Preview of January 2021 meeting of Metro Board of Directors

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The Metro Board of Directors meets for its first meeting of 2021 at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 28. The agenda is above. This page has links to all agenda items, too.

As has been case since last spring, the meeting will be held virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A link to the livestream will be here and a recording of the meeting will be archived if you want to view or listen at a later date.

To offer live public comment:

–You may join the call 5 minutes prior to the start of the meeting.
–Dial-in: 888-251-2949 and enter either
–English Access Code: 8231160# or
–Spanish Access Code: 4544724#
–To give public comment on an item, enter #2 (pound two) when that item is taken up by the Board. Please note that the live video feed lags about 30 seconds behind the actual meeting. There is no lag on the public comment dial-in line.
The 13 voting members of the Board have two new members this meeting: County Supervisor Holly Mitchell replaces Mark Ridley-Thomas (who was elected to the L.A. City Council in November) and Pomona Mayor Tim Sandoval replaces John Fasana (who retired at the end of last year). This will also be the final meeting for Board Member and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, who didn’t seek reelection to the Board. His replacement still must be approved by the L.A. County City Selection Committee; the appointee is Whittier Council Member Fernando Dutra.
Among the items the Board is scheduled to tackle:
•Approve sending a letter of interest to the U.S. Department of Transportation for a federal TIFIA loan to help fund the 105 ExpressLanes project. Staff report
•Amend Metro’s budget for fiscal year 2021 (which runs from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021) from $6.23 billion to $6.99 billion to reflect the cost of implementing Board-approved projects and programs and a slightly improved revenue picture. The budget remains balanced. From the staff report: “The increase to the FY21 Budget, during this mid-year update, is the result of our current economic conditions, reforecast of sales tax revenues, and effective cost control practices.” 
•Approve a $13-million budget increase for the Regional Connector to incentivize the contractor to complete the project 10 weeks early. Completing the work would reduce construction impacts on the Little Tokyo and Arts District communities and potentially save Metro other costs. Staff report
•Approve the final version of the L.A. County Goods Movement Strategic Plan. The Plan and staff report. The plan includes potential projects aimed to reduce emissions and other impacts to communities from trucks, trains and ships — and projects aimed at more efficiently shipping freight into and out of our region, which includes the nation’a two busiest ports.
•Approve a $5.97-million contract addition with RideCo, Inc., to expand Metro Micro on-demand ridesharing service into three new zones (North Hollywood/Burbank, El Monte and Compton/Artesia). Source post on how to use Metro Micro and staff report. Metro Micro launched in December in two service areas — LAX/Inglewood and Watts/Willowbrook. The total contract with RideCo would be $35.1 million if this item is approved.
•The Board will receive an oral update on construction of the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project. Presentation
•The Board will consider a motion to dedicate the Wilshire/La Brea Station on the  Purple (D Line) Extension to Tom LaBonge, the former Los Angeles City Council Member and Metro Board Member who passed away earlier this month. Motion and recent Source post about Tom, who was one of the early voices who pushed to extend the subway to the Westside.
•The Board will consider a motion calling for Metro to develop a “street safety” policy that would collect and analyze data on vehicle and transit safety in L.A. County and help Metro pursue policies with local governments that lead to a decline in road injuries and deaths. Motion

Categories: Transportation News

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7 replies ›

  1. Link for “The Board will receive an oral update on construction of the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project” presentation doesn’t work

  3. More money to incentivize constructor to finish regional connector early? Sue them for breach of contract for being slow and finishing it late. Its 2 years behind schedule!

    • Nowadays, I agree. But in the early stages, well, that’s a bit difficult as they were basically given incorrect blueprints of Downtown’s underground and they ended up running into sewage pipes the city didn’t even know existed.

      Believe me, as pissed as I am for the delay, this one isn’t 100% on the contractor’s part. It’s a combination of bunch of things that occurred on a project that actually the potential to be done ahead of schedule.