Beverly Hills

Applications within public transportation for driverless vehicle technology should be much more than an afterthought. Yet public transit agencies seem to be slow to recognize the potential of autonomous vehicles (AVs) which could literally revolutionize how we think about and use public transportation.

At a federal court hearing this morning, attorneys for Beverly Hills and Metro clashed, but did not arrive at any conclusive outcome. It appears that Metro will likely need to do some additional environmental review (a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement or SEIS) before proceeding with construction on phase 2 of the Purple Line Subway extension, which is planned to tunnel below the city of Beverly Hills with stations in Beverly Hills and Century City.

Yesterday, The Los Angeles City Council Transportation Committee approved terms for five Breeze bike-share stations to be located in the L.A. City neighborhood of Venice. Full details are available in the staff report [PDF] for council file 16-0176.

Last week, United States District Judge George Wu issued a ruling [PDF] in Beverly Hills' legal battles against Metro's plans to tunnel the Purple Line subway beneath Beverly Hills High School.

Michael Fleming has been advocating for LADOT's Commuter Express bus service to add a stop to service Beverly Hills for years. When LADOT gave him the best New Year's present of all, a bus stop just blocks from his office, he excitedly snapped this picture to share with the world.

Today is a great day for L.A. County. After decades of stalling, Metro is finally breaking ground on the Westside Subway extension from Wilshire/Western to Westwood.

(Update: This is a first. The Courier didn't get one thing wrong in its editorial, it got two things wrong.

Update: 929 pm - When the consultants called the 16' travel lanes "shared lanes," I assumed they meant that the lanes would have Sharrows. I was wrong. They're just proposing two 16' mixed use lanes, which under state law cyclists have to stay to the right in. Bicyclists, both those that live in Beverly Hills and those that bike through it, are hoping that a Blue Ribbon Commission that was formed to discuss the redesign of Santa Monica Boulevard will finally create the backbone of a bicycling network in Beverly Hills. However, a new report by consultants hired by the city makes that outcome less likely. The report was released just days before the Blue Ribbon Committee meets for the last time tomorrow to make recommendations to the City Council.