People

(While we initially reported the Bus Only Lanes hearing would be on Wednesday, it was moved to Tuesday at the request of one of the Councilmen who couldn't make the Wednesday hearing. - DN)

It is doubtful that the media will give the same attention to today's report, "Audit of the City’s Parking Meter Collection Process" by City Comptroller Wendy Greuel as it did the "Gold Card" report a couple of weeks ago or the "Parking Cops Taking Part in a Porn Video" report on NBC from earlier this year, but the most recent report might be the most damning.  The city really doesn't know how many parking meters it has?  Among the findings:

Leimert Park from Mark Ridley-Thomas on Vimeo.

Our question and answer session with LAPD Sgt. David Krumer went so well, that we decided to do it again.  This time, incoming LADOT General Manager Jaime De La Vega has agreed to answer ten questions (the same number Krumer answered) submitted by Streetsblog readers.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa just announced (although Streetsblog had it first earlier today) the appointment of long-time transportation aide Jaime De La Vega as his nominee for General Manager of the Department of Transportation.  De La Vega first appeared at City Hall as a member of then-Mayor Richard Riordan's transportation team over a decade ago.  He has been the head of Villaraigosa's transportation team since the beginning and is credited for advancing Measure R, the 30/10 and America Fast Forward initiatives, and saving the bike/ped set aside from the city's Measure R funds when some City Councilmen wanted to remove it.

Yesterday, The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee released an outline of some its core principles for a federal transportation reauthorization bill.  One of the main planks of their proposed program would be expanding the TIFIA loan program from a $110 million program to a $1 billion program and re-branding the program "America Fast Forward."  The policy statement was signed by committee leadership from the Republican and Democrat side of the aisle, including California Senator Barbara Boxer.

Last Thursday, Los Angeles Comptroller Wendy Greuel released the findings of an audit of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation's parking program to address shortcomings in revenue collection.  Greuel's report identified a couple of areas that needed addressing to maximize revenue, but the item that caught the media's attention was the so-called "Gold Card Desk" (GCD) where City Council Members could "fix" parking tickets brought to their attention by constituents with a simple phone call.

At times in this whole reauthorization process, it’s been hard to see the way forward. House Republicans refuse to deficit-spend their way out of the funding conundrum, and Democrats haven’t gotten behind a coherent plan to come up with more revenues, though they’re still arguing for a bigger bill. Still, I’ve been reporting on the bill as if it’s bound to happen, one way or another. Secretary Ray LaHood has been unflinching in his optimism that a bill will pass this year. But the more I talk to experts, I realize: this thing probably isn't going to happen.

Originally Stephen Villavaso of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition was scheduled to be the guest speaker at the Southern California Transit Advocates May 14th meeting, only to have a conflict force him to request to be rescheduled to our June meeting. As I scrambled to seek a replacement Nick Matonak who handles the Facebook page for SO.CA.TA suggested we have Stephen Box as a speaker. And upon being contacted Box with great enthusiasm said yes.