Streetsblog Los Angeles

The media loves drama, of course. As your high school English teacher explained it, if Hamlet doesn’t get pissed about his dad’s murder or if Atticus Finch doesn’t step up to defend a black man falsely accused — that is, if somebody doesn’t say no, you’ve got no story. So the vociferous opposition of a handful of people to a handful of bike lane projects in New York City has been dramatized, through a series of news stories and op-eds, into a full-blown citizens’ backlash against the complete streets movement.

The narrative potential of controversy, though, cannot fully explain the glaring disconnect between polls showing that most residents support bike lanes and press portrayals of the backlash as widespread. Advocate Aaron Naparstek, who knows more about the city’s transportation politics than most anyone, has posited one theory: that Bloomberg’s DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, the woman behind many of the positive changes to New York City streets in recent years, has infuriated members of the political class — powerful New Yorkers who, unlike most, rely on cars as transportation.

But as always, it also makes sense to follow the money. In 2010 alone, the automotive sector spent $13 billion on advertising, more than any other industry including telecom, and accounting for one out of every ten dollars doled out by advertisers in the U.S. Local media outlets are especially dependent on auto manufacturers and dealers for advertising revenue. At the same time, traditional news media continue to lose audience, and even while other types of media benefit from a rebound in ad spending, newspapers suffer persistent drops in ad revenues, plunging last year to a quarter-century low.

It’s hard not to notice that as papers like the New York Times have shrunk, cutting costs by shedding sections, plump Automotive sections hang tight and become even more critical to newspaper survival. Now, of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the Times, the New York Post, or other papers act unethically in how they cover transportation issues, including bike lane brouhahas.

But across the country, those on the automotive beat have cozy relationships with the automakers, driving their loaner cars to lunches with industry spokespeople, and stories occasionally surface, like a recent one in which editors at The Detroit News caved to dealer pressure to more favorably review the new Chrysler 200 sedan, that hint at broader behind-the-scenes activity.

Most auto journalists take great care to avoid being stained by industry sway, as difficult as that must be. Still, it is naive to think that the media’s dependence on the auto industry doesn’t influence what stories are covered, what opinion pieces are published, and what necessary “balance” might be taken. The tone adopted by local New York City news outlets has hardly been one of hard objectivity.

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The Associated Press published a piece today that, after putting "economists and statisticians" to work on analyzing $21 billion in federal stimulus money for transportation, reached a volatile conclusion:

Local unemployment rates rose and fell regardless of how much stimulus money Washington poured out for transportation, raising questions about Obama's argument that more road money would address an "urgent need to accelerate job growth."

The very idea of measuring the immediate effects of transportation stimulus spending on joblessness is highly dubious, for two reasons underscored by the U.S. DOT's quickly blogged pushback to the AP story.

Firstly, for all the White House's talk of "shovel-readiness," the need to put transport projects out to bid, sign contracts, and hire workers means that stimulus dollars take some time to affect broader local economies. The latest congressional data shows that work has started on 57 percent, or $19.7 billion, of the stimulus law's $34.3 billion in road and transit funding.

Ironically, that ripple effect for transport spending could end up helping states, such as Florida, that were slow out of the gate in allocating stimulus money but continue to struggle with high unemployment.

Secondly (despite the best efforts of some senior Democrats) transportation only accounted for 6 percent of the stimulus' $787 billion in total spending. Why expect such a small slice of the legislation to have a major impact on unemployment rates? House transport committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) and his top lieutenant, Rep. Pete DeFazio (D-OR) today compared the AP's assumptions to "saying it is a waste of time to feed a homeless family because that one act does not cure poverty."

Also from Oberstar and DeFazio's rebuttal to the AP:

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The Daily News printed a story today about some of the changes that Los Angeles has undergone as a result of high gas prices.  There’s nothing surprising about their findings, more people are biking, taking transit, and buying fuel efficient cars.  The Daily News’ article focuses on what steps will have to be taken to accomodate these changes if they continue to happen.

And yes, a fare hike is mentioned to help Metro deal with all of its new passengers.

But what if gas prices continue their recent trend, and fall back to $3 a gallon.  Up here in the Bay Area the local news is focusing on forecasters that are predicting gas prices to be between $3 and $3.25.

So here’s the question I put to you: If gas prices fall and don’t rise, what’s going to happen to Los Angeles?  Have we learned our lesson?  If we return to an era of $3 gasoline, will we see people continue to pursue alternative transportation, or will the city breathe a deep sigh of relief and get back in their SUV’s?

Photo: Sirigous/Flickr

A Complete Street in Portland

Last week, the state legislature finally passed AB 1358, The Complete Streets Act.  This legislation would require that all modes of transportation be given equal consideration when Caltrans or any other government body in California spends funds on a road project. Other states that have passed similar legislation include Oregon, Illinois, Massachusetts and Virginia.

Passage of this type of legislation is at the top of the "to do" list for bicycle and pedestrian reformers throughout the country including the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition and the California Bike Coalition. 

I guess state legislators know how to say "Happy Birthday."

For such a groundbreaking piece of legislation, it received scant notice in the press.  Over the last week, the only news story on A.B. 1358's passage can be found in a Sacramento Bee editorial, which devoted one paragraph of an editorial to the legislation over the weekend.

Pedestrian safety: Assembly Bill 1358 would require cities and counties to accommodate all users – including bicyclists, pedestrians and transit passengers – when building new streets and highways. This "complete streets" bill by Assemblyman Mark Leno of San Francisco would encourage the building of more sidewalks and bike lanes statewide. It dovetails with the governor's efforts to fight obesity and reduce greenhouse pollution.

However, as with all things in Sacramento these days, this important piece of legislation is caught in the logjam created by the Governor's insistence that he will not sign any legislation until after the legislature passes a balance budget.  However, that timeline doesn't work for local bike advocates.  The LACBC wrote their members yesterday with instructions of how to write to Governor Schwarzengger.  Their draft letter and instructions can be found after the jump.

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The Bottleneck Blog reports that the logjam holding up A.B. 2321 was broken earlier today when the Committee moved an amended motion to the Senate floor.  Because the amendments don't change the list of funded projects, the measure won't require a new vote by the Metro Board of Directors.  It seems Metro's sales tax measure is one step closer to being on this November's ballot.  Sort of.

Because of language changes at the last minute needed to win the approval of Senator Jenny Oropeza, a Senator and member of the Appropriations Committee who has long pushed for a Green Line extension to LAX, the bill has to be approved by the Senate and go back to the Assembly before going to the Governor's desk.  It seems nothing can be simple with this sales tax plan.

Nevertheless, both A.B. 2321 Author Mike Feuer and Oropeza seem content with the compromise so let's enjoy this moment of political harmony.  After all, even if everything goes smoothly in Sacramento, the measure still needs the support of 2/3's of participating voters on election day.  With opposition promised in both San Fernando Valley and the San Gabriel Valley, we still have a long way to go.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that City Supervisor Chris Daly wants to ban cars from part of Market Street.  While transit would still be able to traverse the 2.3 mile stretch between Octavia Boulevard and the Embarcadero all privately owned passenger vehicles would be banned.

Daly says that the idea of closing Market Street came from the popularity of temporary street closures that Mayor Gavin Newsome is proposing.

Daly said discussion of a proposal by Mayor Gavin Newsom to close portions of city streets, including a large stretch of the Embarcadero, on two Sundays this year prompted his action.

"It's the city's grand boulevard," Daly said. "Why don't we go for the gold?"

Closing the 2.3-mile portion of Market Street would open the often-congested roadway to pedestrians and cyclists, though Daly said there would still need to be places where cars and other vehicles could cross.

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