South LA

One thing that the National non-profit the Urban Land Institute and Streetsblog have in common is we both have strong views about Transit Oriented Development.  Another thing we have in common?  We both think the state of transit oriented planning in Los Angeles could really use improvement.

The strange saga of the Expo Light Rail Line continued yesterday when Judge Maribeth Bushey of the California Public Utilities Commission issued a proposed amendment to the environmental documents for the Expo Line Phase I that would allow the construction of a rail station at the intersection of Exposition Boulevard and Farmdale Avenue, right next to Dorsey High School.  The CPUC has previously ruled that the intersection has to have a pedestrian bridge because the proposed at-grade design was ruled unsafe.  You can read the full text of Bushey's proposal, here.  If you're just interested in reading about the design of such a station, post #872 on the Expo Forum on the Transit Coalition message boards has the details.

Too often, activists undertake a successful campaign of some sort and move on to the next campaign without taking the time to document what made their efforts such a success.  Not so with the recent Bike Parking Campaign in Pico-Union/Westlake undertaken by the City of Lighs/Ciudad de las Luces program of the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition.  While the campaign took the time to document their efforts in a blog post, the more accessible Bike Parking Resource Guide could be a guide book for any community that wants to take bike parking seriously.

Earlier today the Metro Board of Directors unanimously approved the light rail alternative for the Crenshaw Corridor and agreed to study making the light rail run underground for a dozen blocks between 48th and 59th street over the plans of the Metro staff. According to a press release, "The light rail alternative will be 8.5 miles in length from the Metro Green Line Aviation Station to the Expo Line, now under construction, at Crenshaw and Exposition boulevards, with a travel time estimated at 20 minutes. There will be seven new stations plus an option for one more. The final Environment Impact Study/Environment Impact Report could be ready by the end of 2010, with the line scheduled to open in 2018."

In what can only be considered a win for County Supervisor and Metro Board Member Mark Ridley-Thomas the Metro staff is now recommending that light rail, not Bus Rapid Transit, be brought to the Crenshaw Corridor. Ridley-Thomas has been active behind the scenes and in front of the microphone pushing for adequate funding for light rail for his district.

Sunday's Crenshaw Crush drew cyclists from all over the city to Leimert Park, home of the Drum Circle, for a bike ride that introduced riders to the history, the culture, the politics and the people of the Crenshaw District.

I'm going to be honest with you for a moment.  I haven't been paying attention to the Crenshaw Corridor Transit Study in South L.A.  Maybe it's that a preferred mode hasn't been selected yet.  Maybe it's that more controversial projects have grabbed my attention.  Maybe it's that it's mysterious.  Regardless all of that is going to change soon.

This morning, the Bus Rider's Union, including members from South and East L.A., and civic leaders from Koreatown gathered to ask the MTA to support the BRU's Clean Air and Economic Justice Plan.  Their plan calls for increased funding and expansion of Metro's bus fleet and a rollback fo the 2007 fare hike by using Measure R and federal stimulus dollars over time.  They also pointed out that while Metro staff had released a report earlier in the week that called for some short-term improvements, there was also language in the report that called for fare hikes in the next couple of years and long-term cuts in bus service as different rail projects come online.

(editor's note: I'm told to expect more of these videos from the Bike Summit and as they are finnished, I'll post them here at Streetsblog.)