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.

‘Subway to the Sea’ shouldn’t end 3 miles from the sand (L.A. Times)

Times columnist Steve Lopez has a dream of one day donning snorkeling gear and heading to the beach on the subway. Unfortunately the current plan for the Westside subway will leave him a few miles from a place to snorkel and he’ll be a very old man anyways – which leads him to ask why? The answer lies somewhere in the spoils of L.A.’s political battlegrounds, the painful reality of building massive infrastructure in a fully built up region and the fact that there’s a lot of other projects competing for the Measure R treasure chest – including 65% of it set aside for road, highway and local bus projects.

Metro’s Conan Cheung Updates on Next 18 Months of Service Planning (Streetsblog Los Angeles)

Streetsblog’s Dana Gabbard caught up with Metro’s Conan Chueng – our guy in charge of planning and scheduling – to find out more about the next year and half of service changes. Regular riders know that Metro shakes-up service every six months (the next shake-up comes December 12) and Dana gets Conan to share a little bit about what we can expect. Look for better coordination with Foothill Transit and the Metro Silver Line, an emphasis on rail as the backbone of the transit system (with special attention given to buses connecting to the Expo Line) and optimizing the Rapid program.

Chat log: ‘Living Car-free in Southern California’ (KPCC)

If you couldn’t make it to Monday’s inaugural car-free chat over at KPCC’s Pacific Swell blog, here’s your chance to view some highlights of the discussion. Topics covered include: a trick on how to get a cash purse on your TAP card, info on a program meant to encourage kids to get to school safely without a car and some of the bummers and perks of dating without a car.

Here’s another bonus link from Pacific Swell: a video by an anonymous “upper middle class” blogger who’s decided to go car-free and Go Metro, but is keeping a secret for fear that she’ll be shamed by her car-driving peers. Watch it here.