Here are today’s transportation headlines, courtesy of the ever-helpful Metro Library.
I think the big story this week is the federal government’s sudden interest in banning texting while driving. A good piece by Wired explains what the feds can and can’t do — basically the best hope is to bribe states into passing stronger laws. Of course, it’s one thing to have a law, it’s another to actually enforce it in a meaningful way. And anytime I’m in a car these days, I see people playing with their cell phones.
The C.I.C.L.E website also has a very smart piece today contemplating whether the city of Los Angeles should have more than one bike coordinator. I think the answer is an obvious yes, given the size of the city and the challenge of creating bike routes that are safe and give some people reason to consider cycling rather than driving.
Another story that caught my eye was F. Kaid Benfield’s ruminations on whether going car-free is the next big trend among young folk. Fred Dennstedt, my colleague here at The Source, doesn’t have a car and I enjoyed my three years living in the Big Apple without one. But I don’t think the region is quite there yet where this will come a trend — we’ll need a more expansive mass transit and bike system for that to happen, IMO.
Here’s the full list of headlines:
Amtrak Loss Comes To $32 Per Passenger: Study
Huffington Post
Bad News From Governor, Courts On 710 Expansion Near Pasadena
LA Streetsblog
End State: Is California Finished?
New Republic
Half Of Muni Surveillance Cameras Fail In Audit
San Francisco Chronicle
Historical Traffic Data To Save Significant Time To US Consumers
GPS Business News
How About Multiple Bike Coordinators For Los Angeles
CICLE
Little Tokyo Asks Metro To Study Grade-Separated Alternative For Regional Connector
BlogDowntown
More Maps: Historic Service From Predecessor Agencies & Past Visions Of Los Angeles’ Transportation Future
LACMTA Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library via Scribd
OMG, Senate Targeting Texting While Driving
Wired
Reaching Gen Y And Younger
Imagine No Cars: Thoughts On Alternative Transportation And Urban Design
Remembering The Father Of Transportation Economics
New York Times
Senior Dems Release New Distracted Driving Bill As LaHood Testifies
DC Streetsblog
Transportation Policy Becomes the Proverbial Tree Falling In the Forest
LA Streetsblog
Urban Archeology: Lost Underworld Of Los Angeles
Boing Boing
Village Green: Is Going Car-Free The New Prius?
Huffington Post
Categories: Transportation News