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.

A very nice video from New York artist Sophie Blackall, partly about her love of transit in New York. Hat tip to our friends at the Buzzer Blog in Vancouver for the link plus another good story — this one about a New York city bus driver who provides live opera performances for his passengers. I'm not an opera fan, but I've heard worse music on buses for sure.

Four years later, survivors of Metrolink crash still hurting (L.A. Times)

This Wednesday is the fourth anniversary of the crash that killed 25 people and injured 135 when a Metrolink train slammed head-on into a freight train; the Metrolink engineer was later found to have missed a red signal because he was texting. Many victims say their lives and livelihoods have been forever altered due to their injuries and that money from a legal settlement with Metrolink may not be enough to cover their care and other expenses. A federal law caps legal awards at $200 million per rail accident, although a Los Angeles judge said that an award would likely have been $320 million to $350 million if the case had gone to trial.

What's on TAP? Confusion, for some (ZevWeb)

The ongoing conversion at Metro's ticket machines from paper tickets to TAP cards is leaving some tourists and seniors confused. The most common complaint, acknowledged by Metro, is that the machines can be daunting for first-time visitors, especially those who want a simple transaction and don't understand why they need a TAP card and why the system is changing.

Family plans to revive four downtown theaters (Downtown News)

The family that owns the quartet of historic theaters — the Los Angeles Theater, the State, the Place and the Tower — says it will file papers with the city of Los Angeles planning department this week to renovate (where needed) and operate the facilities together. It's part of an ambitious plan to bring more events to the buildings, as well as attract new restaurants and bars in them. It won't be easy, accoring to others — there's no shortage of concert venues in the area — but it would be a major boon for efforts to revive Broadway in downtown. Parking is a concern, but remember: the Regional Connector will have a station at 2nd and Broadway.

Putting Bay Area’s water source to a vote (New York Times)

Not a transportation story per se, but San Francisco voters will consider a ballot measure in November that could lead to the draining of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park, meaning San Francisco would have to find most of its water elsewhere. I’m including the story here because if government had its way, the reservoir will never be drained. But government doesn’t always have its way. The Hetch Hetchy Valley was known as being similar to the Yosemite Valley before it became a lake — and before the Yosemite Valley became known for its traffic jams.

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