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.

Highway deaths fall to lowest level since 1950 (Associated Press)

Data released by the Transportation Department reveals that in 2009 automobile deaths dropped by 9.7% from the prior year – to the lowest level since 1950. While it sounds great that roads are getting safer, the bad new is the death toll is still huge: 33,808 Americans died on our nation’s highways in 2009. Yikes.

Obama transportation plan likely to have to wait (Washington Post)

The Washington Post has a sobering look at Obama’s transportation funding proposal, the one that aims to kick-start the economy and address infrastructure issues with $50 billion in initial spending. Given that it’s an election year, insiders believe Obama’s proposal won’t gain much traction with Republicans who aren’t eager to give the president a win.

Today’s musical interlude. Here’s an old school cut, “Mark on the Bus” from The Beastie Boys. This song is from the album Check Your Head, recording in Atwater Village in ’91, so the bus in this song could very well be about an L.A. bus.

If you know of a song prominently mentioning a train or bus or transit, drop us an email at sourcemetro@gmail.com and we’ll add it to our list.

What Is a “Call for Projects” and Why Is the City Gearing Up for It? (Streetsblog L.A.)

Metro is gearing up for its Call for Projects and Damien Newton over at Streetsblog has the skinny on what exactly that means, and what the City of L.A. is doing to prepare.