Category Archives: Transportation News

Metro reaction to Urban Mobility Report on traffic congestion

Posted by

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

Posted by

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

Posted by

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

Posted by

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

Posted by

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

Posted by

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

Posted by
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.

A closer look at transit ridership around LA County

Posted by
The proportion of commuters who use mass transit to get to work varies wildly across the Los Angeles Metropolitan Statistical Area (which encompasses Los Angeles and Orange Counties). Source: 2000 U.S. Census.

Last week, The Source mentioned an Australian study that concluded that perhaps the connection between higher density and transit use was not as robust as previously thought. The study authors also suggested that Los Angeles was a prime example of their theory: a dense city with “relatively low rail and bus use.” I think that suggestion merits a closer look.

Legend

For starters, what’s relative? Across Los Angeles County, 7.3 percent of people over the age of 16 ride mass transit to commute to work. That is certainly below many older cities and counties with more miles of fixed rail than Los Angeles. These cities include Washington D.C., Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York — where in the New York-White Plains metro area 44 percent of commuters use mass transit. But the percentage in L.A. County is still above the national average of five percent who use transit to get to work. And it’s similar to the percentages in some metro areas that are about the same size as massive L.A. County.

Secondly, as the following map illustrates, the proportion of residents who ride mass transit to work varies wildly across the Los Angeles Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the Census Bureau. Noticeably, the densest parts of L.A. also contain high proportions of transit commuters. Here are some examples from randomly chosen Census Block groups around L.A.: UCLA, 41%; Hollywood, 39%; Downtown, 59%; Koreatown, 64%; MacArthur Park, 67%; the area southeast of the 10 and 110, 85%.

Source: 2000 Census data.

Continue reading →

Transportation headlines, Friday, Jan. 14

Posted by

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.

16,000 potholes filled during intensive weekend ’0peration’ (LAist)

The headline says it all. The city had planned to fill anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 potholes, but the 50 work crews that took to the streets last weekend exceeded expectations. Good news for people who use the streets of L.A.

Proposed apartments along Expo Line in South L.A. draw comment from backers, foes (L.A. Times)

A new 919-unit transit oriented development proposed for the USC area is being dubbed as the first such development in South L.A. and is drawing controversy as supporters and critics offer feedback on the project. On one hand the project will bring high-quality rentals, retail choices and jobs to an area that proponents say is lacking such things. On the other hand, the site is currently zoned for medical and educational uses, something detractors say the community needs more than apartments.

House of horrors: GOP to put transportation on the chopping block? (Mobilizing the Region)

Here’s a look at action by the new Congress to remove long-term planning from transportation funding. The current transportation bill – which is due to expire in March – authorizes $50 billion to transportation infrastructure, but the Highway Trust Fund (gas taxes) only brings in $35 billion. Congress has been making up for the difference with money from the general fund, but the new GOP-led congress – with their emphasis on cutting spending –  voted to limit spending from the gas tax.

What it’s like to ride the fastest train in the world (TreeHugger)

There’s a lot of talk about California high-speed rail, but what does it actually feel like to ride a super fast train? TreeHugger provides some videos of a high-speed rail line in China that travels from Guangzhou and Wuha – a distance of 620 miles – in three hours. What’s it like going over 200 miles per hour on the ground? These videos show that it’s actually a pretty smooth and quiet ride.

Caught On tape: rat gets in NYC subway rider’s face (CBS News)

And finally, a Friday gross out and chance to realize that the grass is not always greener on the other side. A video of a (rather large) rat climbing on a sleeping passenger’s face in a New York City subway car has gone viral. There is speculation that it may have been staged, but anyone familiar with the NYC subway knows that rats – at least in the stations – are a very real phenomenon.

Knabe confab takes transportation on the road to Cerritos

Posted by
Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Chairman Don Knabe leads transportation panel at Cerritos Library. From left, Metro CEO Art Leahy, Lakewood City Councilwoman Diane Dubois, Santa Monica City Councilwoman Pam O'Connor, FTA / FHWA team leader Ray Tellis, and Metro staff members Raffi Hamparian, Michael Turner, Doug Failing and Renee Berlin. Photo by Juan Ocampo

Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Chairman Don Knabe leads transportation panel at Cerritos Library. From left, Metro CEO Art Leahy, Lakewood City Councilwoman Diane Dubois, Santa Monica City Councilwoman Pam O'Connor, FTA / FHWA team leader Ray Tellis, and Metro staff members Raffi Hamparian, Michael Turner, Doug Failing and Renee Berlin. Photo by Juan Ocampo

Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Chairman Don Knabe brought the “State of Transportation” Wednesday to a group of civic leaders from the Gateway Cities and South Bay regions of Los Angeles County at the Cerritos Library.

The confab took transportation on the road, detailing highway, rail and other transportation projects throughout Los Angeles County, with a special emphasis on projects within the Gateway Cites and South Bay regions and state and federal funding expectations for the next year.

Cerritos May Joseph Cho welcomed Metro Board Chairman Don Knabe, Directors Pam O’Connor and Diane Dubois; Ray Tellis, Team Leader, joint FTA and FHWA Los Angeles Metropolitan Office; and Metro CEO Art Leahy and his staff, who provided status reports on Measure R, highway and transit projects and alerts on pending issues in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.