Month: February 2011

For awhile now, I’ve contemplated the perplexing question of “What can improve South Lake Avenue (an underperforming shopping district)?” and I’ve come up with my own conclusions as to why the moribund district performs so poorly.

Last week, in the run-up to the City Council Transportation/Planning and Land Use Committee Hearing on the Bike Plan, Josef Bray-Ali wrote, "I don't think I can make it, but if someone can mention LAMC 80.27 (the anti-cargo bike law) and ask for its repeal as part of the bike plan that would be awesome."  The response from many people, including at least one Streetsblog commenter, was confusion.

Don't be fooled by the high-pitched rhetoric in Washington. The vast majority of Americans are united, at least when it comes to the topic of transportation.

Since the 1940s, civic leaders have dreamed of extending Bay Area Rapid Transit between San Francisco and San Jose. Ten years ago, Santa Clara County residents even voted to tax themselves an extra half-cent for 30 years to pay for the connection. But despite its merits and popular support, the project has never managed to clear a hurdle that just about all transit expansion projects face: the large upfront infrastructure investment. Until this week.

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill

Yesterday, Metro announced that in addition to the two stations already being studied for a Westside Subway stop in Century City near Beverly Hills.  The reaction from readers, both at Curbed and The Source was pretty overwhelmingly negative with accusations that Metro was selling out and a heaping of venom for the Beverly Hills NUMBY's.  Of course, it's not the Metro staff who's in charge of selling out, that's the realm of the Board of Directors.  They won't have their chance for another couple of months.

Yesterday was a bad day for the state of Florida.

It seems suggestive that Metro and Caltran’s just launched SR-710 Conversations public outreach process features a timeline of transportation milestones printed as a board game. It remains to be seen whether it will be a game that the public plays: a creative rethinking of mobility needs in the San Gabriel Valley and Northeast Los Angeles, or a game that plays the public: going through the motions of input on environmental studies for  a 710 ‘gap closure’ tunnel that agencies intend to pursue regardless of any alternative proposals.

Business and labor came together to make a rare show of unity today to push for a robust transportation reauthorization with adequate investment for infrastructure. And they spoke out loud and clear for a higher gas tax. Most surprising of all – it seemed that Senators were finally ready to have a mature discussion about it.