People

(Editor's Note: The City Council passed the motion on Friday, November 16, 2012, making the allocation final.)

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?"

I had to look up the date, but I'll never forget the time I ran into City Council Member Bill Rosendahl on the evening of June 14. I ran into my Councilman in our usual place, the produce section of the Whole Foods on the corner of National and Barrington. The usually ebullient Rosendahl was actually a little sour faced. Earlier in the day, he had lost a vote on whether or not to give a tax break to a new downtown hotel. He voted no, everyone else voted yes.

In its attempt to continue its moniker of being the most bike friendly city in the nation (and one that still has many steps to go), the City of Long Beach is requesting volunteers to help conduct its annual bike count.

In addition to the mixed news on legislation impacting bicyclists, Governor Brown acted on many other pieces of legislation that will have a direct impact on transportation planning and public safety.

(Note: It was a busy 72 hours in Sacramento this weekend. Streetsblog will split it's coverage of Governor Jerry Brown's signings and vetos into two separate stories, one pertaining to bicycles, and a second post for everything else.)

"The deadliest light rail line in the country."

The intersection of 6th Street and Hauser Boulevard just south of the popular Park La Brea residential compound has long been considered an inhospitable one for pedestrians. Residents of Park La Brea complain about crashes happening "all the time," and the wide four lane streets encourage fast moving car traffic. But following a fatal car crash on July 11th, City Councilman Tom LaBonge is calling for changes to the intersection.

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?