Could the Los Angeles-to-Anaheim segment of the high-speed rail route between Anaheim and San Francisco receive some federal funding this week? Money to build high-speed infrastructure seems a possibility, according to media reports and this nugget that Metro CEO Art Leahy included in his daily email to staff yesterday: President [continue reading]
Federal officials have denied a request by Metro to provide $77.6 million in the coming year’s federal budget to be used for preliminary engineering on the Westside Subway Extension and Downtown Regional Connector projects. At the same time, federal officials say they are diligently working with Metro to advance planning [continue reading]
Metro CEO Art Leahy included this item in his daily email to staff on Friday: Proposed Second Federal Stimulus Bill On December 16, 2009, the House passed a second fiscal stimulus bill, H.R. 2847. The Senate will begin consideration of their version of a stimulus bill later this month and [continue reading]
The above video from the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) serves as a nice primer for the upcoming Southern California Transit Forum being held at Chapman University on February 5th. This all day event aims to bring together transit officials, advocates, local business leaders and policy makers to discuss the [continue reading]
I had the chance to listen to a conference call on Wednesday that was organized by the American Public Transportation Assn. (APTA), a Washington D.C.-based group that promotes – as the name implies – mass transit. The group has also set up a website on high-speed rail efforts. The purpose [continue reading]
This item led Metro CEO’s daily email memo to agency staffers on Wednesday: Today, I wrote to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to encourage him to hold a public listening session at our headquarters on the New Starts reforms he announced last week. On January 13, 2010 the U.S. [continue reading]
Ara Najarian, Chair of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors, on Tuesday presented installments of Measure R sale tax money to the cities of Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Malibu, Westlake Village and Hidden Hills for use in improving transportation systems within their cities. Measure R, a half-cent [continue reading]
A new report that updates the planning progress on the Westside Subway Extension is being presented to the Metro Board of Directors this month. Work on the draft environmental impact report is now 60% complete, according to the report. Other news in the report: *The subway planning team at Metro [continue reading]
Some significant transit news out of Washington D.C. today: The rules that govern which major transit projects receive federal funding have been eased so that theoretically more projects can qualify. Why does this matter to Los Angeles County? Metro is currently seeking federal funds for the Westside Subway Extension and [continue reading]
At the Glendale City Council meeting Jan 12, Metro Board Chair Ara Najarian, along with Mayor Villaraigosa and agency CEO Art Leahy, presented a ceremonial check to council members representing the first installment of Measure R sales tax money for use in improving transportation systems in Glendale. Glendale received $491,969 in [continue reading]
