Car Culture
Streetsblog LA
Chrysler: Taking Taxpayer Money and Running Away From Cleaner Cars
When Chrysler asked the government for a second round of bailout money in February, it submitted a 177-page restructuring plan that vowed to usher in a new era of fuel-efficient vehicles at the famously gas-chugging automaker.
November 11, 2009
ABC 7 Poses Backwards Poll Question While KPCC Takes a Second Try at Bike-Car Conflicts
As we mentioned last week, there is reason for concern about the way the traditional media is covering the "bike v car" controversy in the wake of the verdict in the trial of Dr. Christopher Thompson. Sometimes there is a soft bias, such as in the wording of the question in today's "Question of the Day" by KABC and sometimes it is more pronounced on radio shows or other two-way communications.
November 9, 2009
With Thompson Behind Bars, What’s Next for “Street Justice” in Los Angeles
Yesterday, cyclists concerned with the safety on their streets got a boost. For many of us who have been harassed or threatened by uncaring and dangerous motorists, it was a relief to see that the system is capable of convicting one of the more outwardly-psychotic drivers out there.
November 3, 2009
Officials Celebrate Highway Widening. Tough Questions Remain Unasked.
Anyone that reads Streetsblog knows that one issue that makes this blog different than your run of the mill news source is that we have opinions on how a transportation system should and shouldn't be built. Some people charge that this bias taints our writing. Other times, it's clear that bias helps us ask questions that traditional journalists don't ask. That is especially true when it comes to the dubious value of highway widenings.
November 3, 2009
How Bus Transit Can Help the Auto Industry
When Vice President Joe Biden visited
Minnesota's New Flyer bus company to tout the economic stimulus law's
$8.4 billion investment in transit, hopes were high for a boom in
cleaner-burning vehicle production -- which made for some bad press when the nationwide transit funding crunch forced New Flyer to lay off 13 percent of its workers.
October 26, 2009
How Do Angelenos Travel?
The passage of Metro's Long Range Transportation Plan last week has helped heat up a national conversation about Los Angeles, how it grows, how it moves and the future of our Metropolis. Of course, Diane Meyer's "World Without a Car" exhibit has people locally thinking outside the auto; but others are picking up the conversation such as the Transport Politic and Think Progress' Matt Yglessias. However, that debate shows us one critical missing link in our transportation planning.
October 26, 2009
New Study Shows $56 Billion in Hidden Health Damage from Autos
Transportation's effects on public health are rarely discussed by policy-makers, but they remain very real -- and the National Research Council (NRC) put a number
on them today, reporting that cars and trucks have about $56 billion in
"hidden" health costs that are not reflected in the price of oil or
electricity.
October 20, 2009
City Ends Traffic Officer Subsidies for Major Events
At last week's meeting of the City Council Transportation Committee, LADOT's Alan Willis presented on the status that the DOT has made with the owners of the Greek Theatre, Hollywood Bowl, Coliseum, Sports Arena, former Olympic Auditorium and Dodger Stadium in getting these traffic attractors to pay for their own traffic officers. In response to the budget crisis, the city has cut the budget to pay for special event traffic and parking officers for their events from $6 million to $2 million.
October 19, 2009
In Kafka’s Castle: TDM in Action
(editor's note: Dr. Michael Cahn is a lecturer in book history at UCLA. There is also someone with the same
name affiliated with some bike group in town, but that is another
chapter. This story has received very light editing on my part and is re-printed with no change in content to give you an honest feel for the author's view. Streetsblog remains excited about the changes occurring in Long Beach and cautiously optimistic about the value of bike-sharing programs in L.A.'s future.)
October 14, 2009
Zócalo – from the sublime to the ridiculous!
On Wednesday evening, Zócalo will host an evening entitled "The Curse of Oil" at the Skirball Center
and featuring a discussion with Peter Maass, New York Times Magazine
writer and author of Crude World, all in a demonstration of sublime
irony or in a ridiculous display of complete disconnect.
October 6, 2009