The Metro Board just approved the long-range plan unanimously, also incorporating an amendment from Board Member and County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. One key provision of that amendment is that Metro commits to operating the Foothill Gold Line Extension to Azusa prior to 2017 — if a way can be found [continue reading]
The Metro Board of Directors’ debate on the agency’s long-range plan is underway. Board member and County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas kicked things off by offering an amendment that would: 1. Require Metro to study several possible funding sources that could be used to build the Crenshaw Corridor and Foothill Gold [continue reading]
I hope the Metro Board of Directors are well-hydrated and have recently eaten. Their discussion of the long-range plan has begun — and it’s fair to say this will be a long-range conversation. Metro CEO Art Leahy just told the Board that he recommends that they adopt the plan. There [continue reading]
UPDATE, 3:45: The Board voted unanimously to accept Metro CEO Art Leahy’s recommendations on some changes to the contract. The focus of today’s Board meeting is the long-range plan. But the Board will also — once again, with feeling — revisit the issue of a contract with the rail car [continue reading]
A wrinkle in today’s Board meeting: Board member Jose Huizar is out of town, so Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has appointed Los Angeles Councilman Tom LaBonge to be his temporary replacement, according to city officials. The mayor has three appointees on the board and the advantage of having all [continue reading]
An audit of Metro’s TAP fare card program was submitted to the agency last month and it wasn’t pretty. The audit, in short, found that that the cost of the program increased from $75.5 million to $154 million over the last decade (some as a result of adding things like [continue reading]
It’s easy to picture L.A. as a railway hub. We have the trains to prove it. But we also at one time had one of the most extensive streetcar systems in the country.
Dear Reader: As many of you are probably keenly aware, taxpayers and Metro passengers spend a lot of money each year – more than $4 billion — to keep this agency running. That’s a big pile of dough by any measure. To put it another way, each weekday Metro is [continue reading]
