OCTA

Tracks and stations appear nearly complete for the 4.1-mile streetcar, opening next year. Through Santa Ana much of the light rail project is accompanied by curb-protected bike lanes.

“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” - Southern California Freeway Expansion

In other parts of California, REAP grant funds are building transit-oriented housing, while in L.A. the focus appears to be on reducing (or mostly making plans to reduce) vehicle miles traveled

L.A. County needs get somewhat short shrift in a six-county SCAG region that skews suburban. Unfortunately Metro hasn't helped its case; the agency shirked some of its transit operations during the pandemic.

Southern California projects will receive plenty of state transportation funding. Metro projects include the Gold Line, Airport connection, West Santa Ana Branch, Green Line, Van Nuys Line, and more.

Reports of Bike Nation's demise are at least somewhat premature.

Starting in the 1990s OCTA worked on a light rail project that was to be known as CenterLine. Despite valiant advocacy by Orange County rail activists the project was buffeted by parochial NIMBYism resulting in multiple truncations of the proposed route. Finally, in 2005 the agency threw in the towel and cancelled the project. As a substitute to provide air quality improvements that the light rail was supposed to produce (and for which air confirmity was being relied on) OCTA undertook an expansion of intracounty Metrolink service, funded with the monies in Measure M that had been intended for CenterLine.

Now that the Governor has signed the bills to allow local stakeholders to take over management of the Pacific Surfliner and San Joaquin Amtrak intercity rail routes the next steps are the formation of the joint power authority boards and in the case of the Surfliner the selection of a managing agency from among the members of LOSSAN (aka the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor).

Tonight at 6:30, the Transit Coalition will host former Caltrans Director and current OCTA CEO Will Kempton at their annual meeting.  The meeting is open to the public and takes place at Phillipe the Original, 1001 Alameda Street, in the Downtown.  If memory serves, there are pretty specific directions about how to find the meeting once you arrive, so if this is your first time, print the directions found here.