Transportation headlines, Friday, Dec. 18

EGPNews.com takes a closer look at Eastside Gold Line safety and the Metro Board’s decision to speed up the process of installing safety gates along the new line. Many residents along the line showed up to last week’s meeting of the Metro Board to ask that a lengthy environmental impact study (EIS) be bypassed in order to increase the line’s safety as fast as possible. In addition, a group of residents from Little Tokyo presented a petition citing safety concerns around the “counter-intuitive” Little Tokyo Station.

Metrolink is ordering 117 new “crash resistant” train cars for $229 million the L.A. Times reports. The cars, which will begin service next summer, are designed in such a way that the force of a collision is distributed in the safest manner for passengers. In the last five years Metrolink has had two major collisions that ended in passenger fatalities.

In other Metrolink news, Streetsblog LA talked to the Transit Coalition about their new plan to save the commuter rail system which is currently facing a major budgetary crisis. The transit advocacy organization’s plan is to convert Metrolink from a “segment” system to a “corridor” system and in turn simplify operations and reduce the need for lengthy transfers. They even created a snazzy new map showing their proposed changes. Lots of good comments follow the post on Streetsblog, some in support and others highly skeptical of the idea.

Transportation for America has an interesting story about issues discussed at a debate on conservatives and public transportation.  Typically conservatives are against public transport due to its subsidized nature, but there’s a growing faction that notes that the dominance of the automobile is just as much a product of government intervention. The debate ended up with conservatives debating bus versus rail.

You can check out the rest of today’s headlines, compiled by the non-partisan Metro Library, after the jump.

Another Court Decision Goes In Favor Of State Transit Agencies
LA StreetsBlog

Avenue Becomes Bike-Friendly: Street Markings Called Sharrows Indicate Where Bicyclists Should Travel On Roads
Glendale News Press

City Of Burbank Adopts Far-Reaching Bike Master Plan!
Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition

Debate Panelists Split Over Buses, Broader Impact Of Transit Investments
Transportation For America

Deficient Roadways Cost Los Angeles Drivers Nearly $2,500 Annually, $40 Billion Statewide: Without A Reliable, Significant Boost In Funding, Transportation Woes Will Worsen
(2p. PDF)
TRIP National Transportation Research Group
Los Angeles Metro Area details (4p. PDF)

Gold Line Safety Gates On Fast Track
EGP News

Highland Avenue, Interstate 5 Cited As Among L.A. Area’s Most Deteriorated Roads
Los Angeles Times

L.A.’s Transportation Department Likely To See 10% Reduction In Staffing
LAist

Metro Seek Millions For Westside Subway & Connector
LAist

Metrolink To Receive New Crash-Resistant Cars Next Month: The 117 Cars Have Energy-Absorbing Ends To Distribute The Force Of Head-On Crashes And Feature Breakaway Interior Tables
Los Angeles Times

Modern Streetcars Debut In Vancouver (after 65 years absence)
Regarding Place

[New York] M.T.A. Approves Big Service Cuts In Mass Transit
New York Times

Recession Obsession: Eating On The Purple Line
LAist

Report Details California’s Transportation Shortfall
Sacramento Bee

Roll Up the Pavement: Gravel Is Making A Comeback
Associated Press

Senate Climate Bill Invests Big In Transit, Reaps Big Deficit Reduction
LA StreetsBlog

This Is Not Your Father’s DOT: Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood (interview)
The Takeaway

Transit Coalition’s “Simplified Network” Could Create Millions For Metrolink
LA StreetsBlog

Transit Jobs Nearly Twice As Cheap To Create As Roads – By Congress’ Math
LA StreetsBlog

Two Dems Propose To End Bush-Era Rule on Transit “Cost-Effectiveness”
DC StreetsBlog

Updated: MTA Changes Its Mind, Offers Orange Line On New Year’s Eve
Los Angeles Daily News

Villaraigosa In Copenhagen: L.A. Needs To Do More For Bikes
LA StreetsBlog

Westchester, El Segundo Maintenance Facility Sites Taken Off Grid; Light Rail Line Gets New Name
Argonaut

White Paper: Transportation Adaptation To Global Climate Change (64p. PDF)
Bipartisan Policy Center, National Transportation Policy Project, Rockefeller Foundation

Wilshire Subway: Fed Funds Requested, Crenshaw Stop Blasted
LA Curbed

Worth The Wait? (how advertisers are transforming the drab city transit stop)
New York Times

Categories: Transportation News