Dana Gabbard

Saturday May 8th Union Station and environs will be a whirl of transportation activism and fun activities.

(Everyone knows that Dana is one of the Board members for the Southern California Transit Advocates, right?  Good. - DN)

In perhaps the strongest sign yet of just how politically potent the statewide high speed rail project has become, a bid by a Republican Assemblywoman to squelch the project has fallen flat (Assembly Bill 2121) and as a face-saving move the bill has been amended to merely mandate the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) submit funding reports as it goes forward with the project.

There seems real buzz for the 30 in 10 concept, even in policy circles back in D.C.

I was getting caught up with my transit reading and stumbled across an interesting item on the agenda of the April 8th Board meeting of the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA).

I see that on Monday at 2:30 p.m. the Independent Citizens’ Advisory and Oversight Committee is holding its annual Public Hearing in the Metro Board Room to receive public comments on the result of the audits it oversees of the spending of funds from Propositions A and C by Metro.

(editor's note: Everyone knows that a guest editorial, such as this one, does not represent an Official View of any particular group, right?  Good. - DN)

(Author's note: this write-up was delayed when I was hit with a particular vicious bout of flu that made me bed ridden for 9 days. But since no one in the media (including Metro's own bloggers!) attended it is still timely and informative as the sole coverage of this event. - DG)

As I noted in my previous commentary "Metro In Transition", while the Sectors are being disbanded the Governance Councils continue in their role of providing oversight of Metro bus operations.

Sick of transit funding being stolen by the state and want to do something about it? You can help gather signatures for placing on the November ballot the Local Taxpayer, Public Safety and Transportation Act. A packet of petitions can be requested via this online form. They will come in the snail mail with detailed instructions. The deadline to get petitions in for validation is mid-April. I have some and will in the coming weeks be gathering signatures on buses, trains and at transit nodes like Union Station.