Buses

Before this morning's Metro board meeting, a coalition rallied for fully electrifying Metro's 2,200 bus fleet by the year 2030. In March, Metro is expected to approve a procurement for 1,000 new compressed natural gas (CNG) buses. The coalition is campaigning to block the expected CNG bus purchase.

L.A. bus lane signage has changed somewhat. On peak-hour bus lane segments installed earlier the signs read "Buses/Right Turns/Only" with a smaller "Bikes OK" notation at the very bottom. The new signs are a bit clearer on the status of bicycling, with "Buses/Bikes &/Right Turns/Only" prominently.

Not quite a cartoon, but today we feature a comedian. Watch the above 2012 video from Jay Leno's Garage where Leno learns the ins and outs of the latest in electric bus technology, specifically Foothill Transit's electric buses manufactured by Proterra which recently introduced an upgraded model. The bus features a steel-free balsa wood and fiberglass frame.

This week, #DamienTalks with Doran Barnes, the executive director of Foothill Transit and the Chair of the Board of Directors for the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

At the American Public Transit Association's annual meeting in downtown Los Angeles, electric bus maker Proterra unveiled its new Catalyst E2 transit bus. The Catalyst E2 electric bus is "named for its unprecedented Efficient Energy (E2) storage capacity." According to Proterra:

This Sunday, June 26, Metro will be making their twice yearly "service changes" to bus and rail service. This typically means minor cuts, often justifiable, but still incrementally making riders' lives a little worse and incrementally contributing to declines in ridership.

Earlier this week, SBLA attended UCLA's The Future of Public Transit conference. The one-day event was hosted by UCLA's Lewis Center and Institute of Transportation Studies. Numerous speakers spoke on the evolving landscape for public transit and broader mobility - from Houston to New York to Los Angeles. This article recaps two of the more informative and more academic presentations on trends impacting transit ridership. There are no major surprises gleaned for folks who read Streetsblog and who ride transit in Los Angeles, but it is interesting to see data quantified to back up trends observed.

Time is running out to register for next week's The Future of Public Transit, UCLA's 9th Annual Downtown Los Angeles Forum on Transportation, Land Use and the Environment. The conference takes place next week on Wednesday, April 27 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the California Endowment at 1000 North Alameda Street in downtown Los Angeles, one block north of Union Station.

This week's big Metro announcement, expected Friday, will be the fall ballot measure expenditure plan. Some early Measure R2.1 outlines are already foreshadowed here and at the Los Angeles Times.