Month: November 2011

Featured Headline: Metrolink's bike cars are H-O-T!  Check them out.

Earlier today, the California Public Utilities Commission gave the green light to proceed with construction of Phase II of the Expo Line.  CPUC was widely expected to delay their decision on whether or not the rail/road crossings for Phase II were safe enough and that they wouldn't cause excess pollution by creating traffic delay.  In a surprise move, CPUC unanimously approved the crossings after Commissioner Timothy Alan Simon removed a "hold" he had placed on the crossing vote.

Out of 11 transportation-related measures that were voted on Tuesday, seven represented a victory for transit, two were losses to learn from, and two more aren't really a win one way or another but are worth noting. According to the Center for Transportation Excellence, these numbers bring the year’s total to an impressive 79 percent win rate for transit. Especially impressive is the fact that most of these measures involved a tax of some sort, and people were willing to pay it if it meant better transit service – even in tough economic times.

Now that the dust has settled, we have a few more notes on the Senate transportation bill that passed the EPW committee yesterday. Bike and pedestrian advocates are understandably shaken at seeing some major changes to the primary programs that fund their work. But here are some reasons to take heart:

(This is part two of our series on reader’s response to last week’s series on Buy Here Pay Here used car dealerships.  Earlier, Streetsblog published the comments  of Joe Linton, Roadblick, Adrian Martinez, Damien Goodmon and Allison Mannos.  Yesterday, Streetsblog published a more detailed response from Occidental College Professor Mark Vallianatos.  Today, we feature a piece by Community Voice Newspaper Editor and Eastside Bike Club President Carlos Morales.  Stick with this story until the end, it's worth it. – DN)

(Streetsblog has no formal position on Occupy L.A., but we do find the role of bikes and a bike share program in this local branch of the national phenomenon very interesting. To that end, we have partnered with our old friend Roadblock to provide coverage of how the program is going and what if any lessons were learned.  As part of this partnership, we can work with donors to provide a small tax deduction for any donations to Roadblock's bike share program- DN)

What makes a local transit referendum successful?

Featured Headline: Is this the end of the City's promise to set aside 10% of its Measure R local return for bicycle and pedestrian projects?  We're looking into it.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted unanimously this morning to pass a two-year transportation reauthorization bill, moving the bill one step closer to passage by the full Senate.