Supervisor and Metro Board Member Mark Ridley-Thomas cuts the ribbon at Compton's new transit center on Friday. Photo by Juan Ocampo/Metro.
The new Martin Luther King Jr. Transit Center will serve the Blue Line and numerous Metro bus lines. Here is the news release from the city of Compton:
The High Desert Corridor project — which is considering a new freeway connecting Highway 14 in Los Angeles County to Highway 18 in San Bernardino County — is in the midst of holding community meetings.
Below is the Power Point presentation being used at the meetings (please ignore the notes about different Metro staff!). It includes a good overview of the project and planning process; the project still needs to secure funding to get built but Measure R is helping to pay for the environmental study process.
The two community meetings next week:
Tuesday, January 31, 2012, 6-8pm*
Victorville City Hall Conference Room D
14343 Civic Drive
Victorville, CA 92392
To join the meeting live during the Victorville meeting, visit: www.ustream.tv/channel/metro-high-desert-corridor
Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 6-8pm
Stater Brothers Stadium,
Mavericks Conference Room
12000 Stadium Way
Adelanto, CA 92301
The Lockheed A-12 outside the California Science Center, one of the many area museums offering free admission this weekend. More info below. Photo by Ron McDonald, via Flickr creative commons.
Whether you’d like to sit in an air-conditioned theater this weekend, treat yourself to some fine dining or get out and hit the museums, Metro has you covered.
Start your Friday off with Taste at the Palisades. The restaurant is participating in Dine LA, a bi-annual event that showcases restaurants in the Los Angeles area — and their menu is fantastic. Go for the white truffle oil cremini mushroom mac’n’cheese and stay for the sticky toffee pudding. At just $16 for lunch and $26 for dinner, you won’t be breaking the bank to fill your stomach either. Reservations are recommended. If you can’t make Friday, you can always try again on Sunday! (Metro Bus Lines 2 or 302 to Sunset/Palisades.)
Saturday, head to Hollywood and learn how to be a wine snob. The Renaissance Hotel is hosting the International Wine Festival from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tickets are $60 and once you’re in, you’ll be able to sample dozens of wines from around the world while nibbling on delectable cheeses, chocolates, olives and more. Enjoy the festival without having to worry about driving after. (Metro Bus Line 156 to Highland/Franklin, Metro Rapid 780 to Hollywood/Highland, Metro Red Line to Hollywood/Highland Station.)
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.
NASA's latest take on "Blue Marble." Click the image to go to Flickr where you can view an 8000x8000 resolution version. You can even make out L.A.!
4,114 stoplights in Los Angeles and the intricate network that keeps traffic moving (Forbes)
Forbes’ writer Jon Bruner gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the centralized computer system that controls Los Angeles’ traffic signals, adroitly extending green lights here and improving timing there. The end result? “Repeated studies since the 1990s have found that travel times fall by 15% near connected signals and motorists make 20% to 30% fewer stops.” The benefits are so manifest that L.A. has licensed its proprietary technology to other cities for a cool $75,000. In my experience, the lack of signal timing is a major gripe among big-city residents around the country.
LaHood not bullish on new surface transportation bill this year (Transportation Nation)
At the Transportation Research Board conference, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood seemed resigned to no new surface transportation bill this year. Here’s his quote: “Given the politics, the number of days that remain, the differences between what the Senate and House are looking at — I think its very unlikely we will have a surface transportation bill during this year of Congress.” Attentive readers will recall that the current bill expired in 2009 and has been living on short-term extensions since — and that makes it harder for states and localities to do long-range financial planning.
Does California need high-speed rail? (NYT Room for Debate)
In my humble opinion, over the next couple decades we’ll absolutely need it: to improve mobility, to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and to avoid expanding airports and highways. But I’d agree with some of the critiques in this NYT discussion that there are a number of different ways to get to that end — and it doesn’t necessarily have to look like what’s currently being proposed. The Sacramento Business Journal reported the other day that new CAHSR chairman Dan Richard says there’s a “big surprise” on the way, so stay tuned.
photo by Jeffrey Beall, via Flickr creative commons
Nice pic — transit and parking lots. Guess the city. Answer after the jump.
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.
Here’s the news release from Metrolink:
Los Angeles – Due to scheduled track maintenance over four consecutive weekends starting Jan. 27, Metrolink will supplement train service with buses between Newhall and Lancaster for the following trains:
Northbound Antelope Valley Train 223 on Jan. 27, Feb. 3, Feb. 10 and Feb. 17. Southbound Antelope Valley Train 260 and Northbound Antelope Valley Train 271 on Jan. 28, Feb. 4, Feb. 11 and Feb. 18.
Southbound Antelope Valley Train 260 on Jan. 29, Feb. 5, Feb. 12 and Feb. 19.
Moscow Metro station featuring chandeliers and gold leaf molding. Photo via flickr user sbisson.
This weekly post features news from other transit agencies and planners from around the world. Did we miss a good story? Let us know in the comments.
Moscow Metro sets sights on expansion
The Moscow Metro – known for its expansive reach and gorgeous stations – will expand even further over the next decade. The Railway Gazette has the details: “The city government has announced plans to build a further [60 miles] of metro over the next nine years, taking the total network to [240 miles] and adding 44 stations.” The price tag on all that? About $11 billion U.S. Kind of interesting to see that the even one of the world’s largest oil and gas exporters is doubling down on electric-powered public transit.
Tappan Zee Bridge saga intensifies as new proposal comes out
As previously mentioned, New York’s Hudson River–crossing Tappan Zee Bridge is due for replacement. Transit advocates have been agitating for years to have the bridge include a public transit component, but their efforts were undermined when N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced plans to fast-track the project in an auto-centric configuration. Now, recently released environmental documents show that the planned bridge will also be twice as wide as the one it’s replacing – still with no transit component, reports New York Streetsblog. The justification for the extra lanes? In case a disaster takes out one of the two proposed bridge spans, there wouldn’t be a serious impact on traffic flow. That’s an excessively expensive contingency plan, argues Streetsblog.
Bronx buses get real-time info about bus locations
Further downstate, the 1,025 buses that roam the Bronx will be getting an upgrade we’ve come to know and love in Los Angeles: real-time bus information. Travelers will have two ways to retrieve info on their bus of choice: by texting the intersection or bus stop number plus bus line to 511123, or via bustime.mta.info. As one official tells news blog DNAinfo.com, it’s all about getting to “spend more time with your family or more time at a coffee shop instead of waiting at a bus stop in a state of uncertainty.” For now, the service will only tell riders where the bus is along its route; the NYC MTA is still working on being able to give an estimated time of arrival to the desired stop, like we have in L.A.
Here are some other actions taken by the Metro Board of Directors at their meeting on Thursday:
•(Item 5) The Board approved a motion by Councilman Jose Huizar seeking construction bids that would include building a second portal — at 2nd and Spring — to the 2nd/Broadway station for the Regional Connector. This doesn’t guarantee that the portal will be built, nor does it add to the project’s budget.
•(Item 14) The Board approved a $3.9-million contract with Consensus to provide public outreach services for the environmental studies for the project that seeks to improve traffic in the area around the 710 gap.
Photo credit: Jung Gatoona, via submission
Here’s the email that Jung sent accompanying this fine photo:
Los Angeles is one amazing place to bike, and its varying landscape offers so much for cyclists. Attached is a photo of myself on top of Saddle Peak in Malibu after climbing up roughly about 2,400 feet on my bicycle.
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.
At today’s Metro Board meeting, agency CEO Art Leahy announced that pre-revenue testing for the Expo Line will begin this coming Monday.The testing is intended to simulate actual service with trains running on a regular schedule, but with no customers on board. Trains will be operating between the Expo Line terminus at 7th/Metro Center and the La Cienega/Jefferson station while work continues on the final station in Culver City.
Although train testing has been ongoing since last spring, there will be a greater frequency of trains running on the Expo tracks at many hours of the day. It is important for pedestrians, motorists and cyclists to remain vigilant around Expo Line tracks and obey all warning signs and traffic signals. Safety is everybody’s job, people.
No opening date for the Expo Line has been announced. I know many of you are eager for the line to open — so are we — and we’ll let you know as soon as there is something to report.
