The transportation advocacy group Move LA has scheduled a rally for Friday, Aug. 13, to rally the troops to support the 30/10 Initiative. See the flier at right.

This is the same group that cleverly started the 30/10 online petition.

The 30/10 plan was officially adopted as Metro policy this past spring. The initiative proposes to use low-interest federal loans and other financing to build Measure R transit projects in the next 10 years instead of the next 30. The money would be repaid with Measure R sales tax receipts.

Parts of 30/10 are likely going to need Congressional approval, probably as part of the next transportation spending bill. The bill will likely not be tackled until next year (only two years behind schedule) and the vast majority of local Congress members have thus far been quiet about 30/10. So having a healthy rally for 30/10 would supply everybody with a nice visual of the crowd and we all know that a picture is worth a thousand words.

To put it even more in English, if you want to ride the subway to Westwood in the next decade instead of waiting until 2036 — when The Source will be celebrating its 27th birthday and I’ll be…never mind — it’s probably worth supporting 30/10. Other projects that are proposed to be funded by 30/10 include the Downtown Regional Connector, Expo Line phase II, the Crenshaw Line, the Green Line extension to Torrance, an extension of the Eastside Gold Line to South El Monte or Whittier, a transit project spanning the Sepulveda Pass and the Foothill Extension Gold Line, among others.

If you want to write your representative in Congress to urge support for 30/10, here’s a recent post with contact information.
And if they write back, we’re glad to post their response. Email it to sourcemetro@gmail.com.