Hands free? Not yet

The Mercury News reports that there hasn't exactly been a run on hands-free cellphone in the wake of the new state law requiring it:

Less than three months before a new state law goes into effect requiring drivers 18 and over to use hands-free cell phone devices when behind the wheel, not many motorists are beating a path to the nearest phone store. "Our customers appear to be unaware of the details of the new law," said Phil Malaspina of Wireless World in Morgan Hill, echoing comments made by employees of other wireless stores. "Most are surprised to find out that there is a hands-free law taking effect on July 1." It's time to get prepared. California will join nearly a dozen other states in trying to rein in distracted motorists who love to gab while driving.

Marina del Rey's last bus

Marina del Rey appears to have been successful in saving the only MTA bus line into the community, according to the Argonaut:

A month after it was reported to be on a Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro or MTA) list of cutbacks in bus service, Line 108 to Marina del Rey has been saved. Earlier this year, officials at the transit agency named the 108, which is the only bus line that serves Marina del Rey, as one of several routes that would face cutbacks in service this summer. Line 108 runs from Paramount to Marina del Rey. "Service to Marina del Rey will continue," Dana Coffey, Metro's sector general manager for the South Bay confirmed. "After listening to our customers, whether they came in the form of e-mails, phone calls or letters, we will continue to provide bus service to our customers in Marina del Rey." Eighteen service cuts were originally proposed, and Line 108 was one of only five that were withdrawn. Metro's board of directors rescinded the service cut March 21st.

Wayward east

The Eastside extension of the Gold Line could be just the beginning. The MTA is considering more routes further east, perhaps to El Monte and Whittier, according to the Whittier Daily News:

Rapid transit in the form of light-rail could be coming to El Monte, Rosemead or Whittier - but probably not anytime soon. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is holding a second series of meetings beginning Wednesday in Whittier to get reactions to 17 alternatives for a line that would go east from East Los Angeles. Still, MTA officials concede they have no money to build a line. In addition, this 80-square-mile area that includes 13 cities, is in competition with three other sectors of Los Angeles County for a light-rail project. And a number of the 17 alternatives, especially the ones that would travel on congested arterials like Whittier and Beverly boulevards and Garvey Avenue, already are getting opposition from local officials.

Here are some proposed routes from the MTA.

710 Tunnel: A private affair?

There's a new twist in the decade-long drama of finishing the "missing link" of the 710 Freeway through South Pasadena. The Star-News says a private firm is now interested in building it:

A radical proposal to build an underground highway funded entirely by the private sector has revived the perennially delayed 710 Freeway extension project. Metro officials have confirmed they have been approached by a financial broker representing major international corporations interested in investing in the plan, which would use giant tunnel-boring machines to build a completely subterranean 6-mile, multi- lane roadway. The route would link the current terminus of the northbound 710 in Alhambra with a short northern segment of the freeway in Pasadena, extending south from the 210 Freeway. "They told us there is potential in the private sector to make a deal, and we were happy to talk to them," said Metro spokesman Marc Littman, adding that the discussions were very preliminary and more details about the plan would need to be hashed out before a private-partnership could even be considered.

Taxi troubles

The Times Sharon Bernstein does the math on L.A. taxis and finds that because of local laws, they spend a lot of time waiting around:

Taxi driver George Stepanian was stuck idling again, inching toward the front of the stand at 7th and Figueroa streets in downtown Los Angeles. In other cities, cabbies prowl the streets for customers trying to hail a ride. But not in L.A., where some of the toughest regulations in the country make the practice very difficult in many of the busiest neighborhoods. Stepanian admits he occasionally picks up a passenger hailing a cab on a quiet street when no one is around but never during rush hour, when no-stopping zones are strictly enforced along many of downtown's busy streets. "I don't risk it," Stepanian said. "I cannot afford another ticket." As a result, many L.A. cabbies spend more time idling than driving. Bill Rouse, general manager of Yellow Cab of Los Angeles, said his cabbies spend up to 60% of their time waiting around at taxi stands for customers. But as L.A. becomes increasingly dense, there's growing interest in creating a taxicab culture here, particularly downtown and in Hollywood, where more and more people are moving about on foot and where it's so congested much of the time that it's unpleasant to drive.