The Country’s Busiest Air Routes and a Call for High-Speed Rail (Source: www.wsj.com)

New York-Miami Busiest Air Route in the U.S.? - The Middle Seat Terminal - WSJ

The Country’s Busiest Air Routes and a Call for High-Speed Rail

By Scott McCartney

A new Brookings Institution study on U.S. air travel concluded–unsurprisingly–that delays will worsen when travel rebounds, and that delays are generally concentrated in the busiest metropolitan areas. But the study also includes interesting data on the country’s most heavily-traveled air corridors.

For many years, the airline industry has seen New York LaGuardia-Boston Logan as the busiest short-haul route in the U.S. and LAX-New York JFK as the most heavily traveled long-haul route. Brookings analyzed the data with a slightly broader lens, lumping all airports together in metropolitan areas.

The ten busiest air corridors will familiar to frequent travelers. The No. 1 route may be the most surprising, the result of JetBlue’s push to make South Florida New York’s sixth borough with frequent flights and low fares, and the competitive response from other airlines. There are eight commercial airports in the New York and Miami regions, and they supported 8.7 million travelers on that route over the 12-month period ending March 2009. The New York-Miami route is so busy that it saw 2.4 million more passengers than the No. 2 route, between Northern and Southern California.

Top 10 Corridors Based on Number of Passengers
1. Miami-Fort Lauderdale area and New York City area
2. Los Angeles Basin area and San Francisco Bay area
3. Atlanta area and Miami area
4. Chicago area and New York area
5. Atlanta area and New York area
6. Los Angeles area and New York area
7. New York area and Orlando, Fl., area
8. New York area and London, U.K.
9. Las Vegas area and Los Angeles area
10. Los Angeles area and Phoenix area

The Brookings report recommends that these air-travel statistics be used to prioritize investment in high-speed rail. At 400 miles or less, high-speed rail can been air travel in time, typically with less pollution. That makes Los Angeles-San Francisco, Las Vegas-Los Angeles, Los Angeles-Phoenix and Dallas-Houston the most likely candidates for high-speed rail, in that order.

More than 6 million people fly between the Los Angeles basin and San Francisco Bay per year, the study said. In the northeast corridor, Amtrak carried 11.7 million people on Acela and Northeast Regional lines in fiscal 2008, hitting 14 metropolitan areas. The Amtrak ridership suggests high-speed rail would be viable in out busiest air corridors, the study concluded.

Would you be interested in high-speed rail as an alternative to air travel?

Expo Light Rail project coming down to the wire (Source: www.smdp.com)

Link: Expo Light Rail project coming down to the wire

Expo Light Rail project coming down to the wire

opinion and commentary

October 12, 2009
The final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for Expo Light Rail, Phase 2 will be submitted to Expo's Board of Directors early next year for final approval — but we all will get a sneak peek on Wednesday.

There are two major problems with Expo service in Santa Monica. One is the location of a maintenance/train storage yard on Verizon's property between Stewart Street and Centinela Avenue, adjacent to Exposition Boulevard. The other is the route Expo will take down Colorado Avenue to a termination at Fourth Street.

Neighbors and members of the Pico Neighborhood Association have voiced their opposition to noise, pollution and other negatives associated with having such an industrial operation near homes. One plan is to position the maintenance facility at the northern edge of the property, isolating it from neighbors by building new multi-story, mixed use buildings to block sound from drifting across Exposition.

But, isn't there something wrong with building apartments, of all things, as buffers for noise and pollution?

Pico neighbors recently toured light rail maintenance facilities in Pasadena and the South Bay courtesy of the Expo Construction Authority. Reactions were mixed with some folks saying that an indoor facility may mitigate much noise and potential pollution while others were concerned about the screeching of 270-foot long trains weighing several hundred tons as they turn in and out of the yard.

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Some neighbors would like to see the yard moved to another location although the Expo Construction Authority has evaluated and eliminated some 40 possible sites leaving the Verizon site as the best location.

More problematic for me is track alignment that would send as many as 24 trains per hour up and down the center of Colorado Avenue at street level from roughly 17th Street to Fourth Street. The Expo Authority originally recommended a partially elevated alignment down Olympic Boulevard with elevated flyovers at Lincoln Boulevard and freeway off ramps before terminating above ground at Fourth Street. Putting the "visual blight" of overpasses ahead of safety and traffic, City Hall unfortunately backed Colorado.

On Colorado, traffic and parking lanes will be removed to accommodate track. With trains running at grade, numerous and lengthy traffic delays will occur at intersections with 20th, 17th, 14th,11th, Seventh and Fifth streets and Lincoln Boulevard, leaving motorists in traffic jams plenty of time to enjoy the uncluttered view.

Then, there are the safety issues. A similar street level (at-grade) configuration can be found on Washington Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles, which is part of the most accident-prone section of Metro's Blue Line: "America's deadliest light rail line." Conversely, the South Bay Green Line with its elevated track and isolated alignment is virtually 100 percent accident free.

The Pasadena Gold Line (PGL), which Expo cheerleaders often use as an example of how safe at grade light rail can be, is an entirely different system that runs mostly on an isolated right-of-way and within the center divider of the Interstate 210.

According to the Citizen's Campaign to Fix Expo, there's no section of the PGL that compares to the Colorado plan backed by City Hall. The PGL operates with congestion-inducing crossing gates and grade separation at crossings with heavy traffic like Lincoln here.

The only portion of the 13-mile line that doesn't have crossing gates or grade separation is a short, 3/4-mile section on a nearly traffic-free, two-lane, residential street in Highland Park where 45 percent of all the Pasadena Gold Line's accidents still occur even with trains slowing to 20 mph and an "all-red" requirement at crossings.

On Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 6:30 p.m., an update on Expo's final EIR will be presented for public comment at the Civic Auditorium. Go! Speak up, especially about the Colorado alignment, which closely parallels adjacent multi-family residences and will cause multiple accidents and cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars in settlements for injuries and deaths.

And, if someone says, "It works in Amsterdam, Prague and Copenhagen," tell 'em, "Santa Monica isn't quaint, old Europe."

Take a shot of this

I was lucky enough to attend "Kids with Cameras," a photo exhibition and "community conversation" at McKinley Elementary School, Saturday, Oct. 3.

Fifteen young people between the ages of 14 and 17 were recruited from local non-profit agencies including the Police Activities League. With support from the Santa Monica police and fire departments, they shot pictures over eight weeks under the tutelage of Fabian Lewkowicz (a professional photographer who shoots for this publication) with supervision by PAL's Eula Fritz and PAL police officers.

The event was under the aegis of the Santa Monica Bay Human Relations Council and "designed to create an awareness of civic responsibility among Mid-City youth by encouraging them to explore their community and document their views through the lens of a camera."

Their fabulous photos will be displayed at various city venues over the next few months. Check 'em out.



Bill can be reached at mr.bilbau@gmail.com

Whittier-area cities reach tentative agreement with California High-Speed Rail Authority (Source: Whittier Daily News)

Link: Whittier-area cities reach tentative agreement with California High-Speed Rail Authority - Whittier Daily News

Whittier-area cities reach tentative agreement with California High-Speed Rail Authority
By Mike Sprague, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/09/2009 05:10:30 PM PDT

A group of cities and a state agency, which wants to build an 800-mile high-speed railroad in California, have reached a tentative agreement calling on both to work together to address local concerns.

The agreement calls on the California High-Speed Rail Authority to make commitments in 10 areas, including engaging with the cities on a variety of issues including aesthetics, noise, safety, vibrations from the train and the possible need to condemn homes or businesses.

The initial 30-mile route from Anaheim to Los Angeles would go adjacent to the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad that goes through La Mirada, Montebello, Santa Fe Springs, Norwalk and Pico Rivera.

"We're pleased that the officials of the authority have indicated a willingness to listen to the cities' concerns," La Mirada City Manager Tom Robinson said.

The actual memorandum of understanding is still being drafted and expected to go the authority's Board of Directors at its Nov. 5 meeting.

Once the authority has approved the agreement, it would go to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the cities that also include Anaheim, Buena Park, Commerce, Fullerton and Vernon.

The tentative agreement calls on the High-Speed Rail Authority to make a number of commitments to the cities, including:

Provide for a collaborative relationship between the cities, MTA and the authority.

Engage the cities in addressing all of the environmental
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and other issues involving the proposed line.

Coordinate public information and communication through the cities.

Ensure there is a "specific and meaningful engineering/design and land-use problem-solving process."

Fully disclose how and when the authority intends and will use the power of eminent domain regarding properties within the cities.

Provide financial and staffing resources to meet the needs of the cities.

Jeff Barker, deputy director for the authority, said the authority was happy to make the agreement.

"We need to partner with local governments," Barker said.

"We're doing that on the entire (route)," Barker said. "We aren't going to build this thing alone. We're definitely interested in cooperative agreements up and down the state."

Barker said the authority planned to ensure that any impacts from the proposed high-speed line from San Diego to Sacramento/San Francisco would be mitigated.

The agreement was reached during a meeting on Oct. 2 between the cities, the authority and MTA.

In addition, Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Santa Fe Springs, and staff from Reps. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Los Angeles, and Linda Sanchez, D-Lakewood, were there.

Santa Fe Springs City Manager Fred Latham said the agreement works for the cities.

"It's a great tool as long as they will be faithful to it," Latham said.

Asked whether he thinks that will happen, he said, "It's yet to be determined."

Latham said he told the authority the cities are serious about their concerns.

"I said, `We don't want to sue you, but we can give you the example of where we sued Caltrans,"' he said, referring to an issue over the widening of the Santa Ana (5) Freeway.

The proposed high-speed system would carry more than one million passengers by 2030. Estimates are that it would reduce carbon emissions by 12 billion pounds a year by 2030.

A train would take about 22 minutes to get from Anaheim to Los Angeles.

The rail authority also is trying to secure a portion of the $8 billion federal stimulus money available for high-speed rail across the country.

In order to get that money, they've got a tight time frame. They need a final environmental impact report to be completed by September 2011 in order for construction to begin by 2012.

mike.sprague@sgvn.com

(562) 698-0955, Ext. 3022

Bullet Train: Phx to LA in Two Hours Bullet train propsal on the table (Source: www.myfoxphoenix.com/)

Bullet Train: Phx to LA in Two Hours

Bullet Train: Phx to LA in Two Hours
Bullet train propsal on the table

Updated: Friday, 09 Oct 2009, 4:11 PM MDT
Published : Thursday, 08 Oct 2009, 6:23 PM MDT

Phoenix, AZ - Congestion in the skies and on the ground may pave the way for bullet train expansion to Phoenix and other western cities.

Regional rail planners from Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Reno and Salt Lake City have formed the Western High Speed Rail Alliance.

The group says it's goal is to form a network of rapid intercity trains.

Transportation officials plan to cite a study released by the Washington think tank the Brookings Institution. It's expected to show Phoenix to Los Angeles is the third-busiest short-hop air travel corridor, with a distance that would make high-speed rail competitive.

Although it's years away, transportation experts say a typical high-speed train, common in Europe and Asia and costing billions, would get passengers from downtown Phoenix to Los Angeles in just
over two hours.

Keith Yaskin Reports.

Expo Yard Belongs Downtown (Souce: Santa Monica Dispatch)

Link: Santa Monica Dispatch » Blog Archive » Expo Yard Belongs Downtown

Expo Yard Belongs Downtown
By: Peggy Clifford
Published: October 8th, 2009

The Expo Construction Authority and City staff persist in saying that the Verizon property at Stewart Street and Exposition Boulevard, just south of the Lantana complex is the only suitable location in this area for the Expo light rail maintenance yard.

Finding it impossible to believe That there weren’t other likely stets

Along the line in West L.A. or Santa Monica, my friend Craig Bowie and I went exploring.

We found a couple of likely sites in West L.A. near Anawalt Lumber, another under the 405 freeway and still another next to a small government complex.

But the two most likely sites are right here in Santa Monica. One is on the south side of Colorado west of 20th Street. It’s a kind of building junkyard now, but it’s large and well-located.

We’re sure someone, the City, a developer has big plans for this tumbledown site. But Santa Monica is choking on big plans, and is in desperate need of some sensible plans.

What could be more sensible and sustainable than creating a transportation center on and around the bus yards? The freeway is there. the bus yard has just undergone an $80 million renovation, so presumably it has everything it needs. The western terminus of the Expo light rail line is a block away.

The Expo maintenance yard could be located under either the bus yard or the western terminus, which would reduce its negative impacts and muffle its noise. The cost of the big dig would be less than the cost of any surface acreage.

City Hal ls teeming with planners and consultants who should be able to fashion a multi-model transportation center that would fuse the freeway, Big Blue and the Expo light rai line into one smooth coordinated operaton. It’s either that or an endless collision of both vehicles and the jurisdictions.

We can assume that both the Big Blue and Expo bosses, and their bosses will resist any effort at o-mingling, but our traffic problems are bigger than all of them, and urgent. And it’s our town. Later this month, City staff is scheduled to show the City Council revised plan for the Verizon site.

But, however “suitable” it may be for the City or Expo, it is an utterly unsuitable site for the Expo maintenance yard. A lawyer for Lantana appeared at the last hearing, and suggested that the noise from the yard would wreak havoc with Lantana tenants’ sound, recording and editing operations. He went on to say that Lantana would take whatever steps were necessary to protect its production company tenants.

The people who live on Exposition at the south end of the site would

suffer a drastic diminution in their way of life, if the maintenance yard were installed across the street.

It’s a pretty, quiet tree-lined street. The houses and apartment buildings are compact, attractive. Their gardens are very green. It’s an altogether pleasant prospect.

But if the City and Expo have their way, it will be another victim of “progress.”

As Pico Neighborhood residents pointed out at previous hearings, their neighborhood has endured more than its share of so-called progress, while enjoying little real progress. Residents cited the loss of a thriving section of the Neighborhood to the Freeway in the 1960s, and the freeway noise and pollution teat have assaulted them daily for more than 40 years. The City’s “waste management” division is also located in the Pico Neighborhood.

When they learned that the City and Expo were planning to put the maintenance yard in their neighborhood, some residents described it as “environmental racism.”

Expo maintenance yards operate on their own clocks, employ dozens of people, who come and go in cars and trucks, use all manner of chemicals for cleaning and general maintenance, some of which are bound to be toxic 230-ton cars roll in and out at grade, crossing neighborhood streets.

In sum, it’s a noisy, busy, toxic, high volt factory that does not belong in a residential neighborhood.

City staff has spoken of isertung a “buffer” between the yard and its residential neighbors to the south – a two or three-story “mixed use” complex, with stores on the furst floor and apartments on the upper floors.

But even if there were a developer desperate enough to build such apartments overlooking the noisy, noxious yard, there probably aren’t tenants desperate enough to live In them. Besides, while the current residents might find a neighborhood grocery store useful, they may not welcome a couple

of blocks of stores right across the street. Nor would they welcome a block of three story buildings casting long shadows on their houses and gardens.

Clearly, the only way out is to locate the yard n a truly suitable site—such as the City’s proposed transportation enter in m downtown Santa Monica.
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 11:19 pm and is filed under Daily. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

High speed rail coming to San Gabriel Valley (Source: SGVTribune.com)

Link: High speed rail coming to San Gabriel Valley - SGVTribune.com

High speed rail coming to San Gabriel Valley
Posted: 10/08/2009 04:56:51 PM PDT

The California High-Speed Rail Authority is hosting a series of public meetings this month to provide information to residents about the train system and its proposed routes.

The proposed train would run from San Diego to Sacramento and the Bay Area via Los Angeles, traveling more than 200 mph. Proposed routes would travel through Industry, Montebello, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs and La Mirada, among other cities.

The meetings will be held Oct. 21 in Monterey Park at Shepherd of the Hills Methodist Church, 333 S. Garfield Ave.; Oct. 26 in West Covina at City Hall, 1444 W. Garvey Ave.; and Oct. 28, in El Monte at Grace T. Black Auditorium, 3130 Tyler Ave.

The meetings will be held in an open house format from 3 to 7 p.m

Visiting the Gold Line Extension, Nearly Getting Hit by a Train (Source: Curbed LA)

Curbed LA: Visiting the Gold Line Extension, Nearly Getting Hit by a Train

Visiting the Gold Line Extension, Nearly Getting Hit by a Train

Thursday, October 8, 2009, by Dakota

As reported earlier this week, trains are now doing test runs along the new Gold Line Extension, which runs from 1st Street in Little Tokyo to Atlantic Avenue in Boyle Heights. On Sunday, we drove along the line, driving parallel with the trains as they rumbled down 1st Street, turned down 3rd street and then looped back after reaching Atlantic Avenue. But then something funny and nearly tragic happened on the way back to downtown. The two sets of lights near the Indiana stop--one set is before the tracks and the second set of lights is at the intersection--tripped us up. Rather than stop at the first set of lights, we stopped at the light (just a few yards away) at the intersection of Indiana Street, getting ready to make a right on red. But at that point our car was on the tracks. And a train was coming.

First off, as soon as we went through the first light near the Indiana stop, we realized we'd made a mistake (at this point, we can't remember whether 1. We didn't realize we'd gone through a red light. 2. It was a green light.)

Anyway, in times of confusion, one freezes. Once we crossed the first light, we froze, unsure whether to back up or keep going.

And when the train came around the corner, the front of our car was on the tracks. The train stopped. And we got the very slow, very annoyed head shake from the conductor. "Freakin' idiot" was the look we got.

Given our pompous attitude on the blog--ie who doesn't know how to drive or walk near train tracks is the mantra--we probably deserved to be hit.

But if we can make this mistake, can others? Maybe not. Maybe we're the only idiots in the whole city. But to illustrate the two sets of lights, see below. This is actually another set of two lights, just around the corner from where we were. This is facing 1st, on Indiana. The green light allows you to go forward, but then you're sitting on the tracks as you wait at the red light. So obviously, the first set of lights is timed to the train? Regardless, Metro representative Jose Ubaldo agreed to meet with us next week and talk more about the stop and what exactly we did wrong. He may beat us with an idiot stick, which we probably deserve.

But other than nearly getting hitting by a train, a very enjoyable ride along the Gold Line Extension.

okqdasd.jpg

Almost got hit here:

2009.10.indiana.jpg
Filed under East LA/ Boyle Heights, Gold Line