Transit Advocacy

It seems as though voters would find a "yes" vote for Proposition 22 to be an easy decision.  After all, the proposition would end the state's ability to decide that "we're in a crisis" and could raid taxes dedicated to transit funding (as well as other local public services such as the police and fire departments) leading to the massive service cuts that we've seen locally and across the state.  Not surprisingly, transit advocacy groups such as the California Transit Association have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to see the initiative pass, and local groups such as the Southern California Transit Advocates have made passage a top electoral priority.

Aging infrastructure across the country has become an enormous safety risk. It’s also becoming an economic hazard.

There is one thing that is clear about the position of the residents of Beverly Hills when it comes to the future Westside Subway.  No matter how many guarantees they receive about the negligible impacts of tunneling ninety to one hundred fifty feet below the ground, they don't want it to run underneath their residential area nor their schools of their city.

Yesterday, the Daily News printed an odd opinion piece by 4th District City Councilman Tom LaBonge which outlined his views on how Metro should grow Los Angeles' rail system in the coming years.  I say "odd" because the former Metro Board Member has to know that Measure R transit funds have to be spent on the projects listed in the ballot initiative passed in 2008, and it's unlikely the agency is going to raise the funds for anymore transit projects in the near future.

So you're sipping your coffee and reading the news on your web-enabled phone as you glide along the Expo Line, idly shutting it off as you descend into the downtown connector en route to Union Station. Your bullet train to Sacramento leaves at 9AM, but you're not feeling too pressed for time, because as it turns out, that train isn't departing for several years.

David Lazarus, in one of his recent L.A. Times columns on public transit, off-handly laments neglect of the "long-term promotion of public transportation as a practical alternative to traveling by car".

The AFL-CIO, a formidable lobbying force in Washington, is throwing its weight behind a Senate bill offered last week that would authorize $2 billion in emergency funding for transit agencies forced to hike fares or cut service in lean budgetary times.

(Drew Reed is usually our volunteer Long Beach writer.  However, he volunteered to cover the CTA's rail transportation symposium in Long Beach that took place Monday and Tuesday.  Here is a review of Monday's coverage.  Tuesday's will come tomorrow.  With the exception of the above graphic, all images are by Drew Reed.)

Should private transit companies enjoy the same federal gas tax exemption that many public operators receive? How does the existence of private inter-city bus service affect the government's development of new high-speed rail lines? And does it matter that private transit firms are eligible for public subsidies, even if at a much smaller rate than public rail and bus agencies?