Caltrans released a comprehensive report today detailing its efforts to fight climate change by curbing greenhouse gas emissions and embracing new technology such as low-energy cement and efficient LED lighting. The report also describes the department’s efforts to adapt to the negative effects of climate change, such as more frequent and intense flooding and heat waves.
For the rest of Caltrans’ press release and the link to the full report, keep reading after the jump.
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.
ART OF TRANSIT: A cyclist on the beach bike path in Santa Monica this past weekend. Photo by Steve Hymon.
A rendering of BART’s proposed station revisions. Image: BART.
Wendy Greuel attacks Eric Garcetti on Hollywood development (Daily News)
Interesting story from the L.A. mayoral campaign that sort of involves transit. Greuel says Hollywood now has too much traffic and development, Garcetti says Hollywood’s turnaround is a success story. As reporter Dakota Smith notes, no skyscrapers have actually been built on Garcetti’s watch. She also writes that the dispute involves the city’s new zoning plan for Hollywood that would promote more development near housing. Some residents are suing over the plan, alleging it will allow too much development. Garcetti supports the plan, Greuel hasn’t taken a stance.
The State of the Union Speech (WhiteHouse.gov)
A few excerpts from President Obama’s speech last night that may be of interest to readers of this blog:
But for the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change. (Applause.) Now, it’s true that no single event makes a trend. But the fact is the 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15. Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods — all are now more frequent and more intense. We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence. Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science — and act before it’s too late. (Applause.)
[snip]In fact, much of our new-found energy is drawn from lands and waters that we, the public, own together. So tonight, I propose we use some of our oil and gas revenues to fund an Energy Security Trust that will drive new research and technology to shift our cars and trucks off oil for good. If a nonpartisan coalition of CEOs and retired generals and admirals can get behind this idea, then so can we. Let’s take their advice and free our families and businesses from the painful spikes in gas prices we’ve put up with for far too long.[snip]America’s energy sector is just one part of an aging infrastructure badly in need of repair. Ask any CEO where they’d rather locate and hire — a country with deteriorating roads and bridges, or one with high-speed rail and Internet; high-tech schools, self-healing power grids. The CEO of Siemens America — a company that brought hundreds of new jobs to North Carolina — said that if we upgrade our infrastructure, they’ll bring even more jobs. And that’s the attitude of a lot of companies all around the world. And I know you want these job-creating projects in your district. I’ve seen all those ribbon-cuttings. (Laughter.)So tonight, I propose a “Fix-It-First” program to put people to work as soon as possible on our most urgent repairs, like the nearly 70,000 structurally deficient bridges across the country. (Applause.) And to make sure taxpayers don’t shoulder the whole burden, I’m also proposing a Partnership to Rebuild America that attracts private capital to upgrade what our businesses need most: modern ports to move our goods, modern pipelines to withstand a storm, modern schools worthy of our children. (Applause.) Let’s prove that there’s no better place to do business than here in the United States of America, and let’s start right away. We can get this done.
One of the best ways to encourage growth is through our energy industry. Of course solar and wind energy should be a part of our energy portfolio. But God also blessed America with abundant coal, oil and natural gas. Instead of wasting more taxpayer money on so-called “clean energy” companies like Solyndra, let’s open up more federal lands for safe and responsible exploration. And let’s reform our energy regulations so that they’re reasonable and based on common sense. If we can grow our energy industry, it will make us energy independent, it will create middle class jobs and it will help bring manufacturing back from places like China.
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.
Red Line at Union Station. Photo by Carl Greenland
Editorial: Rethinking Prop. 13 … and the supermajority (Los Angeles Times)
Advocates of Measure J, the sales tax extension for transportation, are frustrated that they fell just short of the required two-thirds required for passage. They also are discussing a change to 55 percent, perhaps just for transportation sales taxes, or perhaps more broadly. State Senator Carol Liu has proposed a bill to change the threshold to 55 percent.
Measure J misery loves company (Transportation Nation)
Think Measure J lost in a squeaker? Alameda County’s transportation sales tax measure received 66.52 percent of the vote — just 700 votes short.
Think about the transportation sector, if you’re thinking about climate change (Huffington Post)
These writers argue that the U.S. needs a three-step mass transit program to help our communities thrive, protect our climate and promote human health. And/or we need to brace ourselves for Superstorm Sandy and all the other climate surprises waiting in the wings.
San Bernardino considers toll lanes (Riverside Press Enterprise)
San Bernardino County may turn to toll lanes on the I-10 to expedite widening of the busy freeway … at least that option is under consideration.
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.
ExpressLanes off to smooth start, despite some grumbling (L.A. Times)
The ExpressLanes opened on the 110 freeway on Saturday night; this article reports that everything has gone well through Monday. My understanding is the commute on the ExpressLanes this morning went smoothly. Anyone drive them today? Comment please.
Bullet train planners face huge engineering challenge (L.A. Times)
A look at what it will take to build 141 miles of high-speed rail between Bakersfield and Los Angeles — a stretch of track in which preliminary estimates say 59 percent will need to be in tunnels or on viaducts. The California High-Speed Rail Authority is working on the plans now and says this stretch of track will cost about $20 billion — or about $141 million per mile. That’s comparable to what it will cost to build some light rail lines in the L.A. area — lines that don’t need to burrow over/under the Tehachapi and San Gabriel ranges.
Supporters continue push for downtown L.A. streetcar as vote nears (blogdowntown)
Ballots are being mailed this week to the roughly 20,000 downtown Los Angeles residents who will be voting whether to create a new tax district to raise money for the project. The election is being done entirely by mail — results will likely come in early December. A two-thirds super-majority is needed to pass. A lot is at stake: without a new district the $125-million project would lack the local dollars needed to secure federal funds.
Is transit speed obsolete? (Human Transit)
One transportation academic says that slow transit works better in terms of building cities. Transportation planner Jarrett Walker isn’t convinced. I agree. Slow transit is usually just a great way of encouraging people to keep and use their cars.
U.S. to become world’s largest oil producers in five years, report says (New York Times)
The International Energy Agency has revised its numbers, saying the U.S. could overtake Saudi Arabia earlier than expected. About 55 percent of the chane is due to more production and 45 percent from greater efficiency. Natural gas in the U.S. is also booming, meaning less coal is needed here — and meaning more coal will likely be consumed elsewhere. While the news may be good for the U.S. economy, it’s not seen as good overall for climate change as the world’s reliance on oil, natural gas and coal remains very high.
Fuel economy of vehicles in U.S. hits new high (University of Michigan)
The average in October was 24.1 mpg, which is four gallons better than five years ago — a major increase. Check out the charts. I’m guessing the Toyota Prius (now in several models) and other hybrids have helped.
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.
Some New York subway service resumes; restrictions put in place on bridges (New York Times)
Fourteen of the 23 subway lines in New York began service again this morning although some lines have considerable gaps because of flooding and other damage from Hurricane Sandy. Service between Manhattan and Brooklyn remains by shuttle bus only and lines are long. Gov. Cuomo also announced that all bus and subway fares were waived for the rest of the week as a way to help people get around.
Traffic in the area has been more terrible than usual, resulting in a key policy change: vehicles headed over some key bridges into Manhattan were required to have three or more passengers. The Times reports that some police checks to enforce passenger loads may have added to traffic woes because they were so vigorous.
However, New Jersey Transit rail service — which connects Manhattan to the vast suburbs of the Garden State — remains suspended. There is both infrastructure damage and/no power to run trains, switches and signaling systems. Gov. Christie said that it will be seven to 10 days before PATH subway trains are running again between Newark, Hoboken and Lower Manhattan. The above slideshow from New Jersey Transit shows damage to the system.
A gas line in New Jersey. Photo by Jeff Jarvis, via Twitter.
New Jersey is running out of gas (Grist)
There were warnings before the storm that gasoline would likely be short supply after Sandy swept through the region. And the warnings were correct. Gas is in short supply for cars as well as the generators needed to supply electricity in some areas. Lines are long but here’s one interesting tidbit: there was a rule already in place prohibiting gas stations from gouging customers and the Christie Administration has been serious about enforcing it.
Are humans to blame? Science is out (New York Times)
Was Hurricane Sandy caused by or made worse by climate change? Scientists say they don’t know but do think that storm surges were likely made worse by seas that have already risen in response to global warming. Warmer seas may have also contributed to providing the storm with more energy. Bottom line, however, is this: scientists predict there will be a blizzard of scientific papers produced about the storm and climate change.
Californians commute ranks as 10th longest in U.S. (California Watch)
The average commute time in the Golden State between 2009 and 2011 was 26.9 minutes. Excerpt:
On average, Americans spent 23.7 minutes getting to work. More than three-quarters of them drove alone to their jobs, nearly 1 in 10 carpooled and 5 percent took public transportation. Californians were less likely to drive alone – about 73 percent did – and were more likely to carpool (11.4 percent) or ride public transit (5.2 percent).
Californians’ commuting habits have not changed much in recent years. They drive, carpool and ride public transit at about the same rates they reported in the 2006-8 American Community Survey, and their journeys to work are about the same duration.
Maryland has the longest average commutes at 31.8 minutes. In California, Contra Costa County had the longest commute times at 32.2 minutes. Contra Costa and Riverside counties had the highest proportion of commuters requiring an hour or more to get to work — 17 percent.
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.
ART OF TRANSIT: The tail end of a Metro Gold Line train on the bridge crossing the Pasadena Freeway and the Arroyo Seco on Tuesday evening. Photo by Steve Hymon/Metro.
Climate of Doubt (Frontline PBS)
Curious why climate change has been almost completely absent from this year’s presidential race? This excellent report from Frontline looks at the groups that have spent considerable sums of money and effort to raise doubts about the science behind global warming — and to instill fear in legislators, even Republicans, who dare to believe the Earth may be warming. If you have 53 minutes, I strongly urge you to watch this program. And I’ll include my usual notation that taking transit is a good way to lower your carbon footprint.
Developer in Gold Line dispute releases letter (Monrovia Patch)
The developer has sued the city of Monrovia, alleging that land near the future Monrovia Station for the Gold Line Foothill Extension that was entitled for a large residential development project will instead be used as a parking structure for the station. I certainly don’t know the details on the dispute; I do know the area and hope that the future station has both adequate parking and needed development.
Work begins on L.A.’s tallest tower (Curbed L.A.)
Demolition of the Wilshire Grand is underway to clear the way for a 70-story office and hotel at Wilshire and Figueroa, a transit adjacent site, thank you. The new building will be the second-tallest in downtown Los Angeles — U.S. Bank Building still will hold top honors — and will include high-speed elevators to whisk visitors to a hotel lobby in the sky near the top of the building. Interesting. In related news, Curbed L.A. has the news of new renderings of the proposed office and hotel towers that would be on either side of the Capitol Records building, near the Red Line’s Hollywood/Vine station. The development is controversial but would certainly help with Hollywood’s revival — something I think is far from complete.
SFMTA combines contracts for Central Subway project (San Francisco Examiner)
After originally proposing to put four bids out — one for each of the three stations and a fourth for operations system management — the MTA decided to combine the four contracts into one. There was some speculation that perhaps this was done after Tutor-Saliba received the highest score for one of the station contracts — the contractor and the city have had legal disputes in the past — but officials say the move was done to save $20- $30-million.
Beverly Hills Council votes ‘not to take position in support of Measure J’ (Beverly Hills Courier)
The top of the story:
After almost three hours of deliberation, the Beverly Hills City Council failed to take a formal position to back the Board of Education in its opposition of Measure J, voting 4-1 to “not take a position in support of Measure J” at its study session on Tuesday afternoon.
The vote on the symbolic resolution was 4 to 1, with Councilman John Mirisch opposing and saying “Not supporting something is not the same as opposing it.” The vote was hardly surprising; the city of Beverly Hills and the Beverly Hills Unified School District have sued Metro in an attempt to stop the Westside Subway Extension from tunneling part of the Beverly Hills High School campus.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the story is that it lacks the usual editorial comments inserted into the news by the Courier’s editors and/or publisher about the subway and positions that politicians should take. The Courier promises more coverage of the vote on the symbolic resolution in its print edition.
Another pro sports team gets transit-friendly (New York Times)
The New York Islanders are leaving their current arena on Long Island — the one surrounded by acres of parking lots and not terribly near transit — and moving to the new Barclay Arena in Brooklyn. That means the Islanders new home will be a stone’s throw from multiple subway lines connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan and Queens, as well as a Long Island Railroad hub. Sounds like a smart plan. Ebbetts Field, former home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, was located near the Prospect Park subway station. Meanwhile on the Left Coast, CBS Sports reports that the NFL wants a new stadium to be in Chavez Ravine and its acres and acres and acres of parking lots. It should be noted the CBS Sports story relied only on “league sources,” none of whom were named.
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.
Measure J examined (The Transport Politic)
Yonah Freemark takes a look at some of the pros and cons of the proposal by Metro to extend the Measure R half-cent sales tax by 30 years, from 2039 to 2069.
Bus rapid transit in Chicago won't be so rapid (Chicago Tribune)
The Trib's transpo columnist takes a look at the Windy City's first BRT which mostly will not have its own lane or some other features usually associated with bus rapid transit projects.
Why do bike tires stink? (Grist)
The 'Ask Umbra' column tackles the question of why bike tires must be inflated much more often than car tires. Answer: it's the way the tires are manufactured and the phenomenon of high pressure — the air in bike tires really just wants to escape.
Obama Administration to states: get ready for more transit oversight (The Hill)
In a letter recently sent to 26 states with major transit agencies, federal officials said the recent federal transpo bill gives them the authority to set national safety standards for local transit operation. “Public transit remains one of the safest ways to travel in the U.S., and we intend to keep it that way,” wrote U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
What will it take for climate change to become an issue? (New York Times)
In days of yore — like 2005 — activists predicted that weather calamaties would finally focus the public's attention on the issue of climate change. Well, the world has seen plenty of wacky and (sadly) deadly weather in the past couple of years, but the presidential candidates are still treating climate change as if it's highly radioactive. It's gotten so bad that the League of Conservation Voters has started an online petition to ask debate moderator Jim Lehrer to force Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to talk about it during their first encounter next month.
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.
State of the climate (it’s hot) — June Analysis (NOAA)
You’ve probably heard by now that the the past 12 months in the United States (through June) were the warmest on average since records have been maintained. Here’s an excellent map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showing the latest climate news. Worried about global warming? Take public transit — on average, it emits fewer greenhouse gases per mile than cars with single occupants.
Expo Line ridership up 50 percent (Curbed L.A.)
The Culver City station didn’t open until June 20 but average weekday ridership last month was 16,659, a big increase from the about 11,000 per day in May.
What New York City can learn from Los Angeles about the transit biz (New York Capital)
The big suggestions: get politicians behind transit as they are here, improve marketing and outreach and build coalitions with those who should also support transit such as developers, unions and museums. Of course, the Big Apple and L.A. are in very different situations, as the writer points out — L.A. is in expansion mode and New York is mostly in maintenance mode. Smart post.
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.
Rail capacity project launches (Caltrans)
Caltrans, BNSF and Amtrak announced groundbreaking on a 3.8-mile section of new track last week — part of the “triple track” project to add 15 miles of new track between Commerce and Fullerton to increase rail capacity in this key chokepoint.
Expo Line: success, failure or perhaps a little too early to tell? (L.A. Streetsblog)
The Reason Foundation has already condemned the line to decades of poor ridership and money losses. Streetsblog throws a little perspective into the mix, declaring the Reason Foundation “study” to be more than a little flawed.
City of L.A. adds more bike lanes (LADOT Bike Blog)
Two bike lanes totaling three miles in South L.A. means that the city has now installed 30 miles of bike lanes in this fiscal year. The new lanes are on Vernon Avenue and Main Street. There are now about 200 mile lanes in the entire city — a lot or a little, depending on your point of view.
Heartland Institute compares belief in global warming to mass murder (The Guardian)
The conservative “think tank” uses billboards with images of criminals such as Charles Manson to briefly make its point. The Institute in a news release briefly mentioned that not all global warming alarmists have actually killed someone. Welcome to American political discourse, circa 2012.
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.
Gingrich and Romney on climate change (Grist)
A brief and almost-funny look at the two candidates’ changing views on climate change and what, if anything, should be done about it — if it’s happening that is. Gingrich story and Romney story. Let’s just say both candidates have, um, refined their views in recent times.
Two more weather disasters top $1 billion in damages (New York Times)
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration added two more weather disasters to its tally of weather events that caused $1 billion or more in damage in 2011. That list is now 14 — the most ever. Tropical Storm Lee and a wind and hail storm in Colorado and Wyoming are the latest additions.
The Athabasca oil sands field in Canada. Photo by NASA Earth Observatory, via Wikipedia Commons.
Blocking Keystone pipeline won’t stop oil sands production (NPR)
Smart story. Many conservationists want to stop the proposed Keystone pipeline from Canada to Texas to discourage the production of oil from tar sands in Canada — a particularly dirty way to recover oil from the Earth. Yet, even if Keystone is stopped, the oil will likely flow south in an existing pipeline to Vancouver, where it is shipped south to the U.S.
Main Street bike lane extended into Venice (Daily Breeze)
For years, the bike lane on Main Street in Santa Monica came to an abrupt end at the city of Los Angeles border. The city is now in the process of removing a car lane in each direction on Main Street and extending the bike lane about .9 miles south to Windward Circle in Venice. Good news for this popular bike riding area.
New federal courthouse for downtown L.A. (L.A. Times)
The embarrassing hole in the ground between 1st, 2nd, Broadway and Hill in downtown Los Angeles will finally get the federal courthouse planned for the site. Funding from Congress has been a problem. That means more jobs at a major transit hub. Many bus lanes stop in the area, as well as the Red and Purple line subway — and there will also be a Regional Connector station at 2nd and Broadway. Of course, there remains the embarrassing field of parking lots just up the hill from the site, as well as the embarrassing empty lot on 1st Street across from both City Hall and the Times building. Sigh. This building will replace an old courthouse a few blocks away — what will happen with that site is to be determined.
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