Month: December 2009
Streetsblog LA
Thoughts on Portland, Los Angeles, Race and Bicycling (updated 4:24 P.M.)
At last week's Big Bike Meeting at City Hall, Senior Bike Coordinator Michelle Mowery took a swing at a question about the city's outreach on the Draft Bike Plan, and missed. The questions, which compared the outreach in Los Angeles to that of Portland, home of Alta Planning who consulted on the city's plan, asked why the outreach for our plan is somewhat lacking. Mowery's answer, transcribed at Westside BikeSIDE has been lampooned and pilloried throughout town. But now the debate has headed north to Portland.
December 16, 2009
House Jobs Bill Answers Some Key Transportation Questions
The $75 billion House jobs bill, expected to pass later today before the chamber adjourns for the holidays, includes $27.5 billion for roads and $8.4 billion for transit, largely mirroring this year's first economic stimulus law.
December 16, 2009
House Jobs Bill Could Make General Electric’s Amtrak Wish Come True
The House is poised to take up a jobs bill later today that provides $37.3 billion in new transportation spending, including $27.5 billion for roads, $8.4 billion for transit … and a holiday gift for General Electric? Could this cleaner GE locomotive be coming soon to Amtrak? (Photo: Inhabitat) GE’s transportation division recently joined its … Continued
December 16, 2009
Car Culture Entitlement Runs Rampant In Film Industry Rag
I don't write too often about the film industry or celebrity business here because the lives of L.A.'s celebrities seems to be in a different universe than the one most Angelenos live in. When there's something exciting or different going on, such as the "Rebel Without a Car" production of "At What Price," we certainly take notice. But a story forwarded me today is so dripping with Car Culture outrage, it was just too good to ignore.
December 16, 2009
Ray LaHood Visits ‘The Daily Show’ to Talk Transportation
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood visited Jon Stewart on The Daily
Show last night to talk about his department's role in the stimulus
debate, infrastructure modernization, and development of a U.S.
high-speed rail system. Check out the video above (and let us know what
you think in the comments).
December 16, 2009
Why Are Threats Against Bike Riders Considered Acceptable?
Today on the Streetsblog Network, Sustainable Savannah
asks the question, "When is it socially acceptable to threaten the
lives of innocent people?" The answer, apparently, is this: "When they
are riding bicycles."
December 16, 2009
The Eastside Gold Line Rail as a Learning Tool for at-Risk Youth
The opening up of the Eastside Gold Line Light Rail afforded twenty-four students from Mujeres y Hombres Nobles Continuation High School in East Los Angeles and I the opportunity to explore urban planning and transportation options together. As part of the HeArt Project (www.theheartproject.org), I taught a 10-week art course that used the rail line and urban planning as the subject.
December 15, 2009
House Jobs Bill Mimics the Stimulus: $27.5B for Roads, $8.4B for Transit
The House is slated to vote as soon as tomorrow on a job-creation package that includes $27.5 billion for highways and $8.4 billion for transit, according to a transportation committee document obtained by Streetsblog Capitol Hill. House transportation committee chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) (Photo: Bike Portland via Flickr) That funding divide mirrors the spending levels … Continued
December 15, 2009
Your Turn: What Do You Want to See on Los Angeles’ Streets in 2010
Last summer, Streetsbloggers wrote stirring defenses of the transit-friendliness of their communities for a series aimed at finding the most transit-friendly community in L.A. I'm hoping to repeat that success with a short series, to run the week between Christmas and New Years, on what you want to see change on Los Angeles' streets in 2010. There's no limit on words, but there is a minimum. For example, a post such as this won't get published:
December 15, 2009