Today’s Headlines

Featured Headline: A lot of people like to talk about Metro projects in terms of jobs created, both long and short-term, by the construction of a new rail line.  In the long-term, I think this can be a self-defeating motivation to build transit.  If, in the mania to create jobs we rush through transit projects that aren’t ready or fully thought out we do ourselves a disservice.
The flip of that is that the jobs that are created should be local jobs.  After all, the funds for these projects is coming in large part from a local transit tax, and this is why Metro passed a resolution that most construction jobs for Measure R projects should be local projects.  The website “Frying Pan News” puts a personal touch on the story, “He summed up the feeling for all of us. ‘When the vote came in at 11-1, for the first time in a long time I felt a sense of hope.'”  The story is a good read, check it out.

• Five years or 43 days to paint L.A. sharrows (Eco-Village)
• City Finally Realizing There’s a Difference Between Ads and Murals (LAT)
•  High Speed Rail Blog Decimates Yesterdays’ Times Piece on HSR Costs
• Chinese Electric Car Company Opens North America HQ on “Automotive Row” (Daily News)
• A Complete Look at New Bike Infrastructure in Downtown Santa Monica (Gary Rides Bikes)
• Expo Picks Up Speed, 4 Trains on the Track at Once (University Family)
• Op/Ed: BH Mayor, Supe Zev, Geology/Seismology Experts All Full of Crap (BH Courier)
• Zev: Fault Findings Kind of Scary (Zev Web)
• Metro’s “Independent Review Panel” Backs Original Findings on Fault (The Source)
• Can Separated Bike Lanes Save Eagle Rock Boulevard? (Walk Eagle Rock)

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill