A reader named Alex apparently did not appreciate the Bottleneck Blog's foray into the world of Batman this morning. He wrote: Dear Steve
Please find another line of work. This belongs in a 7th grader's Creative Writing class, not in a paper as good as the L.A. Times. Do a service to yourself and to your colleagues, who acknowledge that there is too much violence, chaos, and turmoil going on in the real world that goes unreported, while articles that have 0 merit in both the artistic and the journalistic sense (such as this one) are still put to print.
If your job says "report on traffic", then you report traffic. You weren't hired to write stuff like this, and it is easy to see why.
On the chance that you were put up to writing this, being the traffic reporter and therefore getting minimal respect around the office, then I would suggest that you grow a pair and either write something worth reading or leave the paper for another one that will value your talent. This has got to serious.
On Behalf of Everyone who is Not Amused,
Alex
My response will be to quote the Joker: Why so serious?
--Steve Hymon
Just for fun, here's the story I would like to be writing today....
LOS ANGELES -- In a stunning development, Batman announced today that he was leaving Gotham and would soon relocate to the Los Angeles area.
In a short statement released to the media, Batman wrote: "It's time to reinvent myself. The days may be bright and sunny but the nights are about to become very, very dark."
Sources close to the Dark Knight said he had been ruminating on such a move for quite some time, but the tipping point came when the New York State Police recently wrote him a ticket for lane-splitting on the Batpod on the Taconic State Parkway. Lane-splitting on motorcycles is legal in California.
 Sources close to the Dark Knight cited several other considerations. The most important is that the violent crime rate is slightly higher in Los Angeles than in New York, according to preliminary FBI data for 2007.
Mobility, too, is rumored to have played an important part in Batman's decision. "If you can't get there, you can't crack some goon's rib cage in half with one lovely punch," said one source close to the Caped Crusader.
Although the Los Angeles area ranked worst in the Texas Transportation Institute's annual rankings of congestion, the New York/Gotham area wasn't far behind in the No. 16 slot. But recent news reports have shown that traffic is down slightly across some parts of the region and that Batman is closely watching a proposal in L.A. County to raise the sales tax to build many more miles of subway and light rail.
"Look, everyone knows there is no place more cinematic to beat the snot out of some thug than on a train," said another source close to Batman.
But some in the Superhero community say that other consideratinos have come into play -- and that  Gotham has long posed difficult challenges because of the often jammed bridges and tunnels required to enter the island upon which it sits.
Los Angeles, on the other hand, does not pose such geographic hurdles. And while traffic is bad, Batman apparently feels that it moves sufficiently well in the late night hours that it won't prevent him from chasing criminal elements around town.
In particular, Batman is said to have closely studied the most recent Caltrans traffic volume data and found that a route such as the 2 Freeway -- long considered a best-kept secret by locals -- is carrying less than half the number of cars as other Southland freeways. The 2 connects L.A. with La Canada-Flintridge, where large homes remain relatively cheap by Gotham standards and the hilly location could make an ideal spot for hiding secret lairs. The old Bronson Caves, pictured at left, in the Hollywood Hills are also said to be available.
The same source, however, said Batman does have deep concerns about the Santa Monica Freeway. "We looked at the Caltrans data and that thing is a mess almost all the time," the source said. "I definitely think it could be a problem, but Batman has shown a way of rising to the occasion."
There are complications, however. When The Times asked the California Highway Patrol recently if Batman would be eligible to use HOV lanes, the CHP responded that it remains far from certain that the Batmobile or Batpod is even street legal. CHP spokesman Tom Marshall wrote in an e-mail: "First of all, the CHP and DMV would have to decide whether the Batmobile is street legal to drive in any lane of our roadways. If it is ruled to be street legal, Batman, like any lawman, would have to follow the rules of the road, which include no flying of the vehicle...
"A law enforcement officer can use the HOV lanes when responding alone to an emergency call, but not just to patrol. Of course to be considered a law enforcement officer Batman would have to do more than don a cape and mask. He would have to become certified at a minimum through the Peace Officer Standards and Training, not to mention attending a government-certified police academy. You don't learn a lot about law enforcement by hanging around a cave in black leotards."
Marshall did hold out the possibility that Batman could use the carpool lanes -- if, for example, he was to adopt a crime-fighting partner.
 It also remains to be seen what the reaction is from the law enforcement community. The Los Angeles area has historically been home to relatively few superheroes -- although Iron Man has set up camp in Malibu -- and police here have a history of not welcoming outside scrutiny. On the other hand, the Los Angeles Police Department has been involved in several high-profile scandals over the years in which officers were accused of doling out vigilante-style justice.
In a statement, Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said creating a partnership with Batman raises several issues: "It's important to keep in mind that Batman doesn't have any inherent superpowers -- he's just a rich guy who can buy a cave and a whole bunch of gadgets.
"If we gave Batman a pass, then we'd have to do the same for all the other captains of industry.
"In terms of creating a legal framework under which superheroes could operate, we'd start with one fundamental principle: they have to be real superheroes.
"Superman, Aquaman, even the Wonder Twins, would hit this mark ('activate in the form of an ice gang injunction...') -- but if we draw the legal line at Batman, then we risk the prospect of [former L.A. mayor] Dick Riordan moving to a cave in Brentwood, and running all over Los Angeles in spandex....we can't take that risk."
Of course, there are other aspects of the environment here that Batman could find inviting. There are sufficient hours of darkness throughout the year in the Southland because of its location in the Pacific time zone and the frequent marine layer should allow for good viewing of the Bat signal from many locales.
And, said another source, there is something else:
"Don't assume he's always fighting crime. This guy likes the ladies and with that car and that bike, I would imagine he won't be lacking for company at breakfast, if you know what I mean."
Editorial note to readers: The quotes from Tom Marshall of the CHP and the office of City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo are real. I asked them to play along with my working thesis and they graciously did. The other quotes from 'sources' are the product of my imagination, for better or worse.
-- Steve Hymon
Top and middle photos: Warner Bros.
Cave photo: Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times
Batmobile photo: David Banks / Getty Images
Feuer thinks sales tax heading in right direction
I spoke last evening to Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), who has with great patience and temperament been shepherding a state bill (AB 2321) through the Legislature that would allow a half-cent sales tax increase to go on the November ballot in L.A. County.
Proponents say a subway extension, second phase of the Expo Line, Crenshaw line and Gold Line Foothill Extension could all be built if the tax passes -- not to mention $7 billion going to highway improvements. Feuer said he thinks consensus is starting to be reached on the bill.
"Any time you have a bill with forty billion dollars and about 40 elected officials interested, it's challenging but worth it," he said. "It's premature to say that this is done, it's definitely moving in the right direction."
The big thing to watch, Feuer added, is if everyone can agree on legislative language by the Metro board meeting on Thursday.
Skid Row -- it's very walkable!
The website WalkScore released its annual list of most walkable cities yesterday and declared
that the city of Los Angeles ranked as the ninth in the U.S. In a list of 84 L.A. neighborhoods, Skid Row was ranked No. 11 and Bel Air sat at the bottom at No. 84.
Of course, such rankings are of great benefit for those who need a computer to tell them what's walkable. The rankings reward neighborhoods in which most errands can be done on foot (convenience stories count as groceries and fast food outlets as restaurants by WalkScore) and aesthetics are not a consideration.
Perhaps that explains the success of Skid Row, where you don't have to drive to buy some crank -- although it's kind of far walk to the new Ralph's downtown.
Los Angeles fared well because some neighborhoods such as Mid-City West and downtown scored high. Larchmont Village was not on the list, at least as its own neighborhood.
The WalkScore website has been around for a while and it is fun to noodle around on. You can also submit your own address and get the walkability score for your neighborhood. The one I live in got a 58 out of 100. Within a mile or so of my house are at least five coffee shops, one mini-mart, a public library, two colleges with park-like campuses, several banks, several streets designated as bike routes, a bike shop, several bus stops, a light rail line, a botanical garden and a few restaurants, although mostly of the fast food variety.
Today in gas prices
The price for a gallon of regular at the Chevron I've been watching has slipped to $4.599 -- down four cents from earlier in the week. But a national average of $4.114 was set Thursday although the price fell to $4.105 today, according to AAA. The California average continued to slide and is at $4.48. We've been watching this trend for a couple of weeks -- the specially formulated price of gas sold in California is going down and in most other places it's going up.
Chicago trains stuffed
We've been writing a lot here about ripping out seats on trains to
accommodate more bikes. In Chicago, officials are considering losing
some seats to accommodate more people because ridership on the L is up
6.9%. The Sun-Times calls it the cattle car approach. I say hire some people pushers; check out this video of the Tokyo subway.
Send me your links
Fred Camino, who writes the MetroRiderLA blog, posted the other day that he was going on hiatus and and cited competition with this blog and others as one reason. That's too bad. Fred did -- and will do -- a nice job in the future. And, for what it's worth, I certainly want to be read, but I don't want to put anyone out of business.
One reason blogs are popular is because they write about things that big media does not. That's the beauty of the local blogs -- if there's something you care about, you can publish it. If you have a local blog and have a juicy item on something related to transportation or urban planning, send me an e-mail with a link and I'll be more than happy to consider linking to it on this blog. The Southland is an impossibly large area to cover, and I can use all the help I can get.
Some recent Bottleneck items
Californians want less gas, more nukes
Metro's Snoble optimistic about sales tax plan
Will turnstiles stop terrorists on the subway?
-- Steve Hymon
Photo credit: Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times
Spokker rises to the occasion, leaving this comment about a new poll finding that Californians support more nuclear power: "France is over 70% nuclear and they aren't a smoldering crater.
"What we really need is more trains, nuclear power, and legalized marijuana. That will fix 90% of the problems in this country."
Obviously, I'd like to know what solves the other 10% of our problems. In my perhaps dim view, three things would help: eliminating timeouts both before and after kickoffs in NFL games, more restaurants staying open late for dinner (by which I mean 1 a.m.) and a law requiring "The Wire" to be brought back for a sixth season.
As for nuclear power and the French, here's a link to a useful article on PBS' Frontline website. --Steve Hymon
 I just returned from One Gateway Plaza, where Metro Chief Executive Roger Snoble spent an hour talking with the media about the effort to ask voters in November to raise the sales tax in Los Angeles by half a cent to pay for more road and mass-transit projects.
If you think this is just another boring legislative effort, then let me offer you this. The sales tax revenue plan includes $1 billion for a to-be-determined mass-transit project that would follow the 405 Freeway either under or over the Sepulveda Pass. That's the good news. The bad news is that $1 billion may not be enough, and the project is likely 20 years away from getting built. But at least it's on somebody's radar.
Snoble believes that the revised spending plan for the sales tax that has been released over the last week addresses most of the concerns of elected officials from across sprawling Los Angeles County. And that could lead state legislators to pass a bill, AB 2321, that would allow the Metro board to put the sales tax on the effort.
"We're the only ones looking at it from a regional perspective," he said. "It [expected sales tax revenue] really does address a lot of problems and it does it a lot sooner than before. We can either do something for ourselves [now] or we slide down into the quagmire....if we don't do it, we'll pay for it a lot more than if we do pass it."
Read more Metro's Snoble is feeling optimistic about sales tax plan »
 A new Field Poll out this morning documents what we've all suspected: two-thirds of Californians are driving less and reducing other spending because of high gasoline prices. Here's the Associated Press story, plus a link to the Field Poll website.
SACRAMENTO (AP) — A new poll shows two-thirds of Californians are cutting their gasoline use and reducing other spending because of soaring fuel prices.
The Field Poll also shows that majorities support building more nuclear power plants and liquid natural gas facilities in California.
 Even so, a majority opposes more oil drilling offshore or on public land. And 70 percent oppose lowering air pollution standards as a way to squeeze out slightly higher gas mileage.
The poll found that 78 percent of survey respondents were driving less, 59 percent were using a family’s most fuel-efficient vehicle and 28 percent said they are carpooling more.
Just 17 percent say they have switched to public transit and 27 percent said they had replaced a car or truck with a more fuel-efficient vehicle.
Thursday’s Field Poll of 809 registered voters was conducted July 8-14. The telephone survey has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
--Bill Nottingham
Photos: Charles Krupe / Associated Press and Thomas Starke / Getty Images
I got my paws on a copy of Metro's new spending plan for the proposed half-penny sales tax in Los Angeles County. It hasn't been released publicly and on the mass transit side contains some key changes to satisfy all the different interests across the sprawling county.
The big one involves rail, with $735 million going to an extension of the Gold Line from Pasadena to Azusa. That's a bump of almost $150 million from the earlier version and is meant to appease officials in the San Gabriel Valley who have been complaining the sales tax would not give them their fair share. Gold Line extension officials have said it would only cost $420 million to get the line to Azusa, so this could theoretically be enough money to take the Gold Line father toward its goal of reaching Claremont.
In return, the Expo Line is pretty much guaranteed it would get $925 million for its second phase from Culver City to Santa Monica. And subway extension funding remains the same at almost $4.1 billion -- enough local money to perhaps get the line to Westwood.
There's also a provision that would make it more difficult for the Metro board to tear up the plan or revise it later. That was a key request by San Gabriel Valley officials.
The big loser in the plan is the downtown connector light rail to connect the gold line, blue line and future expo line. It would get $160 million from the sales tax, down from $758 million in an earlier version of the plan. The $1.3-billion project is now going to have to get the bulk of its money from the federal government, with state money thrown in.
Metro chief Roger Snoble is chatting with the press about the plan this afternoon at 2 p.m. I plan to be there and will post something later.
What remains to be seen is whether this is the deal that allows state legislators and the Metro Board to agree on a spending plan. If so, it could lead both bodies to pass legislation to get the half-penny hike on the ballot in L.A. County in November -- when a huge turnout is expected because of the presidential election.
-- Steve Hymon
Caltrans sent the press release below at 10:43 a.m. Motorists headed from downtown L.A. to Pasadena or other destinations in the San Gabriel Valley may want to consider taking Cesar Chavez to Mission to Huntington to reach the Valley.
The press release:
NORTHBOUND SR-110 TO REMAIN CLOSED UNTIL THIS EVENING
SOUTH PASADENA – The northbound Pasadena Freeway (SR-110) will remain closed at the Orange Grove Avenue off-ramp until this evening while the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) repairs a sinkhole that opened up in lanes early this morning.
The sinkhole was caused by corrosion of a storm drain. Crews are currently replacing a 26-foot piece of underground pipe.
Motorists should expect delays.
--Steve Hymon
I'm at Metro's executive management committee meeting and it's as
thrilling as it sounds.
They are chatting about the sales tax increase effort and the squabble in
Sacramento over how the money may be spent across Los Angeles County.
Said Metro chief Roger Snoble: "There are a lot of different arguments
over what geographically balanced means."
That's right. My addendum: Everyone thinks their traffic stinks the
most. More later.
-- Steve Hymon
 Low smog or high smug?
I spotted this Prius and its accompanying license plate in Pasadena last evening. And it reminded me once again of the classic "South Park" episode in which so many people buy hybrids a "smug alert" must be issued.
Sales tax update
The Metro board's executive committee meets this morning to discuss the faltering plan to put a half-cent sales tax increase on the November ballot in L.A. County to pay for road and transit projects. Then, Metro chief executive Roger Snoble is sitting down with the press to discuss what's happening -- or not. State legislators aren't happy with aspects of the sales tax (how much their pet projects would get in funding and when they would get it), so they're holding up a bill that would allow the sales tax to go forward while local officials are reshuffling the spending plan to make everyone happy.
Throw those extra coins in the car
I was remiss not to note earlier this week that the City of Los Angeles -- after months of talking about it -- raised its parking meter rates to $1 an hour in most places, with some meters downtown going to $4. My colleague Joanna Lin has the story on the website today. That's a pretty typical rate for most cities, by the way. The key in L.A. will be whether the city replaces all its meters; the city has more than 40,000, and in a report last year officials said that 10% were broken at any given time. I wrote a lot about this last year, including the tales of many readers who parked at meters that read "failed" that would later reset, resulting in a ticket nearly impossible to fight. Fun, fun, fun.
NYC cabs going hybrid
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced yesterday that New York had reached a deal with three auto manufacturers to produce hybrid taxis. The city is trying to convert its entire fleet of cabs into hybrids -- 1,300 already are, reports the New York Times' City Room blog. One of the cab drivers I talked to yesterday in L.A. said he drives a Crown Vic and he's getting about 15 mpg, although I've seen a Prius cab downtown. Bloomberg has also been pushing to convert car lanes to bike lanes. Must be something in the water out there.
Wilshire Corridor forum tomorrow
The Miracle Mile Chamber of Commerce and the Wilshire Center Business Improvement District are holding a forum Friday at 11 a.m. at the El Rey Theatre on the proposed subway extension down Wilshire Boulevard. It's $25 to get in -- details are here. Metro board member Richard Katz will be talking and there will be a panel discussion at 12:30. I'm on the panel, meaning I've got 24 hours to find a shirt with buttons, and a razor. I give myself a 35% chance of success.
Links to Bottleneck items
Some recent bits that may interest you:
A man in a wheelchair stops the Blue Line
Molina says local officials can figure out how to spend that sales tax dough
Cabs in parts of L.A. now allowed to pick up and drop off passengers -- a novel development
Reader comments on the sales tax and property taxes
Will turnstiles stop terrorists on the subway?
--Steve Hymon
Photo: Steve Hymon / Los Angeles Times
Maybe I'm indecisive after an afternoon of wrestling my ancient computer into submission, but we have a tie. Since there is no such thing as extra innings on the comment board, I'm happy to offer up these two thoughts.
First, from Ingrid Peterson, who has been watching the proposal to put a half-cent sales tax on the November ballot. Ingrid wonders why no money would be spent on cycling: As much as we love mass transit, it is simply TIME for the METRO to acknowledge that BICYCLES are a viable mode of transportation.... Both to and from metro locations and all around town.
To this end, we are asking for 1% of this proposed $40 Billion dollar revenue, should this motion pass.
That's right, we have exactly ZERO funds allocated in this measure as it stands currently.
I wish I lived in Paris so bad right now. Now there's an up and coming bike friendly town!
I don't know if the sales tax revenues is the best funding source, but I do think that if local officials are serious about getting people on bikes they'll make a serious investment in bike infrastructure. By that I mean a variety of different bike routes and bike lanes and the little things that count -- such as bike racks at train stations.
The second comment comes from Bengford, who didn't believe my item about density maps and the root causes of traffic actually got to the root causes: I think it is important to get at the root cause of why people have to drive so far to work in the first place and fixing that issue. Has anyone considered the following:
People change jobs and locations - duh. People are stuck in their house and can't move due to Prop 13.
People therefore are stuck in traffic living too far from work. Creating more transportation options does not solve root cause of problem.
I chose to live closer to work and sold my house in Woodland Hills and bought comparable house in westside. Same price house but instead of paying $2K a year in prop tax I pay $12K, a 500% increase.
There is a HUGE penalty of relocating closer to work. Reexamine Prop 13 and all the detrimental results or use tax $ to create incentives for those who relocate closer to job. Isn't this a better solution.
It's hard to quibble with this, although I suspect the average Westside home costs more than the average Woodland Hills home. But Bengford is right -- it's not easy moving in L.A. unless you time the real estate cycle right and make a killing on your place. Even then, you're likely paying more for the new house.
But I'm not sure that cutting property taxes is the solution.
It can also be argued that people who do stay put are getting a great deal on their property taxes thanks to Prop 13. For example, I bought my home five years ago. My neighbor bought his in the early 1970s and pays a fraction of the property taxes I pay -- our homes are on similar-sized lots, although his is slightly smaller.
He has been getting a great deal on his property taxes for years and probably isn't paying what he should, given the rise in the cost of government services. If he should ever move, shouldn't he have to pay at the rate the rest of us pay?
Food for thought. Or the comment board.
--Steve Hymon
Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina's office sent this e-mail Tuesday to local, state and federal officials, detailing Molina's concerns over the half-cent sales tax proposal for the November ballot. The e-mail was from her deputy, Gerry Hertzberg.
Molina is also targeting the state bill that would allow a sales tax, proposing to strip provisions that set minimum amounts to be spent on certain projects. That is sure to be controversial -- it would deny state legislators the chance to ensure their pet projects get some money and give that power to Metro.
I'm sure state officials will like that.
Here's the e-mail, which was forwarded to me. I have confirmed with Molina's office that it is authentic: As you know, a great deal of concern has been raised about the lack of equity in the proposed Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) expenditure plan for the proposed half-cent sales tax. Numerous city representatives, State representatives, and Congressional representatives have expressed concerns about the proposed project list, the lack of discussion about the plan, and the exclusive process by which it was created.
The resulting lack of consensus about such an important thirty-year public policy commitment is extremely problematic. Failure to achieve consensus not only threatens our ability to garner a two-thirds approval at the ballot box next November, it strains MTA's relationships with important State and Federal funding partnerships, and it threatens regional harmony.
Consequently I strongly believe that MTA should devote adequate time and effort to develop consensus about a project list and expenditure plan that best addresses our regional transportation problems with the projected proceeds from a sales tax, and state and federal funding. While the outreach and deliberative process necessary to achieve consensus will not be possible in a few weeks, it may be possible to complete it prior to the November election.
This would necessitate that A.B. 2321 (Feuer) be amended to strip the mandate for particular projects. Instead it should include the statutory enabling language to allow the MTA to proceed to put a half-cent sales tax measure before the voters. It could further mandate that MTA develop an expenditure plan for the sales tax proceeds after evaluation according to specific transportation criteria ( I.e. ridership, population, cost per mile, transit dependent along each line, major employment nodes each along line, etc. ) and of course, it should mandate that reasonable regional equity is addressed within the plan.
I would further suggest that the more costly and expensive projects be segmented so that all projects may be put on a timeline that allows a rotation of projects to achieve regional fairness.
I hope that you will join me in advocating for this consensus building approach. The plan that results from this exercise will govern the development of highway, rail and bus transit for the next thirty years. It is therefore imperative that it provides the best balance of projects to improve our regional transportation system in a manner that is fair and equitable.
Thank you for your consideration of this important and time-sensitive matter.
A man in a wheelchair sat on the tracks of my Blue Line train today, near the Pico/Chick Hearn station around noon, with no intention of moving.
The train seemed more delayed than usual at the stoplight, when the train’s conductor announced that the man had been playing chicken with several other Blue Line trains and had decided to park himself right in our path.
This might sound cruel, but all I could think of was that I was going to be late to work. Other passengers crowded around the conductor’s cabin to get a look at the man who was holding up the train. The man sitting next to me closed his Bible and joined them. The conductor opened the window partition separating him from the passengers so they could get a better view.
“Let me out, I’ll move him,” a goateed man in denim shorts shouted.
The Blue Line on the opposite side of the tracks pulled next to our compartment and its conductor exchanged a few words with ours.
“Man, I have to go to the bathroom, I’m hungry” a passenger who had been waiting near the doors announced.
On the PA system the conductor said, “I think he wants us to take him out of his misery, but we’re not going to do him the pleasure” adding that the L.A. County Sheriff’s were on their way.
“If it was one of us, they’d be here in a minute,” a man sitting near the front of the compartment said, adding that “if it were in Long Beach, they’d just run him over.”
After only a few minutes of delay, the sheriffs came and took the man away. Apparently the man just wanted a cigarette.
--Lauren Williams
photo: Passengers on the Blue Line after a 1993 incident in which the train hit an SUV. By Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times
 The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a six-month test program today that will allow taxi cabs to pick up fares at more places in downtown L.A. and Hollywood. Here's how downtown Councilwoman Jan Perry put it after the momentous vote: "Common sense has prevailed. Now we can hail a cab like they do in other cities."
Yes, Perry was being sarcastic. Like others, she thought this was something the city should have done a long, long time ago.
The new rules allow taxis to stop or let off customers in red zones and curb lanes that the city has designated as anti-gridlock zones -- as in no parking there during rush hour. Cabs are also now allowed to double park to pick up or drop a customer. The one place they're not allowed to go is bus stops -- something of a sticking point between the city and Metro for the last few months.
And the effect of this? Will Los Angeles be as cab-friendly as New York, where it's a bit of a time-honored tradition to get honking drunk, stumble out to the curb at 3 a.m. and raise your arm and flag a cab for a safe and subway-free ride home? (Which, by the way, leads to the traditional game of try-not-to-throw-up in the back of the cab).
But serious differences remain between the cab culture in America's two largest cities. New York has more than 13,000 cabs. Los Angeles has about 2,300. A typical cabbie in New York can get about 50 fares a day; in L.A. it's about 20. Less than half the residents of Manhattan own cars -- meaning they're transit dependent. Car ownership rates are far higher in L.A. And because there are more cabs and more customers in New York, fares are lower.
For example, a five-mile ride in New York in a cab would cost about $12 to $14 plus surcharges. A similar ride in L.A. is about $20 and that doesn't count the 10% fare increase that goes into effect later in the summer.
William Rouse, the general manager of ASC, a company that runs five local taxi services, said the big advantage of the test program will be that it will encourage taxi drivers to pick up more short trippers. At present, most cabs wait at designated pickup zones -- usually hotels. If they get a short ride, they're stuck driving back to a hotel with little hope of getting a fare on the way and then they must get back in the rear of the line.
"The old rules that applied to taxis were the same ones that applied to private vehicles," Rouse said, pointing to the fact that those rules pretty much prevent taxis from doing what taxis do best -- pick up people looking for a ride.
I asked Edward Torossian, a cab driver in L.A., how the program would affect him. He promptly apologized. "My English is not as good as yours," he said. I told him that I didn't expect him to speak good English -- he's a cab driver, after all, and this is America.
"We don't want to stop" and block traffic, Torossian said. "We just need to stop so we can pick up someone and go."
The program will begin soon and continue for six months so the city can evaluate whether taxis picking up fares cause massive regional gridlock or perhaps help people get along. If the program works, officials say, it may be applied to the rest of the nation's second-largest city.
-- Steve Hymon
Photo: Kathy Willens / Associated Press
Metro has added an update to the July 24 board meeting agenda on the proposed half-penny sales tax hike. You can view the whole memo at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority website.
For the most part, the memo contains much of what we've reported here in the last few days. Two pieces of legislation are needed to make the sales tax happen -- one from the state (AB 2321), the other from Metro. The ordinance from Metro needs to be set in stone by Aug. 8, and if it doesn't match the state bill, the sales tax likely won't survive.
"It is important to note that if the legislature makes substantial changes to AB 2321 after the Board acts on July 24th that are inconsistent with the ordinance, this could invalidate our sales tax efforts," wrote Metro CEO Roger Snoble and Matt Raymond, the agency's chief communications officer, in the memo.
I also posted a memo from Metro yesterday showing how the money for road projects would be doled out. One thing I glossed over -- I didn't realize its significance -- is the sudden appearance of of $780 million for a tunnel to connect the 710 freeway to Pasadena from its terminus at Valley Boulevard in Alhambra.
That money wasn't previously in the sales tax plan. It's there as a carrot to legislators who represent areas east of downtown. That includes, most notably, state Sen. Gil Cedillo. It's also a project that largely exists only in theory, making it strange that so much money would be dedicated to it.
The memo also contains this key passage: A key element of the ordinance is the Expenditure Plan. The Plan is currently being revised to reflect and merge the concerns we have heard from the Board, the subregions and State legislators. Comments being incorporated include requests for more detail on the included highway projects and an analysis of geographic balance based on a population and employment. The Plan will be presented to the Board as an attachment to the ordinance at the July Board meeting."
And that's it in a nutshell. Everyone is fighting for projects for their region. Metro expects there to be about $23 billion to dole out for rail and road projects if the sales tax hike is approved by voters in November (a huge 'if') and considering what everyone is asking for, that doesn't appear to be enough.
--Steve Hymon
I'm in L.A. City Hall's council chambers and just spoke with
Councilman Jose Huizar, who expressed his appreciation for yesterday's
Bottleneck item on the pathetic streetscape project on Eagle Rock Boulevard.
Huizar said a local beautification group has requested funds from its neighborhood council to remove the potted plants and install
better-looking drought-tolerant plants.
"If you look at any block in Los Angeles you could pick any number of
things" that look bad, Huizar said, adding that Colorado and Eagle
Rock boulevards look pretty good compared to other streets in the area.
I'm in full agreement there. A lot of areas are in horrid shape. I
can't wait to visit other council districts with my iPhone camera. I
can live blog the city's decrepit state!
"I'm committed to visually improving the area," Huizar said. "I have a
green thumb. You should see my house."
Well I'm usually free for dinner.
--Steve Hymon
Sent from my iPhone
It's hail-a-cab today at the L.A. City Council
The council is scheduled today to vote on a pilot program to allow cabs to pick up fares at more places in downtown and Hollywood. The big question is whether they'll stop traffic; I tend to think that anything that helps get more people drinking at night into cabs is a good thing. I also wonder if cabbies can afford to troll for fares, given the gas price situation.
L.A. County sales tax negotiations continue
Haggling behind closed doors continues today as Metro tries to get a half-penny sales tax on the November ballot when turnout will likely be high and the chance of success, agency officials say, better. If the state Legislature doesn't pass a bill, AB 2321, allowing a sales tax hike, there won't be a vote. But state officials have concerns: They want to see "control language" from Metro explaining exactly who decides when and how money will be spent. More later.
Day 3 begins on NoHo bike rack effort
Councilman Tom LaBonge agrees with the Bottleneck Blog that putting more bike racks at the subway station is the right thing to do. His office yesterday sent me a copy of an e-mail that a LaBonge deputy sent to Metro inquiring about who gets to make the decision about installing bike racks.
Mandeville Canyon bike-motorist tensions
A task force met Monday night to discuss ways to better share the road; Streetsblog Los Angeles has the details. Also, radio host Warren Olney devoted a good chunk of Which Way L.A.? to the Mandeville Canyon bike-car issue and I thought Olney did a nice job of showing that there were conflicts there long before the July 4 accident.
Batpod coming to L.A.
The Batpod -- I'm still not sure what it is, but it sounds cool -- will be on display at the ArcLight Hollywood on Saturday for those going to see "The Dark Knight." One word of warning: parking will likely be very tight at ArcLight's garage on Friday and Saturday night. I recommend taking the Red Line subway to the Hollywood and Vine stop and walking a block south to the movie house. Just to clarify: I'm three degrees beyond stoked for this film, particularly after that Indiana Jones debacle.
World correspondents needed
I put the word out yesterday that the Bottleneck is looking for guest bloggers to tell the story of transportation across the planet. As of Tuesday evening, looks like I've got Seattle, Santa Clara and Austin, Texas, covered. Europe, Asia, Africa and Greenland are among those up for grabs. If interested, email me at steve.hymon@latimes.com.
Links to recent Bottleneck Blog posts
Snoble releases letter on sales tax proposal
Pathetic attempt at streetscaping in Eagle Rock
Will turnstiles stop terrorists on the subway?
-- Steve Hymon
The reader comment of the day goes to Jon Barsanti, who took a look at the job and population density maps I posted yesterday and then wrote: "What the maps skew is the difference between the job density and the population density. The two scales do not coincide. What would be better is a map that illustrates the migration pattern of workers throughout the region."
Barsanti has a very good point. The job density and population density maps do not match up very well. I posted them because I do think they show some basic patterns in Los Angeles County: employment density is highest downtown and on the Westside, while population density tends to be high in the south and east parts of the county.
I wish -- dearly, dearly wish -- I had a map showing where all the people are going each day, such as how many people were going from South L.A. to the Valley, from the Valley to downtown, etc. The average commuting times for each city are available from the Census Bureau, but we don't know exactly where everyone is going.
Of the maps I posted, I tend to think the employment density is the more important. If we know where the target is, perhaps it's possible to make the appropriate road and transit improvements to get people there.
--Steve Hymon
 I posted yesterday that Metro was making a big to-do over an announcement today that it was receiving a grant today from the Governor's Office of Homeland Security. No one would tell me the amount Monday, because they didn't want to steal the thunder from the press conference this morning with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Times City Hall reporter Phil Willon attended. The grant is for $16 million, which includes money that will be used to install a gating system at the Metro Red and Purple subway lines as well as some light rail stations, officials said.
All of this, as journalists like to say, raises the question of how fare-beating motivated turnstiles have suddenly turned into terrorist traps (those are subway gates in New York in the above photo). That's the question that pestered me and Willon attacks in this dispatch: Both Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Homeland Security Advisor Matthew Bettenhausen said the turnstiles will enhance security at the rail lines, as well as stop fare jumpers, although a transportation security expert said the gates by themselves will have only a nominal effect on stopping potential terrorist attacks.
The grant comes from state money set aside for transit security, funded by the Proposition 1B bonding measure California voters approved in 2006 to improve and protect the state’s highways and other critical infrastructure.
The money will be used to help pay for a 10-year, $46-million project to install the barrier gates at the subway and selected light rail stations that the Metro board approved in February.
At the time, the project was touted as a way to collect an estimated $3 million to $6 million from people who evade paying fares. Currently, both the subway and light rail systems rely on the honor system, with sheriff’s deputies infrequently checking passengers tickets – and issuing citations to those without one.
On Tuesday, however, the gates and turnstiles – which are commonplace at every major subway system across the country -- were described as way increase “security and safety.’’
Read more Will turnstiles stop terrorists on Metro rail? »
Longtime bicycling advocate Dennis Crowley dies
Crowley was well-known in the Pasadena area, where he pushed the city to adopt a bicycle master plan. I don't have much in the way of details, but the Pasadena Star-News has a small item on its website saying it was a heart attack. I met him in 2003 at ArroyoFest, the event where the Pasadena Freeway was closed for a few hours on a Sunday morning for pedestrians and cyclists. Without looking up my notes, I recall two things he told me: the first was that he would like to see the old cycleway between Pasadena and L.A. rebuilt. The other was his hope that, at the least, a good bike trail between Pasadena and L.A. could be built along the Arroyo Seco. He envisioned people biking downtown -- it's downhill -- then using the Gold Line as a "ski lift" to get them back up the hill.
Researchers say you want tolls
The National Cooperative Highway Research Program says they've done the polling and that "our study indicates that in the aggregate there is a clear majority support for tolls and road pricing." The report is a little on the dry side.
Steamed at the San Gabriel Valley Tribune
The paper's recent editorial says the proposed sales tax in Los Angeles County doesn't provide the Valley its fair share because it doesn't include any money to extend the Gold Line from Montclair to Ontario airport.
Here's the meatiest sentence: "In June, when the MTA board said "no" to seed money for the 24.1-mile foothill extension of the Gold Line, we watched in disbelief. But much worse, the MTA also let federal dollars slip away. It was as if Antonio Villaraigosa wadded up $320 million in cash and threw it out the window of L.A. City Hall."
I'll add a couple of small factual points: the current Gold Line ends in Pasadena -- 25 miles or so shy of Montclair and perhaps it's a good idea to get it there first. Also, the federal government has yet to commit any dollars to the extension of the Gold Line from Pasadena.
Blogger who has seen it all sees something worse
Subway blogger in the Big Apple blogs today about the grossest thing he's ever seen on the subway. Warning: there's a tad of coarse language and the deviant act involves fingernails.
Really, it takes a lot to make my skin crawl. However, this put me over the edge.
--Steve Hymon
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