Metro: Westside Subway Extension Project Meeting (Source: Streetsblog Los Angeles)

Link: Streetsblog Los Angeles » Metro: Westside Subway Extension Project Meeting

Metro: Westside Subway Extension Project Meeting

by Damien Newton on July 27, 2009

When
August 4, 2009 6:00 pm August 5, 2009 6:00 pm August 6, 2009 6:00 pm August 11, 2009 6:00 pm August 12, 2009 6:00 pm

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) will hold five community meetings on the Westside Subway Extension Project to provide an update on Metro’s continued progress with this project.

In April, Metro held six public scoping meetings to obtain community input to help shape the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Report (DEIS/R) process that is currently underway.

Metro now will present a summary of what was heard during the scoping period, provide an update as Metro continues to refine the alternatives, and discuss the potential subway construction process.

A complete listing of meetings is as follows:

* Tuesday, August 4, 2009, Wilshire United Methodist Church, 4350 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. Spanish & Korean translations will be provided at this meeting.
* Wednesday, August 5, 2009, Plummer Park, 7377 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood. Russian translation will be provided at this meeting.
* Thursday, August 6, 2009, Santa Monica Public Library, Multi-Purpose Room, 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica. Spanish translation will be provided at this meeting.
* Tuesday, August 11, 2009, Beverly Hills Public Library, Auditorium, 444 N. Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills. Spanish translation will be provided at this meeting.
* Wednesday, August 12, 2009, Westwood Presbyterian Church, 10822 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Spanish translation will be provided at this meeting.

All meetings are from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and are easily accessible by public transit. Parking is also available at all the locations.

The scoping meetings held in April initiate the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIS/EIR) process that was authorized by the Metro Board of Directors last January. The Westside Subway Extension is slated to receive partial funding from Measure R the half-cent sales tax increase approved by voters last November.

* Two “Build” alternatives are moving forward for analysis in the Draft EIS/EIR: a Wilshire Subway that extends the Metro Purple Line via Wilshire Boulevard
* and; a Wilshire/West Hollywood Subway that incorporates all of the Wilshire Subway and also includes a spur from the Metro Red Line in Hollywood via Santa Monica Boulevard. A “No Build” alternative and a “Transportation Systems Management” alternative are also being considered as a required part of the environmental review process.

In January 2009, the Metro Board approved the two Build alternatives for further environmental review and preliminary engineering. At the conclusion of this phase of evaluation for the project the Metro Board of Directors will be asked to select a Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA). Selection of an LPA precedes final environmental review final engineering and construction.

Content presented at these meetings will be identical so members of the public can attend on the day and location most convenient for them.

For additional information or questions, please visit the Westside Subway Extension Project web site at metro.net/westside or contact the project information line at 213.922.6934.

Yesterday’s Takeaway: Give It Another Month, But Likely, Two (Source: I Will Ride Blog)

Yesterday’s Takeaway: Give It Another Month, But Likely, Two « I Will Ride Blog

Yesterday’s Takeaway: Give It Another Month, But Likely, Two
Posted by Albert

The Metro Board of Directors’ monthly board meeting took place yesterday – and while the San Gabriel Valley residents, business community and elected officials showed up with enthusiasm, many ended up leaving half-way through the meeting with that feeling that’s the opposite of enthusiasm (pick any antonym).

If people were to assume that Measure R was passed to primarily fund light-rail projects, they’d be partially right. The biggest transit discussion that’s been going on since Measure R had passed had been on the Subway to the Sea, Gold Line, Expo Line, Green Line, regional connector, etc. – so much discussion that, despite the Long Range Transportation Plan workshops and focus on Measure R at previous Board meetings, the highway plans that were also a part of the voter-approved Measure R were apparently lost in the mix. According to the Pasadena Star-News, “75 of 88 county cities registered complaints about the fact that the plan would not estimate an end date for construction on numerous [highway] projects that will be funded by Measure R.” So because Metro hasn’t had the time to thoroughly discuss and analyze the highway plans, the vote on the LRTP – which sets the funding and construction timelines for projects under Metro’s control – has been delayed once again. This time, for another month or two.

While a delay on finalizing the LRTP isn’t anything new, it definitely seems to be taking its toll, not just with the public, but with the Metro Board of Directors themselves. Richard Katz remarked, “MTA never fails to miss an opportunity to delay… we ought to be working around the clock to get it done by August.” If a vote does happen in August, as Streetsblog LA points out, it would happen at a special workshop on August 13 – seeing as how there is no regular board meeting scheduled for that month. This would give Metro approximately three weeks to complete a thorough discussion of the highway plans and then a final vote on the LRTP. Not to say anything about the abilities of the Metro staff, but three weeks seems a bit (just a bit) optimistic for any staff of any abilities with a plan of this magnitude. Metro staffers themselves thought it would be difficult to be ready for the Aug. 13 meeting. And then, there’s the politics. So our best bet would be September.

If you’re in the San Gabriel Valley and you’re feeling a bit letdown – our advice is: don’t. Remember, the Gold Line Foothill Extension is slated to receive the $875 million in funding in the latest version of the Long Range Transportation Plan toward construction of the line to Azusa. Our last remaining goal is to have Metro change the operational date of that line from 2017 to 2013. Maybe this can be achieved by September?

For blow-by-blow coverage of yesterday’s meeting, you can revisit our Twitter feed @iwillride. If you’d like a breakdown of the other topics discussed at the meeting, Streetsblog LA has an extensive write-up on some other loud issues that were also taking center-stage.

MTA board delays decision on Gold Line extension (Source: Pasadena Star-News)

MTA board delays decision on Gold Line extension - Pasadena Star-News

MTA board delays decision on Gold Line extension

By Dan Abendschein, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/23/2009 04:43:03 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES - County transit officials Thursday delayed making decisions on long-term plans that include committing to build the Gold Line Foothill Extension.

The Metropolitan Transportation Agency board delayed amending its Long Range Transportation Plan because of concerns from area cities about its timeline for completion of highway projects.

According to the agency, 75 of 88 county cities registered complaints about the fact that the plan would not estimate an end date for construction on numerous projects that will be funded by Measure R, the half-cent sales tax increase passed by voters in November.

Among those road projects without a timeline is construction of carpool lanes on the 10 Freeway from Puente Avenue to Citrus Avenue, and another section near the intersection with the 57 Freeway.

The board will consider the plan either in August, or more likely, in September. It will also consider a similar motion, introduced by County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, to add new projects to a request for federal funding, including a request to fund the Gold Line all the way to Claremont.

Current funding levels will only guarantee the line to get as far as the Azusa/Glendora border.

Since the Gold Line is funded by Measure R, MTA officials have said the rail will definitely be added to the plan whenever it is adopted.

The other issue for the project is a decision on how quickly it will receive funding, and the
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timeline for the project's completion. The draft copy of the plan calls for the line to be finished in 2017.

Officials at the Foothill Extension Construction Authority, the independent agency responsible for building the line, have set the timeline for completion at 2013.

Habib Balian,who heads the construction authority, said that the organization is still working to get the line completed by 2013.

He said the authority will look for a contractor who can assume some of the up-front debts of the project and agree to get paid back as the authority receives more of its designated Measure R funds over the years.

dan.abendschein@sgvn.com

(626) 962-8811, Ext. 4451

Green Line - LAX extension: City Council pays Park N' Ride; puts down a parking lot

Green Line - LAX extension: City Council pays Park N' Ride; puts down a parking lot

Green Line - LAX extension: City Council pays Park N' Ride; puts down a parking lot

July 24, 12:54 AM

Can L.A. turn dotted lines into rail lines?

As if to head off my upcoming pet peeve about the Green Line and its terminus interruptus 2 miles south of LAX, city and airport officials have made three recent moves toward closing that yawning commuter gap:

1. On July 10, the city council authorized a $126.5 million purchase of the Park One parking lot east of Terminal One (reversing their own previous decision)
2. On July 21, the council approved a feasibility study to determine if the Park One site could function as a light rail station
3. Also on July 21, the L.A. Board of Airport Commissioners gave the OK to a $1.4 million contract for developing LAX ground transportation plans, including the advocated extension of the Green Line from its stop at Aviation & I-105 to an airport-adjacent parcel

Green Line History

The possibility of finding the political will and the money (Measure R and its 30-year/$40 billion) to bring the rail line where it should have gone when construction began in 1987 is a sharp turn in a twisted history. The Green Line is a 20-mile light rail line that runs from Norwalk to El Segundo, mainly down the center of the Century Freeway. Sometimes referred to as a train that runs from "nowhere to nowhere", the line that passes 2 miles south of LAX at its western terminus has an eastern end that snubs the busy Metrolink station of Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs, also 2 miles away.

Conspiracy or Destiny?

Original plans for the Green Line actually brought the train to the airport. LA World Airports had wanted to incorporate the light rail into its planned major airport renovation, but a cabal of concerns -- about overhead lines interfering with planes, airport expansion impacting communities, and commuters shunning pricey LAX parking lots -- conspired to bring about the odd compromise that is today's Green Line route. That once-and-future plan for a true airport rail line stands stumped but sturdy in the form of two concrete ramps west of the Aviation/LAX station. Perhaps they'll see some action if the city has the vision.
For more info: You can see what advocates of the Green Line extension are saying and doing at the Green Line Coalition website, or download a route map PDF of all Metro routes.

Author: David Salper

Installation of Metro Fare Gates Delayed, Vote for Long-Range Transit Plan Postponed (Source: LAist)

Link: Installation of Metro Fare Gates Delayed, Vote for Long-Range Transit Plan Postponed - LAist

Installation of Metro Fare Gates Delayed, Vote for Long-Range Transit Plan Postponed


A plan to purchase flying buses was voted down

The Metro board today voted to approve a demonstration ExpressLanes project and to support high speed rail between Union Station and Anaheim, but they failed to take action on the Long-Range Transportation Plan, the guiding transit document for the next 20 to 25 years. The board also learned that the installation of fare gates, which began appearing last week, has been delayed systemwide. Damien Newton at StreetsblogLA explains from the meeting:

The most surprising news of the day came during the CEO's report. Leahy reported that he is temporarily halting the installation of turnstiles, leaving us unprotected from terrorists, until 2011. Leahy has directed staff to research internal mobility and TAP implementation issues and to report back in December of this year on whether or not the agency should move forward and what would be the best way to install the fare gates.

The Board again voted to delay the vote on the Long Range Transportation Plan, this time because there were still questions as to the timeline on the highway projects, until September. Cities and governments that are only concerned with the Measure R highway projects want to know when they're getting their highway capacity before the LRTP is passed. The Board agreed.

The Board also delayed a vote on trying to earn federal dollars to speed up the Westside Subway and the Downtown Connector. Scores of activists from Little Tokyo testified on the impact the light rail would have on their community.

The most heated battle in today's meeting was over AnsaldoBreda, the Italian rail car company under contract with Metro, who is considering extending the contract. The vote was also delayed. There's been lots of issues regarding lobbying, deals in Iran and the such.

By Zach Behrens in News on July 23, 2009 3:55 PM

The MTA and AnsaldoBreda Economic pressures have hitched themselves to a pending board vote on switching car manufacturers. (Source: Los Angeles Times)

Link: The MTA and AnsaldoBreda - Los Angeles Times

The MTA and AnsaldoBreda
Economic pressures have hitched themselves to a pending board vote on switching car manufacturers.
Tim Rutten
July 22, 2009
» Discuss Article (7 Comments)

On thursday, barring some unforeseen event, one of the county's longest-running public soap operas will come to an end when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's board decides whether or not to extend an Italian company's contract to build light-rail cars for the Gold and Expo lines.

AnsaldoBreda is a division of the Italian-based Finmeccanica conglomerate and manufactures and assembles rolling stock for rail systems around the world. It's midway through a contract to build 50 cars for the L.A. transit agency and would like to see the agreement extended to include 100 more, a job worth $300 million. The problem is that the company is, by some estimates, three years behind in its delivery of the cars, and those that have arrived are 6,000 pounds overweight and incompatible with the MTA's other light rail, though the agency has agreed to waive the latter requirement.

The company blames the transit agency's change orders for the problems; the MTA says AnsaldoBreda just can't deliver the promised coaches on time and in acceptable shape. Thus the agency's CEO, Art Leahy -- like his predecessor, Roger Snoble -- wants the board to put the contract for the next 100 cars out for bid. To forestall that, AnsaldoBreda is offering a variety of financial incentives it says amount to about $400 million to guarantee its performance.

More important, it proposes to build what its designated construction partner, Shangri-La, calls "a state-of-the-art, solar-powered rail car assembly and manufacturing facility at the [Los Angeles] Community Redevelopment Agency's Clean Tech Manufacturing center in downtown L.A." In fact, AnsaldoBreda already has reached an agreement with the CRA -- contingent on winning the MTA contract -- to take a 50-year lease on 14 acres of the old industrial tract at 15th and Washington that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa hopes to turn into a green manufacturing zone. The tentative deal calls for a $15-million payment up front and $906,000 in annual rent, with periodic reappraisals. (Shangri-La, an environmentally focused construction company, is owned by billionaire Steve Bing, a leading Villaraigosa ally and financial contributor.)

Fights over major public manufacturing and construction contracts often are conducted under rules that make bare-knuckle prizefighting seem effete. Even by those standards, this one has been a bitter brawl. The latest twist involves charges by the AnsaldoBreda camp that one of its potential rivals for the contract -- Germany's Siemens -- has profited by providing Iran with the technical wherewithal to spy on its people. The Italian firm's critics have pointed out in response that one of AnsaldoBreda's sister companies has built gas turbines that power more than 30% of the Iranian grid. The fact of the matter is that the charge and countercharge are both tuna-sized red herrings.

Neither the chilling specter of a nuclear-armed Iran nor the mullah-ridden theocracy's brutal repression of its brave people will be lifted one inch by anything the MTA's board does.

What's vexing about the decision the board confronts is that the criteria for sound decision-making are being scrambled by the Wall Street meltdown, growing concern about climate change and the need for energy independence.

There are two ways of looking at the light-rail decision:

One relies on the well-tested and hardheaded view that a contract is a contract and its terms must be met letter for letter, particularly when there's public money involved. There is, moreover, reason to be skeptical of AnsaldoBreda's financial guarantees and its promises to clean up its act, given the economic vagaries of the time. Finally, federal law forbids making local manufacture a condition for awarding transit contracts.

The other view is that a great deal has changed since the start of the worst financial downturn since the Depression. A study funded by the County Federation of Labor estimates that the proposed $70-million plant in downtown would directly employ more than 500 blue-collar workers and more than 100 corporate staff -- with hundreds of ancillary jobs. The survey projected that 970 construction workers would be required to build the plant. All these would be union jobs, paying decent wages with real benefits.

Even if you discount for the federation's enthusiasm -- and its optimistic forecast that the plant would build 75 new cars annually and refurbish another 36 -- that's no small thing in a city where the real unemployment rate is probably around 15% and heading higher. Finally, building as much of our transit system's rolling stock as possible in L.A. would help keep more of the Measure R tax money funding the projects inside the county.

The Italian firm knows it has more than 100 light-rail cars at stake here; Los Angeles will be a rail construction mecca for decades to come, and AnsaldoBreda hopes to use the local plant to take a major share of that business, including the California and Las Vegas high-speed rail lines.

The MTA's professional staff isn't free to take these sorts of political and economic factors into consideration, but the elected officials who make up the board may not be free to ignore them. The choice isn't a clear one. It is, as they say, a very close question.

Welcome to the recession-honed horns of local government's new dilemma.

timothy.rutten@latimes.com





Discussion


Comments will be accepted throughout the day Wednesday.

1. To Westtrekker: Sadly, the last two U.S. based train builders, Budd and Pullman-Standard, were put out of business in the late 1970's. That's what happens when you pour gobs of money into freeways and next to nothing in to passenger rail and rail transit.
Submitted by: Erik
4:17 PM PDT, Jul 22, 2009

2. I realy hope Metro gives the contract extension to AnsaldoBreda, otherwise where is AnsaldoBreda going to get the cash to pay delay-penalties to their other customers? The $412 million to the Danish Railways for the delayed IC4's just got added to by a 24 million Euros to the Belgian Railways for the delayed "Fyra" trains, and Dutch Railways must now be negotiating for their "Fyra" rebate. http://www.mdweekly.nl/914759/schadevergoeding-fyra-treinen-kan-oplopen-tot-24-miljoen-euro
Submitted by: Erik
4:17 PM PDT, Jul 22, 2009

3. The choice could not be more clear. AnsaldoBreda produces over due and substandard cars (in more ways than mentioned in the article) and has a record of promising to build new factories to get contracts. This suburban-style project will also produce far fewer jobs than would a mix of live work/light industrial and tech jobs. There is a reason why LA is shedding jobs faster than almost any city - and 100% politically driven projects like this are exactly that reason.
Submitted by: Brady Westwater
10:44 AM PDT, Jul 22, 2009

Read all 7 comments


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Rail company's poor track record taints MTA train order (Source: Whittier Daily News)

Link: Rail company's poor track record taints MTA train order - Whittier Daily News

Rail company's poor track record taints MTA train order

By Stacey Wang, Staff Writer

Posted: 07/22/2009 06:51:01 PM PDT

The county's transportation board is considering ordering 100 light rail cars from a company that is already three years late on the last order.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board at its meeting today will consider ordering the rail cars from Italy-based AnsaldoBreda, Inc.

The cost would be $300 million, any final decision on the purchase will likely come in September, officials said.

Fighting skepticism caused by undelivered trains, the firm has made the MTA a financial guarantee in the event of an untimely delivery of any of the 100 cars, said Chris Lehane, consultant for AnsaldoBreda.

"We are more than willing to make any modifications that MTA wants to do, and we are Ansaldobreda, the Italian-made Light Rail Vehicle for Metro Blue, Green and Gold Lines are 6,000 pounds overweight and cost $2.9 million each. Ansaldobreda Light Rail Vehicle on the Sierra Madre Goldline Station Wednesday, July 22, 2009.(SGVN/Staff Photo by Walt Mancini/SVCity)
happy to pay for them in addition to a $400 million guarantee," Lehane said.

AnsaldoBreda cars are of the highest quality, and many of the delays are due to changes requested by the MTA, Lehane said.

"Breda is focused on working with MTA to provide LA with the Michaelangelo of trains," Lehane said.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich is the sole board member to repeatedly vote against an extension since the proposal was made in March.

"Promises of letters of credit and performance bonds are worthless to the public if there are no rail cars, unless MTA plans to fund taxi vouchers instead for our transit users," Antonovich wrote to board members last month.

He wants the contract to go out to bid, which is what the MTA staff has recommended.

An official of a Los Angeles-area rail advocacy group agreed.

"These cars cost millions of dollars each. It could be a 40-year mistake if they go with it," said Dana Gabbard, executive secretary of Southern California Transit Advocates.

MTA Board member and Duarte Mayor John Fasana did not return phone calls seeking comment.

AnsaldoBreda in 2003 was awarded a $158.7 million contract to deliver 50 light rail cars by 2007.

It has delivered 27 cars - each are 6,000 pounds over the MTA limit, incompatible with other cars and cannot run on the Green and Blue lines.

"Not only does (AnsaldoBreda) not provide a good product, but they've been so late that it's almost a non-qualifying performance," said Michael Cano, transportation deputy for Antonovich.

Cano said AnsaldoBreda has curried favor with the board by promising to build a manufacturing factory in Los Angeles County, a measure supported by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.

"It's all political; it's not performance - and the loser is the taxpayer," Cano said.

Due to the recent passage of Measure R - a half-cent sales tax that will pay for transportation projects during the next 30 years - additional cars will be needed beyond the 100 being negotiated.

Antonovich is worried that the county won't have the cars before extensions to light rail lines are completed during the next decade.

"Once you get 100 cars down, it will be very hard to say `no' to them after. That's why there's so much political pressure," Cano said.

Complicating matters is a new proposal Wednesday from AnsaldoBreda that offers more incentives for the county to approve the contract for more trains, Cano said.

He guessed the board would delay its decision until September, he said.

stacy.wang@sgvn.com

(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2104

LA council orders study of Green Line LAX extension (Source: The Daily Breeze)

Link: LA council orders study of Green Line LAX extension - The Daily Breeze

LA council orders study of Green Line LAX extension
From staff reports
Posted: 07/21/2009 06:40:02 PM PDT

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday ordered a study to determine whether to extend the Metro Green Line to Los Angeles International Airport.

LAX officials will spend the next six months examining whether it's possible to bring the light rail line directly to the airport by building a stop on the site of the Park 'N Ride at Park One lot, located just east of Terminal One. The City Council agreed earlier this month to buy the parking lot for $126.5 million.

The Green Line's estimated $200 million, two-mile extension to LAX would likely be funded by Measure R, the countywide half-cent sales tax measure that went into effect July 1 to fund $40 million worth of local transportation projects over the next 30 years.

For now, the Green Line's stop at Aviation Boulevard drops travelers two miles away from LAX, forcing them to board a shuttle to complete a trip to the airport.

In a related move, the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners on Tuesday approved a $1.4 million contract with STV Inc. to develop ground transportation plans at LAX, including the Green Line extension proposal, a new car rental facility and address several parking issues.

Off the Agenda: Metro Board Not Talking Bikes or Rail Acceleration This Week (Source: Streetsblog Los Angeles)

Link: Streetsblog Los Angeles » Off the Agenda: Metro Board Not Talking Bikes or Rail Acceleration This Week

Off the Agenda: Metro Board Not Talking Bikes or Rail Acceleration This Week

by Damien Newton on July 20, 2009


Streetsblog, Sallam Allah/Flickr

Last week, two proposals by Metro staff dominated a lot of the Livable Streets discussion in Los Angeles.

The first was what seemed to be a proposal to accelerate three rail projects funded by Measure R, the Downtown Connector, Gold Line Eastside Extension 2, and Green Line to LAX. The proposal garnered a lot of interest on the blogs after I Will Ride first noticed the proposal on a committee agenda and began asking how they could get their favored project, the Gold Line Foothill Extension, moved up as well.

It turns out the report in question had nothing to do with picking projects to accelerate, but instead was about illustrating what any sort of acceleration schedule would mean to Metro's finances. As we noted here last week, the "proposed" acceleration didn't really make fiscal sense for an agency that is already projecting lower-than-expected revenue from Measure R. While the Metro Board is scheduled to "receive" this report at Thursday's Board Meeting, there is no serious talk about accelerating any of the time lines for any rail project at this point in time.

Also up for debate were the proposed revisions to Metro's "bikes on trains" policy. Two weeks ago, cyclists were happy to hear that Metro was planning to revise its policy towards bikes to remove any rush-hour restrictions on bicycles. However, when cyclists were invited to a meeting with Metro staff to discuss the proposal, they ended up hearing about a plan to restrict bicycles to a "two-per-car" limit even in cars where there's a lot more space available.

After an outpouring of negative feedback, and a strong turnout by cyclists at the Metro Operations Committee, the proposal has been shelved for, at least, this month's Board Meeting. Instead of Metro staff's original plan, Stephen Box reports that a new motion to "direct staff to investigate further and to involve the cycling community" took its place.

MTA finds support still strong for Measure R in survey (Source: Los Angeles Times)

Link: MTA finds support still strong for Measure R in survey - Los Angeles Times

MTA finds support still strong for Measure R in survey


Although the voters asked favored the sales-tax measure that took effect July 1, they say that the transportation authority's projects are moving too slowly.
By Dan Weikel
July 17, 2009
Public support for Measure R, the new Los Angeles County sales tax for highway and transit improvements passed by voters in November, remains hearty despite the recession, but there are concerns that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is not building projects fast enough, a new MTA poll shows.

The survey of 605 registered county voters found that 68% generally favor Measure R, which is expected to provide up to $40 billion during the next 30 years for highway and transit projects.

"Given the current economy there is strong support for moving ahead with transportation projects in the county," said Matt Raymond, the chief communications officer for the transportation authority. "There was a concern that support might have been waning."

In 2005, when the authority ran its first poll to gauge the prospects of a half-cent sales tax, 61% of voters supported it.

Raymond said the number of voters who "strongly favor" a half-cent tax has increased from 31% in 2005 to 45% in the poll. The survey indicated that the public believes that paying for local transportation projects will help bolster job creation during the recession. Unemployment in the county is more than 12%.

The poll shows, however, that 61% of registered voters believe that MTA's highway and transit projects are not happening fast enough to relieve traffic congestion, a concern that has been expressed by local elected officials, some of whom have MTA projects pending in their areas.

The survey was conducted in May by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates, a political consulting and opinion research firm. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4%. MTA presented the results Thursday during a workshop on Measure R. The tax increase took effect July 1.

Pollsters found that voters strongly support the array of highway and transit projects that would be paid for by the sales tax.

About 90% said that highway improvements were very important or somewhat important, compared with 77% for light rail projects and 73% for extending the subway to West Los Angeles.

Another 73% said that it was important to expand bus service while 75% supported more carpool lanes and additional service on Metrolink, the commuter rail line that serves six counties.

dan.weikel@latimes.com

Covering Tomorrow’s Measure R Workshop (Source: I Will Ride Blog)

Covering Tomorrow’s Measure R Workshop « I Will Ride Blog

Covering Tomorrow’s Measure R Workshop
Posted by Albert

Metro’s Measure R Project Delivery Committee is set to host the last remaining Measure R workshop tomorrow – before the full board considers the Long Range Transportation Plan at next week’s board meeting. The meeting is set to take place at 9 am at the Metro building. For those who can’t attend, we’ll be covering the meeting live on our Twitter feed @iwillride.

Remember, while the Metro Board is expected to run through and review all-things Measure R, the issue set to take center-stage is a new proposal by Metro to possibly accelerate funding and construction of three rail projects: the regional connector, Gold Line Eastside Extension 2 and the Green Line to LAX. You can view tomorrow meeting’s handout here. LAist also has their take on the issue, and Streetsblog LA has an excellent write-up on the situation. Nobody’s sure how the plan will play out.

As for us? Well, considering the shovel-readiness of the Gold Line Foothill Extension, our supporters will be there tomorrow to ask Metro to amend the schedule to accelerate funding and construction of the most easily-accelerated of all rail projects. Mayor Villaraigosa seems to agree.

New Train Lines to be Fast-Tracked Tomorrow? (Source: Curbed LA)

Link: Curbed LA: New Train Lines to be Fast-Tracked Tomorrow?

New Train Lines to be Fast-Tracked Tomorrow?

Wednesday, July 15, 2009, by Neal Broverman


At 9 a.m. tomorrow, the Metro board is holding the "Measure R Project Delivery Committee Workshop." For the layman, it's where the schedules and funding will be hammered out on the rail and freeway projects to be funded with the new half-percent tax increase LA County residents began paying this month. What's notable is that Mayor Villaraigosa and the rest of the Metro Board wants to light a fire under three of these projects and speed up their delivery to their public. How exactly? According to Streetsblog, the plan is to borrow against future Measure R income, with the debt being offset by projects that are cheaper, since they're built sooner and without inflation. The downside, according to Streetsblog, is "the accelerated project list means a $3.5 billion funding gap and a larger than anticipated operating defecit which would result in either fare increases or service cuts." It's one thing to build all these projects, but it costs big bucks to operate them. Meanwhile, the folks behind the I Will Ride blog are saying the Gold Line Foothill extension should be on the list (it currently is not) since it's shovel-ready. Tomorrow's meeting at Metro HQ Downtown is open to all, so there will be much public commenting and screaming.

Downtown Regional Connector that will connect various light-rail lines: Originally set to open in 2025, now maybe 2018

Green Line to LAX: Originally set to open in 2028, now maybe 2017

Eastside Extension II of Gold Line to Whittier: Originally set to open in 2035, now maybe 2018

So, how big would the Gold Line be with the extension to East LA, the further eastern extension into Whittier, and if the Foothill extension stretched to the Ontario Airport (which is what locals are advocating for)? Over 60 miles long by our calculations. (13.7 from Downtown LA to Pasadena, about 32.5 miles to Ontario Airport from there, 6 miles from Downtown LA to East LA, and 8.7 miles from East LA to Whittier)


· Measure R Acceleration Plans No Slam Dunk [Streetsblog]
· Villaraigosa Wants Gold Line Extension in 2013 [I Will Ride]

Measure R Acceleration Plans Aren’t a Political Slam Dunk (Source: Streetsblog Los Angeles)

Link: Streetsblog Los Angeles » Measure R Acceleration Plans Aren’t a Political Slam Dunk

Measure R Acceleration Plans Aren’t a Political Slam Dunk

by Damien Newton on July 14, 2009

Graph: Metro via LAist

The Internet is abuzz with the news that Mayor Villaraigosa and his allies on the Metro Board are pushing for the acceleration of three transit projects that are partially funded with the now incoming Measure R funds. LAist breaks down the new plans, outlined in a power point presentation for this Thursday's Measure R Committee Meeting at Metro Headquarters.

Those projects are moving opening dates of the regional connector in downtown from 2025 to 2018, the second Gold Line Eastside Extension to 2035 to 2018 and the Green Line to LAX from 2028 to 2017.

Meanwhile, the Gold Line Foothill Extension Authority is in "Why Not Us" mode, and is demanding that their favorite project, the Gold Line Extenstion to Azusa and beyond, be similarly accelerated.

But I have a different concern than what projects are getting accelerated and what project aren't: where is the money coming for this? After all, we know that sales tax revenues are coming in lower than expected so it's not like Metro is overly flush with cash right now.

Based on what is available in the power point, available on pages 28 and 29 for those following the presentation at home, it seems the plan is to borrow against future revenue. The interest created by the debt would be partially offset by the savings Metro will see because of avoiding the increased costs of doing construction in the future. At this point, there are no firm figures available to show us how much debt would be accrued or if the proposed acceleration would seriously damage Metro's ability to operate in the future; except that the accelerated project list means a $3.5 billion funding gap and a larger than anticipated operating defecit which would result in either fare increases or service cuts. In fact, the debt created by accelerating just the Downtown Connector is over two and a quarter billion dollars over more debt.

Of course, many transit advocates think the fares are too low as it is, and want to see them go up so that the system, as a whole, can run better. However, we have to recognize that it's not going to be an easy political decision for the board to raise fares in the short and long terms, especially after promising to use Measure R funds to keep fares low.

Bart Reed, executive director of the Transit Coalition, explains, "They haven't had the political courage to charge the right price for their service. To operate the kind of system that we need, they should be charging $2.25 per ride. Right now they are collecting an average of sixty-nine cents per boarding, and they can't run the kind of service they're talking about here on that amount."

All we have to evaluate these two proposals, accelerated schedule versus "strict" schedule, are these two sets of bullet points on the pros and cons of the acceleration. According to Metro, if we accelerated the schedule here would be the results, besides having these three rail projects done earlier,

* We would have up to $3.5 billion funding gap
* We would incur additional debt and operating costs
* We would save on construction escalation costs
* We would require 2/3 vote of the Board to accelerate Measure R funds

Conversely, here is what shape following the plan as passed by the voters would have for Metro's fiscal state:

* Projects would be delivered in accordance with Measure R Expenditure Plan
* After operating deficit is resolved there would be no funding shortfall
* We would not save in construction escalation costs
* We would not incur additional debt and operating costs

In other words, let's not mark down "Downtown Connector Opening Party" on our calendars for 2018 just yet. There's a lot of big and real fiscal hurdles that Metro needs to jump through to show it can afford the acceleration before Villaraigosa can deal with the politics of trying to get 2/3 of the Board to follow his wishes.

Sales tax goes up to 9.75% (Source: Burbank Leader)

Link: Burbank Leader > Archives > Business > Sales tax goes up to 9.75%

Sales tax goes up to 9.75%

It rises another half-percentage point, after having gone from
8.25% to 9.25% in April.

By Zain Shauk

Published: Last Updated Wednesday, July 1, 2009 12:05 AM PDT
BURBANK — Los Angeles County shoppers will pay an extra half-cent on their purchases starting today, when the sales tax will jump to nearly 10% as part of an effort to fund regional public transportation developments, including new carpool lanes on a local stretch of the Golden State (5) Freeway.

The Measure R sales tax, approved by more than two-thirds of voters in November, is expected to generate $40 billion over 30 years for a series of Metropolitan Transportation Authority rail, bus, highway and road projects throughout the county, but will also add a burden on citizens and businesses during the recession, officials said.

Auto dealers will likely face the largest effect as shoppers feel the weight of a series of recent tax and fee increases, including the sales tax rising from 8.25% to 9.75%, said Glendale City Councilman Ara Najarian, who takes over today as chairman of the MTA’s Board of Directors.

“I think there may be some big-ticket retailers for whom the consumers will receive a significant increase in their total price,” Najarian said. “Those type of retailers may see a drop [in sales].”

The Measure R tax will hit consumer budgets just months after California instituted a 1% sales tax hike and nearly doubled the vehicle license fee, from 0.65% to 1.15% of a car’s value, as part of a plan to balance the state’s budget.

The collective tax and fee hikes will present another hurdle for the 15 dealerships along the Brand Boulevard of Cars in Glendale, many of which have struggled to attract customers during the recession. At least one dealer was mindful of the additional challenge, although he was optimistic that customers would ignore the hike, despite its nearing 10%.

“Of course I’m worried about it,” said Rich Smith, chief financial officer for Ellis Family Stores, which owns Glendale Dodge on Brand. “Do I think it’ll impact business? I really don’t because it’s not something that we really have a choice to pay or not to pay.”

But the overall effect of the series of hikes might be financially damaging for residents, even in light of the potential benefits of public transportation improvements, said former Glendale Mayor Larry Zarian, member of the California Transportation Commission.

The most significant local project will expand the Golden State Freeway to add new carpool lanes between the Ventura (134) Freeway and the Hollywood (170) Freeway.

That project is in its design stage and is set to begin construction in the fall, MTA spokesman Rick Jager said. It should be completed by 2013.

Zarian supported the local projects, but was opposed to the timing of the tax hike.

“When you pay increased taxes, you have less money to spend on your home, less money to go out and buy things from businesses,” Zarian said, contending that the effect of the latest surge in taxes would not help with the area’s economic recovery.

Najarian opposed Measure R when it went to voters because he felt area residents would pay equally for projects but not receive as many direct benefits from local construction as other communities, like the Westside and downtown Los Angeles.

Among Measure R’s most expensive projects will be the so-called Subway to the Sea, which will expand the Purple Line from downtown into Westwood, with longer-range plans for the beach communities. The allocation for that expansion is set at $4.2 billion, while another rail line to run from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City along Exposition Boulevard is projected to cost about $1.6 billion.

The Golden State Freeway carpool lane project, by comparison, is set at $610 million.

“I don’t think that we were getting a fair amount in relation to the money that we were putting in,” Najarian said, later adding that the Glendale-Burbank area was being short-changed. “We’re probably the least funded of any particular region.”

But Measure R received strong voter support, and the local freeway lane expansion project will offer valuable relief to an area that is expected to become more congested, said Kelly Markham, spokeswoman for the California Department of Transportation’s local district.

“There’s been a lot of concern about the increasing use of [Bob Hope Airport] in Burbank, and also the redevelopment of Empire Center has generated a lot more traffic, so we are seeing a lot more congestion there,” she said.

Increased local traffic along the Golden State Freeway has made the carpool lanes necessary to relieve congestion in Glendale and Burbank, Najarian and Zarian said.

And with widespread voter approval for Measure R, the MTA may have more weight as it tries to get all of its projects moving immediately, said Najarian, adding that the board may seek White House support to help get the developments started sooner than later.

“Because the residents of L.A. have agreed to this tax, that gives us a lot of credibility when we go to Washington and ask for special attention for our county, because not many other counties in the nation have done that, where the residents have stepped up to the plate to accept a higher tax for transportation projects,” Najarian said.



 ZAIN SHAUK covers education. He may be reached at (818) 637-3238 or by e-mail at zain.shauk@latimes.com.

From Streetsblog Los Angeles: Glendale City Councilman Najarian Takes Over as Metro Board Chair

Link: Streetsblog Los Angeles » Glendale City Councilman Najarian Takes Over as Metro Board Chair

Glendale City Councilman Najarian Takes Over as Metro Board Chair

by Damien Newton on July 1, 2009


Every year on July 1, the Chairmanship of the Metro Board of Directors changes hands. This year, Glendale City Councilman, and former Mayor, Ara Najarian takes the helm. While outgoing Chair Villaraigosa is rightly proud of his steering of the Board during the Metro debate, he often seemed bored at meetings and liked to skip "open comment" and just show up to vote.

Najarian's ascension could be good news for bicycle and pedestrian advocates. Recently, the City of Glendale has forged a partnership with the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition to make Glendale streets more safe for everyone and Coalition staff has nothing but good things to say of the Councilman. Also, Najarian is one of the few Metro Board members to take time out for events such as "Bike to Work" week kickoffs.

Regionally, Najarian isn't one to make waves; but recently he did earn headlines for his opposition to the I-710 Tunnel Project. As a matter of fact, a search of the Streetsblog archives only reveals three stories that mention him by name.

With Najarian officially in the Chairman's seat, it will be interesting to see what, if any, changes occur at the policy level or in the way Board meetings are run. If anyone has any more information on Najarian or wants to give the new Board Chair some advice, feel free to use the comments section as a forum. Since it wasn't available online at the moment of publication, you can find Metro's press release after the jump.

GLENDALE CITY COUNCILMAN ARA NAJARIAN BECOMES

NEW CHAIR OF THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY

Glendale City Councilman Ara Najarian takes over as chairman of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Board of Directors effective today, July 1. He replaces outgoing Board Chairman, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

“As the new Board Chair, I look forward to providing the leadership necessary to enhance transportation options throughout the region,” said Najarian. “This next year will be both challenging and rewarding as we move the agency through difficult financial times while at the same time, begin implementing transportation improvement projects voted by the public with the passage of Measure R, the half-cent sales tax initiative.”

Najarian was elected to the Glendale City Council in 2005 and served as Mayor from 2007 to 2008. He is currently Chair of the Glendale Housing Authority and previously served as Chair of the Glendale Redevelopment Agency. He also served on the Glendale Community College Board of Trustees from 2003 to 2005 and was Chair of the Glendale Transportation and Parking Commission. Najarian has served as a director since 2006 and also currently serves on Metrolink’s Board of Directors.

Najarian has been an attorney in private practice in Glendale for 20 years and attended Occidental College where he received a BA degree in Economics and later earned his JD from USC School of Law.

Metro is the third largest public transportation agency in the United States. It has a $3.9 billion annual budget and more than 9,000 employees. It operates approximately 200 bus routes serving a 1,433 square mile service area and five subway and light rail lines that crisscross Los Angeles County. Metro’s total annual bus and rail ridership exceeds 400 million boardings.

From LA Daily News: Mayor starts 2nd term today. On transportation, the Orange Line extension to Chatsworth and the Expo Line in the Mid City Area are two of the top projects.

Link: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to be sworn in at 11 a.m. - LA Daily News

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to be sworn in at 11 a.m.
By Rick Orlov, Staff Writer
Updated: 06/30/2009 06:06:36 PM PDT

With the city facing one of its worst economic crises, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be sworn in today to his second term of office, with a more humble tone and promises of specific goals to get the city moving.

"You can call it a rededication to the job and a demand for accountability," spokesman Matt Szabo said. "Accountability from him and from others."

Villaraigosa, who was re-elected with 55 percent of the vote last March against a crowded field of relatively unknown and underfunded candidates, feels a sense of humility and appreciation in being re-elected to a second term, Szabo said.

At the same time, he recognizes the opportunity he faces as mayor of the nation's second-largest city.

The mayor's inauguration ceremony will be hosted by Los Angeles Lakers point guard Derek Fisher. The ceremony on the south lawn of City Hall will begin at 11 a.m. and will feature Grammy-winning singer Patti Austin performing the national anthem and a flyover from fire department helicopters.

The mayor's sister, Superior Court Judge Mary Lou Villar, will administer his oath of office.

Villaraigosa last week announced he was giving up plans to run for governor in 2010 to focus on his job as mayor. His primary goal for the next four years is to create jobs by retaining firms, helping them expand or bring in new business.

In particular, the mayor is looking to bring in more green and clean tech industries along the Clean Tech Corridor being created between downtown Los Angeles and the Harbor area as well as continued development of biomed and other industries.

"We are looking at everything," said Bud Ovrom, deputy mayor for business development. "Whether it is old-style manufacturing or new clean tech jobs."

Deputy Mayor David Freeman, who served as a harbor commissioner and the general manager of the Department of Water and Power, said he believes the city is in a unique position to take advantage of new technology.

"We have three universities - Cal Tech, USC and UCLA - that graduate more engineers than any other part of the country," Freeman said.

"We have more electric vehicle charging stations than any other part of the country... I think we can move Detroit to Los Angeles."

Szabo said Villaraigosa remains committed to his proposal to clean the Los Angeles environment with efforts such as the clean trucks program at the Harbor among others.

Also, he will continue to pursue those aspects of solar energy development agreed to by most of the public and as outlined in Measure B, the solar initiative rejected by voters.

On transportation, with the Measure R sales tax taking effect today, the mayor is looking at ways to either borrow against it or leverage it to get more federal stimulus money to speed construction on projects.

Szabo said the Orange Line extension to Chatsworth and the Expo Line in the Mid City Area are two of the top projects.

On education, Szabo said the mayor recognizes the role he plays - having helped elect a majority of the Los Angeles Unified school board and having his former top adviser, Ramon Cortines, named superintendent.

The final area to be emphasized by the mayor will be public safety with his continued support of an expanded Los Angeles Police Department while also extending anti-gang programs. The mayor this week launched the second year of the Summer Night Lights program at 16 parks devoted to keeping young people out of gangs.

Inaugural events this year will kick off at 8:30 a.m., with an interfaith breakfast at 1st AME Church with City Hall ceremonies beginning at 10:30 a.m., on the South Lawn. Tickets have been limited.

In addition to the mayor, City Attorney-elect Carmen Trutanich, Controller-elect Wendy Greuel and eight council members - Ed Reyes, Dennis Zine, Paul Koretz, Richard Alarcon, Jan Perry, Bill Rosendahl, Eric Garcetti and Janice Hahn - will be sworn in to office.

From the Daily News (formerly the Green Sheet and the Valley News): Orange Line extension is vital for Valley transit

Link: Orange Line extension is vital for Valley transit - LA Daily News

Orange Line extension is vital for Valley transit
Updated: 06/23/2009 04:53:10 PM PDT

CONNECTIVITY is key. The ability to make seamless connections from bus to train to subway makes public transit faster, more convenient and more appealing to potential riders.

That's why the Orange Line extension to Chatsworth is so exciting. The $225 million, four-mile extension will link the busway with the Chatsworth Metrolink station. It will be a great option for workers traveling from the North and West Valley to jobs in Warner Center and Canoga Park, and a further expansion of reliable public transit network in the Valley.

Today's groundbreaking almost takes the sting out of the half-percent sales tax increase for public transit that takes effect July 1. Voters in November approved Measure R, which raises the Los Angeles County sales tax to 8.75 percent for 30 years.

Nobody likes to pay more taxes, especially now when people are already pinching their pennies. But the passage of Measure R provides a reliable stream of funding that allows the MTA to speed up the Orange Line extension construction by three years. So Valley residents will be able to ride the busway extension by 2013, instead of 2016.

The construction along the MTA right-of-way means the eviction of some 60 businesses, including used-car lots, landscaping companies and metal supply stores, which is an unfortunate loss for those owners. This is a tough time to move a business.

But the Orange Line extension works for the greater good of the Valley. Ridership on the existing Orange Line busway, between the North Hollywood Red Line station and Warner Center, has already surpassed MTA's original projections of 22,000 daily boardings by 2020.

Last year, after gas prices hit $4.50 a gallon, commuters flocked to the line for a reasonably priced transit option. Daily boardings hit a record 27,987 in September.

There is clearly pent-up demand for a safe, reliable mode of public transportation, and extending the Orange Line is one more piece to complete the transit puzzle.

From NBC 4: Officials Break Ground on Orange Line Extension

Link: Officials Break Ground on Orange Line Extension | NBC Los Angeles

Officials Break Ground on Orange Line Extension

Updated 4:19 PM PDT, Wed, Jun 24, 2009
Related Topics: Chatsworth

Elected officials and transportation leaders broke ground Wednesday on an extension of the Metro Orange Line that will stretch the popular busway to Chatsworth, making it the first project funded by Measure R tax funds to begin construction.

The $215.6 million project will extend the Orange Line -- which operates on a dedicated busway across the San Fernando Valley -- four miles from its western end point in Canoga Park to the Metrolink/Amtrak station in Chatsworth.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and City Council members Greig Smith and Dennis Zine were among those taking part in the groundbreaking ceremony.

"We knew that this was a great opportunity to connect the dots here in the San Fernando Valley, and bring a system to the valley that will connect the employment centers," Smith said.

The project is expected to create about 3,000 jobs, and have an economic impact of $461 million. The expansion is scheduled to be completed by summer 2012.

"It's just ridiculous paying three dollars a gallon, you know, when I can pay a $1.25 to get all the way there," Orange Line rider Carlos DeSantiago told CBS2.

Los Angeles County voters narrowly approved Measure R in November. With the measure requiring the approval of two-thirds of voters, it received support from 67.41 percent.

The half-cent sales tax was opposed by some residents and officials who said the county's tax rate was high enough. Some also complained that the planned allocation of the tax funds was not equally distributed among various parts of the county.


The lion's share of the funding, 35 percent, will be spent on rail and bus rapid transit projects, including $4.2 billion for a subway connecting downtown with Westwood.

The remaining funding will be split among bus operations, highway projects, system improvements and rail operations, with 15 percent of the total given directly back to local governments for street repairs and other transportation-related projects.

Copyright City News Service

From Time magazine: U.S. Stimulus Puts Bullet Trains on the Fast Track

Link: U.S. Stimulus Puts Bullet Trains on the Fast Track - TIME

U.S. Stimulus Puts Bullet Trains on the Fast Track
By Tim Padgett / Miami Monday, Jun. 22, 2009

Florida is considering plans to build a bullet train, possibly along the lines of France's Train a Grande Vitesse

Florida is considering plans to build a bullet train similar to France's Train a Grande Vitesse
MICHEL KRAKOWSKI / AFP / Getty

Florida, like many of America's biggest states, can be frustrating to traverse. Driving between such major cities as Miami and Tampa is a back-numbing haul; flying between them, especially at the exorbitant fares many airlines charge, often seems impractical. And as the peninsula state's population has exploded in recent years — Florida is set to pass New York as the nation's third largest state — its road and air corridors have become more gridlocked and eco-unfriendly. Which is why Floridians voted in 2000 to build a high-speed bullet-train service between Miami, Tampa and Orlando. By 2004, however, then-governor Jeb Bush, who had insisted the estimated $6 billion cost would in reality top $20 billion, had persuaded Florida.

But the bullet-train idea is back, as it is throughout the rest of the country, thanks to $13 billion for high-speed rail (HSR) that was tucked into President Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package. The application process for bullet-train bucks ($8 billion this year and $1 billion in each of the next five years) began this week. States like Florida are vying for big chunks of it — not only as free funding for a traffic decongestant they thought they couldn't afford, but also as a high-tech pump primer for the kind of higher-wage jobs that low-wage economies like Florida's need. Current Florida governor Charlie Crist, who has angered conservatives in his Republican Party by embracing Obama's overall stimulus program — and who has reversed much of Jeb Bush's antigovernment agenda — said recently that rail projects like HSR are "critical because we're still a growth state. Any of these transportation alternatives are good for Florida and good for jobs." (Read about Japan's high-speed trains.)

One of the key ideas fueling HSR is that the U.S. in the 21st century has grown beyond a country of cities and suburbs to what urban-studies expert Richard Florida calls "mega-regions." Central Florida's I-4 Corridor, between Orlando and Tampa, is a prime example. Mega-regions "are natural economic agglomerations whose market potential can be harnessed if they're linked up by high-speed rail," says Florida, director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto. "If there's any place in the world right now where this makes sense, it's the U.S. Cars and jets won't do it; high-speed rail will."

The Obama Administration has identified 10 major regional corridors for HSR funding: three in the heavily populated Northeast (where the quasi-high-speed Acela train is already in use), then the Southeast coast, Florida, the upper Gulf Coast, the Midwest (dubbed the Chicago Hub), Texas (South Central), the Pacific Northwest and California. Of those, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has pointed to California and Florida as being "way ahead of the curve" in terms of preparing for HSR. Florida, for example, already did most of the spade work, including land acquisition and environmental-impact and ridership studies before Bush quashed its first HSR effort five years ago. Californians have approved a $9 billion bond issue to finance an ambitious 800-mile network that could ultimately cost as much as $45 billion and would not only zip passengers between Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than three hours but would ferry them to Sacramento and San Diego as well.

But Florida, like the national bellwether it's become this decade, could also serve as a gauge for HSR's political viability. While Crist has directed his transportation officials to apply for the funds, he hasn't exactly played the ebullient cheerleader he's famous for being on issues like alternative energy. That's largely because he knows a chorus of voices in Florida and the rest of the nation still fears that bullet trains, despite the federal largesse, will turn out to be a white elephant whose costs have been lavishly underestimated by the Obama Administration. Even the Orlando Sentinel, which covers a city that would absorb a large share of the $1.5 billion Florida will seek to help fund a $2.5 billion Orlando-Tampa HSR line, warned in a recent editorial that the Sunshine State is "really not a strong candidate for high-speed rail." The reason: its local commuter-train lines — which HSR would need to link up with to make it truly practical — are virtually nonexistent because of the peninsula's car-obsessed culture.

Still, despite the questions about Florida's long-term commitment to HSR, Vice President Joe Biden this month assured the state that it's "in play" for the stimulus money. Either way, Florida is a strong reminder that the passenger-rail debate isn't likely to go away. Liberals tend to romanticize trains (because the French use them) and conservatives tend to disparage them (because the French use them). But while the U.S. probably can't re-create the charming ride from Paris to Lyon, it also can't keep treating rail like a loathsome relic. Since World War II, the U.S. has poured almost $2 trillion into highway and aviation systems, while passenger rail — like the wheezing federal Amtrak line — has received less than 3% of Washington's transportation dollars. Obama argues that the U.S. needs, economically and environmentally, a rail revival in order to relieve stressed auto and air infrastructure. That means emulating the long-established high-speed (more than 110 m.p.h., or 177 km/h) passenger-rail systems in Europe and Asia.

Florida's HSR boosters say its rail project could create as many as 20,000 jobs. In addition to the $1.5 billion in stimulus money to fund the 100-mile Orlando-Tampa line, which will likely use the more eco-friendly electric TGV trains popular in Europe, Florida will look for $1 billion from the private sector, which will operate the line. The Florida High Speed Rail Authority predicts the line would be profitable: even with one-way fares of less than $20, say its studies, HSR would generate up to $42 million a year from an annual ridership of almost 3 million (or 4 million if tourists are included) vs. up to $36 million in operating costs. As for the state's inability to provide commuter lines to complement HSR, authority chairman Lee Chira calls it a chicken-and-egg debate: establishing one kind of line, he insists, "will lead to building the other. Since federal dollars are paying for the high-speed, doing this first is a no-brainer for us."

More important, says Florida Congresswoman Kathy Castor of Tampa, HSR can enhance Florida's old economy, tourism, while helping lay a foundation for a new one. "So many visitors to Disney World would also like to hop on high-speed rail and enjoy our beaches," says Castor. "But the I-4 Corridor is also vital to our economic future, and high-speed rail is a high-tech project. I see it as a linchpin of Florida's reinvention."

But many opponents see it as financial quicksand, certain the Orlando-Tampa high-speed line will end up costing much more than $2.5 billion. Still, free billions from Washington during a crippling recession are hard to pass up. Florida's bullet, as a result, may well be a train that's already left the station.

From LA times Blog: MTA puts off discussion of transportation, Measure R projects

Link: MTA puts off discussion of transportation, Measure R projects | L.A. Now | Los Angeles Times

MTA puts off discussion of transportation, Measure R projects
4:27 PM | June 11, 2009

A decision on whether to adopt a $271-billion spending package that will shape the transportation future of Los Angeles County over the next 30 years was postponed today by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The agency’s board delayed a vote on its Long Range Transportation Plan until July 23 to give local governments and the public more time to study it and comment. Board members also wanted more time to resolve several issues, including whether timelines for projects could be accelerated.

The long-range plan includes scores of highway and transit projects that would be built using state and federal money, as well as proceeds from county sales taxes for transportation such as Measure R.

The listed projects include the Westside subway, light rail lines, bus rapid transit systems and freeway improvements. Here's the report that board members considered today. A draft of the spending package will be available online at a later date.

-- Dan Weikel