Transit Advocacy
Streetsblog LA
State Legislative Committees Hold Trio of Hearings Downtown
So, we are finally past that near relentless series of community meetings for corridors, bullet trains, etc. of the past few months. But don't think you can catch your breathe! We are about to have three legislative hearings on transportation topics, all being held at the Metro Board Room:
November 30, 2009
New Study Quantifies High Personal Costs of Building CA Cities for Cars
(editor's note: The section with area specific data for Southern California isn't done yet. When it is, we'll have a post specific to our region. In the meantime, this statewide article prepared by Matthew Roth in San Francisco is a great read.)
November 20, 2009
A Warning From America’s Cities: The Recession Has Only Just Begun to Hit
President Obama may be optimistic about continued U.S. economic growth as 2009 ends, but the reality on the ground in urban America — which an estimated two-thirds of the population calls home — is undeniably, disturbingly bleak. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (Photo: PennLive) That was the message delivered today by two economists and a bipartisan … Continued
November 19, 2009
Metro Board Passes Long Range Transportation Plan
(editor's note: For more of a blow-by-blow from today's meeting visit the twitter feeds for LA Streetsblog, Soap Box and I Will Ride)
October 22, 2009
The View from a Folding Chair
It is important from time to time as an advocate to expose yourself to the broader universe of perceptions and experience beyond the universe of fellow advocates, agency staff, officials, etc. populating the policy sphere. We all have a stake in transportation issues and it is educational to meet the public and engage with it in an exchange of knowledge, hear their thoughts and concerns plus answer questions.
October 14, 2009
LA Theaters – A View From the Streets
A few years ago when I was part of a theater production on Santa Monica Blvd. we worked hard to fill the seats and we advertised, we passed out flyers, we called the press, we sent out notices and we invited our friends and family, hoping to fill the house. Through it all we were always struggling with the fact that the streets are congested, traffic is miserable, parking is limited and our audience invariably showed up pissed off and frazzled by their journey, making for tough audiences!
October 13, 2009
Obama’s Engaged With Transit More in 9 Months than Bush Did in 8 Years
The Obama administration has brought both good news and bad news to transit riders. But here’s a positive sign you haven’t heard before, straight from Federal Transit Administration (FTA) chief Peter Rogoff: In the nine months of the new presidency, the FTA has fielded more requests for information “directly from the White House” than in … Continued
October 7, 2009
New Report: Feds Subsidizing Parking Six Times as Much as Transit
"Subsidy" is a word used quite often in transportation policy-making circles, whether by road acolytes who claim (falsely)
that highways are not federally subsidized because of the gas tax or by
transit boosters who lament Washington's unceasing focus on paying for
more local asphalt.
September 29, 2009
New Report: 10% Transit Growth Would Help Meet House Climate Target
A 10 percent annual increase in U.S. transit ridership would reduce
CO2 emissions by 180 million tons each year, taking the nation halfway
to the target set by the House climate change bill within three years,
according to a report [PDF] released today by Environment America and the Coalition for Smarter Growth.
September 23, 2009
Pro-Tea Party Republican’s Angry Letter to D.C. Metro: Read it in Full
Apparently unfamiliar with the concept of irony, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) has drafted an angry letter to the chief of Washington D.C.’s Metro, complaining that protesters at last weekend’s 9/12 “tea party” had difficulty traveling by transit — the very transit system that Brady voted against aiding, and the epitome of government spending that the … Continued
September 18, 2009