People

(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.)

The script is a familiar one to Angelenos. President Obama announces he's coming to town for a fundraiser. Panic ensues on the television about the impact such a visit will have on car traffic. The president is flown as close as possible to the fundraiser and then is driven the rest of the way. He raises money. He vanishes.

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.

State Senator Alan Lowenthal’s “Give Me 3″ legislation, S.B. 1464, is going back to the Senate Housing and Transportation Committee on April 17. The bill would require drivers to give cyclists a three foot passing berth when overtaking them. I say “going back” because nearly identical legislation, S.B. 910, was passed by both houses of the legislature last year, before Governor Brown exercised his veto. Brown expressed concerns about hypothetical traffic congestion caused by cars slowing down to pass bicycles.

The election is still a year away and already the campaign promises are flying!

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.