LADOT

Parking expert Donald Shoup has long asserted that one cornerstone of smart parking policy is to return parking meter revenue to the neighborhoods where the revenue is generated. When parking meters feed an anonymous city general fund, as much of the city of L.A.'s meter revenue does, then parking meters are perceived as burden to communities. When local meter revenue goes to fund local improvements, then neighborhoods tend to welcome the meters.

This week, the national American Planning Association (APA) awarded its National Planning Achievement Award for a Best Practice to the city of Los Angeles' Transportation Department (LADOT) People St program. SBLA readers are likely familiar with People St, which is responsible for over a dozen new community friendly spaces—including plazas, parklets, and bike corrals—on the streets of Los Angeles. People St is an ongoing program wherein LADOT partners with local stakeholders—businesses, nonprofits, others—who request these facilities.

The Vineland Avenue bike lanes got a little greener this week. The L.A. Department of Transportation (LADOT) gave several merge zones a coat of "fresh Kermit."

Downtown L.A. is getting a little safer for walking with some new traffic signals that give pedestrians a head start. Officially, these are called "Leading Pedestrian Intervals." The concept is that when pedestrians get the walk signal a few seconds before drivers get a green light, they can walk into the intersection and be more visible, and therefore safer.

Los Angeles has a new transportation app that helps Angelenos choose ways to get around. The GoLA "Mobility Marketplace" App shows various transportation modes, including bicycling, transit, taxi, ride-hailing, driving, and parking and allows users to compare modes to see what is fastest, cheapest, or greenest. The app is a collaboration between Xerox and the city of Los Angeles, shepherded by the Mayor Eric Garcetti's Chief Innovation Technology Officer, Peter Marx.

Last week, a new parklet opened in downtown L.A.'s South Park. The next People St parklet installation is already underway on Motor Avenue in Palms. The parklet pictured is in front of C&M Cafe at 3272 Motor Avenue, a block south of the Metro Expo Line Phase 2 and the Expo bikeway's Northvale gap. Motor was improved with a road diet and bike lanes in 2012.

An overflow crowd of more than one hundred people showed up to last night's Expo Bike Path meeting at the Palms-Rancho Park Branch Library. A representative from Councilmember Paul Koretz welcomed the boisterous crowd before turning the open house over to L.A. City Transportation Department (LADOT) Senior Bicycle Coordinator Michelle Mowery.

People Street meets Hope Street.

When Metro's 6.6-mile Expo Line opens in mid-2016, the parallel Expo bikeway will open too.