Transportation headlines, Friday, May 25

Posted May 25, 2012 by in Transportation Headlines
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Here is a look at some of the transportation headlines gathered by us and the Metro Library. The full list of headlines is posted on the Library’s Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.

Sen. Boxer: ‘Great progress’ on highway bill negotiations; deal possible by end of June (The Hill)

It’s safe to say that I’m no longer holding my breath on this federal transpo bill. But it’s heartening to hear from Senator Boxer that the committee of Representatives and Senators of both parties that she is leading has apparently been working productively and in good faith. Boxer says they’re about 80 percent of the way to having a finished product and could wrap things up as early as June.

Designing a walking L.A.: An interview with Los Angeles Walks found Deborah Murphy (Core 77)

The work of stalwart pedestrian advocate Deborah Murphy (full disclosure: we’re on the board of a non-profit together) gets the spotlight in this interview with design magazine Core 77. While Murphy has been a champion of pedestrian safety for decades — and L.A. Walks has been around since 1998 — she says the movement has grown stronger in recent years thanks to advocacy blogs and better coordination with bicyclists. Check out the story to hear some of her ideas for how to make Los Angeles a better place to be on two feet.

Has the passion gone out of America’s fabled love affair with the automobile? (Washington Post)

It’s a story we’re hearing more and more: High gas prices and hand-held technology are respectively making Americans fall out of love with the car and taking advantage of new transportation options at their disposal. One interesting fact that the Post highlights is that it’s not just the down economy that’s depressing the amount of driving by Americans under 35 years old. Even those who are employed are driving less than past generations.

Go Metro Weekends, May 25-28

Posted May 25, 2012 by in Destination Discounts, Go Metro Weekends
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For those of you not going out of town, take advantage of the long weekend and check out some of the great events happening around the city.

The legendary queen of Egypt has just settled in at the California Science Center. Cleopatra: The Exhibition features the largest collection of Cleopatra-era artifacts ever assembled in the U.S. The displays give a first-hand account of the famous queen’s world. After visiting Cleopatra, spend the rest of the day exploring the Science Center’s fun, interactive science exhibits. Tickets for Cleopatra are $19.75 for adults, and it’s $26 to visit the exhibition and catch an IMAX film. Go Metro and save $3 on exhibition-only tickets and $5 on combination tickets. The California Science Center is open everyday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Metro Expo Line to Expo Park/USC Station, Metro Bus 102 to Exposition/University.)

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The art of transit

Posted May 25, 2012 by in The Art of Transit
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photo by Metro, via Metro Transportation Library and Archive’s Flickr page

I thought the above photo of Red Line construction, taken in the 1990s, was appropriate for today’s Art of Transit. As you may have heard by now, the Metro Board of Directors on Thursday selected the route and station locations for the second and third phase of the Westside Subway Extension, thereby formally ending the environmental study phase of the project and moving it closer to actual…gasp…construction.

The photo below shows a freshly-delivered subway car. I’m not sure where or when it was taken. Anyone in ReaderLand know?

This photo was taken on one of the stations along Vermont Avenue — I’m guessing it’s either Wilshire/Vermont or Vermont/Beverly.

To see many more subway construction photos, several sets can be found here at the Metro Library’s expansive Flickr collection.

To submit a photo for the Art of Transit, post it to Metro’s Flickr group, email it to sourcemetro@gmail.com or Tweet it to @metrolosangeles with an #artoftransit hashtag. Many of the photos we’ve featured can be seen in these galleries on Flickr.

Ramp Jam escape plan

Posted May 25, 2012 by in Policy & Funding, Projects
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Reconstruction of the 405/Wilshire Boulevard on- and off ramps will begin June 22 and it’s sure to make a mess of traffic. But Metro is reaching out to commuters who live in the area or commute there, suggesting options to help them leave their cars at home and avoid traffic caused by the ramp closures.

Among the choices: carpools, vanpools and mass transit paid for by the Transit Access Pass program supported by local employers.

“Neighboring businesses are concerned with how their employees are going to get to work and get there on time,” said Sarah Zadok, with the Metro Commute Services program. Zadok and her team are contacting area businesses to tell them about the pass program as well as other options, including alternate work hours and telecommuting.

“We’re not just going out there and saying there is only one option,” Zadok said. “We’re saying try one: the Transit Access Pass (TAP) programs, carpool options or vanpooling. So if one program doesn’t work, we can help you with another.”

Have you figured out your ramp jam escape plan? If not, call (213) 922-2811.

Board OKs gate-locking plan

Posted May 24, 2012 by in Projects
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At the tail end of its meeting this morning, the Metro Board approved the staff plan on locking gates at rail stations and converting ticket machines completely to TAP. In other words, the ticket machines will no longer issue paper tickets with the conversion set to begin in a few more months.

As the Metro staff explains, the gates WILL NOT be locked all at once. Rather, the agency will aim for first locking the gates at the Normandie station on the Purple Line subway in late summer and then subsequently lock the gates in the remainder of the subway stations over the following seven months.

As the process continues, Metro staff will continue to work with other agencies — including Metrolink — on upgrading fare media so that passengers can pass through the gates.

Here is the staff report on the issue.

Metro Board of Directors approves route for Westside Subway Extension’s second and third phase, including Century City station on Constellation

Posted May 24, 2012 by in Projects
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The final route and station locations of the second and third phase of the Westside Subway Extension were approved by the Metro Board of Directors on Thursday by a vote of seven to two. Board Members Mike Antonovich and John Fasana voted against the route.

The approval includes, most notably, a station location in Century City at the intersection of Constellation Boulevard and the Avenue of Stars to avoid building a station and tunnel in active earthquake fault zones under Santa Monica Boulevard. Metro’s experts testified that building a station or tunnels under Santa Monica Boulevard would be unsafe.

The Constellation station will require tunneling under part of the Beverly Hills High School campus. That is opposed by the city of Beverly Hills and the Beverly Hills Unified School District.

In testimony to the Metro Board, Beverly Hills city and school officials on Thursday both asked the Board to delay making a decision on tunneling under the school and school officials again threatened state and federal litigation.

Officials from Beverly Hills also alleged that the earthquake faults are not active. “You will not succeed and we will stop you at every turn,” said Beverly Hills Unified School District Board Member Lisa Korbatov.

Metro staff and other experts remain unswayed by Beverly Hills’ arguments. “The Santa Monica Fault is an active fault and there’s no extra evidence that is going to come in that is going to change that,” said Lucy Jones, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey who reviewed the project. She was not paid by Metro.

In response to a hearing last week requested by the city of Beverly Hills, the Metro Board in a separate action voted to adopt the findings regarding the reasonableness of the Constellation station and the related subway tunnels beneath Beverly Hills High School.

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Metro Board adopts $4.5 billion budget for fiscal year that begins July 1

Posted May 24, 2012 by in Policy & Funding
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Metro Board of Directors adopted the budget for fiscal year 2013. It is Item 54 on the consent calendar of Board meeting underway.
Here is the news release:

Metro Adopts Fiscal Year 2013 Budget

Metro’s Board of Directors today adopted a $4.5 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012 at the board meeting held May 24 at Metro headquarters.

Metro’s FY 2013 budget, which is balanced with no shortfall, does not propose raising fares, which already rank among the lowest in the nation. Metro’s farebox recovery will stay at 28 percent, again near the bottom of any major operator, and passenger loads also will be low compared to other transportation agencies in the same range.

The FY 2013 budget includes the following: $1.467 billion for transit operations, $278.5 million for deferred maintenance of Metro’s rolling stock of buses and trains, $1.084 billion for construction of Measure R transit projects, $134.5 million for other capital improvements, such as bus maintenance facilities, $236.5 million for a robust highway program; $339.5 million for debt service obligations and $974.7 million in subsidies distributed by Metro to fund Metrolink, regional operations and transit projects throughout Los Angeles County. Continue reading →

Metro Board of Directors meeting is underway

Posted May 24, 2012 by in Projects, Uncategorized
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Good morning taxpayers, transit riders, motorists and other interested parties. Metro Board Chair Antonio Villaraigosa just dropped the gavel on today’s Board meeting, which includes discussion and a possible vote of the Westside Subway Extension’s route and station locations between La Cienega Boulevard and Westwood and a discussion over the possibility of asking voters to extend the Measure R sales tax.

You can listen to the meeting over the phone at 213-922-6045.

Here is the meeting agenda.

The meeting began with a moment of silence for Metro bus operator Alan Thomas, who was shot to death while on duty on Sunday in West Hollywood, and for Bruce DuBois, the husband of Metro Board Member and 2nd Vice Chair Diane DuBois.

On Transportation column, May 23: Alan Thomas, Westside Subway Extension, Go Metro to the Stanley Cup Finals (really!)

Posted May 23, 2012 by in Policy & Funding, Projects
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ALAN THOMAS: The slaying of Metro bus operator Alan Thomas on Sunday was — like so many crimes — beyond senseless. Alan was driving a bus in West Hollywood detoured by a bike race when a lone passenger, for reasons we may never really know, fatally shot him.

Public transportation is like so many other public spaces. It relies on public trust to work. To see that trust violated is enormously dispiriting.

It’s perfectly natural in the wake of such a crime to try to put it in a larger context.

Many bus operators have spoken to the media about the inherent dangers of their jobs. Their concerns cannot be taken lightly. It’s also important for the public to know, however, that Metro does take steps to ensure operators are well trained and have the tools needed to quickly summon help.

As for the public conversation, it’s hard to know where to start in the wake of a crime that was apparently random and happened on a quiet Sunday morning in West Hollywood — not exactly a place known as being dangerous.

That said, I think Alan’s death is a reminder that the prevalence of mental illness and the sheer number of deadly weapons in our society are a combination that have already led to too many similarly sad outcomes in too many schools and workplaces.

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Transportation headlines, Wednesday, May 23

Posted May 23, 2012 by in Transportation Headlines
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Photo by Kristin Pineda via Flickr

Here is a look at some of the transportation headlines gathered by us and the Metro Library. The full list of headlines is posted on the Library’s Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.

 

How can 13 miles of the 405 cause so much trouble? (LA Observed)

Easy, if those 13 miles are between Imperial Highway and Getty Center Drive. A new study on the nation’s traffic corridors ranks that stretch of the 405 as the most congested in 2011. Ah, but it also says L.A. in general is no longer number one in traffic congestion. Want to know who is? 

 

Why should we care about the SCAG regional transportation plan? (The Planning Report)

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) has adopted a Regional Transportation Plan. What’s significant about this and why should we care? Metro Board and Santa Monica City Council member Pam O’Connor explains.  

Golden photos (L.A. Times)

L.A. Times photographer Francine Orr has posted a collection of images shot from the window of the Gold Line and they’re alternately sweet, real and occasionally beautiful in the pretty sense. They’re a good reminder of how complex and compelling our incredible city is.

Eating along Expo (LA Weekly)

Dense and smoky spareribs at J N J Burger & Bar-B-Q; spicy hot links ladled with beef chili, chopped onions and strands of melted cheese at Earlez Grille and sizzling hush puppies and fish from Mel’s Fish Shack. Do we have your attention? They’re all along the Expo Line and among dishes mentioned in a dining review in the LA Weekly.