Photo: LA Wad/Flickr

Los Angeles Streetsblog is hiring a writer to contribute a weekly column covering transportation and livability issues in the city of Santa Monica. The winning applicant will have a knowledge of progressive urban planning and transportation policy as well as a familiarity with Santa Monica city government. Stories can cover new transportation projects, political and community leaders in the area, transit oriented development, open space and parks and other issues that impact the public health and access to public space – all specific to the city of Santa Monica.

The position is a freelance contractor, publishing at least once a week. Funding is secure for at least one year at this time. Depending on Streetsblog raising additional funding, there some possibility for extending and/or expanding the position.

Anyone interested in the position should contact Damien Newton at damien@streetsblog.org.  All applications should include a letter of interest and two writing samples.  Applications are due by the Close of Business on February 7.

Signage at Santa Monica Boulevard and 14th Street in Santa Monica. Thanks, Andrew Ellis Miller

After years of being considered the most bike-friendly city in the Southland, Santa Monica fell behind Long Beach in recent years both in terms of infrastructure and cyclists imagination.  However, in recent months, the city once known as the People’s Republic of Santa Monica for embracing many of the most progressive ideals imaginable (at least in America) is playing catch-up.

First, there was the widely-praised release of a Bike Plan that promises miles of new bike lanes and more progressive designs to rival Long Beach.  Next was Bike Center.  Today, cyclists are noticing signage, on the street and on the poll, that give bikes a chance to be counted at intersections and get their own greens.

Reader Andrew Ellis Miller sends the picture to the right and reports that he’s noticing bike markings at intersections along Wilshire Boulevard.

Giving cyclists an equal chance to cross the street is one of the signs of a bike friendly city.  Not only does it increase safety, it decreases the number of times drivers will witness a fed up cyclist, frustrated at a long wait, choosing to cross against a red light.

Santa Monica, Bike Center:

The outside of Bike Center. Photo via The Source

We start with today’s opening of what might be the largest bike parking facility in all of the United States of America.  The mammoth $2 million full-service “Santa Monica Bike Center,” is a joint product of the People’s Republic and Metro.  Bike Center is actually two locations (Parking Structure 7 at 320 Broadway and Parking Structure 8 at 215 Colorado) in the center of downtown with a combined 5,300 square-feet of space and nearly 360 secure bicycle parking spaces.  To the best of my research, the next largest bike parking facility, Chicago’s McDonald’s Cycle Center, has “only” 300 spaces.

The Center will provide secure bike parking, retail, bike repair, bike rental, attended bike parking, and could serve as a center for other bicycle related activity in the same way Long Beach’s Bike Station hosts classes and is the starting point for bike stores. For more information, check out the Bike Center web site.

Anticipating the light rail that is on it’s way, Bike Center is also built close to the future terminus of Phase II of the Expo Line.  Metro staff talks about riders being able to bike to their closest Expo stop, take the bike with them on the train, and then having a safe and convenient place to park if their plans don’t include taking their bike with them when the line is completed.

A grand opening event is scheduled for later today and will be followed by an all-weekend open house featuring free bicycle parking, free bicycle rides and tours of the facility.  For more information on the events, click here.

Burbank, Bike Stop:

Bike Stop! Image via The Source, again.

Burbank’s Bike Stop doesn’t compete with the mammoth Bike Center in Santa Monica, but does provide a facility for 40 bicycles to park near Burbank’s Metrolink Station.  The Glendale News-Press outlines why the Stop is a leap forward:

The downtown Burbank Metrolink station is busy a hub for commuters from Antelope Valley and those working in Glendale and Los Angeles. The Bike Stop — partially funded by the California Department of Transportation — gives bicyclists a spot to park their bikes for free, instead of having to lug their equipment around from station to station.

Bike Stop doesn’t have a staffer on-hand all day, but does have a passcode protected security system and space for some bike classes that could be used to expand the parking if demand calls for it.

Culver City, …. :

Here’s something you probably won’t read in The Source.  The Culver City Bike Coalition (CCBC) is demanding to know what happened to their public cycling center?  While Phase II of the Expo Line is getting a Bike Center at its terminus.  The Phase I terminus is getting….nothing.

Which is a shame for two reasons.  First, Culver City has done an admirable job creating a “downtown connector” to provide an attractive way for cyclists to get to and from the station from Downtown Culver City and other points west.  Secondly, there was originally supposed to be a bike parking center that presumably would at least be similar in style to Burbank’s Bike Stop, but it was dropped from plans for the station.  CCBC blames the Expo Construction Authority for a lack of planning, foresight and funds in their weekly column in the Culver City News:

The Expo Authority has concluded that a partial solution to its notorious budget-overrun problems is to axe the Culver City bicycle facility. But why should cycling commuters and travelers take the hit for the Expo Authority’s issues? Especially when cycling is such an essential component of our transition to a less automobile-centric metropolis?

The CCBC plans to “make a little noise” in the coming weeks and months to try and get their Bike Station/Center/Stop.  If you want to help them make that noise, their piece in the Culver City News contains the contact information you need to get noisy.

Some Neighborhood Council Members wanted separated bike lanes, similar to the ones pictured here, for Main Street in Venice. LADOT wouldn't commit to that design, and the NC gave a conditional go ahead to go forward with standard bike lanes.

Last night, the Venice Neighborhood Council agreed  to the Main Street Road Diet/Bike Lanes plan proposed by LADOT.  The new road striping ought to be on the ground “in the next couple of weeks.”  Despite its approval, the Neighborhood Council had some concerns with the project and wanted LADOT to return with more safety measures to protect cyclists and calm traffic.  The Road Diet will run on Main Street from Navy St. to Windward Circle, and will extend the Santa Monica bike lanes and road diet into Venice.

There was a minor change from the original plan.  Currently, Main Street has four eleven foot through travel lanes with seven feet on each side of the street for car parking.  The original road diet changed the configuration to two eleven foot travel lanes, one eleven foot turn lane, two 5 foot bike lanes and two seven foot car parking areas.  Some cyclists, notably Alex Thompson at Bikeside, complained the new configuration had cyclists planted squarely in the door zone, especially since many vehicles in today’s world are larger than seven feet wide.

LADOT  responded that eleven feet was the minimum for the car travel lanes because Main Street is a regularly traveled route for both the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus and Metro buses.  However, the new design does take a foot out of the turning lane to make the bike lanes five and a half feet larger.  This 10% increase will give cyclists more room to maneuver when car doors are (illegally) opened in their path, but doesn’t completely solve the problem of door zone bicycle lanes.

As we saw back in January, the debate over the plan was because members of the Neighborhood Council wanted a more progressive plan for Main Street than LADOT was willing to provide.  Questions about extending the lanes all the way south to the Venice Street Bike Lane or separating the lanes as they did on 3rd Street and Broadway in Long Beach and in Portland were dismissed.  The Main Street Road Diet is designed to link up with the three lane with bike lanes configuration of the road north on Main Street.

As Santa Monica Spoke’s Gary Kavanagh points out on Gary Rides Bikes, Santa Monica’s Bike Plan calls for reconfiguring its portion of Main Street to separate the bike lanes from the through traffic.  When that configuration is completed, riders heading south on Main Street will have to adjust their riding from the separated lanes to the traditional bike lanes in L.A.

However, the good news from the day is that LADOT is removing car lanes for bike lanes, and doing it with the blessing of the Neighborhood Council.  Given the struggles on 4th Street and especially on Wilbur Ave. in the Valley, that’s some good news in and of itself.

(Note: I made a bit of a journalism snafu in an article earlier this week where I quoted Gary Kavanagh as opposed to the diet from comments he made nine months ago.  He has since changed his mind although he still has some concerns with LADOT’s plans, notably the bike lane width and that LADOT should have gotten ahead of the game.  I should have followed up with him before posting.  Sorry, Gary.)

All our rowdy friends are here on Monday morning. Photo: Metro

Sometime in the late 1980′s, the last Southern Pacific Freight train rumbled along Exposition Boulevard in West L.A. and Santa Monica before voters passed Proposition C and the newly formed Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority purchased the entire right of way.  What followed was two decades of studies, public hearings, lawsuits, Phase I of the Expo Line going through what seemed an infitinte amount of delays and passage of a new transit tax (Measure R).

Earlier today, a groundbreaking ceremony in Santa Monica, at the terminus (or start, depending your point of view) marked the beginning of the end.  The Expo Line Phase II, from Culver City to Santa Monica is under construction.  When it’s completed, transit riders will be able to hop a light rail in Downtown Santa Monica and travel to Downtown Los Angeles or vice-versa.

We’ve talked about Expo Planning, Expo Construction, Expo Lawsuits, the Expo Bike Lane, Expo Crossings, Expo Phase I delays, and probably one hundred other Expo subjects in the three and a half years that L.A. Streetsblog has published. For today, we’re going to take a cue from Darrell Clarke, the founder of Friends for Expo Transit. Clarke might not be in the above picture holding a shovel, but he’s done more than anyone to push the line from an idea to construction.

When I asked him his thoughts on the groundbreaking, he emailed, “For me, after 22 years as an advocate I’m just happy to see it coming along this far.”

So instead of talking about any issues or concerns with the line, we’re going to just take a break to enjoy the groundbreaking for West L.A. and Santa Monica’s first rail transit line. Instead of any sort of debate, we’re just going to say, “Hello Expo. Welcome to the neighborhood.”

In the fall of 2007, a pair of high school students in Santa Monica High School (Samohi), decided to organize their own Bike to School Day.  Somewhere between 80 and 100 high school students took part that first year, which is a respectable number for a student-run event with no budget, but nobody could have0for seen what’s happened since.

To see last spring's flyer in English and Spanish, click here.

In 2008, the event doubled in size.  In 2009, so many students walked or biked to school, that the school’s bike racks were overflowing not just on what was then called Bike It! day, but everyday and the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District vowed better bike facilities.  In 2010, Bike It spread to schools throughout Santa Monica and in June the event (the event is held twice annually in the Fall and Spring) had over 3,300 students from thirteen different schools around Santa Monica.

“Since 2007 it’s grown into a bigger success with just about half of the school participating,” explains Charlotte Biren, co-president of the Samohi Solar Alliance, a super-group that is responsible for solar panels warming the school pool and for programming Bike It! .  “We’ve also expanded the program into walking, and taking the bus.”

Santa Monica doesn’t have a school bus program, increasing the pressure on parents to drive students to schools, so a Bike to School Day is an important exercise to show parents, and students, what is possible.

“Simply put, the goal is to get people out of their cars,” adds Jenna Perelman,  the other Solar Alliance co-president.

100 students is good enough to get the attention of the local school board.  3,300 is enough to get the attention of the President.  This summer, the Office of President Barack Obama awarded Biren and Perelman an Official Presidential Commendation for their work programming Bike It!

The story of Bike It! shows what can happen when a group of people take a great idea, a Bike to School Day for their High School, and helped spread it to other local high schools, middle schools and even grade schools.  Both Birren and Perelman made personal appearances to talk to students and administrators about the value of bicycling, walking or taking transit to school.  While the younger schools obviously needed the full buy in of staff to organize the event, at the high school level most of the burden falls on the students, who are eager to take up the challenge.

“Two years ago, we were most concerned about growing the numbers at Santa Monica High School.  When we achieved that, we thought about expanding the numbers throughout the district and community,” Biren writes.

So what is Bike It Day?  Simply, it’s a day when students receive extra encouragement to arrive at school without using a car.  Bike, walk, take transit, it doesn’t matter.  At Samohi, extra racks are brought in, variable message signs provide encouragement, part of the streets connecting the school receive temporary bike lanes and a special breakfast is provided.  There is some schwag provided to students, but the biggest incentive to ride is that it’s cool to bike to school, well cooler than usual, to bike to school on Bike It Day.

Sometimes even a small change can have a large impact, Richard McKinnon, a parent of a graduated Samohi student and the Chair of Bike It across the district, spends countless hours working with students to help Bike It to be a success and grow.  Standing with Biren, Perelman and myself next to the bike racks at Samohi, he modeled some small bicycle pins they hand out to teachers so they can show their support.  The students apparently go wild for them.

Bike It Day doesn’t have to be the same at every school in the district,in fact it’s common for schools in the same area to have different days to Bike It.  September 21 is the Samohi Bike It!  The two middle schools local to Samohi, Lincoln and John Adams, have tentative dates for October 5th and October 7th respectively.

But neither Biren nor Perelman are content with the status quo for Bike It.

Perelman says the next step is showing students that their choices can make a difference.  ”Now we’re focused on educating students across the district on climate change and what they can do to help. Biking or walking to school is a simple change that anyone can make.”

So does it make a difference?  Does one Bike It Day a semester change people’s attitudes and commute habits?  It did for Perelman and Biren.  Biren’s brother and Perelman herself both changed their commutes after taking a day to Bike It.

The author's beleaguered Nishiki road bike awaits help from Bikerowave volunteers.

On Saturday afternoon, the City of Santa Monica hosted its 20th annual Santa Monica Festival. The wholehearted embrace of biking at this year’s event was, it seemed, both an embodiment of the city’s early successes in encouraging biking and a hopeful harbinger for an even more bike friendly future.

To set the stage, I’ll refer to an article written by Gary Kavanagh in Santa Monica Patch titled, “How SM Could Become the Cycling Envy of the Nation.” Of a recent trip to Portland, Kavanagh wrote: “Given how much more ideal [Santa Monica's] city scale and weather are for bicycling, it was kind of embarrassing how far ahead of Santa Monica they are up there in the Northwest.”

Santa Monica Spoke hands out literature about bike planning.

And that’s basically where Santa Monica stands today: So much potential, but a lot of work to be done. The signals coming from the city — whether it’s planning the Expo Line to be bike accessible or giving biking top billing at the festival — suggest that they understand the challenge and are embracing it.

At the festival, the embrace of bicycling took the form of various stations and activities that dealt with a range of bike issues, including political advocacy, rider education, consumer advice and maintenance help.

Featured prominently at the festivals entrance were two booths hosted by Westside bicycling mainstays, local advocates Santa Monica Spoke and neighborhood co-op Bikerowave.

The former was encouraging Santa Monica residents to get involved in the city’s five-year Bicycling Action Plan process, which is ramping up very quickly (especially when compared to the City of L.A.’s bike planning process). The next planning meeting is May 16 at 7 p.m. in the East Wing of the Civic Center Auditorium at 1855 Main St.

Bikerowave was helping on the repairs front, giving free advice and assistance to anyone who wanted it. The city itself was holding training sessions for children who wanted to learn how to bike safely. And local shops were there to provide tips for finding the right bike, depending on its intended use and the rider’s physical parameters.

Bike valets -- a common feature at Santa Monica events -- takes the stress out of bike parking.

Amidst the bike emphasis, it’s important to note a couple other livability initiatives that were present. From transit to water recovery to street trees, a panoply of complete streets issues were given voice.

The challenge for the City of Santa Monica going forward will be to balance these disparate issues, which sometimes can work against one another, but just as often can work together in synergistic manner . A perfect example is the city’s Ocean Park Boulevard Green Streets Project, which seeks to turn a stretch of city streets into a vibrant ecosystem, of flora as well as transportation modes.

This sort of vision, applied city-wide, could go a long way towards making Santa Monica the jewel of bicycling in Los Angeles County — a title Long Beach’s mobility coordinator Charlie Gandy probably won’t let away easily. And then, maybe Portlanders will head south to check out the latest innovations in bike parking, street treatments and safety measures.

The plan: Before and After for Main Street. Image via LACBC

Cyclists riding South on Main Street in Santa Monica are “welcomed” to the City of Los Angeles by a bike lane that disappears at the city border.  For no other reason than switching sides of a political boundary, cyclists who were riding in a bike lane in Santa Monica are moved in to the rest of traffic in Los Angeles.  And, the two-lane Main Street doubles to a four-lane one as well.  Welcome to Los Angeles!

All that might be about to change.  Tonight, at the Venice Neighborhood Council Board Meeting, the LADOT and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition will present a plan to put Main Street on a diet by reducing its car travel lanes from four to two and a turn lane, and connect new bike lanes to the ones in Santa Monica.  The meeting begins at 7:00 P.M. at Westminster Elementary School Auditorium, 1010 Abbot Kinney Boulevard.  Get more details, here.

A current view of Main Street, in Santa Monica

Providing bike lanes on Main Street from Navy to Windward Circle will create, in the words of the Bicycle Coalition, a “Complete Main Street”. The proposed bike lanes will rebalance the street and provide
more road safety for all road users whether they be on bicycle, foot, or in a car.  Creating a “Complete Main Street” will require removing a travel lane in each direction in order to accommodate the bike lanes and a two-way left turn lane in the center of the road.  All on-street parking will remain.

Both the Bike Coalition and the City are eager to “avoid another Wilbur Avenue,” a reference to the controversy created in the Valley when a road diet was placed on a portion of Wilbur Avenue before the community was notified.

One major difference between the case in Wilbur and the plans for Venice is the participation of the local Council Member.  In the Valley, Council Member Greig Smith has been a critic of the Wilbur Avenue Road diet from the moment the paint went down.  On the Westside, Council Member Rosendahl’s office actually brought the plan for Main Street to my attention for the first time when we were discussing a completely different issue.

Another difference is the outreach effort.  While a handful of activists, including Streetsblog Board Member Joe Linton, Ayla Stern and Roadblock, walked the streets raising support for the Wilbur Avenue Diet, this time the effort is a little more widespread and organized.  The LACBC and LADOT have already prepared a flier touting the benefits of road diets in general and the plan for Main Street in particular..  Some of those benefits include, “Businesses can benefit: increased customer access by bike and foot traffic, reduced demand for parking, calmer traffic allows more people to notice businesses” and “Improves visibility for motorists exiting driveways or turning onto Main Street.”

You can download the flyer, here.

In short, the LADOT is clearly stating that road diets aren’t just good for cyclists and pedestrians, but for motorists, businesses and the community.

The LACBC will be going door to door in the community to create educate people about the project, but there’s no time like the present to make a good first impression.  If you live in the area, or use Main Street as a place to shop, bike, walk or even drive, the Bike Coalition would like your help tonight and moving forward.

It’s official, many Westside neighborhood leaders really don’t want bus-only lanes.

After reading a letter from the Brentwood Community Council, which can be read after the jump, exhorting residents to protest the inclusion of Wilshire Bus-Only lanes in the area “West of the 405,” I made the above map.  It contains all of the areas of Wilshire Boulevard that residents want excluded from the popular project that would set aside a travel lane for buses and bikes from Downtown L.A. all the way to the sea.  Except the areas in blue have either opted out or are pressuring the Metro Board for an exclusion.

So much for Westsiders wanting better transit options.

But not all Brentwood residents agree that removing “their” section of Wilshire Boulevard is a good idea.  Huffington Post columnist Joel Epstein blasts back at the Neighborhood Council in an open letter addressed to his rabbi who has aligned himself with the opponents of the bus-only lanes west of the 405.

Your opposition to Metro’s plans for the BRT through Brentwood says to the community, yes we support bus rapid transit so long as it is not in our backyard.  Every community along Wilshire needs to be part of the solution, including Brentwood and the Condo Canyon, or there is no solution.  Your opposition manifests a level of old school Westside thinking about mobility in LA that I would have hoped had long since died.  For example, instead of seeing the bus lanes as a barrier to car traffic, as a community leader, you could promote greater use of public transportation by encouraging religious school families to commute by bus.

The full text of Epstein’s letter can be found after the Brentwood Community Council letter after the jump.

Let’s look at the map above.  Going from right to left, we start with Beverly Hills, where residents have claimed they really support transit, as long as it doesn’t run at-grade or below its streets.  Beverly Hills has opted out of the project from the beginning.

Next would be the exclusion pushed for by the Condo Canyon residents who also agree that more people should ride buses, but believe the cost of the bus-only lanes would be too high for residents who want to quickly drive places.

Then there’s the area between Veteran Avenue and the 405, which is apparently a fine place for bus-only lanes.

After that, is the area that the Brentwood Community Council wants excluded.  They were unhappy with the trial bus-only lanes and now feel their being “thrown under the bus” by politicians who feel they need to have some bus-only presence on the Westside to preserve federal funding.

The last exclusion is Santa Monica, which has never been part of the project.

Of course, we’re still two days away from the Metro Board Meeting.  That’s plenty of time for the residents between Veteran and the 405 to organize to try and get their stretch of street excluded as well.

Note: If you choose to share your thoughts at the bottom of this article, I would also urge you to “make it count” and put it on the official public record by sending your comments directly to Metro by October 18^th 2010.  Instructions on how to comment can be found at the end of the article.

Relishing the fact that evening ocean breezes were taking back the air from the day’s stagnant heat, a packed audience filed into the downtown Santa Monica Public Library auditorium on Wednesday night to review the status of the planned Westside subway extension and to make official public comments on it.

Just two days ago, the prevailing aim of comments at Metro’s subway hearing in Beverly Hills was to slam a proposed route that would tunnel under a residential area, which would occur if a station were built in the heart of Century City at Constellation Boulevard.  By contrast, at Wednesday’s hearing each person who commented on the proposed Century City station supported locating it at Constellation Blvd., citing that location’s improved access to jobs and entertainment, as well as the higher projected ridership.

More broadly, the comments in favor of the Westside subway extension advocated building as much subway west of the 405 Freeway as soon as possible.  Under the current schedule, an extension of the subway would only reach Westwood or the VA in the next 30 years (assuming no 30/10 project acceleration).

Alignment 5. Alignment 3 is the same thing for Santa Monica residents, but loses the spur through West Hollywood.

Undeterred, several speakers urged Metro to push forward on subway Build Alternatives 3 and 5 (PDF: EIR Executive Summary, pp. 15-21).  Both of these would have the Purple Line continue down Wilshire from Westwood and terminate in downtown Santa Monica at 4^th Street.  Although Metro currently lacks the funding to build the line past a Westwood or VA station, adding a “segment to the sea” would boost ridership on the whole extension by 28 percent and likely add an four more stations.

In contrast to those who commented on how they want the subway to be built, six speakers from the Bus Riders Union voiced strong support for the two non-subway alternatives for transit on the Westside, the “no-build” and “Transportation Systems Management” options.  The former is literally what it sounds like, and the latter (TSM) entails increasing the frequency of existing bus service on the Wilshire Corridor.

The main objections to the subway boiled down to three points.  First, the money that would be spent on this extension (roughly $4 billion) would be better spent on other capital, service, and infrastructure improvements, namely more buses, more night and weekend services, and more Wilshire-style bus-only lanes throughout LA County.

Second, the expense of building and operating the subway would benefit a predominantly white and affluent part of Los Angeles County at the expense of transit service in working class non-white neighborhoods.

And third, picking up on the LA Times and LA Weekly’s attempted controversy, BRU representatives argued that the subway extension’s inability to reduce road congestion several decades from now made the project unsupportable.

While I deeply value the BRU’s advocacy for socially equitable transportation and view them as an ally, I want to add some caveats to their arguments.  Regarding the first, while all of those transit improvements they mentioned are critical to building out a complete transit system in Los Angeles County, the voter-approved Measure R funding for the subway has to be used specifically for rapid, mass transit on the Westside.  I too am on a mission to get bus lanes on Olympic Blvd, Venice Blvd, Ventura Blvd, Whittier Blvd, Foothill, La Cienega, and all the rest.  But that’s a different battle (mainly with LADOT and other cities agencies).

BRU representatives huddle in the front as Jody Litvak presents for Metro. Photo: Carter Rubin

Regarding the second point, while residents of the entire Westside are more white and affluent than the rest of LA County, I think it would be a mistake to conflate the demographic profile of the whole region with the profile of those who use transit to get around it.  Indeed, only 25% of Metro Rail riders in Los Angeles County are white (source) compared to the overall populations of Santa Monica (72% white) or Beverly Hills (85% white), for instance.

Granted, with no existing Metro Rail in West LA, it’s hard to make an apples-to-apples comparison.  But in all likelihood, those who will use the subway, even on the Westside, will still mostly be typical LA area transit users.

While I don’t have data specific to overall Westside transit ridership demographics, my own daily experience riding the Big Blue Bus suggests that we riders are a diverse lot that reflects Los Angeles County as a whole (with a bunch of SMC students sprinkled into the mix).  Additionally, a subway that allows people to travel from Union Station – with its rail, bus, and Metrolink connections – to Westwood in 25 minutes will benefit transit users coming from every corner of LA County to jobs and schools on the Westside.

Which brings me to the final point: if you accept the fact that the subway extension will not reduce local road congestion in the long run because it won’t get people out of their cars, then doesn’t that necessarily mean that the subway would primarily continue to serve existing transit users, the majority of whom are working class and non-white?  The fact that some LA Leaders promised that the subway would reduce traffic – even though the data never really supports that – should not discredit the entire project, especially in light of its benefits to transit riders.

Again, I would hate for this piece to be construed as an attempt to discredit the BRU; their members do an exceptional job keeping Metro honest and focused on those who depend on transit.  However, I do believe that building this subway is truly compatible with those goals.  The extension will serve the densest corridor in LA County, where the 60-foot buses on the 720 Rapid Line look like this at 10pm, even with buses arriving every ten minutes.  At rush hour, they look the same with buses coming every three minutes.

Of course, please let me know if I’ve gone astray in my analysis.  I look forward to reading your thoughts and criticism in the comments section.

Lastly, I’ll give a shout-out to the Santa Monica resident who biked to the meeting from Westwood and managed to stay ahead of one of those very 720 buses the whole way over.  His account is distressingly plausible.  As this was the final Metro meeting for public comment, from here on out you’ll have to turn to your email, phone, or favorite postcard of Los Angeles.

All official public comments on the Westside Subway Extension, specifically the preliminary Environmental Impact Report, are due to Metro by October 18^th.  Don’t forget to tell ‘em Streetsblog sent you!

Update: Metro has now posted the presentation it has given at these public comment hearings online, here – September 2010 Public Hearings Presentation [PDF]

Online: Complete our electronic Comment/Question Form

By US Mail:
David Mieger, Project Director
DEO, Countywide Planning & Development
Metro
1 Gateway Plaza, 99-22-5
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Tel: 213.922.6934
Phone messages are retrieved at least once every business day.

Email: WestsideExtension@metro.net
Please be sure to include all of your contact information in the body of your e-mail.

Photo: LA Wad/Flickr

(Remember I told you we’d be adding new features to the blog?  If someone sends me an action alert that can be filled out online, we’ll repost it here. – DN)

From the L.A. Subway Blog comes a plea for the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus on Google Transit.  As a Westsider who lives next to a Big Blue Bus Stop, it would certainly make my life easier, but Subway Blog writer Juan Matute takes a less personal approach:

Big Blue Bus has raised fares and changed schedules, but they’re still not on Google Transit. They’ve consistently promised to go on Google Transit but this promise has been consistently delayed. Pressure Big Blue Bus to join Google Transit by signing the petition below and getting your friends to do the same:

http://www.petitiononline.com/smgt/petition.html

Sadly the trend of an increasing presence of non-vehicular transportation at the Expo Damien noted in 2009 has reversed somewhat this year.  Due to funding shortages the organizer’s were no longer able to allow local alternative transportation non-profits free booths. But Bikerowave, Dahon and the L.A. Bike Coalition are exhibitors giving bikes a presence at the event while transit is represented by Big Blue Bus and Metro.

None of the general speaker programs on Saturday deal with bike issues but there will be a panel from 11:15 am-12:15 pm entitled What Will It Take To Get You on the Bus? Moderator is L.A. Times business columnist David Lazarus with the panelists including:

*Conan Cheung, Deputy Executive Officer of Service Planning and Scheduling at Metro
*Hasan Ikhrata, Executive Director at the Southern California Association of Governments
*Stephanie G. Negriff, Director of Transit Services for Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus

By the way, I am slated to help Metro with its booth. They were short on volunteers due to their heavy presence at the Home Show being held also this weekend at the L.A. Convention Center. Kymberleigh Richards in her capacity as a Governance Council member took the lead in making sure Metro would have a presence at the Santa Monica event and asked me to help out. So if you attend either day come by and say hi.

The future home of Bergamont Station in Santa Monica. Photo: Darrell Clarke/Friends for Expo

Expo supporter Gökhan Esirgen attended a special meeting of the Westside Neighborhood Council last night featuring a presentation by the Expo Construction Authority.  Esrigen sent an email afterwards to other supporters and media, which can be read after the jump, but here are some of the highlights of Expo’s presentation.

• Expo believes they can open the line all the way to 4th and Colorado by “early 2015″
• Two teams are bidding on construction.  The winning bid will be announced at the February 2011 Board Meeting
• The Bike Path is a separate contract but construction will be coordinated with the light rail construction
• There’s still a lot of details to be worked out at crossings and involving parking

Given some of the delays that have plagued construction of Phase I, it’s hardly a sure bet that Phase II will be running smoothly five years from now.  Still, for those Westsiders hungry for their first rail line, the end is in sight.  Conversely, those hoping to block construction until the line can be built below-grade have a ticking clock to contend with.

Yes, guys, you heard it right. There was a lot of discussion around, some mentioning of memos by Metro pointing to opening dates in 2016 or even 2017. But tonight, at the WNC meeting, Expo officially announced that they are aiming for an early-2015 Phase 2 revenue-operations start to 4th and Colorado in Santa Monica.

The bids by the two competing teams will be announced at the December Expo board meeting. The winning team will be announced at the February 2011 board meeting. Notice to proceed will be issued in March and that’s when the final design and utility relocation will start.

It was said that the main risk for delay for the project would be third parties, such as the City or utility companies, not timely assigning permits or doing the necessary work.

Venice bridge will be a separate contract, not part of the contract that will be made with one of the two competing teams. It’s a possibility that Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc, who are building the bridge east of Venice, will also build the bridge west of Venice. The construction of this bridge could start in a few months.

The bike and pedestrian path will also be a separate contract as well but it will be jointly coordinated with the LRT contract.

There was a lot of detailed discussion of the grade crossings, how much delay there will be, how the lights will be synchronized, how the queue cutters will work, etc. (The queue cutter at Overland is electromagnetic loops in the ground detecting cars and connected to a traffic signal at the pedestrian crossing north of the tracks, cutting the queue so that the cars don’t back up to the tracks).

Under the no-parking option, the tracks will be shifted to the south side of the 200-ft-wide right-of-way between Overland and Westwood and the 100-ft-wide area north of the tracks will be left as vacant land for whoever wants to build a park there in the future.

Because of the new relocation of the tracks (such as in the no-parking option), the contractor will restudy the sound impacts when they’re doing the final design.

Partial opening of Phase 2 (such as to Palms) is not a possibility. Testing was said to be very expensive and not worth for a mile-long segment. In addition the EIR didn’t study phased openings. Last but not least, there are concerns that partial openings will delay the final opening to Santa Monica.

Virtually no one showed up from NFSR, certainly none of their leaders. Apparently their lawyers advised them not to interact with the Expo Authority.

A heated debate has broken out in Santa Monica casting cyclists and the City Council against a proposed research complex by Agensys, a biomedical engineering company.  According to Santa Monica's much ballyhooed Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) to their Master Plan the site should have a bike path running through the development.  According to Agensys, the proposed path is a safety hazard.  The two sides will face off at a Planning Commission meeting tonight at 7:00 P.M. in Santa Monica City Council Chambers, SM Civic Center on Main Street.

Cyclists, led by Santa Monica Spokes and Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition leaders, are pointing to the opportunity to provide easy connectivity to a future bike route on Michigan Avenue, Santa Monica High School and Santa Monica College.  They argue the route would cost little, especially with a pedestrian path already planned, and would help the site fulfill the city's commitment to better cycling outlined in the LUCE. Those really interested in getting into the details of the site and proposals should read Barbara Fillet's detailed analysis at SM Spokes.

Cyclists have some powerful allies, including Council Member Kevin McKeon who basically takes the cyclists side in the debate in the Santa Monica Mirror:

“We are negotiating the first development agreement since the Council's unanimous adoption of a new Land Use and Circulation Element, which promised our residents increased bicycle access,” McKeown said in an email. “Sacrificing our encouragement of healthy active transportation so quickly would be an immediate mistake and a disappointing precedent.”

For it's part, Agensys is doing more for the community than just providing a good job base.  The company seems concerned about pedestrian access and has promised wider sidewalks, a cafe, and a walking path through the site.  In addition, they vowed to find ways to encourage employees to find ways to work besides the car, despite the two-story garage attached to the site.  With the Bergamont Station for the future Expo Line a stone's throw away, that shouldn't be too hard.

But their excuse for not adding a bike path to the pedestrian path already planned lies in concerns about safety and liability if they built a sub-par bicycle path.  Gary Kavanagh, one of the founders of SM Spokes and the writer of Gary Rides Bikes, is skeptical reporting a second-hand story that the city volunteered to accept the liability and Agensys still declined.  Kavanagh and I must be speaking to the same little birdies, because I've heard the same story.

While the cyclists have the support of several City Councilmen, Agensys has the support of angry columnist Bill Bauer at the Santa Monica Daily Press who slanders the cyclists, especially Fillet, for trying to tell Agensys what it can and can't do on private land.  That governments regularly tell people and businesses what they can do on land they lease from the city, completely ignoring how common it is for landlords to control the improvements made by their tenants.

One thing's for sure, nobody wants to see Agensys move, as Bauer claims they might but Agensys has not, so something has to be worked out.  Will Agensys really take on the City Council over a bike path?  Will the City Council hold a major employers feet to the fire over a bike path?  The answer to that question may not come tonight, but wait a couple of weeks until the full City Council debates the issue at their September 14th meeting.

About half way through the above video, KTLA's Eric Spillman talks to the L.A. Marathon's Peter Abraham about the transportation plan for people wishing to be at the end of the marathon.  Under KTLA's banner of "Parking Problems," Abraham rationally explains that you should probably bike (free bike valet!) or take transit to the end of the race.  That's when things go off the tracks if you will.

Spillman (panicked): But there will be enough parking, theoretically.

Abraham (bemused): Theoretically, there is...

A couple of moments later, Spillman and the anchors have the following discussion

Anchor Woman: ...I am a little concerned about one suggestion.  If you're going to run in the marathon, ride your bike there?  Isn't it enough that you're going to be running 26.2 miles?

Anchor Man (pumping his arms and looking ridiculous): YOU GOTTA GET WARMED UP!

Spillman: No, no, no, no, no.  Mostly it's about the spectators.  You can park a few blocks away, from the finish here; which is Ocean Ave. and Santa Monica Boulevard here in Santa Monica.  Then, you can get on your bike and ride here and avoid a lot of parking problems.

Tomorrow’s meeting of the Expo Construction Authority Board of Directors promises to be one of the best-attended, most controversial and longest meeting of the body. The Board is scheduled to vote on approval of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Phase II of the Expo Line, and there are still many issues that are controversial with various constituencies. The meeting begins at 2:00 P.M. at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration at 500 West Temple Street. For those of you that plan on listening in at home, you can call in at (213) 974-4700 or (877) 873-8017. Spanish language call information and more details at the meeting can be found at the Expo Construction Authority’s website.

If the FEIR is passed tomorrow, only a court order or loss of funding could stop construction of the controversial light rail line. While a close vote is expected, passage seems somewhat assured. There are seven voting members of the Expo Construction Authority, and only a majority is needed to approve the documents. Assuming that Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Santa Monica City Council Woman Pam O’Conner and Culver City Council Member Scott Malsin all vote in favor of the project, then only one vote is needed from Los Angeles City Council Members Herb Wesson, Bill Rosendahl, Paul Koretz or County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. Yaroslavsky has already announced his support on his blog.

So what issues need to be addressed? It seems as though the controversy over where to put a rail yard in Santa Monica has cooled off, but that leaves several controversies to be addressed.

The main obstacle to passage is the local advocacy group Neighbors for Smart Rail, that is an umbrella group consisting of local organizations and homeowners groups from areas such as Cheviot Hills and Westwood Gardens. Some of these groups have been opposed to the line for, literally, decades, and others have joined the effort recently. Their main concerns with the project, as outlined in an email to members, can be found here:

The report calls for all train crossings through our community to go at street level (at-grade), blocking traffic as often as every 2 ½ minutes, 22 hours a day at Overland, Westwood, Military and Sepulveda! They have not studied any below grade options and will consider elevating at Sepulveda only if someone else pays for it!

The FEIR document is woefully deficient and the data is flawed – it should not be adopted! We need your support to show the Expo Board that we care about our homes, our schools and the quality of life in this neighborhood. It’s time to stand up and be counted.

Unlike some of the other groups attending tomorrow’s meeting, Neighbors for Smart Rail aren’t encouraging changes to the document, but its outright rejection. It is widely assumed that Neighbors for Smart Rail will be pursuing a legal remedy if they don’t succeed tomorrow, but they’re keeping that decision close to their vest and haven’t said anything about future plans other than what happens tomorrow will determine their next steps.

So what changes would Neighbors for Smart Rail like to see? Their stated position is that grade-separated crossings need to be more seriously studied and approved for crossings at all major intersections and near schools. They note the high accident rate for at-grade rail crossings, most recently exemplified by a Gold Line crash last week.

Countering the assertions of Neighbors for Smart Rail is the pro-Expo group Friends 4 Expo Transit who have relentlessly pushed for the quick construction of the Expo Line from Downtown L.A. all the way to Downtown Santa Monica. They have been encouraging members to write the Expo Board, and show up tomorrow, to provide a counter-weight to the opposition. In response to Neighbors for Smart Rail, Friends 4 Expo write:

We’ve waited years for this alternative to horrible Westside traffic, that will serve this dense corridor’s many residents, jobs, recreational, educational, and cultural opportunities, plus provide landscaping and a bike path.

Its opponents, after failing to detour the line from its straight path to Santa Monica, now demand unprecedented special treatment for one neighborhood under the guise of "Build it right or don’t build it." But their prohibitively expensive, long deep tunnel beneath the existing railroad right-of-way has never been built on any modern U.S. light rail line and would threaten Expo’s completion.

Another group concerned about the line’s impact on traffic is the UCLA Bicycle Coalition. While the group expresses support for the concept, and writes that it’s "pretty exciting to get a new train line in our ‘hood;" they have serious concerns that the configuration will make cycling on Westwood Boulevard, one of the most heavily cycled roads in L.A. County, dangerous and daunting.

Current plans will reconfigure lanes on Westwood Blvd in such a way that it will be a pretty nasty road to bike on. We’re asking the board to redesign the street here to preserve space for bikes, and to even add bike lanes. (More details in the letter below).

I know a lot of us bike on Westwood regularly, so we should rise up and demand that this road stay safe for bicyclists.

The cyclists are also asking their members to write the Board or attend tomorrow’s meeting.

A third issue to be addressed, is the configuration of the station at Overland Avenue and Westwood Boulevard. A group calling itself "Expo Greenway" is urging that instead of a parking lot the space around the station should be preserved as green space. "Park not parking" is the slogan, and a full detail of their plan can be read at their website.

Of course, there are other issues to be addressed, including the fate of the Expo Bike Path which will be approved if the FEIS is approved tomorrow but is not funded by the Construction Authority.  However, heading into tomorrow’s showdown at Kenneth Hahn Hall, these are the groups that appear to be doing the most mobilizing.

If tomorrow seems a little short on stories here at Streetsblog, it’s because we’re planning on "live tweeting" the hearing via telephone.

(This is the first in a four part series following up on stories that have run through the year but aren’t yet finished.)

Just because the word "Final" appears in the document name doesn’t mean that the battle over the routing and crossings for the Expo Line have ended.  While the Final Environmental Impact Report predictably contained good news for supporters of getting the light rail line completed quickly, even the most enthusiastic supporters know that there are still opponents of the project that still have some arrows left in their quiver.

Karen Leonard, the co-chair of Light Rail for Cheviot, writes, "I’m very glad that the Expo Authority took neighborhood comments seriously and discussed the grade separation possibilities at Overland and Westwood at length and in detail.  Since LADOT now concurs with Expo that these
crossings should be at-grade, given the mitigations proposed, one hopes that NIMBYs in several homeowners’ associations do not succeed in funding litigation and delaying the line significantly."

While Leonard is choosing her words carefully, she’s referring to the coalition of affluent Westside neighborhoods that have rallied together under the banner of Neighbors for Smart Rail.  Friends 4 Expo member "Gokhan" takes a less-nuanced approach to defining NfSR’s position in the Streetsblog comments section:

NFSR comes next. Terri Tippit, the veteran Westside neighborhood
politician, Head of the West of Westwood Homeowners’ Association and at
times the President of the Westside Neighborhood Council, is the
President of Neighbors for Smart Rail (NFSR). Collen Mason Heller of
the Cheviot Hills Homeowners’ Association is the Vice President of
NFSR. Her husband Larry Heller is the attorney for NFSR. NFSR has been
collecting a lot of money in order to launch a lawsuit within 30 days
of the certification by the board of the Expo Authority of the final
environmental-impact report on the first Thursday of January. (editor’s note, the date for approval has been moved to February 4)

Officially, the position of Neighbors for Smart Rail is not that the line shouldn’t be built, but that the line needs to have safe (i.e. not at-grade) crossings near Westside schools as it rolls by.  Legal actions against the Expo Construction Authority in South L.A. have forced the agency to add additional pedestrian amenities near Dorsey High School.  However, thus far Neighbors for Smart Rail is playing it close to the chest.  The group is not quoted in any of the press accounts of the FEIR release and emails requesting comment for this article have not been returned.  I’m sure there will be a lot more on this story in the coming year.

The Expo Construction Authority has finally released the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Phase II of the Expo Line with some key changes.  I'll spend more time reviewing the document and talking to some of the key players in the drama over the weekend and will be back with a longer story on Monday.  But for those of you that can't wait to start talking, here are the key changes from the press release, which can be read in its entirety here.  Or you can read the environmental documents in their entirety on the Expo Construction Authority Board website.

Meanwhile, here are the key changes from the Draft EIR per the Construction Authority's Press Release.

Inclusion of a design option that removes the park-and-ride lot at the Westwood station;

A Maintenance Facility design option which includes Santa Monica College and Verizon properties with a 100-110 foot buffer, providing additional protection from the residential community to the south of the proposed facility;

Accommodation of a continuous bikeway from the Phase 1 terminus to Santa Monica;

An additional grade separation at Centinela;

Addition of a 3rd northbound lane on Sepulveda for the at-grade crossing;

Inclusion of a design option for grade separation at Sepulveda if outside funding sources become available.

For the full image, visit The Source.  If the page doesn't load, it's their server, not my link, that's the problem.

First announced at The Source, then covered at Blogdowntown, Metro staff unveiled a draft of what the Downtown Connector would look like if it were entirely below-grade.  Previous drafts, including a plan referred to as "the Underground Emphasis Option" had the train spending a lot of time at-grade in Little Tokyo.  Even the most underground option had The Connector coming above ground near First and Alameda before connecting to an at-grade station.  Blogdowntown explains the new alternative:

The new alternative would instead place a station underneath the Office Depot site, with trains continuing under the intersection as tracks split to emerge via portals along Alameda and in the middle of 1st.

The Alameda portal would be located north of Temple street, while the 1st street tracks would rise just east of Alameda, leveling off just past Hewitt. Some temporary track on 1st would allow the newly-opened Gold Line Eastside Extension to continue operating throughout construction.

Of course, there are still significant barriers before such a design becomes a part of the final plan.  Most importantly, it needs to be included in Metro's environmental review, a step the agency has yet to announce.  Second, the new plan would cost a cool $200 million more than the most expensive of the currently studied options.  Not surprisingly, even the expanded price tag didn't bother the Little Tokyo community that saw the design last night and voted unanimously to encourage further study.

Meanwhile, in Santa Monica, the City Council voted to endorse a location for the maintenance yard that will house Expo's light rail cars when they're not active on the line.  The surrounding community had argued that a residential neighborhood was a poor location for the yard, but as Curbed reports, via the Argonaut, there were some compromises.

Concessions have been made: A city official tells the paper that the "new planned location had been redesigned to eliminate 'wheel squeal' from the train and a car wash and cleaning platform would be relocated north of the Verizon property. A 110-foot sound barrier is also proposed to reduce noise from the train and the light rail yard."

Again, two issues remain before the light rail yard is a done-deal.  First, it's Metro, not the City of Santa Monica that decides where the yard goes.  Second, the station's new neighbors aren't done fighting.  Now they're concerned with a higher-than-originally reported level of methane gas in the area.

Santa Monica's AltCar Expo made it crystal clear, from a distance and in the parking lot, "The Car is King" and all else receives a token gesture and comes in a distant second.

I attended the 4th Annual AltCar Expo misunderstanding the concept and expected to find "Alternatives-to-the-Car" at the Expo, thinking that the promise of "Alternative Fuel and Transportation" would entail some shift in the auto-centric focus but I was wrong.

Attendees to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium event were promised cheap parking and upon arrival were greeted with abundant opportunities to test drive "alternative-cars" including automobiles that ran on electricity, hydrogen, cooking oil, good intentions and high-hopes. People lined up as beautiful men and women plied them with data and promises and assurances that by driving these beautiful "AltCars" they would seriously change the world. Immediately.

Hidden behind a bus and a large truck and at the very back of the parking lot was an area reserved for the "Alternatives-to-the-Car" such as the Segway, the electric bicycles and other options that were obviously secondary and obligatory and not even close to worthy of headliner status. Such was the priority of the Expo.

The LA Greensters, Hollywood's first all pedal powered transpo team, had a "double-wide" booth which Ron "the Sherpa" Durgin and Jeremy Grant turned into Park[ing] Booth, recreating the park that the LOAD[ing] Zone team hauled across LA as part of the Park[ing] Day LA celebration. Park[ing] Booth screened videos including Reel Sustainable, a documentary about sustainable film production, Park[ing] Day LA and the Crenshaw Crush, a Greenster organized discovery bike ride in the Crenshaw District.

We had a great time in "the Annex" and the folks that stopped by Park[ing] Booth were tickled to hear of the LA Greensters, the see the Xtracycles on display and to hang out in the Park[ing] Booth and to watch videos that demonstrated that the bike was a serious option for moving gear, for shopping, and for all of the basic transportation needs that come up in a community.

Bravo! All the congestion but without the pollution.

I took a lap to get the lay of the land and then I took a much slower lap and once I had dispensed with the automobiles, I found several non-vehicle booths tucked into the main room. The Clif Bar booth is always a favorite and although I was a wee bit jealous that they were in the main room while the LA Greensters were in "the Annex", I was happy to take advantage of their wares.

I came across a booth that featured a motor vehicle and I almost slipped right by until I realized they weren't promoting the vehicle but were instead washing it without using water. The Lucky Earth company sells a non-toxic, dye free, cleaning solution that is sprayed on your dirty vehicle and with a "spritz, spritz" and a "wipe, wipe" leaves behind a sparkling clean car with no wasted water. When my mild interest was met with an offer of a bottle, I declined and explained that I had no car to wash. They immediately switched bottles and gave me "Bike Wash" demonstrating very clearly that if these people were hosting the Metro's booth, there would be more people riding mass transit.

Lemonade, the catering company, got in the swing of things and enticed the "green" crowd to pay more for less by positioning a large poster at the beginning of the lounge that dramatized the impact of methane vs. the impact of auto emissions, positioning guilt as the appetizer for the vegan-fare that served as penance for the supplicants.

Lest there be any confusion, let me clarify, Ed Begley Jr. is still the reigning Rock Star of the Green Revolution and there were two booths proudly displaying a life-sized cutout of Ed, demonstrating that there are two kinds of green products on the market. Those that enrich Ed and those that don't. Ed was selling a system that reduced "phantom-power" waste and promised to reduce utility bills by 25% and Ed was selling a water system that promised to provide clean water. It was good to see Ed and I thoroughly enjoyed his water, especially since it was delivered in a cup that appeared to be plastic but was actually made from corn starch and was bio-degradable. I was thirsty so I drank a few glasses of water but I drank quickly, worried that the cup would start to fade on me as I drank. It all worked out and I was again in Ed's debt!

It was quickly apparent that there were three "castes" at the AltCar Expo with the "Alternative Car" in first position, the "Green Products and Services" in second position and the "Alternatives to the Car" in third position. Once I was clear on the lay of the land and on the structure, I settled in and simply invited folks to visit the "Annex" which I rebranded as the "VIP" room and things picked up accordingly at the Park[ing] Booth.

Sometime during the afternoon on Friday, I noticed an increase in the number of "men in suits" making repetitious laps around the facility and it dawned on me that it was time to go into "Guv mode." We tidied up our booth and repositioned our selves, spreading out and putting DJ Chickenleather in a lead position, now very grateful for the Lucky Earth bike wash!

Sure enough, just as the Expo closed to the public and just as the staff for the Metro, the Big Blue Bus and all of the other "clock in an go to work in a booth" folks had left the Expo Hall, a dozen large black vehicles pulled up and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stepped into the Main Room of the AltCar Expo and the show began. Booth by booth, car by car, the Guv strolled through the Expo, surrounded by an entourage that started off as a group of individuals but within minutes had taken on amorphous qualities and began to move an a singular entity featuring the head of the Guv and then two dozen feet, two dozen hands and a half-dozen cameras flashing at regular intervals.

Governor Schwarzenegger visited every booth featuring a car, a generator, a battery, a cable, and anything else related to moving motor vehicles, demonstrating the traditional commitment to the personal motor vehicle and the complete disconnect from the larger challenge of getting people out of cars and of providing transportation alternatives. The Governor spent close to an hour visiting the booths in the main room and he was methodical, almost Austrian, in his up-down, back and forth, survey of the AltCar Expo. Then the pace quickened and it was apparent that the Governor's visit was ending and the entourage headed toward the exit.

In a demonstration of the disproportionate energy and attention that is dedicated to traditional auto-centric transportation vs. alternative transportation, Governor Swarzenegger spent 55 minutes looking under the hoods of electric and hydrogen vehicles and two minutes talking alternative transportation. Of course, I'm grateful for those two minutes, especially because he spent them talking to the LA Greensters!

As the Yukons outside idled and Santa Monica's air quality dipped, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was introduced to the LA Greensters, Hollywood's first all pedal-powered transportation team, featured in Reel Sustainable, the documentary that asks the hard question, "Can Hollywood produce films sustainably?" The LA Greensters demonstrated that the answer is yes by hauling all grip and electric, camera and audio gear on Xtracycles and with trailers, supporting the full shoot from shopping at farmers markets to all production runs, using only bicycles.

The Governor smiled and nodded, said "Great!" and I'm convinced that for a moment he contemplated ditching the entourage and instead hanging out with the LA Greensters. Maybe next time!