Going private

It's a new day at the federal Department of Transportation, according to the Washington Post, with a new generation looking to private solutions to traffic woes:

It took a few moments for Tyler Duvall, the top policymaker at the Department of Transportation, to digest the news from the Hill. But when he realized what it meant, he was stunned. Last year, Congress decided not to dictate how the department could spend its discretionary funds. No earmarks, no strings, no arm-twisting from lawmakers to direct money to bus systems or other mass-transit projects in hundreds of communities nationwide.  Duvall and other top department officials were staring at nearly $1 billion. And they knew exactly how to spend it.  They used the money to seed five high-profile experiments, in New York, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Miami and Seattle, that feature "congestion pricing" -- tolls that increase when traffic is heavy. The idea is to reduce traffic by discouraging some motorists from driving during peak hours.  "It's almost sort of un-American that we should be forced to sit and be stuck in traffic," said D.J. Gribbin, the department's general counsel and liaison to the White House, who worked closely with Duvall on the project.

Orange Line growing...

Here's your chance to speak out on the proposed extension of the Orange Line to Chatsworth:

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will hold the first of two public hearings tomorrow to gauge reaction to its proposed northern extension of the Orange Line busway on Wednesday. The Orange Line would be extended four miles north from Canoga Park to Chatsworth in an effort to relieve north-south traffic in the western San Fernando Valley, according to a Metro statement. At present, the Orange Line runs east and west between North Hollywood and Canoga Park. The Metro Board of Directors approved a $5.95 million contract earlier this year to cover environmental clearance and preliminary engineering for the proposed project. Based on input from public hearing in July, Metro authorities released a draft of its environmental impact report two weeks ago, proposing four alternatives: -- extending the existing Orange Line right-of-way; -- creating a bus-only lane along a widened Canoga Avenue; -- improving and enhancing the current transit system in place; -- or doing nothing. A second public hearing is scheduled for March 26 in Chatsworth, after which a final copy of the report will be compiled and presented to the Metro board. (CNS)

23 widening almost done

Officials are close to finishing a major effort to widen a rural route in Ventura County that has become decidely suburban and crowded. According to the Ventura County Star:

For the past four years, Carolyn Riggs has dreaded her morning commute on Highway 23 from her home in Moorpark to her workplace in Thousand Oaks. "No matter what, it would be bottlenecked the entire length of the two-lane 23 freeway, and there was no way around it. I either had to wake up extremely early for work to hopefully beat the traffic, or just grin and bear it," Riggs said. This week, the daily commute for Riggs and throngs of other commuters who travel Highway 23 became a lot easier. The California Department of Transportation opened the final portion of a third southbound lane from Los Angeles Avenue in Moorpark to Olsen Road in Thousand Oaks. The entire three-lane span on the southbound side extends from Los Angeles Avenue in Moorpark to Highway 101 in Thousand Oaks.

Strange happenings inside the Red Line tube

Never a dull moment on the Red Line:

Paramedics were sent today to treat a man found injured in a Metro Red Line tunnel north of downtown Los Angeles, authorities said. Emergency crews went to the area near the Metro Red Line station in the 300 block of North Vermont Avenue about 6:50 a.m., said Ron Myers of the Los Angeles Fire Department. It was unclear how the man was hurt, Myers said. (CNS)

800,000 and counting...

How could we have filled so many potholes but still have so many around LA? Consider this item:

A pothole will be repaired today in Leimert Park -- the 800,000th since Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa launched a campaign to fill 1 million potholes 2-1/2 years ago. The mayor will wield a shovel and a load of hot patch with Bureau of Street Services workers at a specially designated crater in a residential neighborhood in Leimert Park. The milestone comes a week after a study group funded by the construction industry reported that Los Angeles has the bumpiest roads in California, with 65 percent of them needing repair. (CNS)

Gold Line keeps creeping east

Construction on the Pico Aliso station, part of the six-mile, $898-million Metro Gold Line Eastside extension, will begin next Thursday. Located on 1st Street between Anderson and Utah streets, it will be one of eight stations connecting Union Station to East Los Angeles via Little Tokyo and Boyle Heights, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials.

Crews will work on the Pico Aliso station at night, between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. Eastbound traffic on 1st Street will be detoured south at Anderson Street to eastbound 3rd Street, then south again at Gless Street to eastbound 4th Street, then finally north at Boyle Avenue to eastbound 1st Street. Westbound traffic will not be affected.

The project, begun in 2004, is scheduled for completion in late 2009 and should ferry passengers between downtown and East Los Angeles in 17 minutes.

— City News Service

Fuel costs hit Metrolink

Here's another way the high cost of fuel will hit you even if you don't drive to work. According to California Newswire, Metrolink users can expect another fare hike:

In 2007, Metrolink’s Board of Directors approved a three year program of annual system wide average fare adjustments of 3.5% that would take effect on July 1, 2007, 2008 and 2009 to keep pace with higher costs to operate commuter train service. Because of the escalating cost of diesel fuel, scheduled increases in costs for operating services contracts and new start-up costs related to the arrival of additional passenger cars in 2009, the Board is considering a fare increase of up to 7.5%, instead of the previously approved 3.5% as well as potential reductions in service to take effect on July 1, 2008.