China's bullet train, a Tahoe Olympics (!?) and presidential candidates and transportation: Ramping up, August 12
China's bullet train
While high-speed rail funding remains an open question in California, China recently became the latest nation to add high-speed rail to its arsenal of transportation options. The new train runs about 75 miles between Beijing and Tianjin and, the BBC reports, cuts travel time from about 70 minutes to 30 minutes. It can go 210 mph and a first-class seat costs 69 yuan, or $10 in America buckaroos. Those visiting for the Olympics can take the train to soccer games.
Reno-Tahoe Winter Olympics?
While on the subject, did you know that the Reno-Tahoe area was exploring a bid for the 2018 Winter Games? I just heard about it recently and, as a skier, think it's a great idea.
The Reno-Tahoe Winter Games Coalition argues that transportation shouldn't be a problem, given the modern Reno airport and the potential to add train service between Reno and Truckee.
Another argument I'd make: Traffic going to Tahoe from the California side of the lake can't get much worse. If you've got an idea where to put the men's and women's downhill races up there, please post to the comments board. The photo shows Squaw Valley, home of the 1960 Winter Olympics. Looks like Siberia Bowl to me.
Board of Supes votes again on sales tax
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors is likely today to reverse course and agree to put the proposal for a half-cent sales tax increase on the general ballot in the Nov. 4 election. The supes last week failed to muster a majority to do so, but Supervisor Don Knabe subsequently changed his mind.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether the state Legislature would let the election go forward. A bill to do so is docked in the Senate's Appropriations Committee, which could meet as early as today but likely won't get together to vote on the matter until later in the week.
L.A. taxi rates going up
The city of L.A.'s Board of Taxicab Commissioners on Monday approved a rate hike of about 10%. The drop charge is now $2.85 for the first one-ninth of a mile and then it's $2.70 per mile thereafter. The flat rate for trips between LAX and downtown goes from $42 to $46.50, with a $15 minimum. The flat fare between Kennedy Airport and Manhattan, by the way, is $45, according to the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission.
Caltrain bike plan hits the streets
The commuter rail service Caltrain, which connects San Jose and San Francisco, released its bike parking plan yesterday. About 8% of Caltrain riders arrive at stations by bike and the report concentrates on improving access to stations and, specifically, offering more different types of bike parking at the 10 most popular stations for cyclists. A loose translation for this post is that Caltrain is thinking a little more holistically than we are down here.
The photo from regular Bottleneck reader Bob Huddy shows the deplorable, embarrassing and pathetic bike parking situation at the Lake Avenue Gold Line station in Pasadena -- basically, cyclists have to lock their bikes up to anything they can find at the entrance to this station, which sits on a bridge over the freeway (hospitable for cars, not people!). Huddy also wrote that a friend of his recently had two bikes stolen there in a space of two weeks.
Copenhagen and bikes
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman was in Copenhagen and wrote Sunday about how bike-friendly it is. Very good column, as always. And it reminds me to remind you to read the guest blog from Mikael Colville-Andersen about how Copenhagen got the way it is.
Presidential candidates and transportation
There's an interesting Q&A with USC's Lisa Schweitzer on the university's website. Schweitzer, an assistant professor in policy, planning and development, writes some about the views of Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain on the subject:
"I think both sides of the political spectrum agree that Americans’ consumption patterns have to change. For example, we had President Bush’s “addicted to oil” comments in his State of the Union address a few years ago. Barack Obama has transit in his platform, and John McCain’s platform includes advanced transportation technologies to deal with both energy and climate change. Everybody sees the writing on the wall clearly enough; the devil is in the implementation."
That's right. I might have added a little something about Obama's mixed messages over the years on coal as an energy source and McCain's infamous battles against Amtrak funding -- something noteworthy since Amtrak has seen some standing room only crowds on its L.A. to San Diego trains this summer.
--Steve Hymon
China train photo: Itsuo Inouye / AP
Squaw Valley photo: Squaw Valley
Bike photo: Bob Huddy
