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.

LaHood on the Offensive, Calls Out High Speed Rail Foes (AltTransport)

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood rallies against high speed rail detractors in a recent post on the USDOT’s blog. LaHood reminds rail and spending shy Republicans that the massive investment in the highway system brought much prosperity to the country in the last century – and that high speed rail should be seen as doing this same in this century.

New Report: Cities “Driven Apart” by Sprawl (The City Fix)

The City Fix looks at a new study that shows that the amount of time people sit in traffic has more to do with sprawl than with lack of highways. In contrast to standard metrics used to measure congestion, this new study knocks Los Angeles off the top five list of most congested areas and replaces it with Nashville, TN – due to the fact that commuters in low density Nashville spend more time in peak hour traffic than Angelenos.

Plumerías, Palm Trees and Volcanoes on the Gold Line (LA>FWD)

Artists in Highland Park have taken it upon themselves to add some beauty to the Gold Line alignment by painting colorful murals on houses that the train passes. The project was inspired by a project in Tijuana where eight homes were painted with murals to brighten up a blighted neighborhood. So far one house has been painted along the Gold Line, you can see it a few blocks before the Highland Park Station when heading north towards the Sierra Madre Villa Station. The post has a nice video on the project.