Category Archives: Transportation Headlines

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Transportation headlines, Friday, May 3: Is California bike friendly? When death rode the rails, Boston transit seeks security, HSR defends bidding process

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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 Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.

Photo by Cyclotourist via Flickr

Photo by Cyclotourist via Flickr

Are we bike friendly? This ranking says, ‘Not so much’ (League of American Bicyclists)

Bike Month is here with Bike Week L.A. coming up fast, May 13-19, and Bike to Work Day May 16. That’s the day bicyclists ride free on Metro. With all that going on locally it seems a little weird that the League of American Bicyclists has released its annual ranking of bike-friendly states and that California is ranked number 19. Washington tops the list, of course. But at least locally, it seems like we’re making terrific efforts to encourage bike riding and to help keep bicyclists safe. Anyway, check out the list and see if you’re not inspired with the progress our nation is making re-embracing a form of transit that has absolutely no down side.

Boston Transit takes steps to boost safety and security (Boston Globe)

MBTA is taking steps to beef up its security systems. They’re not the only ones. Transit agencies across the country are on heightened alert but it’s vitally important that L.A. riders keep an eye out for suspicious activity and report it by calling (888) 950-SAFE (7233).

HSR defends bidding criteria (Los Angeles Times)

The California High-Speed Rail authority defends its bidding criteria against critics who say recent changes could jeopardize project quality.

When death rode the American rails (The Atlantic: Cities)

Who knew? In certain parts of the country, including the Los Angeles area, dedicated funeral cars were added to the streetcar systems. The only one that survives relatively intact is the Descanso (Spanish for “rest”), currently on display at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, California.

Colorado Boulevard in Arcadia closed for three more weeks (Pasadena Star-News)

So that bridge work can continue on the Gold Line Foothill Extension. Avoid the area, as they say.

Transportation headlines, Thursday, May 2: Cell phone snatching, Measure R accomplishments, who’s riding Expo, plus adopt-a-stop for transit

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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 Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.

Invasion of the cell phone snatchers (New York Times)

The New York Times has an interesting story about the rise of cell phone thefts in New York. L.A. has the same problem, as Metro riders have been warned. Cell phones are easy and profitable to resell, so they make an inviting target for thieves. In New York, theft of iPhones and iPads last year accounted for 14 percent of all crimes, according to the Times. The piece brings up the issue of the need for creation of more effective technology to prevent these crimes, including tracking devices for lost or stolen phones and/or programs that can make the devices inoperable if stolen. In the meantime, Metro and the L.A. County Sheriffs are advising everyone to keep phones and iPads stashed away — particularly when entering and exiting trains and buses.

Why is a small street repair project like Expo Phase 2? (Agoura Acorn)

Everyone talks about the mega projects connected with Measure R but the importance of Measure R to our daily lives should be measured not just in new rail lines and highway widenings but in the small bits of repair and redesign that keep our region moving and prevent us from screaming. Out in pretty Agoura Hills, Measure R is funding a Canwood street improvement project, a new roundabout at Kanan and Agoura roads and a widening of Agoura Road. It’s an investment that makes life better for the people who need it, just like trains and buses do.

Chinese bus maker will manufacture in Lancaster (L.A. Daily News)

Out of this deal, Long Beach Transit will get 10 all-electric buses and the people of Lancaster could get “hundreds” of jobs.

Can adopt-a-highway be a model for adopt-a-stop for public transit? (Transit Cooperative Research Program)

A new report by the Transportation Research Board suggests that adopt-a-stop programs, in which volunteers agree to pick up litter at transit stations and assist in other maintenance tasks, can be a valuable resource for public transportation agencies. Like adopt-a-highway programs, such programs can keep transit areas tidy but they also — and significantly — can create a sense of ownership within the community and improve safety and security for passengers. Not a bad idea.

One year later, who is riding the Expo Line? (USC Annenberg Neon Tommy)

A bunch of people. (Hooray!)

Transportation headlines, Tuesday, April 30

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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 Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.

Thanks to wifi in the criminal courts building jury room, here are some headlines while I wait…

Groundbreaking for bullet train faces new obstacles (L.A. Times)

The most significant issue here seems to be lack of a deal reached with BNSF, the freight railroad that controls some of the right-of-way to be shared with the high-speed rail project. Another issue: the scoring system used in evaluating bidders hoping to win the contract to construct the first 29 miles of track recommended a contractor whose price was lowest but also earned the lowest marks in the technical merit category.

Bill would open part of carpool lanes on 210, 134 to single-occupant cars (Daily News)

Single-occupant cars would be able to use the carpool lanes outside of peak periods under a one-year demonstration program. What'cha think, Source readers? Would you rather have this or a congestion pricing lane, the difference being the congestion pricing lane is managed to maintain speeds of 45 mph or up?

New bike lanes on Figueroa from Wilshire to Cesar Chavez (L.A. Streetsblog)

Bike lanes are being painted on a 1.1-mile stretch of Fig in downtown L.A., a stretch or road that resembles a mini-freeway. The lanes don't appear to be protected in any way from car traffic so it will be interesting to see how much (or how little) they are used and whether bike activists have anything to say about them.

 

Transportation headlines: Monday, April 29

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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 Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.

Transportation’s addiction to petroleum products isn’t going away, so says the above video by the group Face the Facts USA.

Obama to nominate Charlotte mayor to transportation post (New York Times) 

The President has tapped Charlotte Mayor Anthony R. Foxx to replace Ray LaHood as the next U.S. Transportation Secretary. The nomination comes after months of media gossip and uninformed speculation that was — shocker!! — basically 100 percent wrong. Foxx, 42, does not have a particular background in transportation but as mayor for nearly four years supported an extension of the Blue Line light rail project and a plan to bring streetcars back to Charlotte.

The next mayor of Los Angeles’ to-do list (The Planning Report) 

After reading this long list of suggestions from civic leaders/activists, my first suggestion for the next mayor: find some civic leaders/activists who can better articulate/write their vision for improving the City of Angels & Parking Lots. In short, here’s my suggestion: build stuff. Lots of stuff. Homes, parks, transportation projects, bike lanes, sidewalks — all the stuff that makes you wince with envy when visiting other cities. A lot of L.A. looks old and tired and needs a boost; those who fear traffic impacts may want to consider living in a region with millions less people, cars, jobs, businesses and other places to go.

Los Angeles State Historic Park to close for a year (Downtown News)

The park at the Cornfields may close next January in order to finally be built as originally envisioned — more landscaping, a pavilion, etc. If so, passengers on the Gold Line will have a front row seat to watch construction.

Subway car configurations: a matter of taste? (Human Transit) 

Transportation planner Jarrett Walker thinks agencies are asking the wrong question when they simply ask riders which seat layout they prefer. The more significant question, he says, is this: how much capacity do riders prefer on their trains? The issue, of course, is that fewer seats means more capacity.

 

 

Transpo headlines, Thursday, April 25: 405 project, politics of Leimert Park station

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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 Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.

For the MTA, the buck stops at Leimert Park (LAObserved)

Supervisor and Metro Board Member Mark Ridley-Thomas guest blogs, arguing that Metro must build a Leimert Park station for the Crenshaw/LAX Line whether or not it can be done within the project's current budget. Excerpt:

A decision on the station has languished, despite it being one of those rare causes seemingly everyone says they support. The station would connect Los Angeles to the city's African American cultural center, much like the current stations in Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Culver City and Mariachi Plaza have enhanced the appeal of those destinations.

But when the station came up for a Metro board vote in 2011, Metro's own staff was divided: some said the agency could afford the station, others said it was impossible. The Mayor — who effectively controls four of the board's 13 votes — insisted no additional money be put up for a station and persuaded a majority of the board to go along with him.

The Metro board must soon stop the hedging and make the right decision. In the first week of May, the leading bidder for the Crenshaw/LAX rail line will be made public, to then be approved by the board at the end of the month.

If the bid does not include the station, or if it says construction costs are beyond what had been expected, the Metro board must decide whether it can find additional resources for a station.

If Metro does not come up with a way to build the station, Leimert Park supporters, after being held waiting for two years, will be finally spurned.

We'll see what happens when the bid results are released in early May. Until then, this post offers a very interesting — and rare — view into Metro Board politics.

405 project stuck in the slow lane (L.A. Times)

The Times catches up with the news that the Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project is running behind schedule and has gone over budget. Supervisor and Metro Board Member Zev Yaroslavsky isn't pleased with the way the project has been run while Metro officials say that some parts of the project have already opened (the Sunset Boulevard bridge, for example) and others will continue to open throughout 2013.

Meanwhile, in a blog post written off the 405 news, LAObserved's Mark Lacter says the 405 project should serve as a cautionary tale about the time and expense involved in extending the subway to Westwood.

Mayoral candidate survey: Eric Garcetti (L.A. Streetsblog)

Streetsblog throws some fresh transportation questions at the candidates for mayor of Los Angeles. Among the inquiries: who would they put on the Metro Board, what do they think of LADOT's leadership, what transportation project do they want to pursue in their first year of office, where will funds come from for pedestrian improvements, etc. Good questions. Eric Garcetti gets first crack at answering.

 

Transportation headlines, Wednesday, April 24

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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 Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.

Of broomsticks and bikes (ZevWeb) 

As part of the county’s approval of the expansion of the Universal Studios theme park and back lot, NBCUniversal has agreed to spend $13.5 million to extend the Los Angeles River bike path from Studio City to Griffith Park. With some future linkages in downtown L.A., it could be possible to take the bike path one day from the San Fernando Valley to Long Beach.

Goodbye Blockbuster, Hello subway stop (Buzzfeed)

The last hours of the Blockbuster at Wilshire and La Brea are chronicled; the store closed Sunday to make way for construction of the Purple Line Extension station there. Copies of “24″ were going for 99 cents and the reporter counted 27 copies of “Greenberg,” the ultra-terrible Ben Stiller flick.

Central subway tunnel machines expected to arrive in S.F. this week (San Francisco Examiner)

The massive boring machines will be used to dig the north-south Central Subway project, which will extend light rail into the congested North Beach area. Digging is expected to begin in June. Meanwhile, the low bidder to build three stations for the project came in at $840 million, higher than Muni’s projections. Tunnel boring machines will also be used to dig tunnels for three Metro projects: the Regional Connector, the Crenshaw/LAX Line and the aforementioned Purple Line Extension.

Why aren’t young Americans driving anymore? (Washington Post)

The headline is a little misleading, given the Post cites data showing that between 2001 and 2009, driving by motorists age 16 to 34 declined by 23 percent; 2009 was four years ago, right? That said, the post cites stats showing that driving by all Americans has dropped by more than eight percent since 2005, which is the biggest decline in recent times.

What’s going on? For one, the baby boomers are driving less as they get older, which makes sense — many are presumably retired or hopefully doing something more fun than getting up early each day and putting on uncomfortable clothes (i.e. anything that’s not shorts, t-shirt and sandals) in order to sit in a tiny cubicle in some anonymous big building and answer/send needless email all day while fighting off the urge to drop into a permanent slumber.

As for the younger folk, here are the list of reasons the Post says they’re not pushing pedal to metal with the zeal of, say, my semi-fossilized generation: the recent recession, it’s harder to get a license, the cost of driving has gone up (gas, insurance, the car itself), more young people live near transit and are willing to use it and technology such as Facebook may have replaced some commute trips (yes, girls online have somehow become more interesting than girls in person; triple yikes!). In tech’s defense, some apps may make it easier to commute or give the kiddies something to do while on transit that’s more fun than sitting in rush hour traffic.

On that note, if anyone knows how to get three stars on this level, please leave a comment.

Finally, here’s a mighty interesting paper written by a team of researchers at UCLA that informed the federal research in turn used by the Washington Post.

Bullet train: the insanity escalates (San Diego Union-Tribune)

This harsh editorial takes the California High-Speed Rail Authority to task for changing the bidding rules for construction of the first 29-mile section of track between Madera and Fresno. In particular, the UT says that bidding rules shouldn’t have been altered without public notification in order to rank low cost ahead of technical merit. The low bidder for the project also ranked last in technical merit. The editorial was based on this article that appeared in the L.A. Times last week.

Transportation headlines, Tuesday, April 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 Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.

Los Angeles mayoral candidates talk transportation at last night’s debate (NBC4)

Councilman Eric Garcetti and Controller Wendy Greuel were asked about public transportation and accelerating Measure R projects at last night’s debate at USC.

In this first video excerpt, the candidates were asked what they would do to increase use of public transportation while working with Metro (sorry about the commercials):

In this second excerpt, the candidates were asked if they would support sacrificing traffic lanes and street parking for dedicated bus lanes:

The questions were good but I’m not sure asking the candidates to squeeze what could be a much longer conversation about transit and transportation into just a couple of minutes is very fair to the audience.

Video interviews: the mayoral candidates (L.A. Times) 

The opinion section of the Times posts 30-minute interviews with both Garcetti and Greuel, including questions about pedestrian safety and transit. The interviews are also posted in segments so viewers can watch the parts that most interest them.

Letters: give the 110 toll lanes more time (L.A. Times) 

Readers opine on the recent story in the Times about the ExpressLanes project on the 110 freeway. Among the letters is one from a USC professor urging residents to give the ExpressLanes more time to change driver behavior (i.e. not use the 110 at its busiest times) and another reader urging Metro to adjust the tolls so that more motorists in the general lanes will want to use the ExpressLanes.

This date in history: April 22, 1964 (Primary Resources) 

It was 40 years ago that a plan was released explaining how the proposed Beverly Hills Freeway would be a tunnel while traveling under Beverly Hills with no exits or entrances, by the way. For those keeping score at home, the freeway lost. Check out the report in the post — fascinating read on the east-west freeway that never came to be.

Transportation headlines, Monday, April 22: Beautiful repurposed train stations, CicLAvia bigger and better than ever, why transit investment makes good business sense, car-less in L.A. intineraries

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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 Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.

Musee d'Orsay. Photo by Laurent/Flickr

Musee d’Orsay. Photo by Laurent/Flickr

Ten incredible repurposed train stations (Flavorwire)

From the famed Musee d’Orsay (museum) in Paris to the Julio Prestes Train Station (concert hall) in Sao Paulo, Brazil train stations are being repositioned in creative and exciting ways. A few of the results are shown in this beautiful photo essay.

Mass transit comes full cycle (L.A. Times)

Yesterday’s CicLAvia was the first with a 15-mile route that cleared streets from downtown all the way to the beach. It seemed to have proved itself compelling. Organizers estimated that the crowd swelled to 150,00 this time … the largest ever. Next up: June 23 CicLAvia on Wilshire Boulevard, from downtown to Fairfax Avenue.

America needs clean transportation, not just clean cars (Natural Resources Defense Council Switchboard blog)

Here’s a piece applauding the U.S. move to high-mileage cars and those that will run on clean fuels, but also reminding us that public transit has its economic charms, despite what often can be the high cost of construction. The investment is worth it, the writer argues. Using L.A. as an example, it estimates that congestion relief provided by public transportation ranges between $1.2 billion and $4.1 billion per year.

Itineraries for discovering L.A. without a car (LAist) 

The L.A. Tourism & Convention Board’s new car-free campaign showcases expanded transit, the city’s new bikeways, improved walkability and events like CicLAvia. It also includes a series of itineraries for discovering the city’s diverse neighborhoods on foot, bike and public transit. Check it out.

Transportation headlines, Friday, April 19: A major city on lockdown, gas prices dip, CSUN bike collective, bullet train bidding rules changed

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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 Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.

Boston Marathon bomging. Photo by hahatango via flickr

Boston Marathon. Photo by hahatango via flickr

It’s almost impossible to put an entire U.S. metro area on lockdown (The Atlantic: Cities)

How can you lock down an American city and its public transit system? Not very easily.

Gas prices dip below $4 a gallon (Los Angeles Daily News)

Southland gas prices have fallen below $4 a gallon after an extended run-up. We’re all happy about that. But remember that prices are down because of an unexpected increase in U.S. stockpiles in the face of weak demand. We’re buying more fuel-efficient cars. We’re driving less and taking public transit more. So will Americans take the bait and start driving again as prices dip?

And yet the cost of driving a car is on the rise (Next City)

Despite the (shall we call it “temporary”?) drop in gas prices, for car owners the only good news to come out of this year’s “Your Driving Costs” study, an annual report from AAA, is that the price of tires and tire maintenance has not gone up. But all other costs for car ownership, from gas to insurance, have collectively increased by nearly 2 percent since last year.

Bike collective at CSUN: Maybe the kids know best (CSUN Daily Sundial)

Do it yourself, is a key attitude for the Bike Collective, an on-campus community of CSUN student cyclists who emphasize empowering commuters to take an alternative and sustainable mode of transportation to CSUN. As many of them no doubt know CSUN is served by a number of Metro buses and a frequent shuttle connects students and teachers to the Metrolink station in Chatsworth. Both Metro and Metolink are decidedly bicycle friendly.

Bullet train bidding rules were changed (Los Angeles Times)

State high-speed rail officials have acknowledged that they changed the rules for selecting a builder for the bullet train’s first phase in the Central Valley, a shift that made it possible for a consortium led by Sylmar-based Tutor Perini to be ranked as the top candidate despite having received the lowest technical rating among bidders. The technical score is based on safety measures, engineering, scheduling and other construction-related issues. Worth nothing is that the Tutor Perini $985.1 bid came in lowest.