Category Archives: Policy & Funding

Subway meetings begin Monday night; officials to discuss federal funding process

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The latest round of public meetings for the Westside Subway Extension begin tonight at 6 p.m. at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as Metro officials are finishing up work on the draft environmental impact study/report (DEIS/R) for the project.

There are four other meetings scheduled between now and July 1. Here’s a press release with the time and locations of the meetings.

The DEIS/R is a key document required by law. First and foremost, it must consider all of the basic questions about the subway — where it may be located, how it will be built and what the impacts of the project will be and how those might be mitigated.

Click above to see a larger image.

But there’s more to a DEIS/R than that. The document also must justify the need for the project. In the case of the subway extension, the DEIS/R has to go beyond that: it must also make the case as to why the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) should potentially contribute billions of dollars from its New Starts program to help pay for the project.

Some of the statistics that will be presented to the FTA are among the most interesting material in presentations Metro officials have put together for the five public meetings.

First, let’s quickly review where the project stands. At this point, there are five basic routes being studied.

It is important to understand, however, that the only funding in place at this time under the long-range plan adopted by the Board of Directors of Metro is for the first two alternatives — a subway line that extends down Wilshire, veers south to Century City and then back north to Westwood. Alternative 1 would terminate near Wilshire and Westwood boulevards. Alternate 2 would continue west just past the 405 freeway and end near the VA Hospital. Continue reading →

Wilshire bus lane draft environmental report is now online

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The map shows one alternative studied for the bus lane project. Staff from Metro, in partnership with the city of Los Angeles and the county of Los Angeles will recommend the best alternative for the project later this year.

The draft environmental impact report for the Wilshire peak period bus lane project has been released and is now posted online. It’s a big step toward completing the project, which Metro officials hope will happen in mid- to late 2012.

Here’s a post from last week that explains the project, which would add rush hour bus lanes to about 9.7 miles of Wilshire Boulevard in the city of Los Angeles and cut bus travel times significantly, according to Metro officials.

The draft environmental study is very long, as these things always are. Public meetings are now scheduled to discuss the report — I’ve posted them after the jump.

Below are what I think are a few key paragraphs that help explain the purpose of the project, which has often been overlooked because of the hoo-ha surrounding the planned Wilshire subway extension:

With increasing average daily traffic volumes on Wilshire Boulevard, demands for viable alternatives to the automobile have increased as congestion continues to slow automobile travel. This same congestion also slows buses, increasing travel time, and reducing schedule reliability for transit customers, while increasing operating costs for Metro. Average bus speeds, along with automobile speeds, have declined steadily over the past 20 years. The Wilshire BRT Project is intended to further improve bus passenger travel times, service reliability, ridership of the existing Wilshire BRT system, and encourage a shift from automobile use to public transit. Continue reading →

Want your transit projects built sooner? Tell Congress to approve 30/10 Initiative!!!

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Click above to see a larger image.

Attentive readers of The Source know what’s at stake: if the 30/10 Initiative gets the go ahead from Congress, a dozen Measure R transit projects funded by the Measure R sales tax increase could be built in the next decade instead of the next 30 years.

Let me put it another way. If 30/10 doesn’t happen and you’re currently expecting, your unborn child will be 28 years old when all those transit projects are up and running — and you may be a grandparent by then.

If 30/10 does happen, many of you reading this will live to see it happen. That’s good incentive, right?

Among those projects that would be accelerated by the 30/10 Initiative are the Westside Subway Extension, the Downtown Regional Connector, a transit project over the Sepulveda Pass, the Green Line extension in the South Bay, the Crenshaw Line light rail with a connection to LAX and an extension of the Gold Line from East Los Angeles to either South El Monte or Whittier.

But it’s going to take an act of Congress for it to happen, as U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote last week in a letter to Senator Barbara Boxer. In all likelihood, 30/10 will have to be included in the next federal transportation spending bill that will go to Congress in the next year.

Members of Congress, of course, are juggling a lot of duties and issues. So there’s nothing wrong with providing them a gentle reminder of the issues you care about. In that spirit, the contact info for the Congressional delegation for Los Angeles County is below in this post. The websites include forms on how to email each member. Continue reading →

Is 30/10 going to happen soon?

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I was (predictably) hiking in Yosemite on Friday when the news broke in L.A. that U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood had expressed his strongest support to date of the 30/10 Initiative AND that the federal government was also supportive of doing the engineering work for the Westside Subway Extension all at once instead of in bits and pieces.

Here’s a brief Q&A that I hope explains what all this means.

Will the subway get federal funds that will allow it to reach Westwood in the next decade?

The short answer: that remains to be determined.

Metro is in the process of applying for billions of dollars in New Starts funding for both the Westside Subway Extension and the Downtown Regional Connector projects. No money has been awarded yet, nor is yet certain how much the projects may get.

That money would be combined with funds from the Measure R sales tax increase approved by voters in 2008 in addition to any funds that Metro may secure through the 30/10 Initiative, which in essence proposes to borrow money from the feds to build a dozen Measure R transit projects in the next 10 years instead of the next 30.

To sum it up: Measure R + New Starts + 30/10 Initiative = subway to Westwood by 2017.

So what’s the big hoopla about the FTA allowing the project to be engineered all the way to Westwood?

The news suggests that the FTA is leaning toward providing New Starts funding for the subway and connector projects — otherwise the agency wouldn’t care about dictating what does and does not get engineered. Continue reading →

Feds Endorse 30/10 Initiative

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Senator Barbara Boxer announces federal support for 30/10 Initiative, subway extension at ULI Conference in Hollywood.

Setting the stage for major federal funding to flow into Los Angeles, Senator Barbara Boxer today announced that the Obama Administration has endorsed the 30/10 Initiative to accelerate 12 regional  transportation projects, with a pledge from the U.S. DOT to consider the 30/10 initiative in the next transportation reauthorization bill.

That’s quite an endorsement for a plan originally proposed by L.A. City Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, which has received growing political support, most recently from Rep. Judy Chu, and one that is now being considered a model for funding similar projects across the country.

“The secretary (Ray Lahood) is also working with me on finding every opportunity under current law so we can accelerate 30/10 now,” Boxer said in a press statement.  Read Boxer’s news release here.

At an Urban Land Institute conference in Hollywood this afternoon, Boxer also announced that the Federal Transit Administration has agreed to include the whole 9.3 mile alignment for the Westside Subway Extension Project into its preliminary engineering process, which essentially consolidates the environmental review for the entire project rather than going through a piecemeal approach that would add years to the construction schedule.

Let’s not forget that while the subway extension was highlighted, the 30/10 initiative also includes the Regional Connector, the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension, Crenshaw Corridor light rail, an LAX Green Line connection and other projects designed to improve mobility countywide.

Both of these announcements could bring federal funding more quickly to the region, although there are still hurdles to overcome, namely, securing funding through federal authorization and appropriations processes.

And while the FTA agreement to evaluate the whole alignment of the Westside Subway Extension in one shot eliminates the need to go through three separate full funding grant agreements, it must be made clear that no funding has yet been immediately allocated to the project.

Streamlining the environmental process for the subway project does, however, bring Beverly Hills, Century City and Westwood/UCLA into a near-term funding scenario.  These stations are considered by the Metro project team as the “brass ring” locations where boardings are forecasted to be high, which helps make the project more competitive for federal funding.

The announcements come as welcome news to Metro, which says it looks forward to working with the administration to find a way to make 30/10 happen.

“The timing of this announcement adds to the momentum we’re experiencing here as new construction projects break ground and we advance multiple transit corridor studies throughout Los Angeles County,” Board Chair Ara Najarian said in a statement.

Sen. Boxer: U.S. DOT Endorses 30/10 Initiative, helps advance subway extension

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This just in.  U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer announced this afternoon that the 30/10 Initiative to speed 12 transportation projects in Los Angeles County has received the support of the Obama Administration and said FTA will take steps to accelerate consideration of  Westside subway extension.  More details to follow.  Read the news release Senator Boxer issued this afternoon:

U.S. Senate Committee on
Environment and Public Works

Boxer Announces Federal Support Building for
30/10 and Subway to the Sea

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, today released a letter that she just received from U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood in which he voices strong support for the “30/10” plan to accelerate transit development in Los Angeles as a model for funding transportation projects across the country.

Boxer also announced that the Federal Transit Administration at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has agreed to accelerate consideration of the Red Line Westside Extension – also known as “Subway to the Sea” – by admitting the entire 9.3-mile project into its preliminary engineering process, and by conducting the environmental review of all segments of the project simultaneously instead of doing it in multiple phases.

Senator Boxer said, “Secretary LaHood understands the opportunity to make the 30/10 vision a reality here and around the country.  The Secretary is also working with me on finding every opportunity under current law so we can accelerate 30/10 now.  DOT’s decision to expedite consideration of the Subway to the Sea is a great step forward, and will help ensure that as we work to accelerate funding, DOT will work to have this project ready.”

Text of Secretary LaHood’s letter to Senator Boxer is below:

THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20590

June 3, 2010

The Honorable Barbara Boxer
Chairman
Committee on Environment and Public Works
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Madam Chairman:

Thank you for your leadership in moving forward on comprehensive transportation reform and a new surface transportation authorization. As we have discussed, I am committed to working with you in your role as Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee to find creative, effective ways to accelerate transportation investments that will improve air quality, lessen traffic congestion, and reduce oil consumption.

Over the past several months, I have been pleased to work with you and with Mayor Villaraigosa on the “30/10″ plan.  Los Angeles has proposed a comprehensive, long-range transportation plan and the sustainable funding stream to accomplish it. Under 30/10, the construction of the projects could be accelerated through a partnership with the Federal Government, thus reducing the construction phase of the program. This would create needed jobs immediately, and would allow the citizens of Los Angeles to reap the benefits of these transit investment — cleaner air, reduced congestion, lower construction costs and improvements in the quality of life – much sooner than would otherwise be possible.

I share your belief that the 30/10 model — leveraging a comprehensive long-range transportation plan and a sustainable local funding stream — has the potential to transform the way we invest in transportation projects across the Nation. As we move toward a clean energy economy, improvements to the transit system also could decrease our gasoline consumption and carbon emissions, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

I can assure you that the U.S. Department of Transportation is committed to working with you to explore this promising approach in the next transportation reauthorization bill.

Sincerely,

Ray LaHood

Rep. Judy Chu endorses 30/10 Initiative

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Congresswoman Judy Chu, who represents California’s 32nd District, issued a release today showing her support the 30/10 Initiative:

Washington, D.C.– Today Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-CA) announced support of  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LA County MTA’s 30/10 Initiative.  The 30/10 program will take 12 transportation investment projects approved in the 30-year long-range plan and complete them within the next decade, fundamentally changing transit in Southern California.
“The 30/10 plan is the kind of innovative thinking we need in LA County.  We have the worst congestion in the country forcing our residents to spend more time in traffic than anywhere else. County residents voted to approve a sales tax measure in the middle of a recession, because the situation is so bad – but we need to do more,” Rep. Chu said.
“With the 30/10 we can leverage our local dollars with help from the federal government and finally make the largest county in the country one of the best places to get around.  I pledge my strong help in Congress to put this plan into action and get LA County Residents out of their cars and onto a brand new transit system.”
The 30/10 Plan will boost the region’s construction industry by generating 160,000 new jobs, while eliminating $3.4 billion in project construction costs over the long term. Together the 12 projects will reduce vehicle pollution emissions by 568,000 pounds annually, save 10.3 million gallons of gasoline per year and reduce traffic congestion by eliminating 208 million vehicle miles from roadways.

30/10 will be funded by a dynamic Public-Private Partnership with federal Transit Improvement Bonds and proceeds from Measure R- a new countrywide half-cent sales tax expected to generate approximately $35 billion over the next 30 years.

Learn more about the 30/10 Initiative and what it means for transportation projects in L.A. County by visiting metro.net/projects/30-10/.

Board of Directors vote to launch new round of 710 gap studies

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The agency’s Board of Directors voted Thursday to launch a new round of studies to consider how to improve traffic in the area around the gap in the 710 freeway between Alhambra and Pasadena.

Here’s the link to the report on the issue by Metro staff.

The studies will initially begin with a scoping document that lays out the problem and examines a long list of potential solutions, which will most likely include surface street improvements, mass transit improvements and a tunnel, among other things. (Here’s a post from last month looking at the issue).

That will be narrowed down to a shorter list that will be studied in an alternatives analysis that will define what the project actually is. Then a draft environmental impact study will be launched on the project.

The Measure R sales tax increase approved by voters in L.A. County in 2008 included $780 million for a tunnel project — should the project ever be pursued and pass muster with a lengthy environmental review. The Measure R expenditure plan estimated the price of a tunnel at $3.7 billion, but it is important to note that was not based on a specific tunnel design.

If, of course, the project ends up being a tunnel. It may. It may not.

Several dozen public officials and members of the public spoke on the issue this morning before the meeting was interrupted by protests from the Bus Riders Union over unrelated fare increases. Opinions ran the gamut from those who said a tunnel was an expensive folly that won’t solve traffic woes to those who thought it was time to finally seek some type of traffic fix for the area.

There were also several amendments introduced — but no votes were taken as Metro staff gather more information on them. The most interesting, perhaps, was a motion by Los Angeles Councilman Jose Huizar who called for Metro to eliminate a surface route for the 710 from being considered. Huizar’s motion also asked that the negative impacts on El Sereno of a tunnel portal north of Valley Boulevard be considered.

The issue there is whether it’s legal to eliminate an option before it is considered in the environmental review process.

Answers to your questions about TAP

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Photo by Fred Camino.

We recently asked readers to send us your questions about TAP, the electronic fare cards used by Metro and several other transit agencies in Los Angeles County. We received several dozen inquiries, which we boiled down to the questions below.

The answers were written by Fred and I, based on information conveyed to us by the Metro officials who run the TAP program that is overseen by Matt Raymond, Metro’s Chief Communication Officer.

Before we get started, a little perspective.

TAP currently records more than 15 million transactions per month. About two million TAP cards have been issued to transit riders in Los Angeles County in the past two year and Metro sells over $6 million of fares on TAP each month. Metro officials consider it a reliable system in “full revenue production.”

The TAP system is also clearly a work-in-progress. Your questions are a testament to that. For one, Metro is hopeful that more transit agencies will adopt the cards, a precursor to having a seamless transit system across sprawling Los Angeles County. There are some issues involving technology that still also must be resolved and some policy decisions to be made about the type of products available on TAP cards and when gates at some Metro rail stations will be locked.

Now, your questions:

Why isn’t there a cash purse available?

A cash purse is available on TAP with several transit agencies in L.A. County — Culver City, Montebello, Norwalk, Foothill, Santa Clarita and Antelope Valley. Each allows customers to put random amounts of cash on their cards, but this can only be done at their local agency stores. It’s still a limited operation because it’s a pilot program to see if the cash purse works. So far, Metro officials say it has been successful and there has been widespread interest in this feature.

The new Nokia TAP validator that fare inspectors will be using to ensure that customers tapped their TAP cards.

Now it’s up to Metro and other agencies to decide when or if they want to begin the cash purse feature. This would permit the loading of cash onto the TAP card at Metro Customer Service Centers, retail stores that sell TAP cards, ticket machines at Metro Rail stations (and the Orange Line busway) and the taptogo.net website.

On the financial front, one key step that must be taken is to secure agreements that define when money loaded on the TAP card by customers actually reaches the transit agencies that accepted your TAP fares.

Another issue is how does Metro best check that riders using a cash purse with TAP actually paid their fare? When a customer has a paper ticket, a fare inspector can check the ticket for the correct date and time. A TAP card has no visual clue and that has led to concerns that with a cash purse, some people can abuse the system by carrying around empty TAP cards or not tapping their cards even though there’s value on them.

Why is that a problem? At this time, only some of Metro’s fare inspectors have handheld validators that can be used to check that a customer actually tapped their TAP card before riding. This is about to change, as Metro is phasing in a new type of validator that is actually a Nokia cellular device. These new validators use 3G technology (the same tech that makes surfing the web possible on smart phones) that is faster, smaller and more economical than the current non-cellular devices that are bulky, heavy and expensive.

Soon all fare inspectors will be carrying these new devices.

Which leads to the next question…

When will the fare gates be activated and why are they there if they aren’t going to be activated?

As many of you are surely aware, the gates that have been installed at some Metro rail stations have not yet been locked. But the TAP reader on them works and customers with TAP cards are required to TAP their cards before going through. Continue reading →

Poll suggests riders are open to different fare structure

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A couple of weeks ago we asked Source readers if they had any interest in a different fare structure for Metro. As I wrote at the time, there is no proposal at this time to change Metro’s fare structure, but given concerns and/or questions over the July 1 fare increase, I thought it was an appropriate time to gauge where Source readers were on the issue.

As the above results show, none of the four scenarios I put together earned the support of a majority of the 555 votes cast in the poll. But 71% of those who did vote seemed open to the idea of either a higher base fare or some type of higher fee in order for the right to transfer bus and/or rail lines. As many of you know, Metro currently charges riders per line they take, no matter how far the trip is on the line (daily, weekly and monthly passholders, of course, can transfer unlimited times).

One other note: As we posted the other day, the Board of Directors of Metro will consider a motion by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that seeks to expand the use of EZ passes. An amendment to that motion by Supervisor Mike Antonovich asks the Metro staff to consider time and distance based fares, which are commonly used by transit agencies AND seem like something easier to accomplish with TAP cards, given their ability to store information.

I’ll forward the poll results to the offices of Villaraigosa and Antonovich, given their interest in the issue.