Month: August 2009
Streetsblog LA
LADOT Wins Emmy for Powerful “Watch the Road” P.S.A.
Given how we've mocked LADOT's previous Emmy Award Winning P.S.A., you might think this headline was sarcastic, but it's not.
August 31, 2009
Santa Monicans React to Controversy Over Narrowed Ocean Park Blvd.
Alert Reader Johnathon Weiss pointed me to a story in the Santa Monica Daily Press, and posted on the Times' LA Now Blog, about the impact the narrowing of Ocean Park Boulevard on traffic and safety in Santa Monica. In 2007, after a series of crashes involving cars and pedestrians, the city of Santa Monica decided to narrow the four lane. The Daily Press explains:
August 31, 2009
Senator Dukakis? What Kennedy’s Loss Could Mean for Transport Policy
As the nation mourns the loss of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), a discussion
has begun over how to fill his outsized shoes, both in Massachusetts'
Senate seat and atop the Senate health committee -- two vacancies that
could have notable consequences for transportation policy-making.
August 31, 2009
The Week in Livable Streets Events
(Editor's Note: They do this every Monday in NY and SF, so we're going to try it here. Let me know what you think. You can submit calendar items at the link on the right, or email me damien@streetsblog.org)
August 31, 2009
Drinking and Driving; In Some States They Go Hand in Hand
Drinking and driving laws vary from state to state, but in
Wisconsin, it's not until your fifth offense that you're charged with a
felony for drunk driving. That's an awful lot of leeway for a behavior
that so often leads to serious bodily harm.
August 31, 2009
Today’s Headlines
Fires Doing a Number on Air Quality (Times) Utah’s Tough Texting Ban: Offenders Who Kill Get Up to 15 Years in Prison (NYT) BRU Gives Metro Nearly Failing Grades, But What About Metro’s Own Survey? (Times) Census Profiles for Potential Subway to the Sea Stations/Routes (Metro Rider) Another NC Endorses Cyclists Bill of Rights (Brayj … Continued
August 31, 2009
City, Bike Coalition, Moving on Sharrows
The Los Angeles County Bike Coalition reports that funding is finally in place for the Sharrows pilot program for L.A.'s streets, half a decade after the LACBC began their Sharrows Campaign. A group of funders have pooled their dollars to fund the Sharrows on a couple of Los Angeles' roads, but just because funding is in place doesn't mean the paint will start flowing; first the roads for the new paint need to be selected.
August 28, 2009
High Speed Rail Authority Says Ruling Won’t Affect Timeline or Funding
A
Sacramento judge ruled this week that the California High Speed Rail
Authority failed to provide an adequate description of the San Francisco to Los Angeles high speed train
project in its Environmental Impact Report. Critics of the project
hailed it as an important victory, but the fine print of the decision
may leave less room for their celebration, as the court rejected
contentions about the project's route, biological impacts, and ability
to induce sprawl in the Central Valley.
August 28, 2009
The Importance of Making the Connection
Yesterday, I made the trip from Brooklyn, NY, to Jersey City, NJ, to
visit the Liberty Science Center. It really wasn't hard to do, although
it required three separate transfers -- from the F train to the A
train, from the A to the PATH train, and then from the PATH to the
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail line.
August 28, 2009