G (Orange) Line

Construction is underway for a new tunnel that will make it easier for riders to transfer between Metro's Orange and Red Lines. Per Metro's fact sheet [PDF], the new tunnel, officially the North Hollywood Station Underpass project, is expected to be completed in Spring 2016. Riders are already detouring around the pedestrian-unfriendly construction site barriers.

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), a high-quality bus based transit system that delivers fast, comfortable, and cost-effective services at metro-level capacities, has enjoyed rapid growth over the past few decades in major cities internationally, and is gaining momentum in the United States. Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, and Seattle are set to join L.A. and the handful of U.S. cities with true BRT.

UCLA's Lewis Center revised some of the estimates in its recent report comparing the costs of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using California high-speed rail to those of bike, pedestrian, and local transit projects. The report's authors found that high-speed rail is not as expensive as an emission reduction as they first thought.

Streetfilms featured Los Angeles' Orange Line BRT and bike path in 2009. A new UCLA report says infrastructure projects like the Orange Line are a better way to invest cap-and-trade funds than CA High-Speed Rail.

Last week, I was given the opportunity to take a guided tour of the Orange Line Extension's bike path and public art installation.  For both the Expo Line and the Orange Line Extension, Metro commissioned a team of L.A. County artists to personalize the stations by creating public art projects to reflect the community.  Los Angeles Times architecture critic Chris Hawthorne mocked the stations as "aggressively banal," but Streetsblog South L.A.'s Sahra Sulaiman writes about how community groups are working to make the art even more accesible to those passing through.

Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to visit all five of the new Orange Line stations on a tour of the newly installed art (more on that tomorrow.)  The afternoon also gave me a chance to ride and review the Orange Line Bike Path.  While I found the bike trail easy to use for the most part, the delay caused by the crossings create a trail of two bike rides.

Anyone lucky enough to attend "Councilman Dennis P. Zine's July 4th Fireworks Extravaganza Presented by Keyes Automotive Group" were treated to an afternoon and evening of free music and fireworks in an open space.  They were also treated to hearing the "Keyes on Van Nuys" theme song about 122,000 times (I counted.)

Last week, I had the chance to tour the new Orange Line BRT extension from where the Orange Line currently ends in Canoga northward for four miles to the Metrolink Station in Chatsworth. Even as construction of some of the stations continues, test buses run along the route. Greg Spotts, with the Mayor's Office, predicts that the line will open sometime next month, although you never know what problems can arise as testing continues.