One Small Victory

By Steve Lopez

Remember the story of Shari Kahane, the West Hills doctor and terminal cancer patient who had one really bad day in Century City last month?

As I reported in early February, Kahane and her husband, Dr. Mark Baskin, couldn't find a disabled parking space in the garage at their attorney's office, where they had an appointment to sign her will and last testament. Running out of time, they exited the garage and parked briefly in a red zone, so Baskin could help his wife into the building and then go search for a spot. Baskin was aiding Kahane, who is bald from chemotherapy and was carrying an oxygen tank, when a traffic officer pulled up and began writing a ticket.

The two doctors explained the situation, but got no sympathy from the officer, who stuck a $70 ticket on their windshield as Dr. Baskin asked him what kind of human being would do such a thing.

Kahane and her husband filed a complaint and reported the incident to me and to Jennifer Lozano, a field deputy for Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine. After my column, and the intervention from Zine's office, Kahane e-mailed me to say the ticket had been rescinded. Here now is the letter that was sent to Kahane's husband:

Dear Mr. Baskin:

RE:            TRAFFIC OFFICER CONDUCT – CITATION # 987754913

This is in regards to the encounter you had with one of our Traffic Officers while taking your wife, Ms. Kahane, to your lawyer’s office on Century Park Boulevard East.

The investigation of the incident revealed that this situation was not handled in a manner that is consistent with our expectations as it relates to good customer service.  It is our policy to be courteous and professional at all times.  All Traffic Officers are trained in Human Relations and we expect them to act accordingly.  While the citation itself was legal and issued in accordance with the Los Angeles Municipal Code, I am requesting that the citation be permanently suspended in the interest of justice due to the extenuating circumstances at the time the citation was issued.  In addition, because of this situation, I will personally review our confrontation policy and our training module on human relations to determine if there are other options that we can provide our employees in dealing with incidents of this nature.

I apologize for the actions of this Traffic Officer. The Traffic Officer will be provided with additional training regarding his behavior with the public. 

Sincerely,

JIMMY L. PRICE

Chief of Parking Enforcement and Traffic Control

Pimp that electric vehicle

The Times John O'Dell reports that some Northern California firms are trying to create high-performance and ever Hummer-like electric cars:

Environmentally friendly cars don't have to be slow and stodgy. ZAP, a Santa Rosa, Calif.-based importer of electric scooters and a small, short-distance electric car, aims to launch a 155-mph all-wheel-drive electric sport utility vehicle next year. If it comes to market, the $60,000 ZAP-X would join a select group of high-performance electric vehicles led by a two-seat sports car from Tesla Motors Inc. of San Carlos, Calif. The $92,000 Tesla Roadster is capable of accelerating from a dead stop to 60 mph in four seconds and has a top speed of more than 130 mph.A third Northern California start-up, Wrightspeed Inc. of Burlingame, has announced plans for a $120,000 electric roadster that boasts a zero-to-60 time of 3.8 seconds.

An environmental group also ranked what it considers the most earth-friendly cars on the road.

Meanwhile, the Sacramento Bee editorial board is glad no more hybrids are being allow on the carpool lanes:

Carpool lanes were created not just to help clean the air but also to relieve congestion. The more that otherwise solo drivers left their own cars at home and took the bus, a van pool or joined two or three others in a carpool, the more congestion was eased for everyone else. These real carpoolers were justifiably rewarded by being allowed to zip along in relatively unclogged special lanes. By opening the lanes to solo drivers of hybrid vehicles, legislators degraded the carpool ethic itself. As one driver told the Los Angeles Times recently, "This is why I spent over 25 grand on a car -- just to get the (carpool lane) sticker."

Do iPods cause accidents?

Will California be next? In New York, State Sen. Carl Krueger wants to ban the use of iPods and other electronic devices when crossing streets. It's the latest attack on so-called "iPod oblivion." While there appears to be no statistics available, critics say people listening to music put themselves are greater risks of accidents:

The bill would effectively make it illegal to use any kind of portable electronic device--a music or video player, cell phone, smart phone, gaming device, etc.--while crossing the street in cities such as New York, Albany and Buffalo. Offenders would be slapped with a $100 fine and a criminal court summons. Joggers and bicyclists would have to limit their iPod use to city parks in which no street crossing would be involved. "You can't be fully aware of your surroundings if you're fiddling with a BlackBerry, dialing a phone number, playing Super Mario Brothers on a Game Boy, or listening to music on an iPod," Krueger said in a statement. He added that while police in other major cities--such as San Diego, Calif.--have warned that tuning in to portable electronic devices may leave pedestrians vulnerable to threats from pickpockets and muggers, he believes the real threat is from road traffic.

Panhandling for $1 million

Alan Smullin was spotted earlier this week panhandling along Sunset Boulevard in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel (TV cameras soon followed). Now, he's down in Newport Beach. Here's the interesting story behind his efforts.

Snub the Subway to the Sea

Not everyone is cheering the small step forward in the decades-long effort to extend the subway to Santa Monica. Some argue it's unfair to allocate $5 billion to a Westside project when other parts of the county are also choking in traffic. The Daily News editorial board strikes a similar theme:

But if all our revenue streams are channeled into the Westside, what becomes of other crucial projects throughout L.A.? What becomes of our crippled freeways? What becomes of our inadequate bus lines, which are being cut even as L.A.'s leadership fantasizes about a subway to the sea? And that takes us to the matter of value. The Orange Line busway, which has done wonders to relieve traffic in the San Fernando Valley, cost just $300 million - a fraction of what the subway to the sea would cost - and was completed in just a couple of years. Similarly, other much-needed improvements, such as a diamond lane on the northbound 405 Freeway, would cost far less while offering greater, more immediate relief. The subway to the sea simply doesn't offer enough bang for the buck.

Bottleneck Blog poster Tom A says:

Let me get this straight: A $5 billion subway extension to the beach is a no-brainer, but extending the Gold Line from Pasadena to Montclair for just over 1/5 that amount is a tough sell?! I'm all for expanding rail transit throughout Southern California, including on the Westside, but when will the powerbrokers downtown realize that the Foothill Extension is not only a relative bargain, but also that if they added up all the lost productivity, fuel wasted and pollution created by the rapidly deteriorating situation of the 210, it would more-or-less pay for itself after a few years? I guess our reps here in the 626 and 909 will just have to increase their budget for "favors."

More on the "Aqua Line" campaign.

Fixing a dangerous highway

It was one of the worst crashes in Ventura County history: In 2003, seven members of the Covarrubias family were killed on Highway 118 near Moorpark when a car rear-ended them, sending their car into oncoming traffic. Four years later, officials are going to Washington, seeking money for long-stalled transportation projects:

Two major undertakings in the East County include the connectors between the 23 and the 101 freeways and an Environmental Impact Report for rural Highway 118, a road plagued with deadly accidents.

Highway 118 has been a subject of growing concerns after several major accidents on the two-lane road. According to the Star, a new task force has been formed to "tackle a problem that has vexed politicians and residents for years: making Highway 118 safe without destroying the area's rural character."

The numbers are sobering:

The two-lane portion of the highway threads from Moorpark past bucolic Somis to the eastern edge of Ventura. It was the site of one of the most horrific accidents in the county's history in 2005, when seven people were killed, five of them children. Since 2003, about 300 collisions have occurred annually along the entire stretch of the highway from Moorpark to where the highway converges with Highway 126. Around one-third involved injuries. But in the portion that runs from the western side of Moorpark to Somis, the number of collisions rose from 57 in 2005 to 76 last year. The number injured increased from 23 to 39. Deaths declined sharply in that stretch from 2005, when the seven fatalities were recorded. There were eight killed in total that year, but only one last year along that portion of the rural roadway.

A bridge too far

Caltrans is still trying to figure out how to fix a washed-out portion of Angeles Crest Highway. It was damaged a year ago and has caused headaches for forest users and high desert commuters. The idea now is to build a bridge over what sounds like a very tretchous stretch of road, according to The Daily Press:

“It’s a known rock chute, where material comes down year-round,” said Caltrans superintendent Armand Silva. The bridge is a safer choice than repaving the area where slides could recur, he said, and a wall will likely be built to mitigate a nearby slide area. The 2006 landslides occurred about a mile west of Vincent Gap, Silva said, and earlier landslides in 2005 happened sporadically for 10 miles along Highway 2 from that point to Islip Saddle.

Boy on bike killed

A Whittier boy riding his bicycle from school to home died in an accident Thursday afternoon. According to CNS:

A 14-year-old bicyclist on his way home from school was about a block away from his destination when he was struck and killed by a big rig in Whittier this afternoon, authorities said. The boy, whose name was not immediately released, was pronounced dead at the scene of the 2:47 p.m. accident at Lambert Road and Painter Avenue, according to the county fire department. Jason Zuhlke of the Whittier Police Department said the boy had been en route home from East Whittier Junior High School, a three-mile ride. He left the curb and tried to manuever between the semi, which had just started rolling forward, and the car in front of him," Zuhlke said. "There was a three-foot gap and the child did not wait. The truck was not moving fast, but the boy got stuck underneath and was dragged 40 feet."

Channel 4 this week ran a special report about the "road war" between bikes and cars:

It's a battle for space, and it can get bloody. Clarke has scars from an incident when a driver suddenly cut in front of him. (His was) one of 3,000 bike accidents each year that occur in Los Angeles County alone. There are an average of more than two dozen deaths a year.

Mercury mystery man

Remember the mystery man caught on video dropping mercury on the Pershing Square subway platform? He was charged today, according to CNS:

A man accused of spilling potentially lethal mercury on a downtown Los Angeles subway platform was charged today with criminal misdemeanors. Armando Bustamante Miranda, 27, a transient living in Los Angeles, was charged with one count of releasing an offensive or harmful substance in a public area and carrying a toxic material in a public transit facility. If convicted, Bustamante could face up to one year in jail and/or a $2,250 fine. On the evening of Dec. 22, a man believed to be Bustamante was videotaped by a Metropolitan Transportation Authority surveillance camera spinning a small bottle on the Red Line subway platform at the Pershing Square Metro Station. The bottle broke, causing the liquid metal to spill onto the platform.

The MTA has vowed to review security measures in the wake of the embarassing incident.

The LAPD's traffic division has posted what they call "Valley Traffic Most Wanted." It has mug shots and information about six fugitives wanted for various alleged bad deeds on the roads of the San Fernando Valley. But before you think of making a citizen's arrest on the Ventura Freeway, the LAPD advises:

WARNING: THIS INDIVIDUAL IS CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO APPREHEND SUSPECT YOURSELF. IF SEEN, CONTACT YOUR LOCAL POLICE STATION ASAP.

Also in Valley traffic news, the MTA has proposed cutting or reducing more than two dozen bus routes (to save money). Here is a list of the routes affected.

A $3.75 run to the border

Down in San Diego County, officials are building what would be Southern California fourth toll road, a 12-mile route through the Chula Vista area. It will cost you:

Motorists will pay up to $3.75 a trip to use the first toll road in San Diego County and only the fourth tollway in California. Construction began in September 2003 on the $820-million South Bay Expressway, which will open as early as June. The toll spans 12 1/2 miles on state Route 125, from state Route 54 in Spring Valley to state Route 905 near the U.S.-Mexico border. It aims to ease congestion in Chula Vista, a growing city of 230,000 people sandwiched between downtown San Diego and the U.S.- Mexico border. Rates will vary depending on the length of road traveled and the size of the vehicle, according to South Bay Expressway Ltd. Partnership. The base tolls will range from 75 cents for a short trip to $3.50 for the full stretch of road for drivers using the FasTrak payment system with a two-axle car or sport utility vehicles. The base tolls for cash-paying customers will be higher, ranging from $2 to $3.75 a trip.

Here's a map of the expressway (with the perky tagline: "Put the fun back in driving!").

Meanwhile, Orange County's tollroads are getting a boost from... Costco! Says the Register:

A  partnership between the county's toll roads and Costco has resulted in thousands of new accounts. The program, now at 21 stores in Orange, Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, exceeded expectations, officials said. And now, in order to continue the program, the agency must buy 40,000 additional transponders. "It's a great problem to have," said Frank Barbagallo, deputy director for toll compliance at the Transportation Corridor Agencies. "That tells us we are doing our job." Last week, two agency committees approved a request for $754,374 in additional transponders. The full board is expected to approve the item today.

Joggers and cars

When two women jogging on Pacific Coast Highway in Dana Point last year were hit by a car and critically injured, it sparked a debate in Orange County and beyond about joggers and cyclists sharing the road with cars. In Dana Point, officials plan to build a barrier between the roadway and the jogging lane. On Wednesday, the criminal case reached a head. According to AP:

A man pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges he plowed his car into two joggers and drove away, leaving them with paralyzing injuries. William Todd Bradshaw, 38, pleaded guilty to felony hit-and-run causing permanent injury the same day his trial was scheduled to begin in Orange County Superior Court. He faces up to four years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 23. Bradshaw was arrested in April 2006, nine days after plowing his car into the two women who were jogging on Pacific Coast Highway in Dana Point. He sped away and later abandoned his car near the highway, leaving inside his cell phone and other personal belongings. The women spent weeks in the hospital. Doctors said Stacy Neria, who was celebrating her 34th birthday when she was struck, suffered from damage to her brain stem. Carol Daniel suffered several injuries, including a broken neck. "This is not going to affect us at all," said Daniel’s husband, Craig, referring to the plea. "All the damage has already been done."

A freeway runs through it (when it's dry)

City officials have release their grand vision for the L.A. River -- calling for more parks, trails and a lot less concrete. But some commentators believe the river actually needs more concrete -- in the form of roads to ease traffic congestion. Others suggest building a rail line down it (would that make it the famous Aqua Line?)

Joking? Back in 1991, there was actually a serious proposal (it went nowhere) to use the river during dry months as a "carpool lane freeway." The Times wrote back then:

The bed of the Los Angeles River could be used in dry weather as a roadway for car pools between North Hollywood and downtown and by trucks from there to the Los Angeles Harbor, according to a preliminary report prepared for the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission. The report by independent consultants, to be delivered to the commission on Tuesday, concludes that the proposal would cost about $700 million and could be in operation by 1995. Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), who proposed the plan, said Thursday that the study shows "it would lessen congestion and improve the air, and could be done quickly." Katz and others contend it should be used to solve some of Los Angeles' traffic problems. Mayor Tom Bradley leads those who contend the river should be converted to a park.

'Gateway' help

So what's going on at the intersection of Highland Avenue and Franklin Avenue? The notoriously congested "gateway to Hollywood" is getting some surgery (set to be completed this spring). It all started last year when the city took control of this part of Highland from the state (it is technically state Route 170). According to the city:

Transfer of jurisdiction over the thoroughfare to the City gives way to the highly anticipated Highland-Franklin Intersection Improvement Project. Serving as the gateway into Hollywood, the Highland-Franklin intersection is among the most congested intersections in the City, due in large part to the narrow roadway. The project, spearheaded by the Bureau of Engineering, will widen streets and add right-turn pockets to the intersection to mitigate traffic in the area for commuters and local residents. The project includes the installation of 45 new streetlights, 29 street trees, 30 decorative pedestrian lights and new traffic signals along Highland and Franklin avenues.

Here's a map of the project from the city.

The other mother road

It was never as famous as Route 66, but U.S. 6 played an important role in the early development of Southern California's highway system. Recently, officials in Santa Clarita paid tribute to the highway:

The city of Santa Clarita on Tuesday placed a U.S. Route 6 sign on Sierra Highway near historic Beale's Cut, a deep slice in a mountain pass that linked the old cross-country route to the first access between Newhall and Los Angeles. The state removed all Highway 6 signs in the late 1960s from Sierra Highway when the Antelope Valley Freeway was built, a move that later caused some distress. "A lot of small towns were hurt when the interstate was built because they were bypassed," said Fred Hann, executive director in California for the U.S. Route 6 Tourist Association. "The (new) signs are going to lure tourists to the old road, so they can see old two-lane roads and old towns that were bypassed by the freeway."

The Daily News story says U.S. 6 span 14 states. More than you ever need to know about old U.S. 6 is available at SCVResources.com. The site also provides interesting and detailed histories of other local highways.

Let's drive to Brookside

Commuters who drive through the Hancock Park/Miracle Mile area can expect a new set of neighborhood street signs popping up soon: According to CNS:

The Los Angeles City Council today designated a community situated between Hancock Park, Miracle Mile and Country Club Park as Brookside. Brookside is bounded Wilshire Boulevard to the north, Olympic Boulevard to the south, Highland Avenue to the west and Muirfield Road to the east, according to city reports. The name was selected because a natural stream -- Rio de Jardin de las Flores -- flows year-round through the community, according to Councilman Tom LaBonge, whose 4th District includes the area.

That stream, according to a Times story, is home to koi, goldfish and crawfish.

Relief coming to San Pedro

L.A.'s high-tech Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control system is coming to San Pedro and Wilmington. The system -- started during L.A.'s great victory against traffic (the 1984 Olympics) -- now covers about 70% of the city, according to the Breeze:

By February 2009 all traffic lights in San Pedro will be controlled from this command center housed four floors below Los Angeles City Hall. Construction is scheduled to begin on San Pedro's 57 traffic lights by May 2008, said ATSAC engineer Benjamin Chan. During this same period, 70 traffic lights in Wilmington also will be refitted to become part of the ATSAC network. ATSAC is a computer-based traffic signal control system that monitors traffic conditions and improves traffic flow by selecting the most efficient signal timings. Sensors in the street detect the number and speed of vehicles passing through the intersection. The control center receives this information within one second and analyzes it within a minute to determine whether better traffic flow can be gained by changing the signal timing. Statistics for areas with ATSAC show traffic moves between 7 percent and 10 percent more efficiently. This would be equal to about three more cars per lane for each green light on Western Avenue.

Welcome to "Asthma Town"

Perhaps not exactly what the Huntington Park Chamber of Commerce wants to hear. The AP's Noaki Schwartz reports on newest L.A. tour package -- a "Toxic Tour" through some of the regions more polluted areas:

Every day, buses packed with tourists trundle along the Hollywood Walk of Fame and through Beverly Hills to gawk at celebrities and gasp at the size of their mansions. A lesser-known tour through the industrial back streets of the county also leaves participants gasping - for another reason. "On your left is a smokestack," guide Jesus Torres points out as he leads the "Toxic Tour" through neighborhoods in the shadows of oil refineries, factories and slaughterhouses. The excursions staged by the watchdog group Communities for a Better Environment are gaining popularity among policy makers, lawyers and students who want a firsthand look at poor, minority areas affected by a disproportionate amount of pollution. Instead of heading to Tinseltown or celebrity crime scenes, the buses visit areas that have been the site of environmental nightmares. Among its stops are "Asthma Town" in Huntington Park and an elementary school that was plagued by miscarriages among workers. Riders also get to breathe in the warm, sticky stench of slaughtered pigs mixed with the stink of diesel fuel, paint and other chemicals.

The tour also hits South Gate, Wilmington, Bell Gardens and the port complex. But don't dispair L.A. Even San Francisco had a Toxic Tour.

Change of heart on subway

Times Staff Writer Richard Simon, who covers Congress (and used to be our local transportation writer), provides some important history and context to the House vote to lift the ban on subway tunneling:

Two decades ago, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), concerned about the safety of building a subway through the Fairfax district after an underground gas explosion there, wrote into federal law a ban on tunnel through the area. On Wednesday, Waxman, now satisfied that new technology has made tunneling safe, persuaded the House to repeal the 1985 law prohibiting the use of federal funds for subway construction under Wilshire Boulevard. The Senate is expected to follow suit soon, and President Bush is expected to sign the repeal measure into law, removing a major political obstacle to extending the subway to the Westside that was put in place when Ronald Reagan was president and Tom Bradley was mayor of Los Angeles. Extending the subway to the ocean-estimated to cost at least $4.8 billion-is still years away. The exact route has yet to be determined, and securing federal funds, at a time of massive budget deficits and fierce competition for money, will be no easy task. Waxman sought the tunneling ban after 21 people were injured in the methane gas explosion at a West 3rd Street dress store, raising safety concerns about extending the subway through pockets of methane gas. But with traffic congestion growing worse, local officials asked him to reconsider the ban. Among those pushing for lifting the ban was Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who in his mayor campaign pledged to push for extending the subway to the sea. Waxman agreed to sponsor the repeal bill after an independent panel of experts ``indicated that technologies have been developed that could make tunneling in the area safe.'' ``In the 20 years since the congressman put this in, the technology has really advanced,'' said Roger Snoble, the MTA's chief executive officer. A similar measure was approved by the House last year, but died in the Senate in the waning days of Congress

Waxman talks about his change of heart and what his bill would mean.

Times Staff Writer Jean Guccione last November wrote about the surprising new support for the subway in Beverly Hills:

Beverly Hills residents, some of whom once opposed a subway, may be set to endorse a Wilshire Boulevard route from Western Avenue that would include one station at La Cienega Boulevard, and another between Beverly and Rodeo drives. At community meetings, city leaders have confronted residents' fears of subway crime and potential terrorism. They warn naysayers that, without a subway, traffic on the Westside will only get worse. "There is an incredible sea change of attitude from resistance to support for the subway," said Allan Alexander, a former Beverly Hills mayor who co-chairs the city's mass transit panel.

Next stop, Rodeo Drive!

The House hands a very early victory to backers of the Subway to the Sea. Reports AP:

The House voted Wednesday to lift a ban on tunneling through West Los Angeles, clearing one obstacle to extending a subway line from downtown to the beaches of Santa Monica. The unanimous voice vote came on a bill by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, the same person who pushed through the 1986 federal prohibition in the first place. Waxman at that time feared construction could cause explosions of naturally occurring methane gas, something that had happened the year before. New research has convinced him and others that it can be done safely. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a supporter of building the 13.2-mile, $4 billion extension, wants the prohibition lifted, as does the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The House also passed Waxman’s bill last fall, during the last congressional session, but it didn’t get a vote in the Senate. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer reintroduced the legislation in the Senate this week. A Wilshire line could be a key link in the city’s subway system - known as the Red Line - that now covers a meager 17 miles from downtown to the San Fernando Valley.

Now comes the hard part: Finding the $5 billion to pay for it. And gaining the neighborhood support to build it.

Fog at LAX

Sounds like LAX might have gotten the worst of the fog. According to AP:

Dozens of airplanes were grounded or diverted from Los Angeles International Airport when fog covered the field during heavy traffic hours and a critical piece of bad-weather equipment failed, authorities said Wednesday. However, operations were back to normal Wednesday morning. "The weather’s cleared a little bit, the equipment’s back in service," said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. A light sensor on a device that measures ground visibility in fog went out at around 4 a.m., Gregor said. Nine to 12 incoming flights had to be diverted to other airports, most of them to Ontario, he said.

(The photo is from KABC's LAX webcam)

Here are current LAX conditions

_______________________________________________________

Steve Lopez: Paging City Hall, Paging City Hall

Matt Szabo, are you there? Amir Sedadi, is your phone out of order? Szabo, press secretary to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, has not answered my questions about whether transit boss Jaime de la Vega has put his Hummer up for sale or whether the mayor has talked to him about it. Read More & Comment

Seeing through the fog

Still no rain, but portions of the L.A. basin were hit by dense fog. Not as bad a morning commute disaster as showers -- but still a challenge. Here are some tips from the CHP for driving in the fog.

• Drive with lights on LOW beam. High beams will reflect off the fog, creating a "white wall" effect.
• Reduce your speed - and watch your speedometer. Fog creates a visual illusion of slow motion when you may actually be speeding.
• Avoid crossing traffic lanes.
• Travel with the drivers window partially open. Listen for traffic.
• Watch for CHP pace cars to guide you.
• If your car is disabled or you cant continue, pull well onto the shoulder and turn off lights. Move away from your vehicle.
• Consider postponing your trip until the fog lifts.

According to the City News Service:

Dense fog rolled across the Southland early today, reducing visibility to a quarter-miles or less on some roadways. The National Weather Service issued a Dense Fog Advisory that was scheduled to expire at 8 a.m., although NWS forecasters said the fog could linger until mid-morning.

___________________________________________

Steve Lopez is back on the Bottlebeck Blog

Matt Szabo, are you there? Amir Sedadi, is your phone out of order? Szabo, press secretary to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, has not answered my questions about whether transit boss Jaime de la Vega has put his Hummer up for sale or whether the mayor has talked to him about it. Read More & Comment

Pedestrian-friendly Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart is interested in building a store on Ventura's bustling Victoria Avenue -- and some city officials are less than thrilled. But even if the retail giant prevails, Ventura planners might end up having the last laugh. The city wants to remake Victoria in the mold of "smart growth":

[The plan] calls for reducing the eight-lane avenue to three lanes in each direction and redesigning the thoroughfare so retail and office buildings would open directly to widened, tree-lined sidewalks with on-street parking.

As a result, a Victoria Avenue Wal-Mart would be, well, different. Reports The Star:

That's because future development along a busy seven-block stretch of Victoria likely will have to conform to a set of "smart growth" rules that promote pedestrian-friendly blocks and prevent big boxes or "mega-block" strip developments, the City Council decided Monday.

All roads lead to ... Moreno Valley

Solo drivers: Fantasize about merging onto that carpool lane without fear getting one of those billion-dollar tickets? Your day has arrived, as long as you are willing to make the drive to Moreno Valley. The PE reports that Caltrans has agreed to a pilot program allowing solo drivers to use the lanes during non-peak hours on an 8-mile stretch of the 60 Freeway through the Riverside County community. Local officials have long been pushing for the change:

Riverside Councilman Steve Adams admitted recently that he sometimes violates the car-pool law by using the lanes when he is traveling alone between his home in western Riverside and the city's downtown, a trip of roughly 10 miles. "It takes me 25 minutes to get to City Hall sometimes from La Sierra," Adams said at a recent meeting of the Riverside County Transportation Commission. "On occasion, I have to cheat."

Caltrans statistics, by the way, show the vast majority of car now using those carpool lanes carry just two passengers.

OC officials want to do the same thing on the 22 Freeway.

Paging City Hall, Paging City Hall

By Steve Lopez

Matt Szabo, are you there? Amir Sedadi, is your phone out of order?

Szabo, press secretary to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, has not answered my questions about whether transit boss Jaime de la Vega has put his Hummer up for sale or whether the mayor has talked to him about it.

If Sedadi, one of the supervisors in traffic enforcement, would return my call, I'd like to know the outcome of the investigation into the ticket one of his traffic officers gave to a bald cancer patient with an oxygen tank. And I'd also like to know if such a ticket has anything to do with a quota requirement.

Meanwhile, keep checking the Bottleneck Blog for posts by my colleagues Shelby Grad, Jean Guccione and others. I'll weigh in on occasion, too, and we're hoping to begin a contest soon in which the smartest comments by readers get special treatment each week on the blog.

In other news, downtown activist and professional problem-solver Brady Westwater is about to tackle traffic, and the man who calls himself L.A. Cowboy informs me of a big meeting Saturday at 11 a.m. at Los Angeles City College. Westwater, chairman of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Councils Congress, says the meeting will feature the preview of "a new program that might permanently alter traffic in this city by changing the commuting patterns." Speakers will include James Okasaki, a former assistant manager at LADOT, and Allyn Rifkin, a former LADOT engineer.

For more information, check out www.lacowboy.blogspot.com on Friday, or email Westwater at bradywestwater@gmail.com

That can't be L.A.

Someone posted a mesmerizing two-minute video on YouTube showing traffic movement at one intersection on Wilshire Boulevard (doesn't say the cross street). But many of those who commented on the video smelled a rat. Why? There simply wasn't enough traffic:

--"Gotta be a Sunday or holiday --damn light traffic for Wilshire"

--"i really dont think this is the main road in L.A tho.. "

--"thats not a lot of traffic.. how about you go to ATL and it will be lined up for miles on some days."

A more "realistic" view of L.A. traffic can be found elsewhere on YouTube.

Whole Foods: Bad for traffic?

Burbank officials are debating whether to approve a Whole Foods Market in the city's horse-loving district near Griffith Park. One Burbank planning board member wrote a column in the Burbank Leader raising questions about the amount of traffic the upscale market would generation:

The real impact of this development can be judged by the experience of other California cities. The city of San Rafael conducted a traffic count at an existing Whole Foods in reviewing a request for a 3,700-square-foot expansion. That showed Whole Foods generated three-times more a.m. peak trips, and two times more p.m. peak-hour trips than predicted by the same data Burbank is relying on. The city engineer's study found that noon-hour trip generation was higher than either the a.m. or p.m. trips. On the basis of this study, the San Rafael City Council rejected the request. In Santa Monica, the neighbors of the only Whole Foods Market in the area with an underground garage petitioned their City Council for additional parking restrictions because patrons don't park in the garage.

The developer of the project wrote his own commentary, saying traffic concerns have been addressed:

Traffic engineers measure the level of traffic at an intersection and assign a letter grade, which ranges from an "A," the best, to an "F," the worst. The levels of service are then observed for the busiest times in the morning and evening, known as the a.m. peak and p.m. peak. The current levels of service at Alameda Avenue and Main Street are an "A" in the morning and a "B" in the afternoon. We felt it was important to maintain these levels of service. In order to do that we have agreed to dedicate land and widen Main Street. This substantial expenditure was not recommended in the traffic study. After these improvements are made, Main Street in the project area will be four lanes: a dedicated right-turn lane, two through lanes and a center merge/left-turn lane.

Pedestrian activism in Silver Lake

Residents of Silver Lake have launched an online petition, urging city officials to make pedestrian safety improvements along Hyperion Avenue, the district's main commercial strip. The area, home to various eateries, a Trader Joe's and a Gelson's, was the site of an accident last month that killed a man crossing the street.

Pushing that Subway to the Sea

Now, if we could just find that $5 billion. Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein on Tuesday introduced legislation that would allow for subway tunneling under Wilshire Boulevard. The House on Wednesday will vote on similar legislation from Rep. Henry Waxman. According to the senators:

The Los Angeles Subway Tunneling Bill overturns a 1985 law that prohibited tunneling because of the potential for methane gas explosions.  After the Los Angeles City Council passed a motion in support of reversing the laws banning tunneling in 2004 and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority board voted to begin discussions of subway expansion in 2005, an independent scientific safety review determined that subway tunneling could move forward safely. This legislation has the support of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Remember the prank last year with all those "Aqua Line" signs?

Drop in the bucket?

Maybe it just seems hopeless. L.A. traffic officials are at work on several major projects designed to "build new capacity" on city streets. The projects come just as work is winding down on the biggest of the efforts: The widening of Santa Monica Boulevard between Westwood and Beverly Hills (Little Santa Monica, RIP). Here's some highlights:

Sepulveda Boulevard between Mulholland Drive and Wilshire Boulevard
This $11 million project will widen intersections and provide for a reversible lane in the Mulholland tunnel.

Commercial Street Widening between Alameda Street and Center Street
This project is combined with US-101 Realignment Project in the Downtown area. (Under construction and will be completed in 2007).

Valley Boulevard Grade Separation near Eastern Avenue
This $35.7 million project is currently under design. The construction of a grade separation to elevate Valley Blvd. between Marianna and Eastern Avenues will begin in 2006.

National Boulevard Widening between Sawtelle Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard
This project, combined with I-405 HOV Lane between I-10 and SR-90, is now in construction and will be completed in 2007.

By the way, does the "new" Santa Monica Boulevard look at all like the artist rendering above?

Carpool lane revolution

Letting solo drivers use carpool lanes? Herasy, say traditionalists. But Orange County transportation officials seem serious about the idea and got a small boost in their campaign. Times Staff Writer David Reyes reports that officials are talking about letting solo drivers use the lanes during non-peak hours:

Whether to allow solo Orange County freeway motorists to drive in carpool lanes during off-peak hours will be decided by local Caltrans officials rather than those in Sacramento. That increases the possibility that solo drivers will be able to use the carpool lanes, as they can in parts of the Bay Area and Sacramento, Carolyn Cavecche, chairwoman of the Orange County Transportation Authority, said Monday. County Supervisor Bill Campbell first made the request about a year ago. In December, new carpool lanes on the Garden Grove Freeway became the first "continuous access" lanes in Southern California, enabling drivers to go in and out of the lanes regardless of how they are striped. The same access could be applied on other freeways in the county if the Caltrans policy is changed.

Officials say they are a ways from opening up the lanes. But they say if the idea works on the 22, it could expand to other OC freeway carpool lanes.

Tunnel of Love

Few commutes conjure up fantasies of leaving Southern California for, say, Crescent City, more than the 91 Freeway between Riverside County (where the homes are) and Orange County (where the jobs are). An annoying mountain range makes building new freeways impossible. So planners for years have talked about drilling a tunnel under the Santa Ana Mountains and building a new highway to relieve the 91. That highway is still a dream. But officials took an interesting first step:

The drilling of two holes in the Cleveland National Forest began [Monday] to test if 646 million gallons of water each day can be transported through a tunnel between Riverside and Orange counties. The Metropolitan Water District's findings could also be used to determine if construction of a vehicular tunnel is feasible.The work was postponed from a few weeks ago because the district needed clearance from the U.S. Forest Service, said spokesman Denis Wolcott.The drilling could take about three months and analysis of rock, soil and water pressure from 2,200 feet below will follow. The district board could know later this year whether a 12-mile tunnel can be constructed, though the agency does not have plans to build one immediately.

Parking-related violence

Screaming. Spitting. Pushing. Kicking. Shooting (yes). Times Staff Writer Patrick McGreevy reports that city officials are worried about what they see as an increase in hostilities toward parking enforcement officers:

The streets of Los Angeles are becoming more dangerous for city traffic officers. Appalled by a growing increase in assaults against the 550 civilian employees who write parking tickets and direct traffic, city officials Monday endorsed state legislation to increase penalties for attackers. Last week in Hollywood, for example, someone took a baseball bat to the windshield of a traffic enforcement officer's vehicle. Three other cars had their tires slashed. And one officer was pulled from his car and beaten with fists after an alleged assailant did not like the answer to a question he asked. "This is just an indication of the intense violence our guys experience out there," said Jimmy Price, the city's chief of parking enforcement. "These kinds of situations traumatize our employees and make them reluctant to engage in their activities when they are in the field."

Here are the numbers: "Assaults went from 23 two years ago to 35 last year, while assault and battery cases — involving weapons or physical attacks — went from nine to 18, including one in which an attacker fired five rounds from a gun into a traffic officer's vehicle."

Of course, Bottleneck Blog posters wanted to do something bad to the L.A. parking cop who gave a ticket to a cancer patient illegally parked in front of a doctor's office. (Steve Lopez might have an update on that case soon). Then again, parking around L.A. is getting tight and expensive. Santa Monica might have a solution.

Ideas for dealing with parking rage? L.A. should check in with San Francisco, where The Times' John Glionna reports:

After a rise in attacks, the city is pushing stronger protection for officers, such as requiring all parking-control vehicles to be equipped with Mace and cameras. A bill being introduced in Sacramento would also make it a felony to strike any parking control officer in the state. Currently, penalties range from fines to community service. "It's a public safety issue," said Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), who is sponsoring the bill. "Nobody takes a traffic ticket with a smile."

Paying more to curb smog

There's a new push to increase the smog abatement fee on older cars. According to AP:

A group of Assembly Democrats proposed legislation Monday to boost funding for alternative fuel programs by raising fees paid by owners of new vehicles. The bill would generate an estimated $45 million a year to reduce air pollution and wean California from foreign oil by promoting research and development of alternative fuels. The revenue would come from raising the smog abatement fee motorists pay when they register cars that are six years old or newer. The annual fee would increase from $12 to $16.

Backers cite the USC study showing children who live near freeways have higher rates of lung problems.

Seeing Purple

Times Staff Writer Angie Green decided to ride the newly renamed Purple Line and found many commuter didn't even know about the change. One guy thought it had something to do with the Lakers.

But as Angie explains:

The Red Line had actually been two lines, both starting at Union Station. At Wilshire and Vermont, the line split, with one leg running to North Hollywood and a second, shorter section continuing two more stops along Wilshire Boulevard and ending at Western Avenue. The leg to Wilshire and Western is now the Purple Line. The MTA decided to the change the name last August but just last month began quietly changing some of its maps and brochures. Maps in the stations show the Purple Line, but those inside the train cars don’t. But that should change this month, said Maya Emsden, who oversees the MTA’s creative services division that creates the Metro maps. No additional money is being spent on introducing the Purple Line; changes to the maps will occur on MTA’s regular schedule for printing new ones, she said. Los Angeles was the only subway system in the world that had lines with different destinations using the same name, Emsden said.

Giving bike riders a break

A Santa Barbara assemblyman is making waves with a new bill that would require motorists to give bicyclists at least three feet of clearance to pass on the road. Democrat Pedro Nava says the bill was inspired by the deaths of two cyclists in his district. Interests representing commercial drivers have already come out against the idea:

"The bill puts drivers, particularly commercial drivers, in a very difficult place since you're expected to keep a certain distance from bicyclists, and bicyclists are not required to keep a certain distance from you," said Barry Broad, a lobbyist for the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council.

There has also been a spirited debate in the California cycling world.

Next big thing in Inland Empire

San Bernardino County is bracing for the next freeway "megaproject" -- a $700 million, six-mile widening of Interstate 215. The project -- increasing the number of lanes in each direction from three to five -- should be complete by 2014. It comes amid rapid population growth along the corridor. Notes The Sun:

The widening of Interstate 215 through downtown [San Bernardino] will not only improve traffic flow and get rid of those irritating southbound fast-lane on-ramps, it'll correct a nearly half-century- old injustice. "This freeway in 1959 was a wonderful new thing," 3rd District county Supervisor Dennis Hansberger said at the groundbreaking ceremony. "What we didn't know was what it could do to us ... the damage it created to our city." Engineers at the time wrestled with the space constraints caused by the railroad lines on the west, and wound up directing all traffic off the freeway to the east, as it does with the Fifth Street and Base Line off-ramps. That cut off the city's Westside, strangling a bustling local economy, Councilwoman Esther Estrada said. She recalled that back then there were restaurants, a bank, gas stations and markets.

The PE has a cool map showing the work plan. Good news for IE commuters: The 215-15 interchange project is supposed to be completed by March.

$450,000 SUV

Don't be alarmed if you see this $450,000 SUV roaming around the streets of the South Bay. Times Staff Writer Janet Wilson reports:

Determined to pinpoint what kind of pollution is swirling in the air around the region's ports, a crew of scientists this week will begin cruising Southern California streets and freeways in a one-of-a-kind mobile research lab. In a car equipped with $450,000 worth of the world's most sophisticated air monitors and a wind sensor protruding like a giant metal claw from the roof, researchers Tuesday will begin sampling the air in several South Bay communities, examining exhaust from cars, trucks and other sources. Chasing pollution in a laboratory on wheels helps fill gaping holes in data about what we breathe in sprawling Southern California, which has just 35 fixed air-monitoring stations spread across 10,743 square miles.

Speeding tickets

--How do CHP officers pick which car to pull over for speeding when a group of vehicles are travelling well over the speed limit? A Riverside woman asked this questions after she said she was pulled over and given a speeding ticket even though the cars in front of her were driving much faster. The Press-Enterprise tries to figure out why.

--So is the new minimum fine for illegal using the carpool lanes now more than $1,000? Not quite, says Mr. Roadshow.

--In the wake of a major accident, authorities take photographs of the scene to help with the investigation. But an Orange County family is now angry because photos of a loved one killed in a crash on the 241 toll road in Lake Forest were somehow made public. Times Staff Writer Garrett Therolf reports:

Shortly after 18-year-old Nikki Catsouras died in a car accident, her relatives began receiving mysterious e-mails and text messages. When they opened the messages, the family members were confronted again and again with gruesome, detailed scenes of the crash, including photos that showed the woman's decapitated body. Catsouras' uncles looked closer at the photos and believed they recognized a surprising source: they had been taken by California Highway Patrol investigators. When the Catsouras family confronted the CHP, the family said, officers acknowledged that the photos had been improperly released to the public.

Westside traffic Deja Vu

Steve Lopez was on KCRW recently talking about solutions to L.A.'s traffic mess. Sam Hall Kaplan has been reading the Bottleneck Blog, including the scores of ideas posted by readers. Hall, a former Times urban design columnist, can't help but feel like he's been there before.

"The age old conflict between cars and communities is escalating, particularly on the West Side," I declared in a column in February, 1982, adding that it was just going to get worse. I noted that the Santa Monica Freeway had reached its capacity in 1979, and in subsequent columns, spurred on by concerned readers, argued that a subway from the Central City to the sea was desperately needed. The alternative was local streets inundated by rogue vehicles and traffic jams to test the patience of Job.

No more free ride

One of the perks of driving certain small hybrid cars is that owners can drive solo in carpool lanes. But be warned if you are about to buy that Prius, Civic or Insight:

The state Department of Motor Vehicles announced Friday that it had issued all 85,000 carpool lane stickers available to hybrid drivers under a state law passed in 2005. Spokesman Steve Haskins said the agency received 700 applications more than the limit for the $8 stickers, which expire in 2010. The passes allow drivers of hybrids that get at least 45 miles per gallon to drive in freeway carpool lanes, even if they are alone. Three vehicles qualified: the Toyota Prius, the Honda Insight and the hybrid Honda Civic. The number of hybrid vehicles registered in California has doubled in the last year, to 135,000.

Some hail the carpool lane rule, saying it encourages the use of the low-emissions vehicles. But Times reporter Amanda Covarrubias last year also found a backlash:

When California allowed solo occupants of hybrid cars to use carpool lanes last year, many thought they were merging onto a narrow strip of car culture heaven. But increasingly, hybrid owners say they feel like the victims of road rage. Carpoolers accuse them of driving too slowly in order to maximize their fuel efficiency, and of clogging lanes that were once clear. Hybrid motorists even have a term for the ill will: "Prius backlash."

Amanda also found that some hybrid users hate those decals the state makes them place on their cars.