The L.A. Times has an editorial on Metro’s projected $251-million operating deficit in the next fiscal year and offers a proposal on how to fix it — raise fares. The article notes that L.A.’s fares are significantly lower than most U.S. cities and fares only cover about 26% of operating costs. Of course, there’s many who would say L.A.’s transit system doesn’t offer the same level of service as those other cities and a fare increase would hurt the most vulnerable riders on this system — those without the luxury of a choice.

Human Transit takes a look at how New York City is handling its own transit deficit by cutting service intelligently. Service cuts seems like a bad thing (much like fare increases) but the blog notes that some services are redundant and by cutting these services transit agencies can save money without reducing mobility. Of course, as one commenter on the blog notes, having redundant service to cut is a luxury that most agencies don’t have.

The blog Straight Outta Suburbia discovered that our neighbors to the south have a transit system that puts most U.S. cities, L.A. included, to shame. Mexico City’s metro system has 11 grade separated lines and — surprise! — it’s the second largest metro system in North America after New York City. Wow. Straight Outta Suburbia did some additional research and found that residents of Mexico city owned 189 cars per 1,000 while in the U.S. the number is more like 771 cars per 1,000 people. Double wow.

Read the rest of today’s headlines, complied by the Metro Library, after the jump.

2010 LA Street Summit: Biking, Walking And Beyond
Be A Green Commuter

Anti-Transit Freeway/Tollway-Building Politician Now In Charge Of OCTA: Welcome, Tustin Mayor Jerry Amante
TransitRiderOC

California High-Speed Rail Project’s Flaws Publicized
Sacramento Bee

Chandler Blvd. Speed Limit Should Increase From 35 To 45 MPH, Study Recommends
LAist

D.C. Art Activists See Old Trolley Station As Buried Treasure
Washington Post

Downtown’s Grand Avenue Now A Candidate For Eli Broad’s Art Museum
Los Angeles Times

Editorial: Managing L.A.’s Mass Transit: The MTA Needs To Boost Fares And Make Other Moves To Cope With A Structural Deficit
Los Angeles Times

Fast Track The Future: A High-Speed Rail Agenda for America
Progressive Fix
Full-text policy memo (12p. PDF)

Gas Tax Ignorance Revisited: Are Vehicle Mileage Fees The Answer?
Infrastructurist

Into Performance-Based Transportation Policy (experts weigh in on how to develop effective and practical performance measures, as well as what data, resources and institutional changes will be needed)
National Journal Transportation Blog

Ken Greenberg On The Future Of Urban Planning (cycling, shifting demographics, and the end of the lifespan for much of the post-WWII highway infrastructure)
Metropolis

L.A. May Boot More Cars To Ease Shortfall
Los Angeles Daily News

LA StreetSummit 2010 website (LA Trade Tech College : March 20, 2010
LA StreetSummit

Long Beach Makes Way For Bicycles: The City Is Proactive In Becoming More Cyclist Friendly, Even Creating “Sharrows” For Bikes To Share Lanes – And 20 Miles Of New Bike Lanes Are Coming Soon
Los Angeles Times

New York: Cutting Service Without Cutting Mobility
Human Transit

OCTA Chairman Jerry Amante And CEO Will Kempton Share Their 2010 Transportation Goals (audio)
AudioBoo

Officials Rally Against 710 Extension
Glendale News Press

Plane Crazy? Meet The Academic Who Will Spend The Next Year Living In An Airport
Daily Mail (London)

Santa Monica Newspaper Makes Its Feelings Known On Bergamot Development
LA Curbed

Saving Money By Cutting Traffic (a look at the traffic in major U.S. metropolitan areas, as well as what the municipalities are doing to combat the congestion)
GOOD

A Spending Freeze: President Obama’s Appeal To Fiscal Conservatives Is Likely To Result In Little Substantial Change, But It’s Exactly The Wrong Message
Transport Politic

States Go After Texting Drivers
USA Today

Stimulus Payouts Through DOT Reach $8.26 Billion
Journal Of Commerce

Thursday Is HSR Stimulus Day (the federal government will announce the recipients of $8 billion in HSR stimulus funds)
California High Speed Rail Blog

Times Covers Coming Metro Cuts, Avoids Mentioning Pols By Name
LA StreetsBlog

Transit In Mexico City Beats Most U.S. Cities (including Los Angeles)
Straight Outta Suburbia

Transportation Deputy Gives Up Infamous Hummer
LA Curbed

What $36 Billion Buys: Not Enough (contractors and construction industry officials on new hiring in transportation)
CNN