Expo Line will be Safe

CityWatch - An insider look at City Hall - Expo Line will be Safe: It’s a Fact

Expo Line will be Safe: It’s a Fact Print E-mail
Moving LA
By Darrell Clarke

Active ImageSimple fact checking refutes the “Fix Expo” contentions about the Expo Line’s safety, equity, and funding (4/10/09 CityWatch).

Expo Line's phase 1 from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City is well under construction and scheduled to open next year. We can’t have this critical transportation alternative to the Santa Monica Freeway traffic soon enough!

The Expo Line follows the safe standard of mostly-at-grade light rail in many cities: 35 mph under signal control in boulevard medians, 55 mph with gated crossings on private fenced right-of-way, and bridges or underpasses specified where required for cross traffic or topography. Recent local precedents of at-grade light rail are the Pasadena Gold Line, which has had an excellent safety record since opening in 2003, and the Eastside Gold Line, opening later this year. Other cities that have opened similar lines in the last few years include Phoenix, San Francisco, Portland, Salt Lake City, Houston, Minneapolis, and Charlotte.

Finding at-grade light rail more pedestrian-friendly, the City of Santa Monica requested and the Expo Authority just approved that option along Colorado Avenue. Santa Monica’s 3/2/09 city council report noted, “Street-level rail corridors provide greater opportunities over time for retail businesses, an enhanced pedestrian environment and walkable connections to the neighborhoods.”

The Expo Line’s 0.7 mile in Culver City happens to have only one street crossing, across two legs of the intersection of National and Washington. It will have a rail bridge due to traffic. For the same traffic reason there will be over twice the length of similar bridges in Los Angeles east of Ballona Creek over Jefferson, La Cienega, and La Brea, as well as an underpass below Figueroa and Flower.

The California Public Utilities Commission approved the safety of all but one proposed crossing on the Expo Line. That remaining one by Dorsey High will have a pedestrian bridge instead of a gated crossing.

Phase 1 is already funded. Measure R is providing funding for phase 2, the rest of the way to Santa Monica, which is being designed to the same high standards. Federal stimulus money is for "shovel ready" projects that have received environmental clearance and completed their design. These are absolutely not for the unprecedented action of canceling a project well under construction to be unnecessarily redesigned at double the cost. (Darrell Clarke is Co-Chair of Friends 4 Expo Transit. Friends 4 Expo Transit is the grassroots group of volunteers who have been supporting the Expo Line since 2000 (and some individually for 20 years). Our motto, “Connecting Neighbors,” reflects members all along the Exposition corridor in Los Angeles, Culver City, and Santa Monica, plus the larger region. Website: www.friends4expo.org .) ◘

CityWatch
Vol 7 Issue 33
Pub: Apr 24, 2009

No Stimulus money for the California to Vegas Meglev train

Plan for stimulus dollars makes no mention of California to Vegas train | plan, barstow, stimulus - News - Desert Dispatch

Plan for stimulus dollars makes no mention of California to Vegas train
Comments 2 | Recommend 0
Proponents still hope to get funding
April 20, 2009 - 3:55 PM
By ABBY SEWELL, staff writer

BARSTOW • The Obama administration’s strategic plan for spending the $8 billion in stimulus funding allotted to high-speed rail projects makes no mention of a proposed rail line from Anaheim to Las Vegas that would stop in Barstow.

Project proponents are still hopeful that some of the funds may come their way.

The plan released Thursday by President Barack Obama and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood lists 10 designated high-speed rail corridors where projects are eligible to receive funding, none of which include the Anaheim to Las Vegas route.

A California corridor connecting the Bay Area with Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego is one of those listed in the plan.

In addition to the $8 billion designated for high speed rail in the stimulus plan, President Obama proposed to create a $1 billion per year grant program for high-speed rail projects.

The funding approach proposed in the strategic plan would allow stimulus dollars to be used to build “ready to go” projects with preliminary engineering and environmental work completed, to develop corridor-wide proposals, or to fund the planning process for corridors not yet ready for construction.

Bruce Aguilera, chair of the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission, which is tasked with moving the Anaheim to Las Vegas train project forward, stated via email that the project proponents still plan to file a request for stimulus funds and expect to be eligible.

“We have a plan and (are) moving fast to have the first leg built during the president’s first term,” Aguilera wrote.

Lori Irving, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Department of Transportation, said projects that are not located in the existing corridors may still be eligible to compete for some of the stimulus funds.

The Barstow City Council voted March 31 to take an official stance supporting the Anaheim to Las Vegas train proposal, known as the California-Nevada Interstate Maglev Project. The proposal would involve running a high-speed train using magnetic levitation technology along the route, with stops in Ontario, Victorville, Barstow, and Primm, with its central maintenance yard to be located in Barstow.

The first leg of the project, as proposed, would run from Las Vegas to Primm, at an anticipated cost of $1.3 billion. The total cost of the 268-mile route is projected at $12 to $15 billion.

The project had already been designated for $45 million in federal funds prior to the stimulus package, but proponents need to find 20 percent matching funds before the federal money can be released.

The City Council also agreed to voice its opposition to a competing proposal, the privately funded DesertXpress, which would run from Victorville to Las Vegas without a stop in Barstow.

The transportation department is required to issue a full set of application guidelines by June 17, and the Obama administration expected to announce the first round of grant awards before the end of the summer.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4123 or asewell@desertdispatch.com

Contra Costa Times beat the LA times in announcing that the Gold Line will have two names.

MTA approves Spanish name for Gold Line light rail Eastside extension - Los Angeles Times

MTA approves Spanish name for Gold Line light rail Eastside extension
Segment in Boyle Heights and East L.A. will be called 'la Linea de Oro, Edward R. Roybal.' The whole line, from East L.A. to Pasadena, will still be named the Gold Line.
By Hector Becerra
8:15 PM PDT, April 23, 2009
Despite some misgivings, the MTA Board of Directors voted Thursday to use a Spanish translation as the name of the Gold Line's Eastside rail extension, marking a first for the transportation agency.

The entire light rail line, which stretches from Pasadena to the eastern edge of East Los Angeles, will still be called the Gold Line.

But the segment that opens this summer, traversing Boyle Heights and East L.A., will also be named "la Linea de Oro, Edward R. Roybal" in Spanish-language MTA literature and brochures and on station signs. In English materials, that segment will be called "the Edward R. Roybal Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension."

It is the first time the name of an MTA facility, rail or bus line has been translated in any way from English to Spanish.

In her motion, County Supervisor Gloria Molina said that community members had asked that the rail line be referred to in Spanish, which she called a "cornerstone of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles."

But the naming has prompted debate.

Art Herrera, 72, a lifelong Boyle Heights resident and a member of the Review Advisory Committee for the Eastside extension of the Gold Line, criticized the motion.

"My kids aren't going to say, 'Dad, let's take la Linea Roja to Hollywood,' either. They're going to say, 'Let's take the Red Line,' " Herrera said. "If we go to Mexico, they're not going to change names to English. This is ludicrous."

Molina could not be reached for comment.

L.A. City Councilman Jose Huizar voted to support the motion but said he was bothered there was no public input.

Maya Emsden, an MTA executive who oversees signage and the design of maps, said she did not know of any other light rail line in the country with two names, let alone in different languages. The motion also breaks ground for the MTA. "We don't translate proper nouns," Emsden said. "This is a first."

hector.becerra@latimes.com

This article argues Meg-lev train would take car traffic out of Barstow and take away business

Would a high-speed train really benefit us? | speed, high, trains - Opinion - Desert Dispatch

Would a high-speed train really benefit us?
Comments 0 | Recommend 0
April 23, 2009 - 10:41 AM
By SCOTT SHACKFORD, editor

It had been a while since the proposals for two high-speed trains passing through Barstow to Las Vegas had been in the news, but it’s not a surprise to see them under discussion again with the change in administration.

Among the many bad ideas President Barack Obama has developed in his bid to rebrand “pork” as “stimulus” is $8 billion for high-speed rail lines in various parts of the country.

A proposed rail line connecting California’s major cities is on the list. A proposed Maglev (magnetic levitation) line from Anaheim to Las Vegas is not.

So at least there are some limits to the administration’s wasteful spending, though the train’s supporters are still hoping to get funding somehow. But with the Bush administration (which wasn’t all that fiscally conservative) against it and the Obama administration looking elsewhere, we should not be holding our breath for a fancy high-tech train zooming through town anytime soon. Those embattled casinos are more likely to actually be built.

The larger question to ask though is whether these trains actually would be good for Barstow. Barstow leadership has supported the maglev project because they’ve promised a stop in town and a local facility that would provide jobs.

But how many jobs would be lost elsewhere in town if the train is successful? And what would replace those? What would happen to the gas stations and fast food stores when exhausted motorists from Los Angeles don’t need a break? What will happen to the outlet malls and the tour buses from Los Angeles? Do leaders really, really think those folks will continue to stop at our shops when they could simply, conveniently continue on to Las Vegas?

We don’t oppose the private marketplace forcing businesses to adapt to changes, even if it results in some displacement. But this is a government project, meaning we are giving the government money, which will then be used to build something to essentially make it easier for Barstow’s primary external revenue base to completely bypass us in the future.

The maglev project will benefit many people — at least the folks who get the government contracts to build it. Whether it’s a benefit to Barstow, however, is another question entirely.

NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard) is not just something local; it's internatoinal,

Supreme Court convicts female Buddhist monk - INSIDE JoongAng Daily

Supreme Court convicts female Buddhist monk
Venerable Jiyul’s last appeal in the Cheonseong tunnel case falls short
April 24, 2009
A female Buddhist monk was convicted by Korea’s highest court yesterday of obstructing a government bullet train project during a long-running protest against construction of a tunnel near her temple, capping one of the most famous environmental controversies of the country.

The Supreme Court yesterday convicted Venerable Jiyul of obstructing state business. The 52-year-old monk is a member of the Jogye Order, the country’s largest Buddhist sect.

The court handed her a six-month suspended sentence and placed her on two years’ probation.

Venerable Jiyul is known for her six-year protest against the government’s plan to build a tunnel through Mount Cheonseong as a part of the Gyeongbu bullet train line. Her monastery, Naewon Temple, is located on the mountain in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang.

“Although she obstructed construction to prevent environmental destruction, her protest methods - such as physically blocking an excavator at the site - were not reasonable,” the court said. “The contractor had been granted a court injunction against her protest while her request for an injunction to stop the construction was rejected, but she continued to obstruct the construction, continuing her illegitimate action.”

After the government announced the plan to build a 13.28-kilometer (8.25-mile) tunnel through Mount Cheonseong for the bullet train network connecting Seoul and Busan, Venerable Jiyul started a series of protests, often involving creative methods.

In 2003, she undertook a 50-kilometer-long, three-steps-one-bow pilgrimage from the Busan train station to the mountain, capturing media attention. She also fasted a number of times in protest against the construction. In 2005, she fasted for about 120 days and was hospitalized with serious complications.

After fierce protests by the Buddhist monk and environmentalists, the Roh Moo-hyun administration reassessed the tunnel project, but resumed the work in 2003. Venerable Jiyul staged 24 protests at the construction site.

Prosecutors indicted her in October 2004 on charges of obstructing state business.

In 2006, the Ulsan District Court found Venerable Jiyul guilty of the charges in absentia as she repeatedly refused to appear in court. A six-month suspended jail term was handed her at the time. The court said her responsibility for obstructing the state project was serious, but did not jail her immediately, taking into account her nonviolence, lack of a previous criminal record and deteriorating health.

She appealed the ruling and made her first court appearance in January 2007 for her trial. The appeals high court upheld the initial verdict. She then appealed to the Supreme Court.

In addition to her protests at the construction site, Venerable Jiyul also participated in the high-profile class- action suit against the Korea Rail Network Authority, filed in 2003 to protect the clawed salamanders inhabiting the mountain. Saying the salamanders were a rare species living in the area, Venerable Jiyul and environmentalists demanded that the tunnel project be scrapped.

In 2006, the Supreme Court denied the environmentalists’ request to bar construction, ending the two years and eight months of controversy that became known as the “salamander class-action suit.” After three delays, work resumed at the mountain as environmentalists and the government agreed to a joint survey of environmental impact. The delays cost the builder 14.5 billion won ($10.8 million). The tunnel is scheduled to be completed in 2010.


By Ser Myo-ja [myoja@joongang.co.kr]

It's official. The Gold Line has two names.

Metro Gold Line to have 2 names - in English and Spanish - ContraCostaTimes.com

Metro Gold Line to have 2 names - in English and Spanish
Daily News Wire Services
Posted: 04/23/2009 02:50:28 PM PDT
Updated: 04/23/2009 02:51:34 PM PDT




When the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension light rail train begins running from downtown to East Los Angeles this summer, it will have two names -- one in English and one in Spanish, county supervisors decided today.

Supervisor and Metropolitan Transportation Authority board member Gloria Molina, who represents the largely Spanish-speaking East Los Angeles area, proposed naming the line in Spanish, which would make it the first Metro route to have a Spanish name.

Her proposal passed without comment, but was then reconsidered at the request of Los Angeles City Councilman and board member Jose Huizar, who wanted to refer the naming to a committee to generate more public input.

But rather than revisit the prickly issue of whether government agencies should use languages other than English, after nearly 20 minutes of intense discussion, the Metro board decided to give the route a double name -- the "Edward R. Roybal Metro Gold Line" in English, and "La Linea de Oro, Edward R. Roybal" in Spanish.

Roybal was a Hispanic politician from Los Angeles who served for 30 years in the Legislature and 13 years on the City Council. He died in 2005 at age 89.

As for the signs along the Gold Line itself, "All of the station signs, I'm fairly confident, have been fabricated at this point," a Metro staffer told the board. She promised to report on the matter later.

WSJ article sited in EcoGeek blog

Spain's Bullet Train Changes Nation -- and Fast - WSJ.com

By THOMAS CATAN

CIUDAD REAL, Spain -- To sell his vision of a high-speed train network to the American public, President Barack Obama this week cited Spain, a country most people don't associate with futuristic bullet trains.

View Full Image
Spain's system of 218-mile-an-hour bullet trains, the AVE[mdash ]meaning 'bird' in Spanish[mdash ]has increased mobility for many residents, though critics say it has come at the expense of less-glamorous forms of transportation.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Spain's system of 218-mile-an-hour bullet trains, the AVE -- meaning 'bird' in Spanish -- has increased mobility for many residents, though critics say it has come at the expense of less-glamorous forms of transportation.
Spain's system of 218-mile-an-hour bullet trains, the AVE[mdash ]meaning 'bird' in Spanish[mdash ]has increased mobility for many residents, though critics say it has come at the expense of less-glamorous forms of transportation.
Spain's system of 218-mile-an-hour bullet trains, the AVE[mdash ]meaning 'bird' in Spanish[mdash ]has increased mobility for many residents, though critics say it has come at the expense of less-glamorous forms of transportation.

Yet the country is on track to bypass France and Japan to have the world's biggest network of ultrafast trains by the end of next year, figures from the International Union of Railways and the Spanish government show.

The growth of the Alta Velocidad Española, or AVE, high-speed rail network is having a profound effect on life in Spain. Many Spaniards are fiercely attached to their home regions and studies show they are unusually reluctant to live or even travel elsewhere.

But those centuries-old habits are starting to change as Spain stitches its disparate regions together with a €100 billion ($130 billion) system of bullet trains designed to traverse the countryside at up to 218 miles an hour.

"We Spaniards didn't used to move around much," says José María Menéndez, who heads the civil engineering department at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. "Now I can't make my students sit still for one second. The AVE has radically changed this generation's attitude to travel."

View Interactive
High-Speed Frenzy

See details of Spain's ambitious plans.

Spain opened its first high-speed line, between Madrid and Seville, in 1992. At the time, the decision to run the line to sleepy Seville, host to the World Expo that year, was deeply controversial. Critics said it would be a costly failure for then-Prime Minister Felipe González, and that he built the line just to take him to Seville, his hometown, on the weekends.

But the AVE-which means "bird" in Spanish- proved to be a popular and political success. Politicians now fight to secure stations in their districts. Political parties compete to offer ever-more ambitious expansion plans. Under the latest blueprint, nine out of ten Spaniards will live within 31 miles of a high speed rail station by 2020.

By last year, the sprawling network of lines that stretches out from the capital, Madrid, reached Málaga in the south, Valladolid to the north and Barcelona in the country's northeast. Now, residents of Barcelona can be in Madrid in just over two-and-a-half hours-a journey that takes around six hours by car.

In the year since the Madrid-Barcelona line opened in February 2008, the AVE, costing passengers roughly the same as what they would pay to fly, has snatched half the route's air-passenger traffic.

"We had expected it to be mostly business travelers on this line," says Julio Hermida, a spokesman for Renfe, the state train operator. "But we're finding it's just as busy on the weekends," as Barcelona residents discover Madrid and vice-versa, despite a long-lived rivalry between the two cities. "To some extent, it's changing the way people think about each other."

Not everyone is pleased. ETA, the militant Basque separatist group, has said it would target anyone involved in the construction of a high-speed train line that will connect the restive northern region with Madrid and France. In December, ETA killed the owner of a company working as a contractor on the project, and in February detonated a bomb at the headquarters of Ferrovial SA, another contractor working on the project.

Other, nonviolent critics say the country's massive investment in high speed rail has come at the expense of other, less-glamorous forms of transportation. Starved of funds, Spain's antiquated freight-train network has fallen into disuse, forcing businesses to move their goods around by road. That means the Spanish economy is unusually sensitive to changes in the price of crude oil.

Critics say the AVE will never stop losing money. Even its backers say high-speed rail can only be economical if the state bears much of the construction costs. But they say the train's benefits-lower greenhouse-gas emissions, less road congestion and, in Spain's case, greater social cohesion and economic mobility-make it an investment worth making.

"The country is becoming far more intertwined," says José María Ureña, a professor of city and regional planning at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. "In a country that tends to separate out somewhat, that can only be a good thing."

The AVE was originally designed to compete with the airplane for commutes between major cities around 300 miles apart. But the biggest, and least expected, effect of the AVE has been on the smaller places in between.

Perhaps the most striking example is Ciudad Real, a scrappy town 120 miles south of Madrid in Castilla-La Mancha which, Mr. Ureña says, "had completely vanished from the map." In medieval times, the town was a key stopover point on the route between the two of most important cities of the time, Córdoba and Toledo. But the railway and the highway south later bypassed the town, and Ciudad Real began to wither.

Now it has an AVE station that puts it just 50 minutes away from Madrid, and Ciudad Real has come alive. The city has attracted a breed of daily commuters that call themselves "Avelinos." The AVE helped attract a host of industries to Ciudad Real, and the train is full in both directions.

Indra, an information technology company, moved a "software factory" to Ciudad Real a decade ago. "Along with the University, the AVE was one of the key reasons we moved here," says Ángel Villodre, the director of the center.

The University of Castilla-La Mancha's campus here has grown sharply in size and importance. "The school is here because of the AVE," says Mr. Menéndez, the department head. "Without it, it would be impossible to attract the high-level staff we need."

Around a third of Mr. Menéndez's students are from a different region of Spain -- almost unheard of in a country where students mostly stay close to home.

Airlines have in the past lobbied hard against high-speed rail projects, seeing them as unfair, government-subsidized competition. Southwest Airlines was credited with helping to kill a project to build a Texan bullet train in the 1990s.

But in Ciudad Real, an international airport has just opened its doors. Its key selling point? The AVE. The private owners of the airport have placed it next to the high speed line, hoping to offer a cheap alternative to Madrid's airports.

"If you can't beat them, join them," shrugs José Lopes, director of airlines development at Aeropuerto Central.

Spain's high-speed rail, AVE, sighted as a model for California

EcoGeek - Clean Technology

Spain’s Bullet Train Bringing People Together

Spain has got a lot of green going on – tons of solar, tons of wind and a bullet train. If you are American and you are unfamiliar with bullet trains… it’s probably because we don’t have any. Spain does, though, as do other European countries and Japan. Bullet trains are simply high speed trains that offer a convenient alternative to flying.

Spain’s bullet train is called Alta Velocidad Española, or AVE (Spanish for “bird”, which makes for nice imagery). It can travel at speeds up to 218 mph and it spans a huge corridor from Barcelona to Madrid to Seville. The AVE is a work still in progress and, if all goes according to plan, 90% of the Spanish population will live within 31 miles of an AVE station.

As this WSJ article reports(see next entry), the AVE has tremendously affected life for many Spaniards. Traditionally, Spain has been a country where people stayed close to home when it came to college and jobs. Now, many people are moving into towns that were once dying out because those towns have AVE stations. Colleges in such towns can attract more students and qualified professors. Businesses start up. All because of the connectivity.

Of course, it should be noted that not everyone in Spain is happy that the government is pouring money into the AVE project. After all, the country’s economy is slumping, and it will take a long time, if ever, to make back the money being spent.

Still, it’s worth considering the train’s merits, especially as we ponder over the possibility of building our own high speed rail in California. And wouldn’t it be fitting if California, which owes much of its history to the Spanish, drew Spanish inspiration for its trains as well?

Koretz and Vahedi Debate: transportation issues highlighted

Streetsblog » Koretz and Vahedi Debate Transportation and More at UCLA

Koretz and Vahedi Debate Transportation and More at UCLA


by Ted Rogers on April 23, 2009

Since Ted Rogers has done a better job covering the CD5 Council Race than I anyway, I thought why not make it official. For the rest of his coverage, check out Biking in LA.

Call it the once and future debate.

This past Monday night, David Vahedi and Paul Koretz — the candidates running to replace Jack Weiss as council person representing L.A.’s 5th Council District — met in a debate on the UCLA campus.

Hosted by the appropriately named Bruins for Traffic Relief, the event was co-sponsored by ABC7 and Manatt Phelps & Philips, LLC, with an assist from the League of Women Voters, and mediated by ABC7’s Adrienne Alpert.

Vahedi called for a Metro Park and Ride system that would travel down the 405, connecting Valley residents to job sites in Century City and along the Wilshire corridor, as well as city-owned parking facilities near other major transit lines. Koretz recommended an overhaul of the city transportation plan, saying that instead of spending billions to build subways, the city should look into innovative above-ground options, such as an advanced personalized rapid transit system — something Alpert characterized as a fantasy plan, drawing the biggest laugh of the night.

Alpert asked both candidates for their top three priorities for spending stimulus funds; Koretz listed transportation, infrastructure and affordable housing. Vahedi suggested sufficient hospitals, mass transit and schools, as well as funding additional scholarship programs.

The debate will be televised on ABC7 this May, on a date to be determined.

Metrolink will vote on whether to strap riders with a 4.5-percent fare increase on Friday

Metrolink commuter fares could go up

Metrolink commuter fares could go up
Action by SoCal MTA system helps drive the request for higher fares, according to Metrolink

The board that oversees Metrolink will vote on whether to strap riders with a 4.5-percent fare increase on Friday.

Francisca Rivas (The Signal)

By Brian Charles
Signal Staff Writer
bcharles@the-signal.com
661-259-1234 x517
Posted: April 22, 2009 10:16 p.m.
Updated: April 23, 2009 4:55 a.m.


Commuters who rely on Metrolink for transportation could soon be faced with an increase in fares.

The board that oversees Metrolink will vote on whether to strap riders with a 4.5-percent fare increase on Friday.

If approved by the Southern California Regional Railroad Agency, the fare hike would drive the cost of a monthly commuter pass from Santa Clarita Station to Union Station from $211.25 to $222.50. The increased revenue will offset the cost of transfers from Metrolink trains to all of the Los Angeles County transit operators, said Francisco Oaxaca, Metrolink spokesman.

It also will help pay for the rising cost to operate Metrolink, he said.

"In the past, Metrolink passengers could use passes to transfer to any other transit system at no cost to the riders," Oaxaca said. But that didn't mean that the transfer rides were free of charge.

Every three months county transit systems send Metrolink a bill for the transferred passenger-rides, he said. Metrolink budgeted $6.4 million to pay for transfers in fiscal year 2008-09 and will come close to spending that amount, Oaxaca said.

With Los Angeles County transit operators agreeing to raise transfer fares by 60 percent, the free rides may be over, Oaxaca said. In the future, Metrolink riders could pay 30 percent of the transfer cost to ride buses and light rail throughout L.A. County, Oaxaca said.

The other 70 percent still falls on commuters in the form of the 4.5-percent fare increase, said Tony Bell, spokesman for Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich. Bell blames the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which he said tossed its weight around to drive through the transfer-fare increase.

"In the sense that they are the largest player, they (the MTA) do have the greatest influence," Oaxaca said.
The MTA influence tips the balance of power in regional transit planning in favor of the city of Los Angeles and often leaves the suburban commuter stuck with the bill, Bell said.

"This is routine. The city of Los Angeles and its four reps on the MTA board walk lock-step with the mayor," Bell said. "It's like a poker game with one player holding four aces."

Additionally, the MTA and other Los Angeles County transit agencies are burdening Metrolink with complications and extra costs, Oaxaca said.

These include a transit-access-pass system that replaced paper tickets with reusable plastic cards that are scanned a deduct money charged to the cards, said David Sotero, MTA spokesman. The same technology is scheduled to come to light rail by early 2010, he said.

In the same time period, Metrolink will give free transit-access-pass cards to its 10-trip and monthly-pass customers and will add transit-access-pass dispensers at some of its high-passenger-volume stations, Oaxaca said.

Metrolink will absorb the cost of the machines and of giving out the free cards, Oaxaca said. The price of the program has not been determined, he said.

The Metrolink board meets 10 a.m. on Friday at 818 West 7th Street Los Angeles on 12th floor in the San Bernadino Conference Room.

Another article about calling the Gold Line extention the "Linea de Oro." How hot a topic will this become?

Gold Line Eastside Extenion: Let's Call it la Linea de Oro - LAist: Los Angeles News, Food, Arts & Events

County Supervisor and Metro Board Member Gloria Molina wants to offiicially rename the Edward R. Roybal Gold Line Eastside Extension to its direct Spanish translation: la linea de oro, Edward R. Roybal. That's because the communities it serves are more than 95% Latino. The Metro board will vote on the matter today, a couple months short of the line's expected grand opening.

Save money on your Utility Bills??

Are You Eligible to Save 20% or More on Your Utility Bills? - LAist: Los Angeles News, Food, Arts & Events

Long standing programs to help low-income individuals and families save money on their utility bills and to purchase energy-efficient appliances and equipment are not totally being taken advantage of by 900,000 Californians. That's why this week utility companies like Southern California Edison and LADWP are making an effort to push these programs. Basically, if your total household has a total income of less than a certain amount, you're eligible (see a chart and info here). And it's not based on last year's tax returns or any of that--if you recently lost your job, then your income is zero. Qualifying people can receive a 20 percent discount on their utility bills for electricity and gas. Another program will install energy-efficient appliances and equipment at no cost to eligible customers. And hey renters, this is for you, too.

Westside Subway Meeting Wrap-Up

Westside Subway Meeting Wrap-Up « TheBremnerGroup’s Neighborhood Notes

Westside Subway Meeting Wrap-Up

April 22, 2009 at 9:31 pm · Filed under Community Bulletins, Uncategorized and tagged: Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Community Bulletins, Consumer Services, Little Holmby, Westwood



Thanks to Curbed LA for providing the following minutes of the most recent Purple Line Subway meeting:

Last night was the fourth meeting in the latest round of public scoping gatherings for the extension of the Purple Line, the Jimi Hendrix Line, subway, which is now in the midst of an environmental study, one of the necessary steps before construction. Last night’s meeting at the Presbyterian Church on Westwood updated the public on the status of the mega-project and issues like station placement, parking, and construction, all things being considered by the folks conducting the draft environmental report, which should be completed in a little over a year. After that is engineering, design, construction, and finally transit service; construction could begin in 2013, and service to Fairfax Avenue could start in 2016. But many things remain undecided, and these meetings provide an opportunity for the public to weigh in. In the meantime, don’t be alarmed if you soon witness contractors conducting soil boring operations.

The two subway options being studied:
-A straight shot down Wilshire, save for a stop in Century City ($6.1 billion)
-Same as above, but a WeHo spur that runs along Santa Monica Boulevard, and down either La Cienega or San Vicente Boulevards ($9 billion)

Measure R will provide about $4 billion for the project, which will pay to start the extension, a project that will open in phases. Those phases:
-If everything goes as planned, construction could begin in 2013 and an extension to Fairfax could open by 2016.
-The next phase would bring the subway to Century City; no timetable yet because federal/state funding most likely needed for this part.
-Third phase would bring the subway near or past the 405. The hope is to build Westwood and a West LA station, with the thought that a West LA station will get people from Santa Monica to take the subway, since most wouldn’t drive to the Westwood station, which would require crossing the congested 405 area
-Fourth phase could build out the WeHo line and connect it to the Purple Line in Beverly Hills
-The other alternatives are building out the entire “subway to the sea” with a terminus on 4th Street, near the 3rd Street Promenade, and near the Expo Line terminus
-The dream alternative is a full “subway to the sea” that includes the WeHo spur

Jody Litvak, who handles regional communications for the extension, discussed some interesting points:
-The Crenshaw station might get the boot; right now it’s being studied whether it’s necessary
-The West LA station was always thought to be at Bundy, now Barrington and Wilshire is being considered since it’s more high-density
-The Century City station may be on Santa Monica Blvd., or closer to the heart of Century City
-Westwood station will either be on Wilshire or closer to UCLA campus
-A WeHo station could either be at Santa Monica Blvd. and La Cienega, or Santa Monica Blvd. and San Vicente
-Decking will probably be used on Wilshire during construction, meaning a temporary road will be constructed (probably during the night and on weekends) that will allow vehicular traffic on Wilshire while the subway is being built underneath. This was used in the Red Line construction to Hollywood
-There will be quarterly updates until the final environmental report statement is issued in 2010, and then there will be station area planning meetings

Public comments:
-Almost universally positive and supportive. Suggestions included a big parking lot in Westwood. There was also a push for a 405 light-rail line that connects with the Purple Line.
-One woman was concerned about the water table under Wilshire, and still hoped the subway would follow Santa Monica Blvd. the entire way (probably not gonna happen).
-One guy produced his own map of his dream LA subway system and then went on to declare his love for Litvak, saying she just wants to help people by building the subway. It seemed at one point that he was going to propose to Litvak.

In this article: stimulus monies at work and a sign of increasing coverage of State's proposed high-speed rail

Sacramento railyard makeover finally in motion - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Sacramento railyard makeover finally in motion
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By Tony Bizjak
tbizjak@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Apr. 23, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 1A

For years, it seemed nothing would happen in the barren space that is the downtown railyard. Today, Sacramento finally sees the launch of a much-awaited makeover of the massive downtown railyard site.

Crews begin laying the base for three major roads and two bridges in downtown Sacramento's northwest corner, setting in motion what developers say will be the biggest urban infill project in the country.

"This is a historic moment," said Suheil Totah, the Sacramento head for Atlanta-based railyard owner Thomas Enterprises. "This is the beginning of the future of (downtown) Sacramento."

But, in keeping with the project's history of fits and starts, today's launch remains shadowed by financial uncertainty.

To start construction, the Thomas development company was forced to front funds by leveraging some of its properties in other parts of the country, representatives said.

But it's counting on tens of millions of dollars in promised state infrastructure bond funds to keep the project on track, and more in city and federal funds this year.

"The sooner, the better," Totah said Wednesday after a nail-biting winter when the state, in a budget crisis, froze funding for this and other projects.

State officials recently began selling bonds to finance projects. The railyard was identified Wednesday among the California projects that will receive their promised funding; however, state finance officials said that money won't start flowing for at least a month.

The Thomas company will host a formal groundbreaking ceremony today for what is expected to be a 20-year community-building project.

When done, officials say, the 240-acre site will nearly double downtown's size. It will be home to thousands of residents, hundreds of businesses, anchored by a major train and transit center, possibly including bullet trains to Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

And, although a basketball arena is not currently part of the plan, some officials hope the centrally located redevelopment site may yet be a future home for the Kings.

The project's first phases involve constructing extensions of Fifth and Sixth streets and two bridges over the Amtrak and freight rail tracks.

Developers also plan to build the site's major east-west road – Railyards Boulevard – connecting a rebuilt Jibboom Street to the west and Seventh Street to the east.

Work has to start now, despite the down economy and uncertain financing, so the developer and the city can meet a $20 million deadline in December.

The foundations of the two bridges need to be in place by then so the city can begin moving the passenger and freight tracks to a new site in the railyard.

The federal government appears poised to forward $20 million in economic stimulus funds for that move, if the project is ready to start by December.

City officials have their fingers crossed.

"Everything hinges on the track relocation," the city's Fran Halbakken said.

The prognosis is so minute-by-minute that even as Totah was touring the construction site Wednesday, he was receiving funding updates from Halbakken on his BlackBerry.

Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, said Wednesday that she is pleased that construction finally will begin. She believes that the project financing "is going to be OK" but warned that she and other government officials must continue to push to make sure that the project doesn't stall.

"Everybody has to keep their eye on the ball," Matsui said. "We have to keep it going because if it stops, it is difficult to get it going again."

So far, $288 million in public funds from local, state and federal sources has been authorized for the project's roads and utilities, as well as the track move and a new transit facility at the south end of the railyard – an indication of the project's economic importance to the city and state.

City officials have not yet decided what role the existing historic train depot will play when the tracks are moved a few hundred feet north but say they intend to keep the depot in some way a part of the new transit center.

Despite the promise of government funds, and support from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the downturn has made it difficult for builders to say how fast construction can move.

"If funds are available, you can be driving here by next year," said Elias Rashmawi of Thomas development.

It doesn't mean there will be much reason to drive through the railyard for a few more years, until businesses begin to arrive, he acknowledged.

Once Fifth and Sixth streets are connected to downtown, workers are expected to begin rehabilitating the locomotive shops on site.

The shop building nearest to Fifth Street is planned to become a farmers market, similar to the Ferry Building in San Francisco and the Oxbow Market in Napa. Thomas Enterprises representatives say they are in talks with the developer of those two Bay Area projects.

When asked this week, project officials said there is still room on site for a professional basketball arena.

Earlier site plans had included an arena, but those were tossed aside after voters rejected a public-financing plan. The National Basketball Association currently is working with state officials on a plan to build an arena at Cal Expo, but Totah of Thomas Enterprises says his company is open to reconsideration of an arena on its site.

"We'd be very interested in including it," Totah said Wednesday. "We can still do that."

His company faces another potential stumbling block.

Two years ago, it agreed to sell the lower 33 acres of the site to the city for its transit center. The sides, however, are far apart on a price.

The dispute is scheduled for arbitration this summer.

Supervisor Gloria Molina wants Gold Line extention called "La Linea de Oro."

Molina urges Spanish name for Eastside rail extension - Los Angeles Times

Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times
Supervisor Gloria Molina backs a motion to call Eastside Gold Line extension la Linea de Oro, Edward R. Roybal.

Molina urges Spanish name for Eastside rail extension
Eastside rail route.

Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times

Supervisor Gloria Molina backs a motion to call Eastside Gold Line extension la Linea de Oro, Edward R. Roybal.
Supervisor seeks to recognize Spanish-speaking communities and Latino lawmaker by naming the route la Linea de Oro, Edward R. Roybal.
By Hector Becerra
6:46 PM PDT, April 22, 2009

When light rail returns to the Eastside neighborhoods of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles this summer, many Spanish speaking residents will undoubtedly talk about taking el tren.

But will commuters say they are riding la Linea de Oro?

Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina will propose during an MTA board meeting today that the Eastside extension of the Gold Line be officially named La Linea de Oro, Edward R. Roybal.

If the motion is approved, it would be the first time the name of an MTA facility, rail or bus line will be translated from English to Spanish, MTA spokesman Jose Ubaldo said.

In her motion, Molina says that the Spanish language has been a "cornerstone of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles" and that several community members asked that the rail line be referred to in Spanish, as well as honor the late Latino congressman, who grew up in Boyle Heights.

Molina could not be reached for comment.

The communities of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles are more than 95% Latino, with a huge Spanish-speaking population.

Lupe Bojorquez, 59, a Neighborhood Watch captain, said she has talked in the past with Molina about naming the Eastside stretch of the rail la Linea de Oro.

"I think it would be a nice gesture if it was named in Spanish," Bojorquez said.

Although a date has not been set, the Gold Line extension -- or la Linea de Oro -- is expected to open as early as June.

hector.becerra@latimes.com

Glendale's Najarian is also poised to become chairman of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in June.

Glendale News Press > Politics

Final tally puts Najarian on top

Provisional and absentee ballots put him 236 votes in front of newcomer Laura Friedman.
By Jason Wells
Published: Last Updated Monday, April 20, 2009 10:57 PM PDT
CITY HALL — Councilman Ara Najarian overtook (won) Councilwoman Laura Friedman as the top vote-getter in the April 7 citywide election after officials counted the 2,225 provisional and late vote-by-mail ballots Friday.

Najarian is also poised to become chairman of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in June. The top position comes at a time when the agency is preparing to divvy billions in federal stimulus and Measure R funding to county cities.

“There’s just a huge amount of money that’s flowing through the county for transportation,” he said, adding that it would be his job “to make sure Glendale’s needs are not overlooked.”

The last Glendale representative to serve as MTA chairman was former Mayor Larry Zarian, who was later appointed to the California Transportation Commission.

Antonvich wants northern LA county to have representation on the MTA board.

Antonovich pushes for SCV, AV rep on MTA Board

Antonovich pushes for SCV, AV rep on MTA Board



Source: Office of Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich
Los Angeles County, 5th District
Posted: April 22, 2009 3:38 p.m.
Updated: April 22, 2009 3:43 p.m.

SACRAMENTO - Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich testified before the State Assembly Local Government Committee today in support of a proposal to add an additional member to the Metropolitan Transit Authority's Board of Directors to represent the fast-growing Antelope and Santa Clarita Valleys and develop vital public transit and highway policies.

Antonovich said that Assembly Bill 251, authored by Assemblyman Steve Knight (R- Palmdale), would ensure that the county's northern areas had effective representation on a Board currently dominated by the city of Los Angeles and four representatives who vote in lockstep with Mayor Villaraigosa.

"Our county's regional transportation system is being gambled away in a poker game where one special interest group is always holding four aces," Antonovich said. "Assembly Bill 251 will ensure that the Antelope and Santa Clarita Valleys will have a greater voice in how the MTA initiates projects and allocates funding."

High speed rail critic raises the issue of funding

GilroyDispatch.com | Letters: The real truth about the bullet train and its cost isn't being reported

Letters: The real truth about the bullet train and its cost isn't being reported
9:48 AM
By The Community

The real truth about the bullet train and its cost isn't being reported

Dear Editor,

Running Bullet Train down the U.S. 101 median is baloney bunk. We're missing the point - who's going to pay for it? Supersonic Jet costs are much cheaper, if you include all costs and don't use the bait-and-switch accounting methods of the Valley Transportation Authority or the San Benito Council off Governments. Use legal accounting to see truth in transport.

Second, even if you do find someone stupid enough to pay for it - $1 to $4 billion annual operating losses, plus construction costs now estimated at $81 billion - how do you get past Union Pacific Railroad's property? Unless we're now going to nationalize the American railroads, you don't without the UPRR's permission.

Why in hell aren't you reporting the true story? Your readers deserve much better. Let's have truth in transportation.

Joe Thompson, Gilroy

An argument for high-speed rail

It's the fact track for high-speed trains - Opinion

It's the fact track for high-speed trains
Ian Jacobs
Issue date: 4/22/09 Section: Opinion


America's train system has been traveling in slow motion for too long.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama unveiled a plan to build high-speed rail across the country. The plan calls for $8 billion in stimulus funding, along with a request for $5 billion more over the next five years, to be spent on building new high-speed railroads to connect 10 corridors the government as branded, including a San Francisco-Los Angeles line.

California is already eager to get to work, having passed a $10 billion bond issue for high-speed rail last November.

The construction of high-speed rail throughout the United States is long over due. Japan first built it in the '60s for the Olympics and Europe finished theirs in the late '70s.

It's a sad state of affairs that this country is planning for high-speed rail now, a year away from 2010. By the time the first bullet train is ready to ride, it will be over five decades since Japans was completed.

That's a pathetic statistic.

The high-speed rail will come with the green movement that's sweeping the nation.

People find it hard to argue with Obama's idea, due to growing road congestion, the constant ebb and flow of gas prices and growing awareness of global warming being so prevalent. Transportation officials across the country are jumping for joy and looking at possible cities they can make bullet train connections with.

Opponents argue that building high-speed rail is pointless and a waste of money because trains in America are rarely used, but with faster travel over long distances, this argument will be moot. It will be hard to argue against a comfortable and quick train ride from Los Angeles to San Francisco, around two and a half hours at top speeds of 220 mph. With less hassle than getting onto a plane, or the six-hour car ride down Interstate Highway 5, high-speed rail will have a good chance to compete against air travel.

It is an exciting time for transportation in America. If car companies can get their act together and start producing the hybrid vehicles and solar panels become prevalent throughout our country, the U.S. should get back on the right track.
Pag

10 rountes get stimulus money for high-speed rail

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Obama Announces Regional Finalists For High-Speed Railway
4/16/2009 10:48 AM ET
(RTTNews) - President Barack Obama unveiled his plan for a high-speed railway system Thursday, naming regional finalists for the advanced transportation system. Obama noted that while Americans still like their cars, improved public transportation could allow the country to catch up with other nations, like Japan, who already use the technology.

"High-speed rail is long-overdue, and this plan lets American travelers know that they are not doomed to a future of long lines at the airports or jammed cars on the highways," Obama said.

Making the announcement before he heads to Mexico as part of a four-day jaunt in Central and South America, Obama revealed that $8 billion of economic recovery funds will be dedicated to the plan, along with $1 billion a year for the next five years as a "down payment" on a future passenger-rail system. The first round of grants will be awarded by the Federal Railroad Administration by late summer 2009.

Obama, along with Vice President Biden and Secretary LaHood, announced the finalists for the high-speed railway: California, Pacific Northwest, South Central, Gulf Coast, Chicago Hub Network, Florida, Southeast, Keystone, Empire and Northern New England.

"Everyone knows railways are the best way to connect communities to each other, and as a daily rail commuter for over 35 years, this announcement is near and dear to my heart," Biden said. "Investing in a high-speed rail system will lower our dependence on foreign oil and the bill for a tank of gas; loosen the congestion suffocating our highways and skyways; and significantly reduce the damage we do to our planet."
Also, opportunities exist for the Northeast Corridor from Washington to Boston to compete for funds to improve the nation's only existing high-speed rail service, the White House said.

With the high-speed railway, a trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles would take around 2.5 hours, Obama said.

"We must start developing clean, energy-efficient transportation that will define our regions for centuries to come," said President Obama. "A major new high-speed rail line will generate many thousands of construction jobs over several years, as well as permanent jobs for rail employees and increased economic activity in the destinations these trains serve."

The systems would mirror those in Europe and Japan, where high-speed railways are a common form of transportations.

"President Obama's vision of robust, high-speed rail service offers Americans the kind of travel options that throughout our history have contributed to economic growth and enhanced quality of life," said Secretary LaHood. "We simply can't build the economy of the future on the transportation networks of the past."

by RTT Staff Writer

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com