We recently asked readers to send us your questions about TAP, the electronic fare cards used by Metro and several other transit agencies in Los Angeles County. We received several dozen inquiries, which we boiled down to the questions below. The answers were written by Fred and I, based on [continue reading]
A couple of weeks ago we asked Source readers if they had any interest in a different fare structure for Metro. As I wrote at the time, there is no proposal at this time to change Metro’s fare structure, but given concerns and/or questions over the July 1 fare increase, [continue reading]
This is sort of a back-to-the-future type post, with the emphasis on “back.” Attentive Source readers will recall the 1990s when electric car charging stations started popping up around California, the hope being that the state was on the verge of an electric car revolution. For a number of reasons [continue reading]
The Board of Directors of Metro meet on Thursday and they will be considering this interesting motion by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that asks the agency to develop a daily and weekly EZ Pass and develop a regional trip planner. The motion is in response to a recent string [continue reading]
Metro CEO Art Leahy announced today that Martha Welborne has been hired as the new chief planning officer for Metro. Welborne is an architect who has been working with the Zimmer Gunsul Frasca firm in Los Angeles (here’s the firm’s bio of her) and also has been serving as the [continue reading]
Metro CEO Art Leahy announced today that Lonnie Mitchell has been hired as Metro’s chief operating officer. Mitchell has been serving in that role since December. “Lonnie performed exceptionally well during that time period,” Leahy wrote in a memo to Metro staff. “I look forward to him working quickly to [continue reading]
In Wednesday’s transpo headlines, we had an item about a speech that Federal Transit Administration chief Peter Rogoff gave at a transit conference this week. Rogoff made some pointed remarks, challenging transit officials to think about whether it was best to improve maintenance of their systems before expanding them. He [continue reading]
We posted yesterday that the state was on the verge of approving $46 million in funding for positive train control, a computer-based system designed to keep trains providing. It’s a system that Metrolink has sought since the tragic crash in Chatsworth in Sept. 2008 that killed 25. More funding is [continue reading]
Well, that didn’t take long. The Board of Directors had a budget workshop today and went ahead and approved the budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year that begins July 1. It should be noted that just a few months ago it appeared that Metro would be facing the agency’s largest-ever [continue reading]
Just wanted to provide a quick heads-up for those very interested in public policy: Metro is a co-sponsor of the Public Infrastructure Finance Forum being held May 25 at the California Science Center. The event is free but it appears from the event website that there is already a waitlist.
