http://la.streetsblog.org Covering Los Angeles's livable streets movement Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:03:05 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en (Image: U.S. PIRG) Now that the Obama administration has awarded $8 billion in high-speed rail grants to more than two dozen states, with $2.5 billion more coming soon, why not keep thinking big when it comes to bullet-train expansion? That's the ethos of a new report ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/09/us-pirg-how-about-high-speed-rail-for-every-major-city/ Picture a future where a smiling multi-racial police force, who apparently answers to nobody, moves unchecked through society arresting and detaining people for offenses to the environment.  Use plastic bags at the grocers?  You're arrested, frisked, and handcuffed before being frog marched from the store.  Set your ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/09/ad-nauseum-audi-takes-greenwashing-to-the-next-level/ I'm sure bus operations will come up...Photo: SoCalMetro/Flickr As I noted in my previous commentary "Metro In Transition", while the Sectors are being disbanded the Governance Councils continue in their role of providing oversight of Metro bus operations. In the past the Councils had an annual joint meeting ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/09/service-sector-governance-councils-quarterly-meet-and-confer/ Pensacola, Florida. Springfield, Missouri. Fort Wayne, Indiana. All three of those metropolitan areas have populations between 350,000 and 500,000, and all three would have been required to install nitrogen dioxide monitoring stations near major roadways under a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule cracking down on the pollutant. ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/09/report-white-house-budget-office-helped-weaken-epa-pollution-rule/ We turn to the Streetsblog Network for a little inspiration this morning, courtesy of Robin Chase -- author of the blog Network Musings and former CEO of Zipcar. Chase shares a story from a friend in India, Vinay Jayaswal, who believes that meaningful change on the most overwhelming ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/09/individuals-can-make-a-difference-a-view-from-india/ Times Livid with Attempts to Charge Drivers for Infraction... ...But Labels Local Revenue Created by Bus Advertising "Money for Pet Projects" Despite Budget Crisis, State Spent Lavishly on Cars (Times) An Ongoing Affair ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/09/todays-headlines-473/ Photo: New York Times via 4 LA Kids UC Berkeley professor Michael Jerrett strongly suggests in a new study that reducing the traffic near people's homes could have a dramatic impact on the health of the children living near public streets. The ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/08/want-to-slim-down-l-a-s-children-plan-streets-for-less-cars/ The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are making significant progress on their joint effort, with the U.S. DOT, to connect cleaner transportation options with affordable  housing and denser urban development. A future commuter rail station along Boston's Fairmount ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/08/epa-and-hud-make-big-investments-in-sustainable-development/ A couple of interesting things on the agenda this week, and the events are spread around the city so there's something for everyone. Tuesday - CICLE hosts a meeting at Cafe de Leche at 5000 York Blvd. to discuss what kind of improvements the community ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/08/this-week-in-livable-streets-events-7/ I was waiting to write about "L.A.'s Best Bike Plan's" Bike Backbone Network that's was slowly rolled out over the last week until all three maps were public.  In the meantime, the Los Angeles Times and KPCC have picked up on part of the story, getting some ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/08/times-asks-should-l-a-give-cyclists-more-space-on-the-road/ Despite Senate Democratic efforts to move quickly on a new jobs bill that includes infrastructure investment and takes steps towards solving the nation's transportation financing dilemma, Congress has just two more weeks of work until time runs out on the latest short-term extension of ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/08/a-vow-to-%e2%80%98bring-republicans-to-the-table%e2%80%99-for-a-new-transport-bill/ Today on the Streetsblog Network, Connecticut Smart Growth asks for a reconsideration of the cul-de-sac. As the post notes, a couple of important studies in recent years have highlighted how this iconic type of suburban development causes unsafe and costly traffic problems. Now governments in several parts of the country are discouraging such ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/08/end-of-the-road-for-the-cul-de-sac/ Update on State Transit Funding (The Source) Rural Newspaper Enjoying LB Post Taking with Them Over Lowenthal Over Free Parking (Redding Searchlight) Freudian Slip?  Link off LA Times Local Page About Parking Privatization Takes You ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/08/todays-headlines-472/ Image: LAPD via Westside Bikeside A new presentation on the causes and severity of bicycle crashes, available here after being hand-scanned by Enci Box, has been made available and analyzed at Westside Bikeside by Dr Alex Thompson. Amongst the results is the above chart showing ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/05/lapd-nearly-a-quarter-of-all-bike-crashes-are-hit-and-runs-help-us-cut-down-on-crashes/ The Expo right of way just off of Exposition and Sepulveda. Photo: LA Streetsblog/Flickr After years of debates, threats of lawsuits, contentious community meetings and even heated discussion on Streetsblog message boards; there was a feeling that yesterday's meeting of the Expo Board to debate the certification ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/05/expo-board-approves-feir-for-phase-ii-off-to-construction-or-off-to-court/ For an image from a differnt angle, click on after the jump. Photo: Drew Reed (editor's note: Welcome our newest guest blogger, live from Long Beach, Drew Reed.  Reed is a writer, film editor, and cycling activist based in Long Beach. He blogs about cycling issues in ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/05/bike-boulevards-the-slo-solution/ Yesterday brought news of two grim transportation numbers from the Obama administration: 2 and $53 million. Atlanta's Metro won a share of the emissions-cutting transit grants that the White House proposes to cut next year. (Photo: Atlanta Metblogs)The first figure is the percentage of federal ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/05/two-troubling-transportation-numbers-for-the-obama-administration/ Today on the Streetsblog Network, a post from Aaron Renn on New Geography about the anti-urban bias in transportation spending. Renn points out that when it comes to the amount of taxes they contribute and the amount of funds they get back from the government, the nation's cities all too often get the short ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/05/how-urban-areas-get-stiffed-on-transportation-spending/ Expo Board Approves Plans for Phase II (LAist, LA Now, Times, LA Weekly) Who's Got a Better Bike Plan, the City or the Activists? (KPCC) Now CA High Speed Rail Corridors Competing Against Each Other (San Jose Business Journal) ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/05/todays-headlines-471/ The Source has a full sized map here. As soon as today's Expo Board Hearing begins, which should be in a couple of moments, Streetsblog will begin "tweeting" the coverage live at http://twitter.com/lastreetsblog.  Once the Board votes on the Final ... http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/02/04/todays-expo-board-meeting-coverage-here-and-on-twitter/