Antonio Villaraigosa

Over the last two and a half years, Los Angeles turned a corner. While the city has a long way to go to be a safe and welcoming city for pedestrians and cyclists, things are getting better. The change in attitude has also changed the debate from, "What can the city do to make things better?" to "Is it doing all that it can?"

One of the major themes of Streetsblog's recent interview with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was the timeline for transit expansion. Rather than an outline of when projects would be completed, we sought to chronicle the policy switch from moving cars to a true pro-transit agenda. Was it when Villaraigosa was elected to the City Council and chaired the Transportation Committee? Was it when he first ran for mayor, when transit expansion was a major plank in his unsuccessful campaign? Was it in 2008, when the ability to fund a real transit expansion plan suddenly seemed possible?

The Mayor began our interview talking about a college student’s commute from Downtown Los Angeles to California State University Northridge. The student leaves home early in the morning on a bike. He soon hops on the Metro Red Line to North Hollywood. In North Hollywood, he transfers to the Orange Line. When he gets off the bus, he finishes his trip on bicycle. In the evening, he does the same commute in reverse.

Earlier this month, Los Angeles Streetsblog editor Damien Newton and Streetsblog Lite editor Veronica Hernandez sat down with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for what turned out to be a long, far-ranging interview on all things transportation in Los Angeles.  Originally scheduled as a chance to talk about the Mayor’s three terms as Chair of the Metro Board of Directors, the interview went long...very long.  Villaraigosa clearly relished the chance to talk on a variety of transportation and development projects.

(Note: Yesterday, Mayor Villaraigosa spoke at the Urban Land Institute's 3rd Annual Summit on Transit Oriented Development.  Several conflicts prevented our team from covering the conference, but to give you a flavor for what was discussed, we asked the Mayor's Office for a copy of his prepared remarks.  They are below.)

Yesterday, at a meeting of the Metro Board of Directors Construction Committee, L.A. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich became the first public official to throw cold water on Mayor Villaraigosa's transit dreams by denouncing plans to place an extension of the Measure R half cent transportation sales tax indefinitely.

Five years ago, I was sitting at my desk in New York City reading about Los Angeles and wondering how I was going to adapt.  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa seemed obsessed with speeding up car traffic to the detriment of neighborhoods.  It's hard to remember the Mayor's talk of Tiger Teams, specialized LAPD units designed to punish cars parked in rush hour travel lanes, cars "blocking the box" or anyone else that dared impede traffic at rush hour.  His attempt to "Manhattanize" Downtown Los Angeles was widely mocked in media outlets.  His signature transportation project was The Subway to the Sea, which was widely considered a pipe dream.

Yesterday, the United States Senate passed a two-year extension of federal legislation that allows the federal government to fund transportation projects throughout the United States.  While the legislation still needs to be passed by the House of Representatives before being signed by the President, the legislation's passage allows the Senate, in this case led by Senator Barbara Boxer, to set the agenda and not the House of Representatives, controlled by a more conservative breed of politician.