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A little less than 12 hours before the deadline for passing most legislation, the California Assembly today approved a bill, AB 2321, that would allow a half-cent sales tax increase to be placed on the Nov. 4 ballot in Los Angeles County.
The tax, if approved by voters, would pay for $30 billion to $40 billion of mass transit and road improvements over the next three decades before it sunsets, proponents say. The bill was sponsored by Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), who has been trying to shepherd it through the Legislature for eight months.
It remains to be seen whether voters will have the chance to vote on the tax, although the proposal has been submitted by local officials to the county ballot and designated as Measure R. In order for the sales tax election to be legal, the bill still must be signed within 30 days by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The governor has threatened to veto all bills coming to his desk until the Legislature agrees on a state budget.
Schwarzenegger, however, made an exception recently when he signed a bill providing more details on how $9.95 billion in bonds would be spent on a high-speed rail system. That bond measure, Proposition 1A, is on the statewide November ballot.
Another complication: Schwarzenegger has proposed filling the state's $15-billion budget shortfall by imposing a temporary sales tax increase on all California residents. Such an increase probably would make it difficult to ask voters in L.A. County to tax themselves even more.
To put it another way, it should be a very interesting next few weeks for the county sales tax effort. One of the projects that would receive funding from the tax is an extension of the subway to the Westside. As it happens, Metro Rail officials this week are scheduled to announce the Westside route they've chosen for further study.
--Steve Hymon
Everybody is writing letters these days or talking about the proposed Gold Line Foothill Extension in the San Gabriel Valley.
Earlier this week, I posted about Rep. David Dreier campaigning to get Metro to fork over $80 million in funding for the line so that $320 million in federal funding can be sought to push the line to Azusa.
Yesterday, I posted about Metro CEO Roger Snoble sending a letter to Dreier, telling him that federal funding is hardly a sure thing and that Gold Line proponents would be better off backing the half-cent sales tax increase proposal Metro is trying to get on the Nov. 4. ballot
Today's letter comes from Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who writes to Snoble and tells him he heard differently from federal officials about their willingness to fund the Foothill Extension: Dear Mr. Snoble,
The information in your letter to Congressman David Dreier is not consistent with what I was told last month when I was in Washington D.C. meeting with the Secretary of Transportation and the Chief Counsel of the Federal Transit Administration. Both made it quite clear that the reason the Gold Line Foothill Extension project has not been able to progress under the FTA’s “New Starts” program was due to the MTA’s failure to prioritize the project as part of its long-term project list.
By not allowing our Congressional delegation to pursue federal funding for this vital transportation project, you are holding the residents of the San Gabriel Valley hostage for the next 30 years to a flawed sales tax as there only saving grace to fund the extension.
The letter in its entirety is after the jump. All this arguing is likely a bit of a moot point for now -- it doesn't appear that the Metro Board will take up the Gold Line funding issue until after the Nov. 4 election.
Continue reading "Gold Line Foothill Extension: Antonovich takes on Snoble" »
 As we're heading into a holiday weekend in which many of you will be driving, I thought it would be a good time to share this: The fatality rate of motorists on California roads hit an all-time low in 2007, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The death rate was 1.18 deaths per 100 million miles driven. The federal fatality database shows that the previous low in California in recent times was 1.19 deaths in 1999.
The number of road deaths in the United States fell substantially last year and California also saw a decline, from 4,240 in 2006 to 3,974 in '07, although motorcycle deaths increased. Federal and state officials credited the drop in deaths to safer cars, increased law enforcement and the fact that people are driving less overall.
Of course, such statistics have to be taken with a grain of salt. It was not a good week on local roads. The death toll in the accident on Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock on Wednesday night increased to four today, when another victim died. A motorcyclist was killed in an afternoon rush-hour collision with a truck on the 405 in the Sepulveda pass on Tuesday and a 38-year-old woman died in a head-on collision between a Toyota Tercel and pickup truck in Hemet on Thursday.
Please be careful out there this weekend. The full CHP press release is after the jump.
-- Steve Hymon
Continue reading "Vehicle fatality rate drops to new low in California" »
BREAKING NEWS: The California State Senate voted 24 to 13 a few minutes ago to approve AB 2321, needed to put a half-cent sales tax increase proposal on the November ballot in Los Angeles County. If approved, proponents say the tax would raise $30 billion to $40 billion in revenue for mass transit and road projects over the next three decades.
(Update, 7:43 p.m.: another yea vote came later, bringing the vote total to 25 to 13).
The Assembly must re-approve the bill by Sunday, then it must be signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger within 30 days. Officials with the MTA are saying the Assembly will vote this afternoon.
Schwarzenegger has threatened to veto all bills that come to his desk until the Legislature can agree on a state budget. The Senate today voted against a budget plan that included a temporary sales tax hike.
If the Legislature and Schwarzenegger ultimately decide to fix the $15-billion deficit by imposing a sales tax, it remains unclear if local officials in Los Angeles County will still pursue the half-cent transportation tax increase. Los Angeles County's sales tax rate of 8.25% is already one of the highest in the state.
The sales tax increase proposal is known as Measure R. It has already been submitted to the county registrar to be on the Nov. 4 ballot, but the state bill must be signed by Schwarzenegger for there to be an election.
--Steve Hymon
Caltrans' media office called me Thursday afternoon and asked if I would like to chat with Will Kempton, the director of Caltrans. Sure, I said. I try never to pass up a chance to complain about traffic to public officials.
Kempton wanted to talk about the state budget, or the lack of one. He was steamed -- although polite -- about the fact that the Legislature may borrow gasoline tax revenues to help erase the $15-billion budget deficit, setting off a chain reaction of delays for Caltrans road and rail projects.
"I sure wish we'd get a budget, it's as bad as I've ever seen it and I've been in and around state government for 35 years," Kempton said. "And it's certainly not helping us with our transportation" plan.
The gist of the problem, Kempton said, is that the California Transportation Commission has approved about $500 million for a variety of projects, and the agency wants to go forward with construction. But they can't because the Legislature needs to budget the money.
And what if the Legislature decides to suspend Prop 42, the voter-approved initiative to ensure the state gas sales tax is used for transportation needs? A cascade of delays for those projects, Kempton said. In particular, he said that 20% of next year's projects would be delayed, 70% of the projects scheduled for 2009-10 would be pushed back and 90% of the 2010-11 projects would be started at a much later date.
Continue reading "Caltrans director not a happy camper over state budget" »
In recent days Metro has begun to quietly settle on some of the details of converting the carpool lanes on parts of the 10 and 110 freeways into toll lanes. Big-time credit for ferreting out this info goes to Damien Newton at Streetsblog Los Angeles who last week posted about it after going to a sparsely attended meeting on the toll plan in South Los Angeles.
(correction: an earlier version of this post credited Laist.com with going to the meeting. Laist had a fine post, too, but it was based on Damien's post.)
Metro's media office just e-mailed me what the emerging rules are on who can and can't use the lanes. Although earlier discussions had mentioned excluding hybrid cars that already had stickers allowing them to use the carpool lane, Metro now says they will continue to have access to the lane for free, although the minimum carpool requirement on the 10 remains three people.
The idea for the lanes is that the tolls will change by time of day. When demand is high (i.e. during rush hour, for example), the price will be high to lower demand on the lane. Conversely, when there's little traffic, the price will be low. This is the same tolling scheme applied to the 91 express lanes in Orange County.
The other rules, in the words of Metro: Peak hours
For the 110 freeway, a two (2) person carpool would drive free during peak hours - - consistent with current minimum occupancy. Single drivers, who cannot access the lanes today, would have a choice to buy into the HOT lanes at certain times of the day.
For the 10 freeway, a three (3) person carpool would drive free during peak hours -- consistent with current minimum occupancy. Two person and single drivers, who cannot access the lanes today, would have a choice to buy into the HOT lanes at certain times of the day.
Non-Peak
For the 110 freeway, a two (2) person carpool would drive free during non-peak hours -- consistent with current minimum occupancy. Single drivers, who cannot access the lanes today, would have a choice to buy into the HOT lanes at certain times of the day.
For the 10 Freeway, a three (3) person carpool and 2 person carpool would drive free during non-peak hours -- consistent with current minimum occupancy. Single drivers, who cannot access the lanes today, would have a choice to buy into the HOT lanes at certain times of the day.
So, that's what Metro is saying. The obvious question is what does "certain times of the day" mean? My best guess is that it means when there's capacity available in the lanes, solo drivers can buy their way in. I've asked Metro to clarify and will update this post later when/if they do. I've also asked them to clarify the rules for motorcycles.
(UPDATE: Metro says motorcycles will have free use of the carpool lanes at all times.)
The Metro plan has similarities to the way that other congestion pricing lanes are managed. For example, the 91 express lanes allow carpools with three or more passengers to use the lanes for free with one exception -- eastbound from 4 to 6 p.m., when three-plus carpoolers must pay a toll but get a 50% discount.
Also, carpools of two or more use the toll lanes on the 15 freeway in San Diego County for free.
-- Steve Hymon
photo: Glenn Koenig / LAT
 Sen. Barack Obama, Thursday night in Denver:
"And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as president: In 10 years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East."
If you're wondering what that means exactly, this chart from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows the sources of oil used by the United States. The EIA also says:
"The United States consumes about 21 million barrels (882 million gallons) of petroleum products each day, almost half in the form of gasoline used in over 210 million motor vehicles traveling over 7 billion miles per day."
Another breakdown by the EIA, shows that the U.S. is importing about 2.1 million barrels of oil from the Persian Gulf each day. So, if Obama is elected, the U.S. has a decade to find a lot of that oil somewhere else, reduce its oil use and/or find other ways to power our cars -- presumably without doing too much harm to our environment.
(Correction: an earlier version of this post said the U.S. was using about 3.8 million barrels of oil per day from the Persian Gulf.)
Obama, in his speech, attacked Sen. John McCain for perpetuating the nation's oil addiction. McCain, too, has called for reducing the nation's dependency on foreign oil and has called for increased drilling here, as well as pushing for cleaner cars and alternative fuels.
Obama also said this last night:
"Now is the time to end this addiction and to understand that drilling is a stopgap measure, not a long-term solution, not even close.
"As president, as president, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies retool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America.
"I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars.
"And I'll invest $150 billion over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy -- wind power, and solar power and the next generation of biofuels -- an investment that will lead to new industries and 5 million new jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced."
McCain, obviously, gets his turn next week at the Republican convention. Just to make things more interesting, he chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate this morning and it's fair to say that Alaska knows a thing or two about oil.
Do you think America can really end its addiction to Middle East oil, Bottleneckers? What do you think the next decade will look like when it comes to use of cars? Will auto manufacturers get serious about fuel efficiency? Will we all be riding scooters and bikes? Hit the comment board please.
Related: transcript of Obama's speech, Obama's website on energy, McCain's website on energy.
-- Steve Hymon
Traffic alert for north San Fernando Valley: At 8:47 a.m. the CHP traffic incident website reported officers are responding to an accident on the southbound 5 freeway just past the junction with the 405. A car is possibly stuck under a truck. An ambulance and the fire department has also been called to the scene. As of 9 a.m., the Caltrans real-time traffic map wasn't showing any problems in the vicinity -- but it often takes a while for congestion to show up.
Update, 10:25 a.m.: It turned out not to be a traffic problem and the accident has disappeared from the CHP website.
--Steve Hymon
Racing legend dies: Phil Hill (above right) was the first and only American-born driver to win the prestigious Formula One championship, which he captured in 1961. The Santa Monica native died yesterday at 81. If you grew up in a household that liked auto racing -- and I did -- Hill was a name you knew. The Southland has produced its share of great drivers, but Hill was arguably the best. LAT obituary.
(correction: an earlier version of this post said he won the F1 title in 1981. It was 1961.)
Eagle Rock crash: Police say a three-car race at 70 mph resulted in two cars colliding and one of them hitting a tree, report my colleagues Tami Abdollah and Jia-Rui Chong.
No Metrolink service Monday: The commuter rail service takes the day off for Labor Day, with regular service resuming Tuesday. Metro service will be on a Sunday schedule.
LAX workers strike: Several hundred baggage handlers, security personnel and janitors went on strike Thursday and airport officials are telling passengers to arrive two hours early for flights, according to The Times' story this morning. The LAX website is showing few delays this morning. Update, 10:05 a.m.: The office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has announced the workers and airport have agreed to a three-week cooling off period.
-- Steve Hymon
Photo credit: Los Angeles Times
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