Major expansion of north Pomona Metrolink station planned (Source: DailyBulletin.com)

Link: Major expansion of north Pomona Metrolink station planned - DailyBulletin.com

Major expansion of north Pomona Metrolink station planned
Monica Rodriguez, Staff Writer
Created: 07/28/2009 05:39:36 PM PDT

POMONA - Improvements costing about $10.5 million are being planned for the north Pomona Metrolink station.

The improvements involve lengthening and widening the station's platform, upgrading safety features and improving parking facilities, a Metrolink representative told City Council members recently.

Plans call for the project to be awarded to a contractor by the end of this year, said Darrell Maxey, director of engineering and construction for Metrolink.

The expansion of the platform will make it possible for the station to accommodate longer trains, Maxey said.

The current platform is 14 feet wide and 500 feet long and should be 23 feet and 700 feet, he said at the meeting.


The platform at the Metrolink station in north Pomona is 500 feet long, but agency officials say it now is obsolete. A $10.5 million improvement plan for the station would include extending the platform by 200 feet. (Thomas R. Cordova/Staff Photographer)
built in 1992, "met the standards at the time," Maxey said.

Safety features such as four gates, fencing and other improvements at pedestrian crossings will also be added, Maxey said.

A station parking lot now holds 225 vehicles but so many people are using the facility that commuters are parking in neighboring streets, he said.

About 100 extra parking spaces are needed.

To expanding parking, Metrolink will use existing property to create additional parking space, he said. Equipment and storage on the site will be moved to free up the space.

Several steps must be taken before the improvement project can move forward including signing an agreement with Metro, formerly known as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is providing funding for the project, Maxey said.

The improvements also require approval by Public Utilities Commission and the city, he said.

The project is expected to take about 15 months.

City administrators said the area around the station is expected to draw attention as a place for transit-oriented development.

The area will have the Gold Line Foothill extension coming through at a future date, said Mark Lazzaretto, the city's community development director.

"We're looking at capitalizing on that," he said.

Plans call for the next phase of the Gold Line, from Pasadena to Azusa to be completed by 2013 and from Azusa to Montclair to be ready by 2017.

Lazzaretto said as part of updating the city's general plan, land use in the area around the station will be studied.

Much of the land in the area is now used for industrial purposes but changes could be made to accommodate housing and retail businesses.

Such land use changes would result in developments that appeal to people interested in increasing their use of public transportation, Lazzaretto said.

Some people may want to live in the city and use public transportation to reach jobs in other cities while others may live elsewhere and take a train to their jobs in Pomona.

Councilman Steve Atchley said he is trying to create the conditions necessary to have a Foothill Transit bus stop on Garey Avenue near the north Pomona station.

Bus stops now exist on Garey Avenue and Foothill Boulevard and at Garey and Arrow Highway.

"That's terribly inconvenient" for anyone trying to catch the Metrolink train, he said.

Steps are being taken leading to the addition of a traffic light in that area which will make it possible to have a bus stop there, Atchley said.

Downtown streetcar meeting today (Source: MetroRiderLA)

Downtown streetcar meeting today | MetroRiderLA

Downtown streetcar meeting today

Contributed by Wad on July 29th, 2009 at 3:07 am

Heard about those plans to run a streetcar along the streets of downtown Los Angeles, possibly Broadway?

If not, you can hear about them today. Los Angeles Streetcar Inc., the group leading the streetcar charge, holds an open house starting at 4 this afternoon. The group has invited Los Angeles council members Jan Perry and Jose Huizar to speak at around 6 p.m.

It is at the Bradbury Building, one of downtown’s finest architectural gems, at 304 S. Broadway, on the 5th floor. It is near the Pershing Square Red and Purple Line station, and let me just save the time and say that there are dozens of Metro and municipal buses running through downtown near there and not have to link to every schedule.

Watch for subway crews (Source: LA Observed)

Link: Watch for subway crews - LA Observed

Watch for subway crews
Kevin Roderick • July 27 2009 9:15 AM

This week's exploratory subway drilling is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday at San Vicente and Gracie Allen (that's near Cedars-Sinai), Wednesday in UCLA parking lot 36 near Wilshire and Veteran, and Thursday and Friday on Wilshire just west of Irving. The drilling is part of the data collection for a draft environmental impact report on extending the subway. Community sources are saying that lot 36 has become the likely location for a Westwood station if the subway ever makes it that far west.

Subway To Sea Drilling/Meetings In WeHo

Link: WeHoNews.com:

Subway To Sea Drilling/Meetings In WeHo

Monday, July 27, 2009 – By WeHo News Staff, West Hollywood

West Hollywood, California (Monday, July 27, 2009) - As part of the environmental review analysis, Metro is continuing their ongoing and weekly effort to study conditions below the surface for the possibility of a subway to the Westside.


Click here for more information about the Subway To The Sea.

Last week, the majority of the light drilling took place in West Hollywood overnight.

Spots included San Vicente/Melrose, Santa Monica/Ogden, Santa Monica/Fairfax and Santa Monica/Sweetzer.

Crews were seen in Los Angeles along Wilshire Blvd during the day: Wilshire/La Jolla (Tues-Thur) and Wilshire/Crescent Heights (Wed-Fri).

Traffic, noise and vibration impacts will be minimal.

As exploratory drilling for the possibility of a subway to the Westside continues to take place on city streets, Metro is gearing up for another set of community meetings for updates on the project (meeting info is below).

WeHo News.

Last Spring, public meetings gathered input on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Report (DEIS/R) process that is currently underway.

Next month, they will present a summary of what was heard at those meetings, provide updates to possible route alternatives and discuss the subway construction process if the project goes forward.

Where does the project stand today?

Back in January, the Metro Board approved two possible projects, technically "build alternatives," for further environmental review and preliminary engineering, which is currently underway.

Those two build alternatives are extending the Purple Line down Wilshire Blvd. westward and an alternative that includes the aforementioned Purple Line extension plus a Santa Monica Blvd. spur from the Hollywood/Highland Metro Red Line station that would meet up with the Purple Line on the Westside.


Click here for more information about the West Hollywood Spur of the Subway To The Sea.


WeHo News.

By law, Metro also has to study a "no build" alternative and a “Transportation Systems Management” alternative--basically, beefing up the current fleet, schedules and routes.

Once this process is over, the Metro Board will vote on their preferred alternative (many in the public hope for the Wilshire/Santa Monica one).

Then Metro will move on to a final environmental review, final engineering and construction.

Public Meetings

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.


Tuesday, August 4, 2009 | Wilshire United Methodist Church | 4350 Wilshire Boulevard | Los Angeles | Spanish & Korean translations will be provided at this meeting


WeHo News.

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

Westside subway extension community updates (Source: MetroRiderLA)

Westside subway extension community updates | MetroRiderLA

Westside subway extension community updates

Contributed by Wad on July 27th, 2009 at 3:50 am

Purple Line train

Photos by Yours Truly. They can be seen on the MetroRiderLA Flickr pool.

Metro is hosting a series of meetings on what is going on with extension of the Purple Line to somewhere in the Westside, which may or may not be the sea. Note that one of these meetings is going to be in West Hollywood — a corridor far away from Wilshire but with a growing community that would like to see a Pink Line as well.

All meetings are from 6-8 p.m. For information on the project, or to request ADA-related accommodations, call 213-922-6934.

The list of meetings follows the jump. But first, a bonus link to an interesting thought: Putting a subway in L.A. would be like putting a subway in … Paris? This was written by Jarrett Walker, an Australian transit consultant who spent his college years in SoCal.

Tuesday, August 4
Wilshire United Methodist Church
4350 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles
Translation available: Spanish and Korean
Transit access: Metro lines 20, 210, 710 and 720

Wednesday, August 5
Plummer Park
7377 Santa Monica Bl., West Hollywood
Translation available: Russian
Transit access: Metro Line 4

Thursday, August 6
Santa Monica Library Multipurpose Room
601 Santa Monica Bl., Santa Monica
Translation available: Spanish
Transit access: Big Blue Bus lines 1, 2, 3/Rapid 3, 4, 5, 7/Rapid 7, 8, 9 and 10; and Metro lines 4, 20, 704, 720 and 920

Tuesday, August 11
Beverly Hills Library Auditorium
444 N. Rexford Dr., Beverly Hills
Translation available: Spanish
Transit access: Metro lines 14, 16/316, 20, 714, 720 and 920

Wednesday, August 12
Westwood Presbyterian Church
10822 Wilshire Blvd., West Los Angeles
Translation available: Spanish
Transit access: Big Blue Bus lines 1, 2, 8 and 12; Culver CityBus Line 6; and Metro lines 20, 720 and 920

The Multi-Pronged Attack on California HSR (Source: California High Speed Rail Blog)

California High Speed Rail Blog: The Multi-Pronged Attack on California HSR

Sunday, July 26, 2009

The Multi-Pronged Attack on California HSR

Last year this blog led the fight against the staggering amounts of misinformation put out by opponents of mass transit in their effort to defeat Proposition 1A. Even though these opponents were frequently given room to spout their misleading claims in TV and print reports around the state, whereas pro-HSR forces rarely ever got that opportunity, we won the battle. Californians rejected the arguments of the HSR deniers, the people who tried to argue against the evidence that high speed rail would be a financial disaster or that it wouldn't work in California or that people would never ride the trains. The voters showed that they understood the value and need for sustainable transportation, for economic recovery, for giving Californians an alternative to soaring oil prices.

That was the easy part.

2009 has seen a different and much more challenging battle taking shape. The Reason Foundation is still out their with their talking points, but few are listening. Instead most HSR deniers, like Morris Brown, have shifted tactics. Instead of arguing against passenger rail - a losing argument in California - they are trying to play on the environmental concerns of Bay Area residents. In order to undermine high speed rail, which will be one of the most environmentally beneficial projects this state has ever seen, they have joined with misguided environmentalists to try and block the progress of California high speed rail by claiming the project as planned will harm the environment.

Environmentalists have made a deal with the devil (so to speak) and allied with people who are fundamentally opposed to high speed rail. The environmentalists in question - particularly those from the Planning and Conservation League - apparently believe that they can use the HSR deniers for their own purposes without enabling the deniers' broader attack on the HSR project. In this the environmentalists are very, very wrong. They are jeopardizing the viability of the project as a whole, are placing a parochial and small concern above the concept, and are enabling anti-environment, anti-rail arguments in order to achieve their goals.

Californians rightly want to protect their environment. They rightly want big infrastructure projects to be built affordably and properly. And even though the environmental/NIMBY alliance ultimately seeks none of that - in fact, they are pursuing methods that jeopardize those values - they are increasingly effective at spreading their misleading claims among both the public and the state legislature.

As longtime blog readers know, these criticisms of mine are not new. What is new is that the Planning and Conservation League and the BayRail Alliance, two normally progressive organizations that support environmental and mass transit projects, have allied with the vehemently anti-HSR TRANSDEF, the "Cal Rail Foundation" (and its three members), and the cities of Menlo Park and Atherton to launch a deeply misleading attack on the high speed rail project.

The centerpiece of the attack is a new website: HSR: Let's Do It Right. The site is chock full of misleading statements, and embraces messaging that will ultimately and fundamentally undermine the HSR project they claim to support.

Before taking an in-depth look at the flaws of this site, let's lay out the landscape of HSR opposition in California:

Peninsula NIMBYs. Concentrated in the Menlo Park/Atherton/Palo Alto area, these are a quite small but vocal group of well-off homeowners who are adamantly opposed to building a grade-separated railroad for Caltrain and HSR, despite the numerous safety and environmental benefits of doing so. They've been convinced that a tunnel is a better solution, but have not identified any funding source for such a ridiculously expensive solution. They have no organization, but have instead brought on board the cities of Menlo Park, Atherton, and Palo Alto to their cause.

HSR deniers. Contrary to those who criticize the use of the term, this refers to a very distinct group of people who deny the proven benefits of high speed rail and want to kill the project outright. They are called "deniers" as an analogue to global warming deniers, based on the HSR deniers' repeated use of claims about HSR's supposed lack of financial viability, its supposed inability to meet projected ridership, and/or its supposed lack of environmental benefit. They tend to be ideologically opposed to government spending and to passenger rail projects. Not all HSR opponents are HSR deniers. But HSR deniers have had a lot of success in allying with more mainstream and respectable groups to advance their cause - specifically, the NIMBYs. HSR deniers have achieved significant gains by convincing some Peninsula residents that above-grade tracks will be a horrible city-killing disaster and that a tunnel is a better alternative - despite the fact that a tunnel is too expensive to ever become reality. HSR deniers hope that NIMBYs will provide the political power they themselves lack, and kill the project when it becomes clear that there is no viable alternative to grade-separating the Caltrain corridor.

Parochial environmentalists. The state's main environmental organizations, like the Sierra Club, strongly embraced high speed rail AND worked to ensure Prop 1A was as environmentally strong as possible (particularly by writing a ban on a Los Banos station into Prop 1A). They recognized that HSR will be a revolutionary shift in California infrastructure in favor of truly sustainable transportation that helps fight global warming, reduces pollution, and grows mass transit while shrinking the ranks of automobile commuters. But a small group of environmentalists have chosen to reject these broad benefits in a fit of pique about the choice of the Pacheco Pass alignment. The Planning and Conservation League is the biggest offender here, apparently convinced that the Pacheco alignment is so horrible that it is worth risking the entire HSR project to block it. To do so they are now allying with the NIMBYs and HSR deniers.

Parochial state legislators. California's Legislature is a broken institution totally incapable of governing this state in a time of crisis. One reason for this is term limits, which encourage legislators to ignore long-term planning and focus on their own careers. This incentivizes a focus on their own districts at the expense of the state's needs. As it relates to HSR, it enables ideological opponents of HSR like Senator Roy Ashburn, a genuine HSR denier, to try and tie down the project through burdensome and unnecessary oversight rules. It also enables people who don't care about the project's stated purpose of providing sustainable intercity transit to try and use the Prop 1A money to fund pet projects in their own backyards, like Senator Alan Lowenthal. NIMBYs, HSR deniers and environmentalists are allying with both Ashburn and Lowenthal to try and kill the HSR project by running it aground on the shoals of the legislature.

All four of these groups are represented on the HSR: Let's Do It Right site. The website is an incoherent jumble of anti-HSR claims that are sometimes mutually contradictory, but together represent a formidable threat to high speed rail.

Let's have a look at some examples.

Lying About Altamont/Pacheco

The main intent of the site is to rally the public to oppose the Pacheco alignment and force its abandonment in favor of Altamont - despite the fact that the decision for Pacheco was made through a legitimate process a year ago, and despite the fact that it was ratified by voters at the November 2008 election. Their Why Altamont? page consists of this extremely dishonest graphic:



This is pretty ridiculous stuff. The notion of "fewer impacts on communities" is only true if you don't consider Fremont, Pleasanton, Livermore and Tracy as communities. As I'll explain in a moment the site is full of "concern" for the "livable communities" on the Peninsula that would be harmed by HSR, but no such concern is offered here for the East Bay cities along the proposed Altamont route. There are about the same impacts on communities in the Altamont alignment - but those communities do not count, are not relevant, to the PCL and the other backers of this website.

It is true that expanding passenger rail along the Altamont corridor would help ease congestion. Which is why Prop 1A created a high speed corridor along the Altamont Pass and directs the CHSRA to spend money upgrading it for the purpose of easing congestion. But you wouldn't know that from the site or this graphic.

Sure, a shift from the Pacheco to the Altamont alignment might serve more East Bay residents. But it would come at the expense of about the same number of people in Santa Clara County and the Monterey Bay Area. Given that San José is the state's third largest city and one of the state's key economic centers, you'd think that it would have a pretty strong argument for being included on the HSR line. But you won't hear that argument on the website.

The claim of "$2 billion saved" is not sourced or proved. Given the support for Peninsula NIMBYs, the site's authors are in no position to make claims about saving money.

As to the wilderness area, this is is complete bullshit. The graphic is designed to mislead people into thinking the whole wilderness as shown on the map is under threat from HSR. It isn't. The tracks will run close to the existing Highway 152 corridor, and will go underneath Pacheco Pass State Park in a tunnel - which is conveniently not mentioned anywhere in this graphic or on the site.

Another lie is the "no sprawl effect" claim made. The graphic labels "land speculation" as possible in the Los Banos area, not informing readers that a station at Los Banos was specifically outlawed when Prop 1A passed. No station is planned on the western side of the Pacheco Pass. There IS a station planned at Gilroy, but that alone doesn't induce sprawl - unless the site's supporters think Caltrain service to Gilroy does that already. South County has its sprawl issues, but those already exist without HSR, and residents of Gilroy have already shown their willingness to oppose sprawl (fighting a planned Wal-Mart supercenter, for example).

Embracing NIMBYism

Environmentalists who actually care about doing something to stop global warming should be extremely wary before getting into bed with NIMBYs. NIMBYs around the country have fought wind turbines, solar power generators, and the transmission lines needed to bring clean, sustainable, renewable power to cities that need them. Solutions designed to protect our environment and arrest the pace of global warming will necessarily impact communities in ways some won't like. We have to weigh their objections against the dire and pressing need to act to reduce pollution and reduce carbon emissions.

The environmentalists who put the website together have thrown all such caution to the win. Desperate to stop the Altamont alignment, they are busy fueling misleading NIMBY claims that WILL get used elsewhere in the state to attack the HSR project, presumably in places where the PCL (among others) claims to support HSR - like Pleasanton.

The site includes a paged titled Visualize What Disaster Looks Like. It's the old misleading "Berlin Wall" images from Menlo Park that we debunked back in March.

But that's not the most insane and crazy element of the unholy alliance between the PCL and the NIMBYs. On the contact page, which includes the list of organizations sponsoring the site, in bright red capital letters is written the statement "REMEMBER: THE CITY YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN!"

Umm...wow. Is that a message people who supposedly support the HSR project, as the PCL and the BayRail Alliance claim, want to spread? By claiming that HSR will destroy cities, they're inviting open season on the HSR project from other cities, including those along the Altamont alignment. Does the PCL want Fresno to sue? Do they want Fullerton to sue? This is madness.

Allying With Legislative Enemies

The final lunatic aspect of the site I want to examine is their alliance with a broken legislature and in particular with legislators whose opposition to high speed rail has frequently been demonstrated. The site encourages the broken legislature to exert "oversight despite the fact that the legislature is incapable of effectively doing so until that institution is repaired and restored to functionality. There is no better way to undermine the HSR project than to make it dependent on a legislature that can no longer effectively govern the state.

Especially when the site specifically calls out for praise known HSR opponents. One of these is Senator Roy Ashburn, who tried to postpone the Prop 1A vote beyond 2008. Here's what the site has to say about Ashburn, listing the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee (emphasis mine):

Below is a list of Senators on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Note that Senators Simitian, Yee, Cedillo, Corbett, and Oropeza, along with Senator Ashburn, are on both Committees. Senator Ashburn has been very sympathetic:


Perhaps the site would like to explain WHY Ashburn has been sympathetic? That he has worked hard in the last year or so to throw as many roadblocks and obstacles in the path of HSR as he can?

Although Alan Lowenthal is not singled out for praise (yet) on the site, he is one of the leading figures in the legislature trying to use "oversight" to destroy the project. This blog has frequently demonstrated Lowenthal's desire to chop the statewide project into disconnected pieces, to create a glorified commuter rail benefiting Southern California and presumably the Bay Area (although the alliance with Peninsula NIMBYs jeopardizes that).

There are more flaws with the website in question, but I've gone on long enough as is. The above should be enough to make it clear that the folks behind that site are not interested in telling Californians the truth about the high speed rail project, and certainly aren't interested in ensuring that HSR actually gets built.

In fact, as I will demonstrate tomorrow, the Planning and Conservation League has taken a leading role in trying to undermine California's application for federal HSR stimulus funds, thus jeopardizing the financial viability of the entire project. There's much, much more to come.
Posted by Robert Cruickshank at 7:48 PM

On Track: LA Metro Supports High-Speed Trains (Source: PR-USA.net)

PR-USA.net - On Track: LA Metro Supports High-Speed Trains

On Track: LA Metro Supports High-Speed Trains

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors voted Thursday to support and collaborate with the High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA), solidifying a partnership that will ensure greater connectivity and improved railways throughout Southern California.

"The best way to develop and expand important high-speed and intercity rail systems to their greatest potential is by working in close coordination with our neighbors," said Mayor Curt Pringle, chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority and Mayor, City of Anaheim. "The health of California's economy and its environment is highly dependent on all regions working together because of the proximity and interdependence of our major cities."

The policy position comes as officials at the state Department of Transportation (Caltrans) work to coordinate rail plans to qualify for federal funding for high-speed rail in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, known as the stimulus bill. The Metro Board's position placed an emphasis on the Los Angeles-Anaheim Section, a move to further bolster the State's High-Speed Rail application, which includes a request to fund that section.

"There is no question these agencies need to be working together," said Richard Katz, who serves on both the Metro and the High-Speed Rail Authority boards. "By taking this vote, Metro is helping to set the stage for a high-speed rail system that will fully integrate with regional transit systems in Los Angeles, greatly improving mobility and helping to relieve Southern California's transportation woes."

Metro is the latest in a number of regional transportation agencies coordinating with High-Speed Rail in Southern California. HSRA currently has memorandums of understanding in place with the Southern California Association of Governments, Riverside County Transportation Commission, San Diego Association of Governments, San Bernardino Associated Governments, and the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). OCTA has provided more than $7 million in funding over the last two years, which has helped to propel the Anaheim-Los Angeles Section of the system forward by clearly demonstrating local support.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority is responsible for building high-speed train service covering 800 miles at speeds up to 220 MPH. Voters approved Proposition 1A on the November 2008 ballot, putting a down payment on what will be America's first high-speed train system. By linking all major cities in California with a state of the art new transportation option, California's high-speed train system will increase mobility while cutting air pollution and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. Operating the system will create an annual surplus of more than $1 billion. For route information, visual simulations and more, please visit www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov.

Source: California High-Speed Rail Authority

Link: More 'Subway to the Sea' Exploratory Drilling Next Week - LAist

More 'Subway to the Sea' Exploratory Drilling Next Week

Metro is continuing to study the conditions below the ground surface as they prepare an environmental impact report for the possibility of placing a subway line or two in the Westside. Next week, exploratory drilliing with minimal sound, vibration and traffic effects, will take place at San Vicente/Gracie Allen, Wilshire/West of Irving and at UCLA Parking Lot 36 near Wilshire/Veteran. Next month, there will be five public meetings where the public can hear updates and ask questions.

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.

30-year blueprint for L.A. (Source: LA Times)

Link: Transit planners delay vote on 30-year blueprint for L.A. | L.A. Now | Los Angeles Times

30-year blueprint for L.A.
9:35 AM | July 24, 2009

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board on Thursday postponed a decision on whether to approve a $271-billion spending plan for the next 30 years that will emphasize the development of mass transit but still provide substantial funding for highway projects.

Board members said they delayed consideration of the MTA's long-range transportation plan because more time was needed to firm up funding and construction schedules for proposed highway projects -- a desire expressed by 75 of the county's 88 cities.

In other action, the board voted to support the California high-speed rail project and its first segment, which would connect L.A. with Anaheim.

-- Dan Weikel

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

County Supervisors Rip Light Rail Company a New One

Link: County Supervisors Rip Light Rail Company a New One | NBC Los Angeles

County Supervisors Rip Light Rail Company a New One

Updated 4:26 PM PDT, Thu, Jul 23, 2009


Thursday was not a good day if you were the Italian company AnsaldoBreda making light rail cars for Metro. During a sometimes-testy hearing, LA officials ripped into the company, saying its work thus far was unsatisfactory and arguing that the firm made broad promises that it quickly broke.

Metro initially hired AnsaldoBreda to build 50 light rail cars, with two options to build 50 more cars each -- a deal worth more than $300 million. But the company came under fire because the first rail cars delivered by the company were 6,000 pounds overweight and about three years late.

"If it had been up to me I would have cut you lose five months ago," board member and Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky told a company official during the hearing. "... My problem is I don't trust your company. That's really what it comes down to."

Yaroslavsky also criticized a lobbying effort mounted by the company in hopes of retaining the contract to provide rail cars, calling it "frankly despicable." He also accused the firm of reneging on promises given to the board just two months ago.

Metro Board members agreed to continue negotiating with the firm for another two months before deciding whether to award it another $300 million contract.

The company, however, has strong backing from local labor unions, which said the firm's plans to build a rail-car manufacturing plant in Los Angeles would be a major boon for a city with a 12 percent unemployment rate.

In May, the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles approved an agreement with AnsaldoBreda to build a 240,000-square-foot manufacturing plant on a 14-acre plot near downtown. The plant, which will only be built if Metro approves the contract for light rail cars, would anchor a "clean tech" corridor that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa hopes to establish.

The project would create 1,200 construction jobs and 600 to 800 permanent positions, according to the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

Federal regulations, however, prevent the board from considering that factor when weighing the merits of the contract, which must be awarded based on performance.

But the possibility of jobs still weighed heavily on the minds of board members, who agreed to postpone a vote on the contract until September so more negotiating could be done.

"Those jobs are needed in this town badly," said board member Richard Katz.

A company official also admitted to the board that mistakes had been made in the past, but, "We are going to rectify those mistakes."

Metro CEO Art Leahy told the board he is continuing to negotiate terms of the proposed contract, including sharply increased penalties for late delivery of rail cars. He noted that Metro has already withheld $10 million from the company due to penalties assessed for its performance on the first round of vehicles.

A particular sticking point to the board are the specifics of a possible $300 million letter of credit the company was offering to put up as a financial guarantee of performance. Details of that guarantee are expected to be hammered out over the next two months.




Copyright City News Service / NBC Los Angeles

Metro Approves High Speed Rail to Anaheim, Could Open in 2018 (Source: LAist)

Metro Approves High Speed Rail to Anaheim, Could Open in 2018 - LAist

Metro Approves High Speed Rail to Anaheim, Could Open in 2018

A quick 20-minute trip to Anaheim via high speed rail could be a reality in less than ten years, according to Metro, whose board today officially supported the California High Speed Rail initiative, as well as a first segment that would connect Los Angeles to Anaheim. The segment within the 800-mile system could begin construction as early as 2012, finishing six years later, and is considered to be the most "construction ready.” “Union Station will become transformed into a world-class, 21st Century intermodal transit hub that will serve the County of Los Angeles in ways that are very exciting to imagine," said Metro CEO Art Leahy. Metro estimates the creation of 75,000 jobs, enabling the possibility for $8 billion in federal stimulus money. Voters last November already passed Prop 1a, a $9.95 billion bond for the state's high speed rail system. The Board also voted to support general improvements to the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor, mainly served by Metrolink and Amtrak Surfliners, for more efficient and coordinated service.

By Zach Behrens in News on July 23, 2009 12:55 PM

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

MTA delays decision on extending Italian firm's rail contract Officials will wait two months before making a final ruling on AnsaldoBreda's bid to build 100 train cars in Los Angeles. The deal is worth $300 million (Source: LA Times)

Link: MTA delays decision on extending Italian firm's rail contract - Los Angeles Times

MTA delays decision on extending Italian firm's rail contract
Officials will wait two months before making a final ruling on AnsaldoBreda's bid to build 100 train cars in Los Angeles. The deal is worth $300 million.

By Maeve Reston

July 24, 2009
Los Angeles County transportation officials Thursday delayed for two months a decision on whether to extend the contract options of AnsaldoBreda, an Italian rail-car maker that has pledged to build a plant in downtown Los Angeles if it gets the $300-million deal.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's chief executive, Art Leahy, said agency staff and the firm had made significant progress this week in hammering out an agreement for 100 additional light-rail cars that includes up to $300 million in guarantees.

MTA chief recommends against Italian firm's rail cars

But in the lengthy discussion preceding the vote, several board members drilled the firm's attorney, Jeffrey M. Capaccio, with tough questions about the company's performance under its current contract, its financial promises and its business connections in Iran -- with one director sharply critical of the company's tactics and intensive lobbying.

MTA staff members had previously favored seeking competitive bids for the new work, citing AnsaldoBreda's performance problems under its base contract for 50 light-rail cars.

As negotiations grew heated over the last week, the firm's lobbyist urged greater scrutiny of a potential competitor, Siemens Transportation Systems. The head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Maria Elena Durazo, echoed many of the firm's arguments in a letter Monday to board members, also raising questions about Siemens' dealings in Iran. Durazo is backing the firm because of its pledge to hire union workers for the proposed plant.

At Thursday's meeting, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, a board member, charged AnsaldoBreda's lobbyists with organizing the campaign against Siemens while misleading public officials about the Iranian projects of its own sister company, Ansaldo Energia. The two companies are both owned by Finmeccanica.

Calling the lobbying campaign "despicable," Yaroslavsky read from a news article and a recent Ansaldo Energia company report suggesting ongoing work in Iran. "I don't trust your company," Yaroslavsky told Capaccio.

Yaroslavsky said the company owed board members an apology "for this incessant campaign, which you thought would intimidate me and others to fold."

Company representatives told officials and The Times that its most recent project in Iran was completed in 2002.

Capaccio said after the meeting that he would seek clarification from company officials overseas.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who also sits on the board and is an AnsaldoBreda critic, questioned Leahy about why fellow board member Richard Katz, appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, was the sole director in this week's negotiations.

Leahy said Katz asked him if he could sit in. He added Katz did not lead the negotiations and said he consulted agency ethics officials, who did not object to Katz's attending.

Other members of the board did not know that Katz was part of the talks, according to an exchange between Antonovich and Leahy. Alluding to past problems at the MTA, Antonovich said: "We would like to have more openness. . . . Reverting back to some of those old methods of doing business is really counterproductive to the entire region."

With the opportunity to create between 500 to 1,000 jobs, Katz said he would "not let any stone go unturned in an attempt to make that happen. . . . My concern has only been that the MTA get the best deal possible," he said. Katz added that he did not know of any other deal in the country in which a rail firm had offered an irrevocable letter of credit of up to $300 million that could be drawn down by the MTA in the event of poor performance.

Capaccio said the company was committed to fixing the issues with the first 50 cars and making a fresh start with agency officials. "Mistakes were made, we understand that," Capaccio said. "We are going to rectify those mistakes, and we have a very, very powerful financial instrument that you guys can hold over our heads, and hold us to the fire, to make sure that we comply."

maeve.reston@latimes.com

Lobbying for high-speed rail funding begins (Source: www.ENR.com)

Link: Lobbying for high-speed rail funding begins | Business News | Construction Digital

Lobbying for high-speed rail funding begins

DATE: 7/23/2009
Pre-applications totaling $102.5 billion are received from 40 states; only $8 in stimulus money available
By Kevin Doyle

In our most recent edition of Construction Digital magazine, we detailed President Barack Obama’s desire to create high-speed rail corridors throughout the United States. The president set aside $8 billion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to jump-start the process.

Read the July issue of Construction Digital for the exclusive interview.

However, with every ambitious plan, it seems there comes a dilemma and Obama’s dilemma, pleasant though it may be, is this: How does one parcel out the available money when 278 applications totaling $102.5 billion have been received?

More money, though not nearly enough, may be on the way. A House committee has recommended an additional $4 billion for high-speed rail in regular 2010 appropriations.

Looking at the crush of interest, Rick Harnish, Executive Director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, says, “Basically, this confirms what we’ve been saying. All around the country people want good, high-quality, dependable train service, and there needs to be a federal program to make it happen.”

FRA is going through an “avalanche” of pre-applications that came in before the July 10 deadline, says spokesman Warren Flatau. Final applications are due on Aug. 24 for three of FRA’s four grant categories. The deadline for the fourth category is Oct. 2. DOT expects to award the first batch of rail grants in the fall. Secretary Ray LaHood says, “We’re going to try and really jump-start opportunities...in several places in the country where people have been dreaming about high-speed rail for a decade or more.”

Only states, the District of Columbia, or multistate groups are eligible to apply for the rail grants. DOT reports applications were filed by 40 states and the District of Columbia. Some states submitted multiple proposals. California led the way, with applications totaling $24.2 billion. It has plans for a $40-billion, 800-mile system linking major cities.

Maryland ranked second, with more than $11 billion in proposals. Of that, $3 billion would be for projects within the state’s boundaries, most of them on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. Major items include $1.5 billion to replace three bridges and install new track structures and $1 billion to replace the Baltimore & Potomac tunnel, which dates from the 1870s. FRA also included in Maryland’s total about $2.4 billion for Northeast Corridor projects in other states, including $400 million for the long-delayed Moynihan station project in Manhattan. Maryland DOT has been working with other Northeast states and agreed to take the lead for those corridor projects in the FRA competition, says MDOT spokeswoman Erin Henson.

Midwest states’ applications “appear to be very well coordinated,” says Harnish. The region’s plan includes 110-mph service from Chicago to St. Louis, Chicago to Milwaukee to Madison, Wis., and Chicago to Detroit.

LaHood acknowledges limits. “We know we’re not going to fund all the high-speed rail with tax dollars,” he says. “Some of it’s going to have to be private investment. And we know there are private investors out there that are ready to do that.” FRA says pre-applications from California, Nevada and New York include funding from “non-public entities.”

LaHood says foreign companies are seeking a part in the program. “I guarantee you those companies that have been involved in high-speed rail in Asia and Europe are in America right now meeting with the folks that are putting proposals together to tap into our $8 billion,” he says. Central Japan Railway Co. announced on June 29 it plans to offer a version of its bullet train for the U.S. and other international markets.

The House Appropriations Committee wants high-speed rail to expand beyond ARRA-funded work. The panel on July 17 approved a 2010 transportation spending bill that includes $4 billion for high-speed rail, quadruple the amount President Obama requested.

Source: www.ENR.com

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

Pittsburg might be winner in L.A. spat (Source: San Francisco Business Times)

Link: San Francisco Business Times: Pittsburg might be winner in L.A. spat

Pittsburg might be winner in L.A. spat

Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 12:33pm PDT


Photo: AnsaldoBreda Inc.

A spat in Los Angeles over light rail cars might ultimately result in a boost to the economy for Pittsburg, the tiny East Bay suburb.

L.A. County transportation officials are expected to vote tomorrow on whether to extend its deal with AnsaldoBreda Inc. to build more light rail cars. If AnsaldoBreda wins that $300 million contract, it has pledged to build a manufacturing plant in Los Angeles.

But winning that contract is no sure thing for AnsaldoBreda, which has its corporate headquarters in Italy. The head of the L.A. Metropolitan Transportation Authority is recommending against extending the contract. Staff reports said light rail cars that AnsaldoBreda has already delivered to L.A. were 6,000 pounds too heavy and incompatible with others in the fleet.

Should L.A. shut out AnsaldoBreda, the company still wants to build a manufacturing plant in the United States and it will consider Pittsburg, where it already has an assembly plant for contracts with BART and San Francisco’s MUNI and where it builds L.A.s light rail cars. The Pittsburg assembly plant employs about 60 people.

“We’ll give the Bay Area a pretty close look if things don’t work out like we hope on Thursday,” said Chris Lehane, a spokesman for AnsaldoBreda.