Communities

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is seeking to develop a comprehensive overview of potential transportation and rail improvement options in the corridor bridging L.A. Counties and San Bernardino counties. Los Angeles and San Bernardino inter-county cooperation could expand transit access to cities near the county border. A number of significant inter-county transportation projects are or have been proposed to increase connectivity in eastern San Gabriel Valley and Western San Bernardino County. Future transportation projects could include:

Funding transportation projects in California is a complex and arcane process involving many players, including state and federal agencies, regional planning authorities, and local cities and counties. It usually comes with strings attached, needing to fulfill requirements of state or federal legislation or of a local sales tax spending plan. A project can start with local residents advocating for something they want, but needing to fit it to state or regional goals for planning, air quality, or transportation.

Metro's new tunnel connecting North Hollywood's Red Line and Orange Line stations is looking nearly complete. According to Metro spokesperson Dave Sotero, the project is anticipated to open next month. Per Metro [PDF] the tunnel will save riders approximately 44 seconds on transfers between the Red and Orange Lines.

This morning a crowd of over a thousand people gathered to celebrate the opening of Los Angeles' newest transportation system: Metro Bike Share. The system's opening festivities took place at Grand Park. It featured music, speakers, and a ceremonial ride where cyclists rode bike-share bikes to distribute them to stations throughout downtown L.A.

On a unanimous 5-0 vote last night, the Monrovia City Council approved the city's new bicycle master plan.

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.

Southern California's largest bike-share system, Metro Bike Share, debuts next week!

The San Gabriel Valley city of Monrovia may soon have an extensive network of bikeways offering residents and visitors safer streets connecting to many key destinations. Monrovia is expected to approve its new Bicycle Master Plan next month.

Perhaps the conflation of area code and date were just too good to be true. The 626 Golden Streets open streets event has been postponed due to the air quality issues caused by wildfires in the San Gabriel Mountains.