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 Transportation Headlines online newspaper, which you can also access via email subscription (visit the newspaper site) or RSS feed. Have a transportation-related article you want included in headlines? Drop me an email!

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Art of Transit: A foggy Arroyo Seco and Pasadena Freeway as seen from the Gold Line this morning.

Gas prices surpass $3 a gallon for 1,000 consecutive days in longest streak ever (AAA) 

The national average has not dipped under $3 since Dec. 22, 2010, and AAA writes, “AAA forecasts the national average will remain above $3.00 per gallon for at least another thousand days barring a major economic recession.” The current national average is $3.52 and the average has been above $3.50 during most of the 1,000 days,
AAA notes. Of course, gas prices are always higher in California because of the special blend used here to reduce smog. Need a more fuel efficient car? Study the numbers for different models at www.fueleconomy.gov and reduce your gas use and car depreciation costs by using transit, a bike or your feet every so often.

25 skyscrapers set to alter the city’s skyline (Curbed LA)

The headline is a little misleading: as the article notes, plans for some of the planned buildings in our region have been around for many years and there’s little sign they’re going forward. Of the 25 buildings that on paper are 20 stories or more, 14 are in downtown L.A., four in Hollywood, four in Century City, two in downtown Santa Monica and one in Koreatown.

Only a handful are under construction. Good news: as far as I can tell everything on the list is close to a current or future Metro Rail line and numerous bus lines.

Union Station: a half-baked master plan (Steven White: the Accidental Urbanist) 

While he believes there are some good ideas in the ongoing master plan process, Steven writes that he was hoping for a few more details and particulars than drawings showing the orientation of a future bus terminal, passenger concourse and other development. I totally understand the desire for more details, but I think it’s important to understand that the master plan at this time is trying to work out the big stuff — the basic concepts about what-goes-where on the Union Station campus.

SEPTA warns of major cuts unless state hands over money (WCAU-Philadelphia)

The agency that serves the Greater Philadelphia says it will have to cut nine of 13 rail lines and truncate some of the others in the next decade unless state lawmakers agree to $500 million in desperately needed funding for maintenance and repairs. The funding was agreed to in Pennsylvania’s Senate, but the House so far has refused. A Republican spokesman accused SEPTA of using the cuts as a PR stunt and said the funding shortfall is a local, not state, issue.