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.

The future is bright in Los Angeles (GOOD)

The magazine and website continues its look at contemporary L.A. and predicts good things ahead courtesy of Measure R, which it foresees connecting Los Angeles County in a way it hasn’t been connected since the days of the streetcar. The article notes — correctly, I think — that the region still has a lot of good “bones,” that is the kind of older, denser and walkable neighborhoods that urban advocates want to see built. My own view: commercial corridors in much of the L.A. metro area are a complete wreck, unappealing to walk, bike or drive or as places to live (where residential housing exists on them). Fixing those are key to fixing the region’s transportation problems.

Out of disaster, a burst of enthusiasm for bicycling (New York Times)

The earthquake that struck Japan last month left thousands of Tokyo commuters stranded when trains stopped running. The disaster seems to have sped up a trend already in place: commuters weary of crowded trains have increasingly taken to cycling in Tokyo as a way to get around the megalopolis. It’s estimated that nearly nine million people in the area own bikes.

The way the West was can be seen again (High Country News)

Bad news getting you down? Think the West is over developed? Think again. The writer of the blog post reminds us that in numerous places across the Western U.S., things still are as they have been and natural beauty and ecosystems have managed to survive, sometimes with a big assist. Example: the sandhill crane migration that stops in Nebraska each year.