Category Archives: Transportation News

Transportation headlines, Tuesday, Jan. 25

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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 blog.

Long Beach takes its bike plan progress to the riders (Long Beach Press Telegram)

Over the last few years, Long Beach has rightfully earned the reputation as So Cal’s most bike friendly city. Since 2001′s long range plan was adopted, the city has installed a slew of bicycling infrastructure, such as painted bike lanes, sharrows and bike boulevards.  Overall, biking is up in the city and the number of accidents is holding steady. But transportation officials are not resting on their laurels: Mobility Coordinator Charlie Gandy is leading a series of workshops seeking input from residents in advance of the next long range plan.

Deadline pressure threatens high-speed rail (Fresno Bee)

Now that the San Joaquin Valley has been tabbed as home to the first 115-mile segment of high-speed rail construction, the California High-Speed Rail Authority will have to keep a brisk pace to meet upcoming federal deadlines. The Fresno Bee takes a look at some of those deadlines — a finalized environmental review by this September, construction started by 2012 and completion by 2017 — and what it will take to meet them.

Signal synchronization project OK’d (Daily News)

Through a grant from the California Transportation Commission, the city of L.A. will be able to synchronize a number of intersections in the western San Fernando Valley.  Trips times along certain roads will be cut by as much five minutes on a 30-minute drive.  In addition, the same round of grants will give local transit a safety and mobility boost, namely the following:

$46.55 million to install rail collision avoidance technology along the Metrolink system and Pacific Surfliner Intercity Rail Corridor.

$2.94 million to install rail collision avoidance technology along the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad tracks from Los Angeles to Fullerton.

$20 million to convert high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes along the I-10 and I-110 corridors.

$33.99 million for the acquisition of 100 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority. Continue reading →


Transportation headlines, Monday, Jan. 23

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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 blog.

For wildlife, a safe highway crossing (New York Times Green blog)

Wildlife-vehicle collisions exact a steep toll each year: the deaths of more than 100 motorists, many tens of thousands of animal deaths and $8 billion in property damage and injuries. The group ARC recently held a design competition for a wildlife crossing bridge over busy Interstate 70 at Vail Pass in the Colorado Rockies. The winner was selected yesterday with a design for a bridge wide enough to provide forest, meadows and shrubs to help different animals navigate the bridge. There presently isn’t money to build it, but the idea behind the competition was to come up with a design that would work in many different parts of the country. Watch the above video.

On a train, a fight between the silent and the quiet (New York Times)

New Jersey Transit recently introduced “quiet” cars. It’s a good concept for those taking the commuter trains into Manhattan from the ‘burbs. Problem is, different passengers have different ideas over what constitutes “quiet.”

What makes a city smart? (Time)

Go to the link to see a video of mayors from major cities discuss what they think qualifies a city as smart. L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is featured and he agrees with colleagues from other cities: the more infrastructure investment, the better.


Transportation headlines, Friday, Jan. 21

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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 blog.

Growing without driving: gap between VMT and GDP continues to widen (The New York Times)

Sometime in the 1990s, the growth rate in America’s total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) began to diverge from the growth rate for U.S. economy’s GDP. This gap widened in the 2000s despite the economic downturn. What gives? The Center for Clean Air Policy suggests that divergence in VMT and GDP growth has something to do with the type of industries that boomed in the 1990s and 2000s (they generated fewer VMT) and the potential saturation in travel.

2010 UMR remains a flawed and misleading guide to urban transportation (CEOs for Cities)

CEOs for Cities has major problems with the Urban Mobility Report released by the Texas Transportation Institute yesterday – namely that the study ignores the effects of longer distance travel on commute times. In other words, it misses the importance of land use when it comes to ranking cities. One example cited is Portland, which is ranked as having worse traffic than Nashville, despite the fact that commuters in Portland actually travel 75 fewer hours a year than those in Nashville due to shorter commuting distances. The congestion may be worse, but the time wasted in a car is less.

Los Angeles transit projects pitched to new Congress by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (L.A. Times)

The Mayor of L.A. visited the new Congress this week to continue efforts to sell the 30/10 Initiative to the Feds. Overall the feedback was positive, with Republican leaders agreeing on the need to expedite projects but expressing skepticism on some specifics.


Metro reaction to Urban Mobility Report on traffic congestion

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Metro Board Chairman Don Knabe has issued a statement in reaction to Texas Transportation Institute’s 2010 Urban Mobility Report on traffic congestion.

The Texas Transportation Institute’s congestion report released this morning serves as a warning bell for the region that we must continue our efforts to improve mobility options as the nation begins to see the economy recovering and congestion increasing.

Clearly, the report shows some good news: LA County is ranked #1 for operational improvements that have reduced 63 million hours of annual delay, resulting in cost savings of $1.5 billion. Equally important is the fact that the region ranks # 4 in the nation in terms of transit improvements, annually reducing 33 million hours of delay and $733 million because of our bus and rail transportation system.

While it certainly is no surprise that LA County suffers from traffic congestion, it is important to note that over the last 20 years we have managed to hold steady even though the county’s population has grown by 1.5 million people. We’ve done so through the expansion of our rail and bus network, the addition of carpool lanes to area freeways and aggressive outreach programs to get people to rideshare by joining a large network of car and vanpools to combat congestion.

As the economic recovery continues and congestion begins to rise, it is important that we implement additional transportation improvements through Measure R, LA County’s half-cent sales tax initiative. Overwhelmingly approved by county voters, who have voted to tax themselves three times in the last three decades, it sends a clear signal that they are fed up with traffic congestion and are willing to pay for traffic relief. The Metro Board has responded by adopting the 30/10 initiative, which will bring these vital transportation improvement projects to life in 10 years, instead of 30 years.

We hope that officials in Washington will be moved into action by this congestion report, recognize the economic toll traffic takes and how investment in operational improvements, public transportation and other rideshare programs can, and is, making a substantial difference in Los Angeles County.

Here is a link to the news release issued by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA): Public Transportation Relieves Traffic Congestion

Five things I'm thinking about transportation

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In this relatively new feature for The Source,  I express actual opinions while working for government. Members of the media: please take any of these ideas and run with them — we could use the coverage!

Traffic: it kind of stinks in many places. Photo by Texas Transportation Institute.

1.    I have a hard time getting excited about the annual congestion ratings released today by the Texas Transportation Institute. As expected, the usual suspects sit atop the list – Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., Houston and New York, to name a few. Does anyone really expect traffic to simply vanish in any of these cities? Bottom line: big cities have big traffic and the average commute time in Los Angeles County is 29 minutes, which is pretty much the same or less than it is in other large metro areas.

1b. In another list that leaves me feeling nothing, Los Angeles was ranked 35th in terms of public transit, quality of life and visitor experience, according to Travel and Leisure. Sorry, I’d rather be living here instead of Salt Lake City (#4), Las Vegas (#23) and Kansas City (#30). You couldn’t pay me to live in Vegas.

2. That said, the statistic that always does impress me from the TTI annual ratings: congestion resulted in the waste of 3.9 billion gallons of gasoline in the U.S. in 2009. The U.S. consumed about 138 billion gallons of gasoline in 2009, according to the Energy Information Administration, and more than 60 percent of our crude oil had to be imported. Those three stats = very depressing. More transit, please!

3.    Like many of our readers, I was very pleased to hear some ticket vending machines in Metro Rail stations are being converted to allow customers to add stored value to their TAP cards – as well as buy TAP cards. I think this is one of those things that is a major incentive for casual riders to take transit. Fumbling with change and ticket machines can be a hassle that results in many of those riders missing their trains, meaning they have longer commutes. TAP cards greatly speed the boarding process and anything that shaves minutes off mass transit trips makes transit more competitive with cars.

Continue reading →

Transportation headlines, Thursday, Jan. 20

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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 blog.

State announces it’s setting aside $30 million to purchase Union Station (L.A. Times)

The California High-Speed Rail Authority said it plans to use the money to partner with Metro to purchase the historic train station and some surrounding land in downtown Los Angeles. Metro is expected to provide the bulk of the funds to buy the property from TPG Capital, which is in the process of obtaining Union Station from another firm. The Authority and Metro believe owning the property will better allow them to handle the surge of passengers from high-speed rail and the expansion of Los Angeles’ transit system.

Los Angeles are still has a lot of traffic (Texas Transportation Institute)

The L.A. area still ranks first (i.e. worst) in the country in a couple of key statistics that measure congestion. The Institute’s annual rankings also show that traffic can be pretty stinky in Washington D.C., New York and Chicago. It’s also worth mentioning the average commute time, as reported by the Census Bureau, for Los Angeles County is now 29 minutes — a number that is pretty typical for large metro areas. San Francisco’s average commute time is 29.1 minutes and Cook County (which includes Chicago) is 31.9 minutes.

Graphic shows influence of gas prices on miles driven (Treehugger)

It’s not exactly news that people tend to drive less when the price of gas soars, but this neat chart vividly shows the connection. Although the number of miles driven per motorist has dropped in the past five years, the writer concludes that it takes an awful lot to get Americans drive less.

Transportation headlines, Wednesday, Jan. 19

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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 blog.

Bussing it to the airport: the life and death(?) of Line #439 (More Than Red Cars)

This post offers a detailed history of Metro’s Line 439 – a line that recently went through some significant service changes in last December’s bi-annual shakeup. The birth of the line, which provides local bus service to LAX, began in 1940 when Pacific Electric discontinued some streetcar service and replaced it with buses. Variations of Line 439 have been around since then, but the introduction of LAX FlyAway service from Union Station to LAX put a major dent in the line’s ridership numbers.

How London leads the way in techno wizardry (London Evening Standard)

Transport for London – the city’s transit agency which I reviewed last month – has helped London emerge as a leader in transportation apps. The Evening Standard notes that TfL’s liberal policy of providing open data to developers has led to a wealth of useful apps that make getting around London a breeze. It doesn’t hurt that a full third of Londoner’s now have smartphones. It’s also worth mentioning that Metro provides open data feeds to developers at http://developer.metro.net/.

LaHood: Transport funding bill to be signed by August recess (DC Velocity)

Good news from U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for those hoping that a new transportation funding bill finally becomes a reality. The most recent bill expired in 2009 but LaHood is confident that a new bill will be signed into law by August despite a politcally-split Congress. There’s probably no need to worry about a federal gas tax increase – LaHood, as part of the Obama Administration, believes such a tax hike would not be prudent in our shaky economy.

The art of transit

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photo by Chris Jongkind, via his Flickr photostream

In keeping with some of our recent posts, go ahead and take a stab at the city where this photo was taken. The answer is after the jump. And be sure to click on the above link to Chris’ photostream, which features many other great images from the same city.

To submit a photo or photos of something transportation-related, post them to Metro’s Flickr group or email them to sourcemetro@gmail.com. The photos we’ve featured can be seen in these galleries on Flickr. Or click on the ‘art of transit’ below. Continue reading →

Transportation headlines, Tuesday, Jan. 18

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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 blog.

LaHood defends high-speed rail investments (Welcome to the Fast Lane blog)

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood takes exception with last week’s editorial in the Washington Post that criticized spending on high-speed rail as wasteful and unlikely to reap much in the way of benefits. LaHood says that now is the time to begin investing in a high-speed network that will be needed in coming decades and, in particular, says that it’s appropriate to launch construction of a segment of California’s bullet train project in the San Joaquin Valley.

Could Japan fund California’s bullet train? (California High-Speed Rail blog)

The Japanese ambassador to the U.S. recently said that he believes that Japan could fund up to half the cost of California’s high-speed rail project, although the list of loan terms would be a long one. The Japanese, of course, have some know-how when it comes to building and operating bullet trains — as well as companies who build the systems.

< A road diet for Main Street in Venice? (L.A. Streetsblog)

The four-lane road between the Santa Monica border and Windward Circle may be reduced from four lanes to two lanes and a bike lane added. That would be the same configuration found on Main Street in Santa Monica. At present, Main Street in the city of L.A. has no bike lane and has more car lanes than its counterpart in Santa Monica. Surprised?

In Vancouver, transit riders familiar with bulky items (TransLink Buzzer Blog)

A poll on the transit agency’s blog reveals that 83 percent of riders in the Vancouver area had at some time or another had to carry a big bulky item on board a train or bus. Among the more interesting items were furniture, large paintings and a coffin.


Non-stop Japan Transport delegation takes whirlwind tour of rail operations on way to high-speed rail seminar

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Metro CEO Art Leahy leads tour of rail operations at Union Station for Japan Transport Vice Minister Masafumi Shukuri and 17-member delegation on their way to the high-speed rail seminar at a downtown hotel. Also on board: Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe and Ray Tellis, Team Leader, joint FTA and FHWA, Los Angeles Metropolitan Office. Photo by Juan Ocampo

Metro CEO Art Leahy leads tour of rail operations at Union Station for Japan Transport Vice Minister Masafumi Shukuri and 17-member delegation on their way to the high-speed rail seminar at a downtown hotel. Also on board: Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe and Ray Tellis, Team Leader, joint FTA and FHWA, Los Angeles Metropolitan Office. Photo by Juan Ocampo

Transportation officials in Los Angeles hosted a tour of rail operations for visiting Japan Transport Vice Minister Masafumi Shukuri and a 17-member delegation on Friday, Jan. 14. The vice minister and his delegation were on their way to lead a seminar on Japan’s high-speed rail system. Japan’s 46 years of experience in building high-speed rail systems is expected to inform plans underway in California.