study: Could We Get The System For Free?
Washington City Paper

Transit Apps Empower Riders With information
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

Transportation Equity A Key To Winning Full Civil Rights
Urban Habitat

The Trenching, And The Spin, Go On In Beverly Hills (This post from yesterday has been updated)
StreetsBlog LA

The Urban Message Missing From The State Of The Union
The Atlantic: Cities

Villaraigosa Hails Progress On LAX's Bradley Renovation
Los Angeles Times

What The Downtown LA Skyline Would Look Like Without The Community Redevelopment Agency Of LA
Curbed LA

Why The Most Environmental Building Is The Building We've Already Built
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.

710 Freeway Gap, Miracle Mile, MAX Service, El Monte Busway, Santa Barbara Ciclovia, Fare Cards & More

2012-01-24T09:50:00.001-08:00

January 24: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (Recalling more than 70 years of continuous employment for Metro's "Employee of the century")
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

10 Procedural Hurdles To Enacting A Federal Transportation Bill
Transportation Issues Daily

40 Years Ago This Week: Groundbreaking For El Monte Busway -- California's First Multi-Modal System & The World's First Bus Rapid Transit Station
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

After 57 Years, SigAlert Still With Us
Orange County Register

Ciclovia Inspires An Active Community: Bringing The Party Home To Santa Barbara ("Many of us in the transportation world were pleasantly surprised when we heard that the Sunday parkway concept was taking off in Los Angeles.")
Santa Barbara Independent

A Comic Take On The Sustainability Of The Word "Sustainable"
StreetsBlog DC

Communicating Winter Weather And Transportation Misery
Talking Transportation

Former El Monte Developer Executives Accused Of Fraud Speak Out Against City ("It was in the early 2000s that Lang and Leung became involved in the development of the Transit Village, envisioned as a "village" of homes and businesses centered around the El Monte bus station off of Santa Anita Avenue and the 10 Freeway.")
Pasadena Star-News

GM's 1950s Traffic Solutions: Perimeter Parking, More Buses ("The Metro Transportation Library and Archive has uncovered a gem at its YouTube channel--a General Motors-produced video from the fifties on "traffic solutions" in America's downtowns.")
Curbed LA

A Homeless Man's Unused Subway Card Empire ("John Jones says he's made $20,000 reselling tossed Metrocards. Should that be legal?")
The Atlantic: Cities

House Brass Adding To Gridlock Over Transit
Politico

Local Cities To Weigh In On Project To Close 710 Freeway Gap
Pasadena Star-News

Los Angeles Misses Out On Stimulus Grants ("Controller Wendy Greuel finds that the lack of oversight cost the city more than $125 million. She proposes a centralized body to pursue specific funding.")
Los Angeles Times

Main Street Road Diet Only Partially Completed Last Weekend
StreetsBlog LA

The Miracle Mile Is Back, Baby ("Optimism is strong, especially since two subway stations, and maybe a trolley, are on their way.")
Curbed LA

Municipal Area Express Service May Be Canceled ("With ridership dropping and costs increasing, Torrance appears likely to make good on a move telegraphed a year ago and pull out of operating the MAX commuter bus service to El Segundo.")
Daily Breeze

National Planning Awards, 2012
American Planning Association

Neighborhood Crime And Travel Behavior: An Investigation Of The Influence Of Neighborhood Crime Rates On Mode Choice -- Phase II (104p. PDF)
Mineta Transportation Institute

Renewed Efforts Keep 710 Freeway Debate Hot: Expanded Committee, New Research Initiative On Agenda For Closing The 710 Freeway Gap
NBC Los Angeles

Residents Give Input On City's Proposed Bicycle Transportation Plan
South Gate Patch

SigAlert Founding Honored On Day Of Slick Roads, Traffic Jams
Los Angeles Times

State Joins Suit Against San Diego Regional Transportation Plan ("The spotlight is on San Diego to lead the way on regional transportation planning that reduces greenhouse gas emissions. But critics say that the regional planning agency’s proposal is anything but a model for sustainable planning.")
KQED

Switching To A Connection: The Limitations Of Building Rail In L.A. County
KCET

Top 10 Ways To "Keep It Real" For LA Mobility
CityWatch

The Trenching, And The Spin, Go On In Beverly Hills
StreetsBlog LA

Trolleying Out The Same Old Arguments ("We need more systems like Los Angeles's Wilshire express buses, major successes in terms of ridership regardless of what the aesthetic experience may be like.")
The Economist

Villaraigosa: Washington Must Be Smart About Cuts, Investments In U.S. Cities (video)
PBS News Hour via YouTube

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.

Measure R, Angels Flight, CicLAvia, State Of The Union & Transportation, Caltrans Funding, Bike-Ped & More

2012-01-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

January 23: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (Beverly Hills' subway soil testing groundbreaking...50 years ago today)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Abandoning Redevelopment: California's Big Experiment
Urban Land Institute

Angels Flight Back On Track, Is Resuming PM Service (And It's Still Only 25 Cents A Ride!)
LAist

Battle Brewing Over BART Extension To Livermore: Clash Reflects Deep Disagreement About Whether Funds Should Be Used For Expansion Or Maintenance
Bay Citizen

Bicyclists Tour Watts On A CicLAvia Ride
Los Angeles Times

Bike-Ped Traffic, Funding, And Fatalities All Inch Upward
StreetsBlog DC
Bicyling And Walking In The United States: 2012 Benchmarking Report (248p. PDF)
Alliance For Biking And Walking
Media Fact Sheet (2p. PDF)

Business Group Imagines Downtown In 2020: Updates On Six Projects That Will Shape Downtown's Future
Los Angeles Downtown News

Construction Plans For Downtown L.A. Federal Courthouse Announced
Los Angeles Times

Despite Busy Construction Schedule, Caltrans Director Dougherty Sees California Transportation Funding Uncertainty
AASHTO Press Release

East L.A. Can't Afford Cityhood, Study Finds
Los Angeles Times

East LA Cityhood: Is The Journey Ending?
EGP News

Editorial: Don't Let Bullet Train Derail More Important Projects
San Bernardino Sun

Eight Principles That Must Be Addressed In Any Discussion On The Nation's Infrastructure
Booz Allen Press Release

Good News For Subway: No Active Faults Found Under BHHS Yet
Curbed LA

Googling The City's Edge
The Atlantic: Cities

How To Talk About Making Driving More Expensive: Council of Governments Broaches The Subject, Delicately
Washington City Paper

How The "Right" To Cheap Parking Makes Streets Less Equitable
StreetsBlog

Interactive Chart: From One State Of The Union To The Next; A Shift From Building The New To Fixing The Old
Transportation Nation

Keyboards Ready? Comment Period On Final Regional Connector Documents Begins...Now...
StreetsBlog LA

LaHood Urges Action On Job-Creating Transportation Bills
National League Of Cities

Minimal Impact On Cities, Farms Helped Spain Avoid High-Speed Rail Opposition
Bakersfield Californian

Models To Support State-Owned Park And Ride Lots And Intermodal Facilities (46p. PDF)
National Cooperative Highway Research Program

The Municipal Feud That Made Hollywood
The Atlantic: Cities

Officials To Commemorate SigAlert's 57th Birthday
Los Angeles Daily News

Pedestrian Deaths, Blaming The Victim: Headphones Edition
Transportation For America

Pico-Union Intersection To Become Msgr. Oscar A. Romero Square
Los Angeles Times

Portion Of Gardena Freeway Renamed For World War II Hero
Rafu Shimpo

President Obama Previews State Of The Union Speech To State, Local Officials ("The topic of "insourcing" American jobs came up, and the President highlighted infrastructure -- investing in the nation's roads, bridges and high-speed trains.")
Huffington Post

State Of The Union -- Will It Again Highlight Transportation?
Transportation Issues Daily

This App Was Made For Walking -- But Is It Racist?
NPR

Traffic Congestion: Road Pricing Can Help Reduce Congestion, But Equity Concerns May Grow (60p. PDF)
U.S. Government Accountability Office
Highlights Page

Transportation Research Board 91st Annual Meeting (Washington D.C. : More than 4,000 presentations in nearly 650 sessions and workshops : January 22-26)
Transportation Research Board
Online Meeting Portal

Venice: Out Go The Car Lanes, In Go The Bike Lanes
Daily Breeze

What Would, Could Or Should An Extended Measure R Do?
CityWatch

Word On The Street: Mayoral Candidates On Progressive Transportation
StreetsBlog LA

World's Largest Bus Getting Ready To Roll Out In China
Digital Trends

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.

LA Bikeways, Metro Bikeshare, Glendale Blvd., Alhambra Transit History, Airport Transit Lines, PPPs & More

2012-01-20T08:29:00.000-08:00

January 20: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (What happened on Hollywood Boulevard and what was "Sunday Sample Day"?)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

BHUSD Trenches Expose MTA Study Flaws At High School (32p. PDF)
Beverly Hills Courier

Conservative Policy Group Advocates For Public Private Partnerships To Fill Transportation Funding Gap
Transportation Issues Daily

Do Brookings And Heritage Agree On Public-Private Partnerships?
StreetsBlog DC

Does An Airport Line Have To Reach The Airport?
The Transport Politic

Frank McCourt Might Keep Dodger Stadium Parking Lots ("McCourt can sell the lots to the next Dodgers owner — or he can try to develop the land. Some say he will use the acreage as a bargaining chip; others think he hopes to build next to the stadium.")
Los Angeles Times

Glendale OKs Rail Crossing Upgrades: Completion Of Work Could Help Move City Into A Rail "Quiet Zone"
Glendale News-Press

Is Governor Brown California Dreaming In Los Angeles?
KCET

L.A. City Adding New Bikeways, Will They Reach Pledged 40 Miles By June 30?
StreetsBlog LA

LA Mayor Candidate Austin Beutner Lays Out Jobs Plan ("He argued for increased manufacturing in L.A., citing electric buses as a potential boon. The MTA’s buses, which are currently ordered from Alabama and Minnesota, should be made locally.")
USC Annenberg Neon Tommy

L.A. Metro Announces Open Houses To Examine Final EIS/EIR For Regional Connector Transit Corridor
Everything Long Beach

L.A.'s Antonio Villaraigosa Discusses Transit Funding With China ("Fearing a stalemate in Congress over transportation funding, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is looking to the Chinese government as an option to possibly save his ambitious plan to build a dozen mass-transit projects in 10 years instead of 30.")
Los Angeles Times

Local Agencies Clean Up With APTA Awards
StreetsBlog LA

Los Angeles Railroad Heritage -- In Alhambra? ("Few are aware that an Alhambra-San Gabriel Line served the city from 1900-1940, carrying nearly 2 million people at its peak along a rail transit line connecting Los Angeles to Temple City.")
Alhambra Source

Metro: More Trains, More Often ("Metro CEO Art Leahy met and listened to what NoHo community and business leaders had to say.")
NoHo Arts District

Metro's Plan To Let You Ride A Bike In SaMo, Drop It Downtown
Curbed LA

More Fuel-Efficient Cars Spell Less Money For Mass Transit
Triple Pundit

A New Four-Lane Superhighway To Be Built Only For Bikes
Treehugger

Opinion: Smart Growth Is Healthy Growth
San Bernardino Sun

President Obama And The Forgotten Urban Agenda
Grist

Re-Imagining Glendale Boulevard (Notable ideas from this workshop include using part of the 2 Freeway as an LA version of New York's High Line, Glendale Boulevard as a winding road, and Glendale Boulevard as a destination)
StreetsBlog LA

Rethinking Transit: How Cities Are Repairing Disconnects Between Downtowns And Historic Neighborhoods ("As Los Angeles embarks on building the largest, most comprehensive transit system in the country, reconsidering factors such as density and integration into the surrounding neighborhoods will determine how Union Station becomes a new heart and center for the city.")
Urban Land Institute

Transportation Mashup: Re-Thinking Public Engagement
Talking Transportation

What's The Best Way To Get Users To Embrace Mass Transit? Make It Pleasant? Or Make It Efficient?
Slate

Why Trees Make For Safer Streets
Sustainable Cities Collective

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.

LA County Bikeshare, Beverly Hills Faults, California Economy, Bike Film Festival, Stroller Transit & More

2012-01-19T08:37:00.000-08:00

January 19: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

5 Films About Los Angeles Bike Culture (video : January 20-21 screenings, Vista Theater Hollywood)
Funwunce via Vimeo

Beverly Hills Trenching 80 Percent Complete; No Active Faults Found So Far (p. 7 of 20p. PDF)
Beverly Hills Weekly

Boxer: More Transportation Money Needed In Inland Empire
KPSP

Brown Asks California To Cheer Rail Project
New York Times

"California Is On The Mend": Governor Jerry Brown ("RBC Capital Markets says that while California's economy is "still weak," it is "increasingly showing signs of stabilization.”)
CNBC

Central Subway Funds Get A Key OK: Lee Says Federal Officials Give Green Light To Project
San Francisco Chronicle

Clean Energy Paving The Way For Major Transportation Project
OC Metro

County Wide Bike Share? Metro Committee Says, "Yes, We Can"
StreetsBlog LA

Few Cities Have Regained Jobs They Lost, Report Finds ("Only 26 of the nation’s 363 metropolitan areas had recovered their lost jobs by the end of 2011, and only 26 more are projected to recover them by end of this year.")
New York Times
U.S. Metro Economies: 2012 Employment Forecast And The Impact Of Exports (91p. PDF)
U.S. Conference Of Mayors

Gov. Jerry Brown Pitches New Taxes, Budget Cuts At City Hall, Burbank
Los Angeles Daily News

Gov. Jerry Brown's State Of State Speech Puts Focus On Big Projects ("In an upbeat State of the State address, Gov. Jerry Brown pushes bullet-train funding despite budget cuts.")
Los Angeles Times

Governor Jerry Brown, In State Of State, Makes Impassioned Case For High Speed Rail
Transportation Nation

High-Speed Rail Helps Students, State
USC Daily Trojan

Jerry Brown Breathes New Life Into High-Speed Rail
The Atlantic: Cities

L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Calls On Feds To Invest In Urban Areas
Los Angeles Daily Beast

Los Angeles Doubles Down On Exports
The Atlantic: Cities

Next-Generation Intelligent Transportation Systems And The "Digital Divide"
Terranautix

No Longer On National Stage, Jerry Brown Addresses California's Needs ("His State of the State speech shows that he's a full-time governor without ambitions for higher political office. But the old 'Gov. Moonbeam' emerges to back the bullet train.")
Los Angeles Times

O.C. Completes Effort To Silence Trains
Orange County Register

One Ride At A Time: Bringing Bike Love To Angelenos Everywhere (Article launches a new bi-weekly column)
KCET

Pedestrian Safety: How Innovative Tech Could Save Your Life
Mashable

Sonoratown: Downtown L.A.'s Forgotten Neighhborhood
LA as Subject via KCET

Traffic In LA: Most Vulerable Angelinos At Risk
Soap Box LA

Trains Passing Some Orange County Homes Will Stop Blasting Horns
Los Angeles Times

Translating The American Highway System Into A Subway Map
The Atlantic: Cities

Your Stroller Wheels, On The Bus (Easier stroller access to transit could increase usage, as in Copenhagen where parents traveling with strollers are readily accommodated)
Grist

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.

Regional Connector, High Desert Corridor, Freeway Pollution, LA Port, Car Sharing, UTC Grants & More

2012-01-18T08:45:00.001-08:00

January 18: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (Metro shines the day after the Northridge Earthquake)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

$77 Million In Transpo Grants To Universities
Transportation Nation
2012 University Transportation Centers (UTCs) Grant Recipients
Research And Innovative Technology Administration

Air Pollution Monitors Could Come To L.A. Freeways
LA Weekly

Being Prepared For Downtown Construction
Santa Monica Lookout

Cleaner Air In L.A. Ports Comes At A Cost To Truckers
NPR

Congress Reconvenes With Transportation Deadlines Fast Approaching
StreetsBlog DC

East L.A. Freeway Exit Getting Greened Up
Eastsider LA

Final Regional Connector Rail Line Report Released Early
Curbed LA

Getting Around Near And Far: The Supercharged Bike-Sharing Card
StreetsBlog Network

Gov. Jerry Brown's Tricky Balancing Act: Making A Case For Costly Projects While Also Calling For Deeper Cuts In Other Areas, As Expected In His State Of The State Address, Will Be A Challenge ("We built the Golden Gate Bridge and Central Valley Water Project during the Great Depression," his spokesman, Gil Duran, said Tuesday. "We're not trying to build the pyramids here. We're trying to build the water and transportation infrastructure we need to guide us through the 21st century.")
Los Angeles Times

High Desert Corridor Project Gains Traction, But Funding Is Low
KABC Los Angeles

How Mount Lee Got A Road To The Hollywood Sign
Curbed LA

How Our Brains Navigate The City
The Atlantic: Cities

How To Entice Car Owners To Switch To Public Transit
The Atlantic: Cities
Understanding Transit Ridership Demand For A Multi-Destination, Multi-Modal Transit Network In An American Metropolitan Area: Lessons For Increasing Choice Ridership While Maintaining Transit Dependent Ridership (110p. PDF)
Mineta Transportation Institute

Listen Up, Walkers: Watch Out For Traffic When Wearing Headphones
NPR

Long Beach School Board Opposes Rail Project Report
Long Beach Press-Telegram

Maps Show Striking Link Between Car Commuting And Obesity
StreetsBlog DC
Mapping Transportation And Health In The United States
Planetizen

New Forms Of Car Sharing Improve Personal Mobility
The City Fix

News Releases Still Matter And Three Reasons You Should Care
Talking Transportation

Opinion: Soul Train: Promoting The MTA, One Punk At A Time
Los Angeles Times

Plans For High-Speed Rail Are Slowing Down
Washington Post

Poll Says L.A. voters Favor Giving Up Slumping Ontario Airport
Los Angeles Times

Port Of L.A. Sets U.S. Record For Shipping Export Containers
Los Angeles Times

Retrofitting The Suburbs To Increase Walking ("The opportunities for retrofitting suburbs to increase transit use and walking are especially golden in the Golden State.")
ACCESS: The Magazine of UCTC

Some Easy Bike Lane Projects L.A. Can Do Right Away
L.A. Eco-Village Blog

Space Technology May Be Used To Reduce Congestion On Roads
The Engineer (U.K.)

The State Of Play On State Gas Taxes
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Walking Works For LA
CityWatch

What Features Do Your Transit Apps Offer?
Metro Magazine

What Smart Growth Advocates Get Wrong About Density
The Atlantic: Cities

Will The LA Times Ever Report Honestly On HSR?
California High Speed Rail 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.

Regional Connector EIS/EIR, Expo Phase II, Gold Line, Angels Flight, High Desert Corridor, CRAs, Freeway Air, "Low-Car" Lifestyle & More

2012-01-17T09:36:00.001-08:00

January 17: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (How did the Northridge earthquake affect transit 18 years ago today?)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

3 Political Challenges To Enacting Transportation Bill By March 31
Transportation Issues Daily

2012: State Of The Public Transportation Industry (APTA CEO Michael P. Melaniphy)
Passenger Transport

After Demolishing A Highway, How Should A City Rebuild
The Atlantic: Cities

Angels Flight Rail Work Done, Car Restoration On Its Way
Curbed LA

Brown Enlarges His Role In California's Foundering Bullet Train Project: With The $100-Billion Project At A Critical Juncture, The Governor Puts His People In Key Positions
Los Angeles Times

City Seeks Residents To Serve On Exposition Bikeway Advisory Committee
Santa Monica Dispatch

CRA Claims Significant Flaws In Legislation To Dissolve RDAs ("Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Los Angeles) has introduced legislation that could give California's redevelopment agencies if not a reprieve then at least a stay of execution. Senate Bill 659 would push the dissolution date from Feb. 1 to April 15 in order to allow cities and agencies time to put their affairs in order -- and, presumably, to allow the Legislature to deliberate on a replacement for redevelopment before the agencies are dismantled and their employees laid off.")
California Planning & Development Report

CRA's Demise Puts Downtown Properties In Limbo
Los Angeles Downtown News

Dirty Freeway Air Puts Southern California Health At Risk, Say Activists
Los Angeles Daily News

Downtown Regional Connector Final EIS/EIR (webpage with complete list of links)
Metro

Doubts Cast On Cost Estimates For High-Speed Rail Alternatives ("Bullet train promoters predict it will cost $171 billion to build new airports and roads if the trains aren't completed. But experts say that figure is greatly exaggerated.")
Los Angeles Times

Expo Line Phase 2 Project Developments (photo essay : "Alan K. Weeks, whose pictures of the Air Line (former Expo Line) in action from the early 1950s are posted in the historical-photos thread, and I walked along the tracks in Palms today and took pictures.")
Transit Talk

For California High Speed Rail, A Season Of Woe
Transportation Nation

Gingrich: Metro Riders Don't Appreciate Homeownership ("Newt Gingrich explained basic American values and managed to bash the media, people who live in cities, and people who take public transit all at once.")
Washington City Paper

Great And Not-So-Great Subway Logos
The Atlantic: Cities

Has The Gold Line Been Derailed By The Dissolution Of Redevelopment Agencies?
Monrovia Weekly

Head Of High-Speed Rail Authority Quits As Agency Undergoes Shake-Up
Silicon Valley Mercury News

High-Speed Rail Around The World (photo gallery)
Washington Post

High-Speed Rail In A Coma ("The initial costs of developing high-speed rail lines are high, and the yield time is years or decades. Is the country ready for long-term investments like that? Or would it make sense to take a break and allow the economy to recover before proposing big new rail projects? What would make policymakers more receptive to high-speed rail? What critiques of high-speed rail are the most in need of a response?")
National Journal Transportation Experts Blog

Hollywood Real Estate Development Under Threat
Hollywood Reporter

I "Heart" My Transit Card Video Contest
Iheartmycard.com

Innovative State And City Government Solutions To Watch In 2012
The Atlantic: Cities

Land A Great New Job In LA ("The 2012 National Planning Conference in Los Angeles, April 14-17, provides multiple opportunities for job hunters. Several sessions and facilitated discussions explore the ins and outs of a successful job search. Arm yourself with up-to-date strategies and fresh ideas for getting noticed on the market.")
American Planning Association: Reimagine Los Angeles

Laws That Shaped L.A.: Why Is The Los Angeles Skyline So Bland?
KCET

Living The Low-Car Lifestyle
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Los Angeles Countywide Mayors To Attend Conference ("The mayors are expected to urge President Barack Obama and Congress to act on a transportation spending bill that has been stalled in committees.")
Cerritos Patch

Mayor Villaraigosa, MLK Day Parade & The Leimert Park Crenshaw Line
Leimert Park Beat

Metropolis II And The Enduring Delusions Of Car-Centric Cities
StreetsBlog LA

Mica Endorses Romney (Full statement from the House Transportation Committee Chair)
Transportation Nation

More Bike Parking Coming To Broadway
LADOT Bike Blog

NCHRP 2011 Summary Of Progress (171p. PDF)
National Cooperative Highway Research Program

NCHRP At 50 Years (20p. PDF)
National Cooperative Highway Research Program

New IDEAS For Highway Systems: Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis Programs (208p. PDF)
National Cooperative Highway Research Program

Officials Plan Community Meetings On Possible Victorville-To-Palmdale Roadway
Redlands Daily Facts

Port Railyard Project Report Worries LBUSD: Officials Say Study Doesn't Identify Risks For Students, Staff
Contra Costa Times
Draft EIR: Southern California International Gateway (SCIG) Project Website
Port Of Los Angeles

Portland: Balance The Budget Yourself ("Portland's Tri-Met faces another horrible funding shortfall this year, but they've come up with a good survey tool to engage the public in their decisions about what services to cut. It's one of those "balance the budget yourself" tools that's becoming increasingly necessary to bring voters into contact with reality about government budgets.")
Human Transit
Challenges & Choices: A Budget Discussion Guide
TriMet

Public Meetings On High Desert Corridor
Victorville Daily Press

The Quiet Ones: 12 Leaders Who Get Things Done ("Rather than waiting on Washington to bail out the city, Villaraigosa persuaded nearly 70 percent of L.A. residents to approve Measure R – a half-cent sales tax that will provide $35 billion to fund major transportation improvements, including a new subway line and light-rail extensions.")
Rolling Stone

An R&D Lab For Transit Tech Tools
The Atlantic: Cities

A Sobering Recap Of Beverly Hills Bike Planning
Better Bike

Spain's High-Speed Rail System Offers Lessons For California
Sacramento Bee

Subway Systems Of The World, Presented On The Same Scale
Fake Is The New Real

Tracking The Old Trains: Remembering The Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe Railway's Role In Downtown ("Where did people go to catch a train before 1939? Few thought about rail travel prior to Union Station.")
Los Angeles Downtown News

Trains, Buses, Bikes, And Sandwiches... There Should Be An App For That
StreetsBlog DC

Transit Agencies Face The Calculus Of Broader Backsides
New York Times

Transportation Bills Abound As Congress Returns
Politico

Walkable By Accident
The Atlantic: Cities

Webinar: Impact Of Transit-Oriented Development In Reducing GHG Emissions (January 17)
Transportation Issues Daily

The Wrong Question About Amtrak's Profitability
The Economist

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.

Expo Bike Lane & Opening, Regional Connector, CAHSR Changes, Bus Stop Ads & More

2012-01-13T09:01:00.001-08:00

January 14: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (local economic development corporation proposed)
January 15: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (detailed monorail plans)
January 16: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History (highway planning for San Gabriel Valley unveiled)
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Academy Awards Could Relocate To Nokia Theatre
Blog Downtown

American Streetcar Projects Creating Jobs Today, Livable Communities And Economic Development Tomorrow
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

Audit: L.A. Missed Out On $23.1M In Bus Stop Ad Revenue
Daily Breeze

Board Approves Palmdale High-Speed Rail Route
Santa Clarita Valley Signal

California High-Speed Rail Head Roelof van Ark Resigns
Sacramento Bee

California's Diesel Decade ("In 2010, the California Air Resources Board created a new set of emissions regulations for diesel engines. On a rolling basis, freight trucks are required to retrofit older engines, or to buy completely new trucks to meet stricter emissions standards. While those requirements can be expensive for truckers, so are the environmental impacts." Interview with Rob Harley, professor of environmental engineering at U.C. Berkeley about how the new regulations are changing the air we breathe)
Transportation Nation

Changes Coming For Orange Line Riders
Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor, Third District

Chief Executive Of High-Speed Rail Project Steps Down: Roelof van Arks' Departure Raises New Questions About The Controversial Project's Stability. At The Same Time, Tom Umberg Announces He Is Leaving As Chairman Of The Project's Board
Los Angeles Times

Expo Bike Lanes, Smooth And Flat...For The Most Part
StreetsBlog LA

Expo Line Opening Date Pushed Back Indefinitely
USC Daily Trojan

Feuer Bill Would Fast-Track Rail Projects In California ("Feuer’s bill mirrors the LALive-sponsored fast track bill for a proposed NFL stadium in downtown Los Angeles. The purpose of both bills is to limit and short-circuit opposition to major projects.")
Beverly Hills Courier

Jarrett Walker On Human Transit (January 19 : free lecture at UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs by the international public transit consultant and Human Transit blogger)
UCLA Lewis Center

L.A. Council Won't Absorb Redevelopment Agency ("The council decides it can't afford to take on the agency and its employees. The council acts after the Legislature eliminated redevelopment agencies to shift billions in tax revenue to the state, cities and counties.")
Los Angeles Times

L.A. Is Most Popular City For Europeans Looking To Move To US
Curbed LA

L.A. Metro To Release Final EIS/EIR, Hold Open Houses For Regional Connector
Rafu Shimpo

The L.A. River Designated With Two Federal Initiatives ("Today Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa officially announced the selection of the Los Angeles River for President Obama's America's Great Outdoors initiative as well as being designated an Urban Waters Federal Partnership site.")
KCET

Legislators Seek To Help Cities Losing Redevelopment Cities ("With the agencies set to end Feb. 1, California lawmakers are looking for ways cities could still subsidize private development to promote economic growth.")
Los Angeles Times

Metropolis II At LACMA: Will A Sculpture Made Of 1,100 Hot Wheels Predict L.A.'s Future?
LA Weekly

One Dream, Many Hands In Metropolis II (The story behind the people who created and constructed the LACMA exhibit)
Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor, Third District

Opinion: Getting Real About Redevelopment In California ("Redevelopment should be used only for true revitalization. The short list of things redevelopment ought to be used for should be obvious: the rehabilitation of so-called brownfields — properties whose development is complicated by industrial or other contamination — and building affordable housing, transit-oriented development and inner-city retail in areas where there are few stores.")
Los Angeles Times

Regional Connector Study Done, Meetings On Tap
Los Angeles Downtown News

Rethinking Echo Park's Glendale Boulevard: Urban Planning Workshop
Echo Park Online

RIP, Community Redevelopment Agency
California Progress Report

Roelof van Ark, High-Speed Rail CEO, Resigns
San Francisco Chronicle

Sadik-Khan: Bike-Share GPS Data Will Help Plan NYC Bike Network
StreetsBlog

Savings May Come Soon Under New Fuel Economy Standard ("Gasoline prices hit record highs in 2011 and for the first time last year, the cost of gas equaled or exceeded even the cost of owning a vehicle: on average, the roughly $2,800 dollars that a household spent at the pump was more than a year’s worth of car payments.")
KQED

See-Rent-Ride: Bikeshare Changes The Way People See The City
League Of American Bicyclists

A Solution For California's Transportation Woes
The Atlantic: Cities

Southbound Sepulveda Blvd. Closing Nightly Near Getty Ramps
Beverly Hills Patch

Stuff You Already Knew About Commuting Biking Now In Handy Dandy Infographic
Uptown Almanac

What The Eurostar's Success Means For California HSR
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.

Santa Monica "Harbor," LA River, Brentwood, CRA, Amtrak, Pedestrians, Smartphones, Transit Tax Credit & More

2012-01-12T08:36:00.000-08:00

January 12: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

After Timing Snag, Metro Service To Start In Glendale Canyon
Glendale News-Press

Amtrak: In 2012, We Want eTickets, Electric Locomotives, And Speedier Trains
Transportation Nation

Amtrak Chief Outlines "Aggressive" Plan For 2012 Investment
StreetsBlog DC

Bay Area's Urban Planning Must Address Public Health (A new study has created unexpected tensions between public health advocates and smart-growth-oriented urban planners. Bernice Yeung looks at recent analysis by Oakland's Pacific Institute and public health advocates that document the friction between California state law mandating smart growth to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the negative health impacts of certain urban environments)
California Watch

A Closer Look At Parking On San Vicente: A Recent Study Shows There Is More Parking On Brentwood's San Vicente Boulevard Than You Know, But The Area Is Still "Over-Subscribed"
Brentwood Patch

Data Analysis Of Grade Crossing Incidents (4p. PDF)
Federal Railroad Administration Research Results

Death Watch Of CRA Leaves Transportation Projects In The Air
StreetsBlog LA

[U.S.] DOT To Explore Mobile Apps For Public Transit
Washington [D.C.] Business Journal

How Santa Monica Almost Became A Commercial Harbor
LA as Subject via KCET

LA Won't Take Responsibility For Redevelopment Projects
Curbed LA

The Law Of Traffic Congestion, According To "The Flash!"
Planetizen

Opinion: Invest In Interregional Rail
San Bernardino Sun

Public Meetings Set To Discuss High Desert Corridor
Antelope Valley Times

Report Urges City To Relinquish CRA/LA Role
Los Angeles Daily News

Restoring The "Water Freeway" (With strong advocates in Washington and in City Hall, planning continues for an ambitious multi-billion dollar effort to overhaul the Los Angeles River and its relationship to the city)
Planning

Road Forward Seen For Transportation Bill ("As federal transportation funding is set to expire, a new piece of legislation is being hammered out to pay for projects.")
Riverside Press-Enterprise

The Science Of How We Walk (Pedestrianism incorporates elements of physics, engineering, statistics, and cognition)
The Atlantic: Cities
The Wisdom Of Crowds: The Strange But Extremely Valuable Science Of How Pedestrians Behave
The Economist

A Sculpture Of Our Transportation Future ("Metropolis II is the new installation opening this weekend at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Created by artist Chris Burden, the piece is a massive mini-city of towering buildings interwoven and surrounded at all heights by tiny street-like tracks that carry 1,100 toy cars quickly and noisily around, like blood cells in a network of veins.")
The Atlantic: Cities

Smartphones To Make Airport Check-In Desks Obsolete, Study Says
Bloomberg
From Chaos To Collaboration: How Transformative Technologies Will Herald A New Era In Travel (48p. PDF)
Amadeus

State Assembly Undermines Bill To Let California Cities Build Safer Bikeways
StreetsBlog SF

Subway Blues: Car Commuters Are Getting Bigger Tax Breaks Than Transit Riders
GOOD

TCRP Annual Report Of Progress: 2011 (106p. PDF : Background and an overview of the program, status of each of TCRP’s projects, and a summary of some of the program's accomplishments)
Transit Cooperative Research Program

Three Cities, Three Tales Of Tenuous Transit Plans ("In 2008, the county of angels passed Measure R, a ballot initiative that hiked sales taxes up by half a percent, over 30 years, to fund an ambitious $40 billion transit program. Since then, Mayor Villaraigosa has been on an aggressive prowl to speed the project up.")
Forbes

What Neighborhoods Need To Succeed At Walkability
The Atlantic: Cities

When Shops And Services Are Within Walking Distance, We Walk More And Drive Less ("New research from Southern California has found that residents of neighborhoods with a central core of shops and services – a pattern typically found in older, traditional communities – walk nearly three times more often than do residents of neighborhoods whose nearest shops and services lie along a major arterial roadway – a pattern typically found in newer suburban development.")
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.

High Desert Corridor, Expo Line, High-Speed Rail, LB Rail Yard, Glendale Blvd, TOD & More

2012-01-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

January 11: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Be Our Guess: Expo Line Opening Early April?
LAist

California Republicans Move To Derail High Speed Rail
KHTS

Communication Pros Describe Barriers To Innovation
Talking Transportation

Critics Worry High-Speed Rail Approvals Will Be Fast-Tracked
California Watch

Decision 2012: GOP Candidates On Infrastructure ("This webpage will serve as a one-stop-shop for the candidates’ public comments regarding transportation and infrastructure investment and reforms.")
Building America's Future

Dianne Feinstein Urges Moving High-Speed Rail To Caltrans
Sacramento Bee

Do You Have A Burning Question For Ray LaHood?
Transportation For America

Federal Officials Recommend Full Funding For BART Extension To San Jose
Silicon Valley Mercury News

Gas Prices Spike Nationwide, Leaving LA Wallets Emptiest
Southern California Public Radio

High Desert Corridor To Be Discussed In Public Forums
KHTS

High-Speed Rail Authority Press Secretary Bound For Wal-Mart
Sacramento Bee

An Inventory Of The Criticisms Of High-Speed Rail With Suggested Responses And Counterpoints (88p. PDF)
APTA

L.A. Assesses Cost Of Shuttering Redevelopment Agency ("If the city keeps its staff and finishes its projects, the price tag would be more than $109 million. City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana is instructed to begin the process of laying off 192 redevelopment employees.")
Los Angeles Times

Long Beach City Council At Crossroads On New Rail Yard
Long Beach Business Journal

Metro-City Seek Closer Relationship To Move Measure R Projects
StreetsBlog LA

[D.C.] Metro Plans To Hire 1,000 New Workers As It Considers Fare Hikes
Washington Post

Orange Line Shuffle (Temporary relocation of three current busway stops during the week of Jan. 21)
Curbed LA

Report Maps Out How New Transit Can Benefit Disadvantaged Communities
StreetsBlog DC

Rojas' Next Act: "Rethinking Glendale Boulevard" Is This Saturday
StreetsBlog LA

A Seismic Shift For The Subway: Closing Lines For Night Repairs
New York Times

Senate Requests Trio Of Transit Related Reports From GAO
StreetsBlog LA

Senator Dianne Feinstein Wants To Save CA High Speed Rail -- As Republican Assemblywoman Tries To Kill It
Transportation Nation

Success Factors In The Reduction Of Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Incidents (4p. PDF)
Federal Railroad Administration

TOD And Climate Change Webinar (January 17)
Reconnecting America

Transit Fare Collection Moves Closer To Open, Mobile In 2012
NFC News

Transit Stations May Actually Cut Down On Crime
The Atlantic: Cities

Transportation Research Board 2011 Annual Report (76p. PDF)
U.S. Transportation Research Board

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.

Expo In April?, Bullet Train Fight, Angels Flight, CRAs, Norwalk Transit & More

2012-01-10T09:02:00.001-08:00

January 9: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History
January 10
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Angels Flight To Close Jan. 10 (for several weeks of regular maintenance. "Once it reopens the fare will likely double to 50 cents per rider.")
Los Angeles Times

Brown Separates Transportation And Housing In State Reorganization
California Planning & Development Report

Editorial: California's High-Speed Rail To Nowhere
Washington Post

Experimental Real-Time Transit Screens Come To Arlington And DC
Mobility Lab

Expo Line Could Be Ready For Rail Passengers In Early April
Los Angeles Times

A Fight For The Future Of San Diego ("75 percent of San Diego residents thought the region should complement its existing highway system by expanding the transit network and implementing programs like congestion pricing. The feeling is more than an abstraction: In 1987 San Diego voters approved a half cent sales tax to finance long-term transportation improvements, with a third of that money dedicated to transit, and when the tax came up for extension in 2004, two-thirds of voters agreed to support it for another 40 years.")
The Atlantic: Cities

The Freeways Are Not So Nice (Song and video from punk rock band named "It's Casual" vent at Los Angeles freeway traffic and tout other ways to travel around)
StreetsBlog LA

Garcetti, LaBonge Want Car Free Yucca Street
StreetsBlog LA

Guidelines On The Use Of Auxiliary Through Lanes At Signalized Intersections (92p. PDF)
National Cooperative Highway Research Program

The Health Impacts Of Transportation ("Are there accepted rules of thumb about how transportation impacts peoples' health? What are the most important health benefits of mass transit? What are the biggest health dangers of mass transit? Can we ask similar questions about road projects? Is it worthwhile to engage in detailed (and costly) health impact analyses? If so, when are such studies appropriate?")
National Journal Transportation Experts Blog

High Speed Rail Grapevine Alignment Loses Support Of HSRA
Mountain Enterprise

House To Vote On Bill That Expands Drilling To Pay For Infrastructure
The Hill

Laws That Shaped L.A.: Why Los Angeles Isn't A Beach Town
KCET

Leaders Wrestle With Shuttering CRA While Not Losing Its Benefits
Los Angeles Daily News

Los Angeles Has Highest Gas Prices In America Right Now
LA Weekly

Metro Staff Taking Civil Rights Plans To Local Service Councils
StreetsBlog LA

Mixed-Use Project To Get Underway This Month In Downtown L.A. ("The $160-million One Santa Fe complex will consist of apartments, offices, shops and public outdoor spaces on Santa Fe Avenue between 1st and 4th streets.")
Los Angeles Times

National Workforce Grant Program Offers Opportunities For Public Agencies
Transportation Issues Daily

Norwalk Hires Consultant To Review City Transit System
Los Angeles Wave

One Santa Fe To Break Ground This Month ("The fully entitled project is slated for a four-acre portion of a 32-acre plot that is currently a Metro lot used for the maintenance and storage of rail cars. The property is bounded by Santa Fe Avenue, the First and Fourth streets bridges and Metrolink service tracks adjacent to the Los Angeles River.")
Los Angeles Downtown News

Planners Want To Discard Grapevine Route For Rail Project ("Though it was ruled out in 2005, the more direct Interstate 5-Grapevine corridor was revived for further study last May. But a new study by the California High Speed Rail Authority now indicates that the longer route through Palmdale and Lancaster is the better option.")
Los Angeles Times
Executive Summary: LA Basin Mountain Crossing (I-5 Grapevine Alignment)
California High-Speed Rail Authority
Press Release
California High-Speed Rail Authority

R, Ye Mateys! R Traffic Be Hurtin! ("When Westside Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) offers a way to fast-track the freeway and rail initiatives of the still-popular Measure R without raising new taxes, it’s worth paying close attention.")
CityWatch

RDAs Try To Push Stay Of Execution Past February 1, But Don't Know Which Projects Will Be Killed
California Planning & Development Report

SF's New Parking Program Reduces Ticketing Anxiety
San Francisco Chronicle

Stalled I-5 Project Gets Ready To Roll: Caltrans Will Host Community Meeting To Inform Residents Of What To Expect As Construction Of Carpool Lane Resumes
Burbank Leader

A Strong Case For A Rail- And Transit-Oriented California
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Study: Longer Commutes For Palos Verdes Residents
Palos Verdes Patch

Subversive Bicycle Photos: Los Angeles (Explore Southern California 100 years ago, when bicycling was more popular than one might imagine)
Copenhagenize

To GOP's Dismay, DOT Funds Disaster Relief Without Gutting Other Programs
StreetsBlog DC

The Whip Snaps At High Speed Rail...And More
KQED

With 3 Weeks Left, Everyone Looking For Redevelopment Fixes
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.

Gold Line Monrovia, BH Seismic Tests, Bullet Train Editorials, South Bay Pacific Electric, 710 Extension & More

2012-01-09T08:37:00.001-08:00

An Animated Argument For Congestion Pricing
StreetsBlog DC

Breaking News: Metro Can't Complete Trenching Studies In One Weekend ("Here we go again. The publicity wing of the Beverly Hills Unified School District, known as the Beverly Hills Courier...is using the new tests being completed by the School District in an attempt to discredit the seismic tests completed last year by Metro.")
StreetsBlog LA

California Bill Would Accelerate Transit Projects
Land Line

California Budget Supports Bullet Train, Would Create New Transportation Agency
Transportation Nation

Capping An Era Of L.A. Oil Exploration ("Long-abandoned wells on the Los Angeles City Oil Field, which sparked Southern California's oil boom 120 years ago, are being sealed to make way for a 45-unit affordable housing project.")
Los Angeles Times

The Case Of The Vanishing Venice Blvd. Bike Lanes
StreetsBlog LA

Cutting Costs On California HSR Doesn't Have To Add Delays
Forbes

Data.gov Popularity Soaring, GSA Report Says
Federal Computer Week

Despite Uncertainty, Monrovia, Gold Line Officials Continue Attempts To Execute Land Deal For Maintenance Yard
Pasadena Star-News

The Downs And Ups Of Driving In Los Angeles ("The mayor of Los Angeles wants to spend $750 million to fix holes in city streets. The City Council thinks that is too expensive.")
New York Times

Downtown Fresno High-Speed Rail Plans Cause Little Stir
California Watch

Editorial: It's Time To Kill Bullet Train Boondoggle
Fresno Bee

Editorial: Keep California's Bullet Train On Track: Despite Recent Negative Reviews By Experts, In The Long Term The Rail Project Still Makes Sense
Los Angeles Times

Editorial: No Easy Fixes For Transportation In County, Region
Ventura County Star

Efforts To Derail Bullet Train Driven By Politics As Usual
California Progress Report

"Elegant Density" Could Bring Traffic, Skyscrapers To Hollywood
Total Traffic LA

The End Of The Road: The Infrastructurist's Last Post
Infrastructurist

Gov. Jerry Brown Proposes Moving CHSRA To New Agency
California High Speed Rail Blog

Handbook For Considering Practical Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Strategies For Airports (154p. PDF)
Airport Cooperative Research Program

Healthy Corridor For All: A Community Health Impact Assessment Of Transit-Oriented Development Policy In Saint Paul, Minnesota (135p. PDF)
PolicyLink
Executive Summary (48p. PDF)

High Speed Rail Authority Demolishes Peer Review Report
California High Speed Rail Blog

High-Speed Rail Needs A Review Before Its Too Late
San Francisco Examiner

Hit The Brakes On The Bullet Train: While The State Is Cutting Back On Core Services, It Needs To Rethink Its Ill-Conceived High-Speed Rail Plan
Los Angeles Times

Hollywood High-Rise Plan Has Some Up In Arms ("The proposal exemplifies Los Angeles' transformation from an automobile-only city to a much more multi-modal city, one where people live and work in high-rises and use public transportation.")
NPR

In Long Beach Exhibit, Urban Planning Is Art And Play ("Urban planner James Rojas constructs a model of Long Beach, on display at a gallery in town, for residents and business owners to illustrate a vision of the city's future.")
Los Angeles Times

Long Beach Neighborhood Redevelopment Efforts May End
Long Beach Press-Telegram

A Look Back At The Pacific Electric Railway: The Railway System Was Once A Major Part Of The Beach Cities -- Here Is How It Left Its Mark On The Area
Hermosa Beach Patch

Metro Studios@Lankershim Cancelled: The Death Of NBCUniversal's $3 Billion Project Equals Serious Traffic Relief
LA Weekly

Monorail Bondholder Sues For Fraud: State Of Nevada, Monorail Board Members, Casino Execs Could Face Liability Lawsuits
Nevada Journal

Near-Field Communication The Next Mobile Boost? ("ISIS will be open to all merchants, banks and carriers, according to its website. Isis aims to eliminate the need to carry cash, credit cards and debit cards, reward cards, coupons, tickets and transit passes.")
USA Today

New Bill Could Free CA Planners To Use More Innovative Bikeway Designs
StreetsBlog SF

North American Railroads Post Traffic Gains In 2011
Progressive Railroading

Our View: Excuses Dog The Expo Line
Pasadena Star-News

Playing Tea Party: Planning And Agenda 21 (How some are responding to "smart growth")
Place Shakers

Relax If You Want, But Don't Put Your Feet Up ("Seven years ago, rule 1050(7)(J) of [New York City’s] transit code criminalized what was once simply bad etiquette: passengers putting their feet on a subway seat. They also cannot take up more than one seat if it interferes with other passengers’ comfort, nor can they block movement on a subway by doing something like standing too close to the doors. Police officers handed out more than 6,000 tickets for these violations in 2011. But a $50 ticket would have been welcome compared with the trouble many passengers found themselves in; roughly 1,600 people like Mr. Peppers were arrested, sometimes waiting more than a day to be brought before a judge and released, according to statistics from district attorneys’ offices.")
New York Times

Ridley-Thomas Survey Shows Strong Support For Slauson Ave. Bike Lane
StreetsBlog LA

South Pasadena To Participate In Advisory Committee For The SR-710 Extension Project
Pasadena Star-News

Streamlined Environmental Review Proposed For Rail Projects ("A Los Angeles lawmaker introduces a bill in the California Legislature that would give such projects in the state the same break granted to developers seeking to build an NFL stadium in downtown L.A.")
Los Angeles Times

Time To Reassess Our National Transportation Program
The Hill

The Tricky Second Wave Of Urban Highway Removals
The Atlantic: Cities

Venice Bike Lane Disappears Near Big Box Consumoplex At San Vicente
Flying Pigeon LA

Why Is Twitter So Popular With Transportation Communicators?
Talking Transportation

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.

"Measure R Plus," Gold Line, Crenshaw Subway, CAHSR, 710 Surface Route, LAX Rail, BH Seismic Work & More

2012-01-06T08:35:00.001-08:00

January 6: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History
January 7
January 8
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

2011 DOT Year In Review: FRA Creating Jobs, Building American Infrastructure, Ensuring Safety
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

California High-Speed Rail Authority Meets In L.A. January 12, 2012
StreetsBlog LA

Caltrans Offers Transportation Planning Grants
Santa Clarita Valley News

Can Amtrak Ever Be Profitable?
Freakonomics

City Pushes Transit Officials To Kill 710 Surface Route: Local Lawmakers Want Caltrans To Sell More Than 500 Homes Along The Proposed Route
Pasadena Sun

Commuter Transit Tax Break Could Reclaim Parity With Parking In 2012
StreetsBlog DC

Crenshaw Rail Line Receives Final Approval From FTA
Los Angeles Wave

Crenshaw Subway Coalition Sees Opening In FTA Approval Of Crenshaw Environmental Documents
StreetsBlog LA

Do Rankings Affect Our Opinions Of Cities?
The Atlantic: Cities

Eyes On The Fleet: Civil Rights Stickers Posted On Metro Vehicles
StreetsBlog LA

Feuer Kicks Off Legislative Season With "Measure R Plus" And Fast Track For Rail Challenges
StreetsBlog LA

Gold Line Appeals Ruling, Denies Acting Illegally ("A Superior Court judge ruled last week that the Gold Line Construction Authority violated environmental law when clearing the Monrovia maintenance yard site, but GLCA officials insist the judge erred.")
Monrovia Patch

Gold Line Work Going Ahead While It Fights Bad Legal Break
Curbed LA

How AB 1x 26 Will Pick Up The RDA Carcass
California Planning & Development Report

L.A. County Voters May Be Asked To Extend Transit Sales Tax ("Officials want an item on the November ballot to extend the Measure R levy at least 10 years so they can borrow against the anticipated revenue to complete projects faster.")
Los Angeles Times

Looking To The Skies For Answers: A Second Look At Gondola Transit
Toronto Star

Metro Admits Santa Monica Blvd. Seismic Work Not Adequate
Beverly Hills Courier

Metro Moves Closer To Connecting Light Rail To LAX
Culver City Patch

Monrovia, Gold Line Officials Continue Attempts To Reach Land Deal For Maintenance Yard
Pasadena Star-News

New System Uses Radar To Detect Bicyclists At Intersections
Wired

New Town Square At Port Of LA Breaks Ground This Month
Curbed LA

New York Ferries: The First Smartphone Payment System For Transit?
Human Transit

Opinion: Pranksters To Exercise The Right To Bare Legs ("If you're not interested in seeing more of your fellow passengers than you're accustomed to, avoid the Red Line this Sunday.")
Los Angeles Times

Paved, But Still Alive ("There are said to be at least 105 million and maybe as many as 2 billion parking spaces in the United States.")
New York Times

Public Input Period For Glendale's Master Bike Plan Is Drawing To A Close
Burbank Leader

Residents Sue Over Crumbling L.A. ("Every one of the hundreds of commercial and residential developments in the past 10 years has been approved by the City Council with no clear way for them to know if our infrastructure can handle them.")
LA Weekly

Ron Paul: Subsidizing Highways, Let "Transits" Flourish
StreetsBlog DC

Six Projects That Will Shape Downtown's Districts In 2012
Los Angeles Downtown News

State Bill Targets Buy Here Pay Here Used-Car Lots
Los Angeles Times

The Struggle To Define L.A.'s Transitional Moment (A look back at Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne's yearlong study of the 27 seminal works about L.A.'s urban history)
The Atlantic: Cities

What's The Outlook For Smart Buildings In 2012?
Infrastructurist

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.

Crenshaw Line, Gold Line, Universal City Station, 710 Gap, 2012 Predictions, LA's Lost Tunnels, Freeway Pollution & More

2012-01-05T08:43:00.001-08:00

January 5: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

2012: Another Big Year For Motorized Transit In L.A. (Initial list of several local transit-related events on tap for the year)
StreetsBlog LA

2012 Is The Year America Must Get Serious About Its Infrastructure
Forbes

After Three Decades, Tax Credit For Ethanol Expires
New York Times

At The Start Of 2012: Downtown's Continuing Rollercoaster Ride (More transit, Union Station and more)
KCET

Can California Afford To Build High-Speed Rail? (audio)
KCRW Which Way L.A.?

Congressional Inaction On Extending Commuter Benefits Leads Public Transit Riders To See Taxes Increase More Than $550 In 2012
APTA Press Release

Crenshaw Light Rail Line Wins Final Approval From Feds
Daily Breeze

The Current Dispute Over High Speed Rail Job Numbers
Fox & Hounds

Did $98.5 Billion High-Speed Rail Project Just Hit A Wall In California? ("An independent review panel says the plan for a high-speed rail corridor linking northern and southern California poses 'an immense financial risk' to the state and should not move forward.")
Christian Science Monitor

Gold Line Files Objection To Court Ruling
Pasadena Star-News

GOP Candidates' Transportation Infrastructure Talk Praises Tolls But Ignores Jobs
Huffington Post

Groups Want Pollution Monitoring Near California Freeways
Los Angeles Daily News

Ideas For Downtown LA: Redesign 888 International Tower Plaza Into A Pedestrian-Friendly Open Space
Brigham Yen

Is It Time For Metro Rail To Get A Face Lift?
StreetsBlog LA

LADOT: Finally Getting Serious About Safe Routes To School?
StreetsBlog LA

LA, Long Beach Ports End Dirty Truck Fees
Journal Of Commerce

Lost Tunnels Of Downtown L.A. ("Other tunnels in downtown Los Angeles, including L.A.'s first subway, were landmarks for decades but are no longer open for exploration or exploitation." Includes several vintage photos from Metro Transportation Library and other local collections)
LA as Subject via KCET

Making Streets Safer With On-Street Bike Parking (video)
StreetFilms

Microwave Radar Gun Helps Time Traffic Lights For Bicyclists
Government Technology

NBC's Big MetroStudios Project Killed, Smaller Facility Planned ("Known as MetroStudios@Lankershim, the project would have been built in two phases above the Metro Red Line station on Lankershim Boulevard across from Universal Studios. NBC Universal would have been its anchor tenant.")
Los Angeles Business Journal

One Anti-Rail Congress Is No Reason To Delay California HSR
StreetsBlog Network

Opinion: Bus Drivers And Subway Workers Are The Real Environmentalists
New York Daily News

Opinion: Why California Needs High-Speed Rail
San Francisco Chronicle

Paramount Boulevard Bridge Won't Be Complete For Six To Eight Months
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Performance Measures For Public Transit Mobility Management (202p. PDF)
Texas Transportation Institute

Pol Proposes Measure R Extension, Legal Fast Track For Rail ("Today, [California Assemblyman Mike] Feuer introduced legislation in Sacramento for a pseudo-Measure R sequel that would allow voters to extend the length of the tax increase, which currently lasts until 2039. The new deadline has yet to be determined. The move "would enable Metro to bond against future Measure R proceeds and build those transit projects much sooner than originally contemplated, without relying on federal or state funding.")
Curbed LA
Feuer Legislation Would Expedite L.A. County Transit Projects, Creating Construction Jobs And Reducing Congestion
Mike Feuer, California Assembly 42nd District, Press Release

Public Transit To LAX Kinda, Sorta Closer To Reality: Crenshaw Light Rail Project Gets Federal OK
LAist

The Rail Story Of Transforming Los Angeles (January 20 : Panel discussion : "Can stations be designed to integrate into the growing Metro system, cognizant of scarce public dollars, while also being emblematic of the communities where they are located? What do communities around the new stations want to become and what can planners, developers, and community activists do to ensure these outcomes? What can Los Angeles learn from other cities?")
Westside Urban Forum

Report Of Minnesota's Mileage-Based User Fee Policy Task Force (24p. PDF)
Minnesota State DOT

Romney Wins Iowa, Loses The Rail-Passenger Vote
StreetsBlog DC

South Pasadena Council To Discuss Metro's SR-710 Extension Environmental Study Tonight
Pasadena Star-News

Success Factors In The Reduction Of Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Incidents (4p. PDF)
Federal Railroad Administration Research Results

Sword-Inspired Chinese Train Hits 311 MPH In Testing
GizMag

Trains And Buses Leap Ahead This Year
Riverside Press-Enterprise

Urban Information Networks, Part 1: The Invisible Rendered Visible ("An example of how information enables the inhabitants to most effectively use the immediately available capacity of the total, multi-modal transportation system comes from our work with CalTrans.")
Building A Smarter Planet
Part 2: Information For Resource Management
Part 3: Open Data 2.0

Your Customers Are Mobile, Are You?
Talking Transportation

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.

Union Station, Expo Line, OC Toll Road, CAHSR Threatened, LA-Coachella Valley Train & More

2012-01-04T08:48:00.001-08:00

January 4: This Date In Los Transportation History
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Bay Area Tries To Rein In Greenhouse Gases With Growth/Transportation Plans
Silicon Valley Mercury News

Big Blue Bus Gets New COO
Santa Monica Daily Press

California High-Speed Rail Funding Could Be In Jeopardy
Los Angeles Times

County's Transportation Priority Loses Out On Federal Funds
Ventura County Star

Cycle Like The Danes To Cut Carbon Emissions, Says Study (A warning that it would be a mistake to invest heavily in technological solutions like electric cars)
Guardian (U.K.)
Cycle More Often 2 Cool Down The Planet!: Quantifying CO2 Savings Of Cycling (16p. PDF)
European Cyclists' Federation

A Daily Passenger Train Between LA And The Coachella Valley?
Southern California Public Radio

Districts To Pick Up School Bus Tab: Glendale And Burbank Won't Cut Transportation Services Despite Loss Of State Money
Burbank Leader

Editorial: Excuses And Hot Air Dogging Expo Line: New Problem Real, But Why Is It Coming Up Now?
Los Angeles Daily News

Experts: Don't Build $99 Billion California Bullet Train
Silicon Valley Mercury News

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Announces Proposed Enhancements To Passenger Train Emergency Systems
U.S. DOT Press Release

In Iowa, GOP Candidates Ignore Transportation And Urban Issues
StreetsBlog DC

Local Transit's Future Depends On The Feds ("It doesn't come up in the debates, it's not a line in the stump speeches, but transportation advocates in the nation's largest city believe the 2012 election will decide the future of mass transit in the United States.")
City Limits

Mini Carmageddon East? 210 Freeway Closures Overnight For Gold Line Construction
LAist

The Nature Of Context-Sensitive Solutions, Stakeholder Involvement And Critical Issues In The Urban Context (97p. PDF)
Mineta Transportation Institute

New Transportation TV Program Launches To Highlight Innovation
AASHTO Press Release

O.C. Road Agency Brings Toll Project Back From The Dead
StreetsBlog LA

The Problem With Naming Transit Stations ("A fear of commercialism is the least of many reasons why cities should cease recycling this tired idea.")
The Atlantic: Cities

Public Policy By Extension ("What will happen if there are more extensions of the aviation and surface transportation authorizations? Are there benefits, even small ones, to putting off the tough decisions until lawmakers are in a better mood? Would it make sense to punt and extend both authorizations until 2013? Or should Congress force the discussion by enacting shorter-term stopgaps? Will there be genuine political consequences (like members' seats at risk) if Congress fails to complete the transportation measures?")
National Journal Transportation Experts Blog

Putting The Brakes On: Constance Harris Is Retiring After 35 Years As A Long Beach Transit Bus Driver
Long Beach Press-Telegram

The Real Reason Why Bicycles Are The Key To Better Cities ("The most vital element for the future of our cities is that the bicycle is an instrument of experiential understanding.")
Secret Republic

Record Fuel Exports Don't Mean The U.S. Is Not Addicted To Foreign Oil
StreetsBlog DC

Rethinking Transit: How Cities Are Repairing Disconnects Between Downtowns And Historic Neighborhoods ("As Los Angeles embarks on building the largest, most comprehensive transit system in the country, reconsidering factors such as density and integration into the surrounding neighborhoods will determine how Union Station becomes a new heart and center for the city.")
Urban Land Institute

Review Urges Delay In Borrowing Billions For Bullet Train ("State-mandated panel concludes that the high-speed rail program 'is not financially feasible.' Gov. Jerry Brown's office signals that he isn't likely to be swayed by the findings.")
Los Angeles Times

Romney: I'd Stop Funding Amtrak
Transportation Nation

Santa Clarita Transit Bus Routes To Change Jan. 9
Santa Clarita Valley Signal

Use Of Buses Increases At Local Colleges
San Bernardino Sun

Webinar: Public Transportation Systems As Foundation For Economic Growth (free : January 12)
Rutgers University National Transit Institute

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.

Gold Line Ruling, Expo Opening, Orange Line Extension, 2012 Starts, BH vs. Metro, This Date In History, CRAs, Hwy Commission Anniversary & More

2012-01-03T08:25:00.000-08:00

January 3: This Date In Los Angeles Transportation History
Metro Transportation Library & Archive begins 2012 with the launch of a new feature today, celebrating the anniversaries of both notable events and little-known milestones in our transit and transportation history dating back to the 1870s. We are building out dates for the entire year with links to photos, videos, documents and more, as well as a searchable calendar on our Primary Resources blog.

100 Years Ago Today: The California State Highway Commission, Caltrans Predecessor, Is Launched
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

2011's Biggest Transportation Failures
The Atlantic: Cities

BART Airport Connector Rising But Still Stirring Debate
Oakland Tribune

BART Planners Begin Work On New Vision For Future ("54 years and 4 million people later, it's BART's turn to think big. Planners are working on a new vision for the future - one that could include express trains, all-night service, new stations along existing lines, trains traveling different routes and extensions.")
San Francisco Chronicle

Between The Lines ("That prized garage space or curbside spot you’ve been yearning for may be costing you—and the city—in ways you never realized. A journey into the world of parking, where meter maids are under siege, everybody’s on the take, and the tickets keep on coming." Includes an interview with and profile of Donald Shoup and has caught the attention of a Decatur, Georgia web news outlet)
Los Angeles Magazine

BHUSD's $15/K Month Lobbyist Fights Fed Funding For Subway
Curbed LA
Board Of Ed Extends Contract Of D.C. Lobbyists: The School District Is Spending $15,000 A Month To Persuade Federal Officials To Oppose Metro's Proposal To Tunnel Under BHHS
Beverly Hills Patch

Bleak New Year For Los Angeles River Parklands Unless Developer Walks Away From Sale
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

The Bold Urban Future Starts Now: Cities Are Broke? Unimaginative? Hardly. From Coast To Coast, These 2012 Projects Will Be Transformative
Salon

Buena Park Eyes Beach Boulevard Takeover
Orange County Register

Burbank Officials Eye Nearly $1M For Bikeway ("A 12-foot wide path for cyclists and pedestrians that would stretch from the Lake-Alameda Greenway to the Metrolink station downtown.")
Glendale News-Press

Busway Extension From Canoga Park To Chatsworth Ahead Of Schedule ("Construction is expected to be completed by June, about two months earlier than originally expected.")
Los Angeles Daily News

California Cities Seek Restoration Of Some Redevelopment Spending ("Some say that if the state Legislature doesn't act soon, there will be lawsuits, layoffs and more economic stagnation. An aide to Gov. Jerry Brown calls the rhetoric 'exaggerated and often untrue.'")
Los Angeles Times

Caltrans Wants To Shed Responsibilities For Highway 39 ("After announcing three months ago it was dropping plans to reopen the long-closed upper portion of Highway 39, Caltrans is now pursuing plans to legally abandon the highway used by millions to access the Angeles National Forest.")
Pasadena Star-News

Candidates Steer Clear Of Transportation Before Iowa
Politico

Clock Is Ticking On Taylor Yard Purchase Option For Potential Riverfront State Park Site
Curbed LA

Congress Adjourns Without Passing Transit Benefit Extension
Passenger Transport

Content Marketing: We Are The Media
Talking Transportation

A Developer's Option Could Take The Rio Out Of Rio De Los Angeles State Park
LA Creek Freak

Double Dose Of Bad News For The Gold Line Extension
Curbed LA

Driving Has Lost Its Cool For Young Americans
Grist

Editorial: Away With The CRAs
Los Angeles Daily News

Editorial: How We Go To Work Each Day ("Ensuring that in the future many of their residents will be able to live and work in the same town should absolutely be a priority for our dozens of city halls in eastern L.A. County.")
Pasadena Star-News

Editorial: The Recession Squeeze On Buses And Trains ("Of the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gas tax, only 2.86 cents goes to public transit and almost all of the rest is reserved for highways. Although Congress has increased transit support in recent years, it is still too stingy to maintain stable services in many areas.")
New York Times

Editorial: TSA Spreading Its Wings Beyond Airports
Orange County Register

Elimination Of Redevelopment Imperils Ongoing Projects, Stops Future Developments In Their Tracks
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Expo Line Opening Delayed While Bugs Are Worked Out
Park La Brea News / Beverly Press

Firm To Start Designs For Metrolink Parking Structure
Orange County Register

Flashmob Performs Lil Wayne's "How To Love" On L.A.'s Subway
KCET

For High-Speed Rail, Support In The Past From G.O.P. Presidential Hopefuls
New York Times

Gold Line Confident Ruling Will Be Overturned ("A Superior Court Judge ruled Wednesday that the environmental study of a site in Monrovia violated the law, potentially forcing the Gold Line to repeat the environmental review process and delaying the Foothill Extension indefinitely.")
Altadena Patch

High Court's Ruling To Kill Redevelopment Surprises Santa Monica
Brentwood Patch

The Hollywood Community Plan Update: A Fiasco In The Making
CityWatch

How To Pay For America's Infrastructure
The Atlantic: Cities

If Not A Groundbreaking Year, Then A Year For Groundbreakings
Los Angeles Downtown News

Important Reminders For Rose Bowl Travelers (A Wisconsin media outlet advises readers on navigating Los Angeles, warning those attending they must rent a car to attend the Rose Bowl because "the public transportation is not reliable and not convenient. It's not located near any of the tourist hot spots.")
TMJ4

In Madrid's Heart, Park Blooms Where A Freeway Once Blighted (An ambitious 6-mile long freeway cap park is proving wildly successful in several ways)
New York Times

Judge: Gold Line Construction Authority Violated Environmental Laws
Pasadena Star-News

LA's Big Year In Transportation, Planning, And Parks
Curbed LA

Learning From Expo's Early Problems ("Planners say money and deadline troubles in the first phase have wised them up for the second. And train-timing issues that have prompted delays in the first part of the route shouldn't affect the last, from Culver City to Santa Monica.")
Culver City Patch

Local Funding For Public Transportation Operations: Producing Inequitable Results?
The Transport Politic

Los Angeles And Long Beach Ports See Market Share Trickle Away ("The twin port complex expects to end 2011 having moved 200,000 fewer cargo containers than last year as East Coast docks gain business.")
Los Angeles Times

Nearly $10 Million Approved For Expo Line Betterments
Santa Monica Mirror

New York's Lost Subways (Complete With Map And Dusty Pics)
Transportation Nation

Night Life, Night Train Finally Connect In L.A.: The Red Line Subway Linking Downtown And Hollywood, With Its Thriving Club Scene, Draws Hipsters Who Yearn To Be Cosmopolitan And Are Drawn To The Renegade. Fans Of Classical Music Ride The Line To Concerts Too
Los Angeles Times

NYU Students Create "MetroChange" To Deal With Your Leftover MetroCard Money ("The physical card would be taken for recycling, and the money on it would go to charity." Includes video)
Gothamist

Opening And Construction Starts Planned For 2012 ("At least 33 metropolitan areas in the U.S. — and five in Canada — are planning to invest in new BRT, streetcar, light rail, metro rail, or commuter rail projects in 2012.")
The Transport Politic

Opinion: The Future Of Hollywood ("The mayor and other city officials have big plans, for jobs, transit and housing. Residents worry about being left out of the process.")
Los Angeles Times

Overturning Of Prop. 13 Sought In Lawsuit
San Francisco Chronicle

Plan To Use Amtrak As Fallback For High-Speed Rail Criticized ("Federal rules require another use for the track if the high-speed project unravels. But Amtrak officials have concerns about changing their popular Central Valley route.")
Los Angeles Times

Reading L.A.: The Once And Future Plaza, Nature In The City
Los Angeles Times

Redevelopment Will Be Back -- But At What Price?
California Planning & Development Report

Reid Wants To Move FAA, Highway Bills In 2012
Politico

Road Construction Continues Into 2012 And Beyond
Riverside Press-Enterprise

San Gabriel River Bike Trail Closed Until Late January Near Whittier Narrows
Pasadena Star-News

Technical Problems Delay Expo Line's Debut: Metro Says Issues With Circuitry And Ventilation Must Be Fixed Before It Can Finish Testing The Expo Line And Training Operators
Los Angeles Times

Transit Commuter Tax Benefit Will Be Slashed Almost In Half January 1
Huffington Post

Transportation LA: Wishing Well For 2012 (Part 1) and (Part 2)
CityWatch

Transportation: The Four Irrefutable Lessons Of 2011
CityWatch

United States Highway Projects Get Little Oversight
News-Press

An Urbanist's 2012 Calendar
The Atlantic: Cities

What's Ahead For Transportation In 2012? ("The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials offers this look at the top 10 issues that will be talked, written, or tweeted about and legislated in the year ahead.")
PR Newswire

Wilshire Subway: This Train Keeps Coming Back To The Station
CityWatch

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.

Metro Free On Christmas Eve & New Years Eve, Gold Line Monrovia, LA & LB Ports, Year In Review & More

2011-12-23T07:47:00.000-08:00

We are taking a holiday break next week and will return January 3, 2012. We wish all our readers and supporters Happy Holidays and the best of everything in the coming New Year!

Snow Globe Los Angeles from All Cut Up Films on Vimeo.

$6 Billion Needed For Southern California's $40 Billion Need ("The region would need to spend $40 billion over the next 25 years to create the sort of walkable and bikeable communities it says it wants. That’s nearly eight times as much as SCAG is recommending.")
The Atlantic: Cities

2011 DOT Year In Review: FTA Connects Americans With Transit Investments
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

Another Test In Providing A Transportation Network To Serve All Segments Of Society (Incorporating Greyhound service into multimodal transit stations)
Transportation Issues Daily

The Case For Business Investment In Public Transportation
Infrastructure USA

City Officials Reopen First Street Bridge
Rafu Shimpo

The Delusion And Deception In Megaproject Cost Estimates
The Atlantic: Cities

Editorial: U.S. Senate Bill Clouds Effort To Clean Up Trucks At Long Beach And L.A. Ports
Los Angeles Daily News

Free Bus And Rail Service Offered On Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve ("The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is offering free bus and rail service on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The free rides are available between 9 p.m. Saturday and 2 a.m. Sunday, then again Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. Officials said the free service is a move to prevent drunk driving and promote a safe holiday season.")
Los Angeles Times
Officials Promote Free Rides On Christmas Eve And New Years Eve
The Source

Gold Line Board Moves To Condemn Monrovia Land ("The Gold Line Construction Authority will pursue eminent domain action to take Monrovia's land in case a court ruling effectively voids a $56 million deal it reached with the city.")
Monrovia Patch

A Look Inside The "Spectacular" $1.4B Fulton Street Transit Center (23 photos accompany story about Manhattan's new subway hub opening in 2014)
DNA Info

Los Angeles, Then And Now (1894-2011)
The Atlantic: Cities

NYC Transit Offers Email Alerts For Elevator And Escalator Status
Transit Wire

Opinion: Bay Area Airport Connector Should Be Cautionary Tale For LA Metro
California Progress Report

Opinion: Constellation Station On Track With The Facts
Beverly Hills Patch
Westwood-Century City Patch Version

SF Bay Transit Panel Squabbles Over HQ Membership
San Francisco Chronicle

Tanker Fire: $2 Million In Federal Aid Will Help Fix 60 Freeway
Los Angeles Times

Transit As A Stepping Stone To Prosperity
Regional Plan Association

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.

LA-Palm Springs Rail?, Glendale, HSR, Vegas Monorail, Millennials & Cars, 2011 "Best Of" Lists & More

2011-12-22T08:45:00.000-08:00

2011 Streetsies: It Was The Worst Of Times
StreetsBlog LA

BBB Reduces Service During Holidays
Santa Monica Daily Press

The Best Metro Data Releases Of 2011
The Atlantic: Cities

Best Of 2011: Designing High-Speed Rail's Future
Next American City

Building Your Professional Network In 140 Characters Or Less: How Social Media Tools Can Enhance Professional Networking (Annual TRB meeting session spotlight)
Young Professionals In Transportation

California High-Speed Rail: To 2012 And Beyond!
California Progress Report

Caltrans To Study Cost Of Palm Springs Area Train Service: State To Research Creating Or Expanding Local Passenger Rail Line ("A $400,000 study will be launched in January to explore the potential ridership and inevitable costs of creating a new passenger rail system between the Coachella Valley and Los Angeles.")
Desert Sun

City Renews Rail High-Speed Rail Ties: Council Approves Membership Dues To High-Speed Orange Line Plan ("The authority began in 2003 to explore the possibility of a high-speed rail line between Orange and Los Angeles counties that was expected to cost more than $19 billion.")
Glendale News Press

GSA Will Put Federal Agencies Near Metro Stations
Better! Cities & Towns

How Monorail's Fate Might Have Been Different
Vegas Inc.

L.A., O.C. Gas Prices Fall For 41st Consecutive Day
Los Angeles Daily News

LA Unified Files For Court Order To Stop Midyear Busing Funding Cuts
Southern California Public Radio

Most California High-Speed Rail Jobs Too Good To Be True
Silicon Valley Mercury News

New Study: Millennials Prefer Car "Access Over Ownership"
The City Fix
Milennials & Driving (survey results : "Millennials welcome the collaborative consumption movement and are motivated to participate in sharing programs like car sharing because of potential savings they could accumulate for major milestones such as retirement, housing, and college tuition.")
Zipcar via Slidshare

Photos: Holiday Celebrations Of SoCal's Past (Metro Transportation Library's collection of historic holiday photos features prominently)
LA as Subject via KCET

Repairing 60 Freeway Overpass Could Cost More Than $5 Million ("Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Lakewood) says the work could be paid for with federal funds if it is completed in six months. Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency at the busy freeway corridor.")
Los Angeles Times

San Clemente Celebrates Railroad Quiet Zone
Orange County Register

Senate's Changes To TIFIA Could Mean More Toll Roads, Less Transit
StreetsBlog DC

TIGER III Will Boost Freight Transportation But Not Transform It
StreetsBlog DC

Top Cities Stories Of 2011
Grist

Transportation Contracts Should Always Require Open Data
Greater Greater Washington

Truck Tolling: Understanding Industry Tradeoffs When Using Or Avoiding Toll Facilities (90p. PDF)
National Cooperative Freight Research Program / National Cooperative Highway Research Program

Why The World Needs To Start Car-Sharing (detailed infographic)
This Big City

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.

1st Street Bridge, Archival Christmas Images, Hollywood Fwy Anniversary, GAO & High Speed Rail, TIGER III & More

2011-12-21T07:58:00.000-08:00

60 Years Ago, Hollywood Freeway Opened Through Civic Center
Blog Downtown

2011 Streetsies: It Was The Best Of Times
StreetsBlog LA

77% Of Americans Oppose Raising The Gas Tax, Reason-Rupe Transportation Poll Finds
Sacramento Bee
Reason-Rupe Public Opinion Survey Winter 2011 Topline Results (13p. PDF)
Reason Foundation

AIA Los Angeles: Political Leadership Could Bolster Green Design
The Planning Report

Baldwin Park Plans To Construct Transit Center
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Barbara Boxer's Transportation Bill Would Drop Environmental Criteria In Much-Touted TIFIA Loan Program
Huffington Post

The Best City Reads Of 2011
The Atlantic: Cities

Beverly Hills School District To Conduct Earthquake Study; Hoping To Disprove Metro's Findings
LA Weekly

Biking And Walking Score Big In TIGER III
StreetsBlog DC

Calif. Governor Brown Declares State Of Emergency Following State Route 60 Accident
California Wire

Candy Cane Buses And Streetcars Of The Past (Vintage images of 1950s Los Angeles transit decked out for the holidays)
Metro Transportation Library via Flickr
Historic Santa Claus Images From Los Angeles' Transit Past (1950s-1980s)
Metro Transportation Library via Flickr
Christmas Transit Photos From The Archives: 1953 Hollywood Boulevard And More
Metro Transportation Library via Flickr

Check Out Hollywood Boulevard Decked Out For Christmas In The 1940s (video)
LAist

Despite Lower Gas Prices, Public Transit Riders Still Reap Big Savings
APTA Press Release

Engineering Talk: Explaining Transportation From The User's Perspective (First post in new blog focusing on communicating about the transportation industry)
Talking Transportation

A Fatal Bullet For The California Bullet Train (Seven important questions should now be asked about California high-speed rail)
CityWatch

First Street Bridge P Line Streetcar (The bridge just reopened after a 3-year closure -- here's how it looked with LAMTA streetcar service in 1963)
Metro Transportation Library via Flickr

Fixing Suburbs With Green Streets That Accomodate Everyone
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Gas Takes Its Biggest Bite Out Of Family Budget In 30 Years
Chicago Tribune

Gold Line Construction Authority To Weight Eminent Domain For Monrovia Land
Pasadena Star-News

Health Benefits Of Ciclovia Events Outweigh Costs
StreetsBlog Networks

The Honor System In Public Transit (Lookst at enforcement of Metro Rail and Metrolink fares and ticketing)
Long Beach Post

How To Boost Biking And Walking Even Further In Your City
Shareable

Improving Value Of Travel Time Savings Estimation For More Effective Transportation Project Evaluation (91p. PDF)
University Of South Florida Center For Urban Transportation Research

Infographic Says Angelenos Could Buy 36 Christmas Trees With Money Wasted Annually In Traffic
LAist

L.A.'s Historic 1st Street Bridge Reopens After 3-Year Closure ("Los Angeles officials hail the restoration of a cultural link between the city's core and neighborhoods to the east. The bridge carries tracks of the Gold Line's Eastside extension.")
Los Angeles Times

Leveraging Transit To Remake Suburbia
ULI

Mapping Sustainable Communities Awards
Reconnecting America

McCarthy Requests Federal High-Speed Rail Audit ("Rep. Kevin McCarthy joined 11 other Republican members of the House this week in requesting a federal audit of California's high-speed rail project. Monday's letter asks the Government Accountability Office, Congress' investigative arm, to dig into the $98 billion project's "viability and questionable ridership and costs projections.")
Bakersfield Californian
House Republicans Want Inquiry Into California High-Speed Rail ("Because of the agency's carefully maintained reputation for neutrality and thoroughness, a GAO study could effectively shape both public and political attitudes toward the California project. One way or another, it's likely to become ammunition...Other Republican lawmakers signing the letter, from California, are Reps. Darrell Issa, John Campbell, Brian Bilbray, Duncan Hunter, Tom McClintock, Gary Miller, Buck McKeon and Devin Nunes.")
McClatchy via Miami Herald

Meet The Woman In Charge Of Not Blowing Up The 405 Freeway
Curbed LA
Meet The 405 Project's Utility Player
Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor, Third District

New Year, New Ocean Park: SaMo Street Facelift Starts Soon
Curbed LA

Newt Gingrich: Rail Visionary, Lover Of Oil
Transportation Nation

Next-Level GPS Helps You Avoid Traffic Snarls
Globe And Mail (Canada)

OC Freeway Signs Now Tell You How Much Faster The Train Is
Curbed LA

Online City Of Los Angeles Bikeway Map Now Available
LADOT Bike Blog
Downloadable Maps

Perris Station Transit Center Wins CTF Transportation Award
Newswire Today

Recapturing Global Leadership In Bus Rapid Transit: A Survey Of Select U.S. Cities (80p. PDF)
Institute For Transportation & Development Policy

Regional Planning For A Sustainable America: How Creative Programs Are Promoting Prosperity And Saving The Environment
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Senate Bill Would Allow Other Ports To Mimic L.A.'s Clean Trucks Program
Daily Breeze

Southland Leaders Praise Reopening Of Iconic 1st Street Bridge
Southern California Public Radio

TIGER III: A Big And Agile Cat, With Legs
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

TSA Officials Form Holiday Chorus At LAX (video : The agency tries to soften its image)
American Public Media Marketplace

Vintage Los Angeles Map Shows What To Do In The "Wonder City Of America"
LAist

What We Can Learn From City Busways ("The Orange Line, on the other hand, is considered one of the best BRT systems in the country...Since opening in late October of 2005, at a cost of $324 million, ridership has grown steadily; in the past few years it's risen from about 574,000 in November 2009 to 640,000 in November 2011.")
The Atlantic: Cities

Wilshire Grand Hotel Closes Doors Forever Just Shy Of 60th Birthday
Blog Downtown

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.

Crenshaw Line, Westside Subway, Metro Civil Rights, CAHSR in Federal Spotlight, Mobility 21, TIGER III, Port of LA & More

2011-12-19T08:25:00.000-08:00

1959 Film From ULI And National Association Of Homebuilders Warns Of Urban Sprawl (video)
ULI via YouTube

Another Optional Station "Approved" By The Metro Board For Crenshaw Line
StreetsBlog LA

Are We Over High Speed Rail In California?
Southern California Public Radio

Board Approves 3 Month Extension For Venable ("The BHUSD Board of Education continues to keep its arsenal full against the Metro Westside Subway Extension tunnel under Beverly High.")
Beverly Hills Courier

Both Sides Of Pomona Freeway Reopen
NBC Los Angeles

BRU To Metro: Let Public In On Civil Rights Remedies
StreetsBlog LA

Can Americans Make The Switch From Driving To Biking To Work?
Infrastructurist

The Case For Business Investment In Public Transportation (9p. PDF)
APTA

Congressional Transportation Committee Debates CA High Speed Rail
Planetizen

Even In Austere Era, Mitt Romney Promises To Fund Roads, Bridges, And Rail ("Mitt Romney says he doesn’t like borrowing, but he’d do it for infrastructure.")
Transportation Nation

A Fatal Bullet For The California Bullet Train?
CityWatch

Federal Transportation Bill Moves 2 Steps Forward And 1 Step Back In 2011
Transportation Issues Daily

GOP Lawmakers Critical Of Calif. Rail Proposal
Business Week

Griffith Park Turns 115, First Street Bridge Reopening
Curbed LA

Indy To Repurpose Stadium Seats At Bus Stops
Urbanophile

It's Politics: High-Speed Rail Battle Continues
Pasadena Star-News

LA County Unemployment Drops: November Marked The Lowest Jobless Rate In The Southland In Two Years
NBC Los Angeles

A Little Older, A Little Wider, First Street Viaduct Opens
Blog Downtown

Long Beach Transit Offers Free Transportation New Year's Eve
Everything Long Beach

A Measure Of Bicycling Impact On Your Community: Media Attention And Business Generation
Bikeable Communities ("The January 2012 issue of Sunset Magazine, Western America’s largest-circulation regional magazine (more than 1 million subscribers), highlighted Long Beach’s East Village and touted it as a “bike to” destination.”)
Southern California Weekend
Sunset

Mobility 21 Touts $37 Million Funding Award For So Cal Transportation: Riverside County Transportation Commission and Port Of Long Beach Receive Competitive Federal Funding
MarketWatch

Nancy Pelosi: California High-Speed Rail Is On Track
The State Column

The New California Dream: How Demographic And Economic Trends May Shape The Housing Market -- A Land Use Scenario For 2020 And 2035 (73p. PDF : "Housing and neighborhood preference surveys indicate that Californians consider transit options to be far more important in choosing a location in which to live than the rest of the nation: 71 percent in California, compared with 47 percent nationally.")
Urban Land Institute

New Federal "TIGER" Transportation Grants Direct Some Funding To Green Infrastructure Projects, But More Investment Is Needed
Natural Resources Defense Fund Switchboard Blog

New Mexico City Buses Cut Pollution, Generate Cash ("Mexico City's sleek new public bus system is attracting significant international funding in carbon credit sales.")
Reuters

NJ Senator Lautenberg Introduces Bill To Limit Bridge And Tunnel Tolls
StreetsBlog DC

NYC's Top 2011 Google Searches (The top 3 searches are all transit-related)
Huffington Post

Paint Coming Off Green Bike Lane Again
Los Angeles Downtown News

Port Of Los Angeles Gets $17 Million To Speed Trains
Long Beach Press-Telegram

Republican Leaders Seek To Apply Brakes To Bullet Train Project
Los Angeles Times

Santa Monica City Council Approves Development With No Parking ("Under a unique Development Agreement, the Santa Monica City Council voted Tuesday to require the developer of a [56-unit] Downtown housing project that provides no on-site parking to pay $125,000 for transit improvements"..."“We are agreeing to give priority to people without cars”)
Santa Monica Lookout

Transit Flexibility Bill Introduced By Senator Brown Is Badly Needed In Many Cities
Transportation For America

Two Month Drilling Study Begins On BHHS Campus: In An Effort To Stop Metro From Approving A Subway Route That Goes Under The High School, BHUSD Has Hired A Firm To Determine If Faults Under The Campus Are Active
Beverly Hills Patch

Westside Subway Extension Feud: Did Metro Rig A Century City Fault Study To Move The Purple Line?
LA Weekly

Whittier Officials Consider Hiring A Lobbyist To Fight For Light-Rail Line To The City
Whittier Daily News

Will Americans Be Stranded? Inadequate Or Poorly Maintained Transportation: A Looming Crisis
Renew America

Zurich, The World's Best Transit City
Planetizen

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.

60 Freeway, Gold Line Expenditures, BHHS Drilling, TIGER III, Bus Shelters, Van Nuys At 100, ONT & More

2011-12-16T07:38:00.000-08:00

60 Freeway Closure Sends Commuters To Metrolink: Ridership Was Up Thursday On Metrolink Trains, As Commuters Scrambled For New Ways To Get Around
NBC Los Angeles

60 Freeway Shutdown Makes The Case For Dedicated Truck Lanes
Whittier Daily News

100 Years Ago Today: Pacific Electric Railway Reaches Van Nuys, Launching "Wonderful Growth" In The San Fernando Valley
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Advocates For California's High-Speed Rail Line Speak Of State's Growing Transporation Needs
National Association Of Railroad Passengers Press Release

AEG Officials React To New NFL Timeline
Los Angeles Daily News

All Aboard The Transit Hackathon Express: One Day Event Uses Data To Find Creative Solutions To City's Transportation Woes
Montreal Gazette

Antonovich Calls On MTA To Review Gold Line Expenditures
Glendale News-Press

Blocked 60 Freeway Doubles And Triples Drivers' Commute Times: Motorists Taking Alternate Routes Find Other Freeways And Surface Streets Clogged ("Engineers continue assessing damage to the bridge burned by the truck fire and vow to reopen the 60 by 5p.m. Friday.")
Los Angeles Times

Caltrans Will Tear Down Portion Of Overpass Where Truck Ignited
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

City To Start Yanking Out Tracks From Southern Pacific Railroad's Old Alameda Rathole Section
Curbed LA

Congress Puts Off Key Decisions On Transpo Bill And Transit Tax Benefit
StreetsBlog DC

DOT Takes "We Can't Wait" To Heart; TIGER III Projects Announced Ahead Of Schedule
U.S. DOT Fast Lane Blog

Early Data From SFPark: Drivers Still Flock To Blocks With Pricey Parking
StreetsBlog Network

Editorial: High Hopes For New Port Of Long Beach Executive Director Christopher Lytle
Los Angeles Daily News

Environmental Drilling Begins At BHHS
Beverly Hills Courier

Free Rides On New Years Eve
Riverside Transit Agency

GOOD Attacks! L.A.'s Traffic: Will You Be There?
GOOD via Facebook

Have Yourself A Merry TRANSIT Christmas (Beautiful transit holiday photos from around the country)
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

High-Speed Rail In California Is Worrying Itself To Death
StreetsBlog DC

In Chicago, Some Find Public Transit Fares Linked To School Attendance
WBEZ

Infographic Of The Day: How Bikes Can Solve Our Biggest Problems
Fast Company Design

It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's A...Flying Car? ("A $30 million hotel planned for the northwest corner of Fifth Street and Colorado Avenue could be shot out of the air by, of all things, a flying car.")
Santa Monica Daily Press

L.A. Airport Board Discusses Closing One Ontario Terminal ("Ontario International, which has two terminals, has seen a sharp dropoff in passenger traffic. Inland Empire leaders want L.A. to surrender the airport to them.")
Los Angeles Times

LA Streetcar Not Among Winners Announced For 2011 TIGER Grants
Blog Downtown

LA's Christmas Story: No (Bus) Shelter For Mother And Child (Rainy weather prompts the author to share his story that, four years later, bus shelters have not been replaced along Santa Monica Boulevard in West L.A.)
CityWatch

LADOT, Planning, Update Council On Bike Plan: Everything Is Peachy
StreetsBlog LA

L.A. Moving On Up In Milken Study
LA Observed
Best Performing Cities 2011: Where America's Jobs Are Created And Sustained (40p. PDF)
Milken Institute

Metro Board Members Lecture Agency Over Civil Rights Violations: A Federal Audit Finds Civil Rights Violations In The Way Metro Eliminated Bus Lines, Among Other Issues, Prompting Criticism From Elected Officials. The Agency Has Released A Corrective Plan
Los Angeles Times

Metro Suspends Bus Cuts, Additions
EGP News

More Congressional Outrage On High-Speed Rail ("The entire high-speed rail program has been a bait and switch operation,” said T&I Chair John Mica")
Transportation Nation

Nearly Half Of TIGER Award Money Goes To Roads, 29 Percent For Transit
StreetsBlog DC

Ontario Airport Could Close One Of Its Two Terminals
Los Angeles Times

Raising The Gas Tax Makes (Dollars And) Sense
Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard Blog

Santa Monica Approves $9.5 Million To Upgrade Expo Line Stops
Curbed LA

Santa Monica Authorizes Funding For Metro Station Improvements
Santa Monica Lookout

States Foreit $10 Billion Annually Thanks To Outdated Gas Taxes
StreetsBlog DC

Streetcar Misses Out On Federal Funds Again
Los Angeles Downtown News

Transit Users Await Congressional Action On Pretax Benefits
Washington Post

Two-Month Drilling Study To Begin On BHHS Campus: In An Effort To Stop Metro From Approving A Subway Route That Goes Under The High School, BHUSD Has Hired A Firm To Determine If Faults Under The Campus Are Active
Beverly Hills Patch

U.S. Stands By California Bullet Train Project Despite Critics ("We are not going to flinch" on support, an official says at a House committee meeting. The opposition alleges political corruption in the granting of federal funds for the Central Valley segment.")
Los Angeles Times

U.S. To Fund 46 Transportation Projects In 33 States, Puerto Rico
CNN

Westside Subway Extension Feud: Did Metro Rig A Century City Fault Study To Move The Purple Line?
LA Weekly

Why The Feds Continue To Back California's High-Speed Rail Project
Infrastructurist

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.

Crenshaw Westchester Station, Bullet Train Problems, 60 Fwy Closure, Congestion Pricing, Downtown Parking, AB 32, Metro Library Research, ULI & More

2011-12-15T07:38:00.001-08:00

60 Freeway To Be Closed "Into The Weekend" As Bridge Demolished
Los Angeles Times

Are Streetcars The Answer To our Transit And Environmental Needs? ("The streetcar system came to an unfortunate end in 1954, when the last trolleys were pulled from the streets and replaced with buses financed by General Motors. In the conversion process, the transit system was defrauded by company executives and mobsters, several of whom went to jail.")
Minnesota Post

Battlefield L.A.: Where & Why War Came To Southern California
LA As Subject via KCET

Behold: Metro ExpressLanes Congestion Pricing Transponder!
Curbed LA

A Blueprint For Beating Traffic (successful congestion pricing project)
The Atlantic: Cities

Breaking News: High Speed Rail Designed To Achieve High Speeds (Response to yesterday's critical Los Angeles Times article)
California High Speed Rail Blog

The Bullet-Train Misfire ("It's not easy to sell a major infrastructure investment in the fourth year of a bad economy. If California and other states want to reap the potential economic and environmental benefits of high-speed rail, there's very little margin for error.")
Governing

Bullet Train's Travel-Time Mandate Adds To Ballooning Of Costs ("The ballot measure for the project required that the L.A.-to-San Francisco trip take no more than two hours, 40 minutes. Achieving that would mean building more viaducts and tunnels, which are costly.")
Los Angeles Times

Bus Riders Suffer As City Builds Rails
USC Annenberg Neon Tommy

California High-Speed Rail Going Without Statewide PR Contract
Sacramento Bee

The Case For Congestion ("This doesn’t mean that cities should strive for congestion, but they should recognize that traffic is often a sign of dynamism. Moving vehicular traffic is obviously a necessary function, but by making it the only goal, cities lose out on the economic potential created by the crowds of people that bring life to a city.")
The Atlantic: Cities

Downtown Parking Lot Maps (Aerial photographs of many U.S. cities show just how much of our urban centers are dedicated to parking. The visuals may be surprising)
Skyscraper Page

Feds Urge States To Ban Texting, Talking On Roads
Associated Press

Filling The Gap: Chandler Blvd. Bike Lanes Coming Soon
LADOT Bike Blog

Free Holiday Rides On Metro
Los Angeles Downtown News

High Speed Rail Authority Set To Extend Comment Period On New Business Plan
San Francisco Examiner

L.A., Metrolink Work Toward Bike-Friendly City
USC Annenberg Neon Tommy

Light Rail & Streetcar Conference (November 11-13, 2012 : Salt Lake City)
APTA / U.S. Transportation Research Board

Manhattan Beach Trolley Talks Trail On
Easy Reader News

Metro Ignores Bus Riders, Mayor Ignores Housing Authority, Council Members Ignore Reality
KCET

Metro vs. Reason: Agency Calls Foundation's Light Rail Slam "Factually Challenged"
LAist

A More Perfect Union Station: D.C.'s Train Station Is A Mess. Again (Proposals for improved pedestrian access)
Washington City Paper

New And Powerful Transportation Research Tool: Metro Library Launches Robust Catalog Portal
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Policy In Motion: Transportation Planning In California After AB 32
Metro Transportation Library Primary Resources Blog

Rail Outlook 2012: Passenger Rail (Executives from transit systems around the nation, including LACMTA, explain what they see for the coming year)
Progressive Railroading

Rep. Waters Seeks Westchester Stop On Crenshaw Light-Rail Line
Daily Breeze

Senate Commerce Committee Sets The Standard For Transpo Performance
StreetsBlog DC

Senate Committee Takes Positive Steps For Freight, Multimodalism, Performance And Safer Streets
Transportation For America

Subway Swipe Peddlers Aren't Stealing From The [N.Y.] MTA, New York Court Of Appeals Rules ("The court indicated a lesser charge — unauthorized sale of MTA services — would be more appropriate.")
New York Daily News

TriMet Says Crackdown On Fare Cheats Is A Success, Even If It Hasn't Quite Paid For Itself Yet
Oregonian

Urban Land Institute Celebrates 75 Years Of Leadership In Community Building: December 14 Proclaimed "ULI Day" By Mayors, City Council Members In More Than 30 Cities ("Established in Chicago on December 14, 1936, ULI was created to research, analyze, and encourage responsible patterns for long-term urban growth, and to conduct inquiries into what constitutes sound real estate development projects and practices. Starting with about 200 developers based in the U.S., the institute’s membership grew incrementally, and ULI now has nearly 30,000 members worldwide, with 51 district councils in the U.S., 16 national councils in Europe and Asia, and primary offices in Washington, D.C., London and Hong Kong.")
Urban Land Institute Press Release

U.S. To Award Up To $527 Million For Infrastructure
Reuters

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.

Gold Line Bridge, Alameda Street, Westside Bike Projects, MAP-21, HSR Hearing, Gas Tax & More

2011-12-14T08:37:00.000-08:00

Agenda 21 And Other Wacky Theories ("Anti-smart growth ideologues have never shied away from half-truths and dubious arguments, but recent references to Agenda 21, Portland, Detroit, and Denver are unusually strange.")
New Urban Network

Alameda Street Train Tracks Being Removed ("The effort is on to remove all remaining track on Alameda between First and Seventh streets.")
Los Angeles Downtown News

Building A Better Gas Tax: How To Fix One Of State Government's Least Sustainable Revenue Sources (24p. PDF)
Institute On Taxation And Economic Policy
Executive Summary
Press Release

California DUI Deaths Drop To Record Low: California Also Marks The Biggest Single-Year Decline In DUI Deaths In 14 Years. Officials Credit Safety Campaigns
Los Angeles Times

Cellphone Use While Driving Can Kill, NTSB Says, Urging Full Ban
Los Angeles Times

A Closer Look At The Senate's MAP-21: State Of Good Repair
Transportation For America

Federal Transportation Bill Could Mean Big Changes For Freight -- Or Not
Mobilizing The Region

Fitch Affirms Alameda Corridor Transportation Auth, CA's Ratings At "A/BBB+"; Outlook Stable
MarketWatch

FTA: Metro Deficient In Five Of 12 Civil Rights Categories
StreetsBlog LA

Gold Line Basket Bridge Getting Its Weave On In Arcadia
Curbed LA

High Speed Rail Route, Business Plan, Deserve A Chance
StreetsBlog LA

House To Hold Hearing On "Skyrocketing" Cost Of California High-Speed Rail ("The California railway proposal has received more money from the Obama administration than any other project, making it a prime target for GOP critics.")
The Hill

How The Tea Party Is Upending Urban Planning
The Atlantic: Cities

L.A.'s Bike Lane Blues ("After a few blocks of riding, that bright green starts to dim, with sometimes huge splotches chipped off and eaten away, revealing the black pavement and gray concrete beneath. And that’s after a second coat of paint had been added. In a month.")
The Atlantic: Cities

Los Angeles Schools To Sue California Over Bus Cut
Sacramento Bee

McCaskill-Collins: Tax Cuts With A Side Of Infrastructure, But Hold The Transit
StreetsBlog DC

Metro Chastised For Poor Civil Rights Practices
LA Weekly

No Accountability For State DOTs On Highway Projects
StreetsBlog DC

Opinion: Gold Line Transports Gold To Region ("The current construction project is expected to generate nearly 7,000 new jobs (2,600 in construction) and $1 billion in economic output for the region during its four-year construction period.")
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Reclaiming The Interstates From Ike
California Planning & Development Report

Regional Planning Is The New City Planning
GOOD

Revenue For Road Repairs: Raise It Or Reform It -- Is It Time For States To Rethink The Gas Tax?
Governing

San Francisco Finds Performance Parking Less Responsive Than Expected
Greater Greater Washington

Senate Banking Committee To Vote On Transit Section Of Transpo Bill Friday
StreetsBlog DC

Senators To Committee: Protect Transit Benefits Before It's Too Late
StreetsBlog DC

Silver Lake "Road Diet" Would Trim Traffic Lanes Instead Of Carbs
Eastsider LA

Suspicious Package At Union Station Prompts Evacuation
Los Angeles Times

UCLA, Stan And Ollie: Hardy Advocacy Of A Transit Laurel For The Blue And Gold
CityWatch

US Congress Eyes Freight Mobility Fund: New Initiative Proposes To Fund Freight Projects By A New Tax On Users
IFW

USDOT TIGER III Grant Awards Announced ("A number of TIGER III grant announcements are leaking out in advance of the official USDOT announcement.")
Transportation Issues Daily

Ventura's Cool Video Calling For More Bicycle And Pedestrian Funding
StreetsBlog LA

Video Calls Out L.A. Light Rail Trains For High Costs, Energy Consumption & Slow Speeds
LAist

We Are The 25%: Looking At Street Area Percentages And Surface Parking
Old Urbanist

Westside COG Considers Biking Projects: Representatives From The Westside cities Council of Government Met Monday To Discuss Regional Transportation Planning ("Beverly Hills, Culver City, West Hollywood and Santa Monica as well as Westside portions of Los Angeles and unincorporated Los Angeles County.")
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.