Below is the written testimony submitted to the Congressional transportation funding hearing this morning by Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Board Member Antonio Villaraigosa. I think it’s worth noting that both Mayor Villaraigosa and Supervisor Don Knabe — here is his testimony — emphasized that changes in federal law sought [continue reading]
A joint hearing was held in Westwood this morning of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The respective chairs of those committees, Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. John Mica, were both in attendance. Both will play big roles [continue reading]
Metro CEO Art Leahy is distributing the following message today to Metro customers and other interested parties. The statement concerns his views on the state of Metro’s transit operations and his views of the proposed service changes in June. A Spanish version follows the below English version: Since becoming Metro [continue reading]
Some good news out of Washington D.C. this morning about the 30/10 Initiative — here’s the story from the L.A. Times’ Rich Simon. Excerpt: “I talked to the mayor yesterday and told him, ‘charge on,’ ” chamber president Thomas J. Donohue said at a Capitol Hill hearing. “We’ll put you [continue reading]
Gov. Rick Scott said on Wednesday that he’s turning down $2 billion in federal funding for a high-speed rail project between Tampa and Orlando because he didn’t feel it was a sound investment of taxpayer money. Here’s the story from the St. Petersburg Times. It doesn’t sound like the news [continue reading]
As many of you know, the location of the eventual Century City station is one of the key remaining questions for the Westside Subway Extension. When the Metro Board adopted a route last fall – the “Locally Preferred Alternative” — they authorized Metro staff to continue studying two options. One [continue reading]
President Barack Obama on Monday released his 2012 budget, which included his priorities for transportation spending. One area of particular concern for Metro is New Starts funding — the program run by the Federal Transit Administration to help local areas pay for big, pricey transit projects. The good news is [continue reading]
The statement below was released today by the American Public Transportation Assn., a Washington-based nonprofit which represents transit agencies (including Metro) and private firms involved in building and operating transit: APTA Applauds President Obama’s Proposed FY 2012 Budget Investments in Public Transportation and High-Speed Rail Will Create American Jobs and [continue reading]
President Barack Obama on Monday released his budget for the next fiscal year, including his vision for transportation spending. Of course, this is only the start of the budget story because Congress also has a pretty big say on what dollars do — and do not — go out the [continue reading]
Over the past year, Metro’s 30/10 Initiative has gained traction locally and in Washington. There seems to be sentiment in many quarters — including the Obama Administration — that using federal loans and other financing to accelerate construction of Measure R projects is a good idea that should be enshrined [continue reading]
