A rendering of the proposed Farmers Field. Source: AEG.

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 Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.

AEG unveils traffic plan for downtown football stadium (Daily News)

Among the mitigrations proposed: doubling the size of the platforms at the Pico Station that serves the Blue and Expo light rail lines, giving patrons the chance to buy transit tickets when purchasing game tickets online, widening and/or restriping streets and widening a mile-long stretch of the Hollywood Freeway, using a smartphone app to guide motorists to parking and running shuttles between downtown parking lots and the stadium.

AEG identified 50,000 parking spaces within a 20-minute walk of the stadium — a fact that, I think, says something about downtown L.A. and the ridiculous amount of space dedicated to parking. The developer also plans to build two parking garages to add 1,000 more spaces.

Beverly Hills may pursue legal action on the subway (Beverly Hills Patch)

Beverly Hills Mayor William Brien explains why the City Council has directed city staff to hire legal counsel to help the city fight any efforts by Metro to tunnel under parts of Beverly Hills High School for the Westside Subway Extension project. Metro staff have proposed an alignment that travels under the school campus as part of the project’s Final Environmental Impact Statement/Report. The Metro Board of Directors are scheduled to consider that route as part of their certification of the FEIS/R at their April 26 meeting.

Biting the bullet train cost (Long Beach Press Telegram)

This editorial takes a skeptical view of the new business plan released this week by the California High-Speed Rail Authority that trimmed costs of the project from $98 billion to $68 billion. The Telegram’s view: if $30 billion in savings could be found, perhaps there’s more left to chop. The editorial says that Californians are all for innovation but want to see a return for their investment and build something they’ll actually use.

Post 9/11 Security Upgrade To NYC Transit Lags (Transportation Nation)

A new report by the New York State comptroller says the first phase of the New York MTA’s security upgrade — in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — will not be be completed for another two years. The report notes that the M.T.A. has already installed 3,000 cameras at transit hubs and in bridges and tunnels but still needs to find personnel to monitor videos and photos and share information with the police and fire departments. The upgrade was supposed to be completed in 2008 but that date has now been pushed back to 2014. The final budget is expected to be $882 million dollars–nearly $300 million over the originally estimate.