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 Continuing this weekend's tour around transportation-related issues....
Sen. John McCain has said that Teddy Roosevelt is his kind of Republican president, in part because of Roosevelt's record on conservation. High Country News, the environmental newspaper, takes a look at McCain's record and finds early promise in McCain's legislative record when it comes to the environment, but little to praise of late, and his score from the League of Conservation Voters is a 24 out of 100. HCN notes that McCain deserves credit for helping two wilderness bills through Congress that helped set aside thousands of acres in Arizona for roads and other threats and he helped reduce flyovers of tourist aircraft from popular trails in the Grand Canyon (at right), but he's taken to task for not curbing uranium mining and helping protect a threatened river. One issue the article largely skirts is that McCain has -- at least in his public statements -- taken climate change more seriously than many of his Republican counterparts in Congress. Still, the article is worth reading, given that McCain represents a Western state with a diverse geography and vast public lands, the same attributes that make the Western U.S. such a unique place.
The first presidential debate on Friday night focused on the economy and national security. The word transportation wasn't used, according to the transcript, although the word infrastructure came up once, when Sen. Barack Obama quickly mentioned the need to rebuild roads and bridges.
One of the fresher reads on the campaign comes from the Australian, an online newspaper that takes the view that both McCain and Obama are touting their fair share of bad ideas. They criticize Obama for his statements in support of ethanol -- which the paper says is basically pandering to Midwestern corn growers -- and McCain gets criticized for trying to drill the nation's way out of high oil prices.
El Paso joins the list of cities that want a streetcar, reports KVIA. It's seen as an economic development tool, officials say. L.A. is also on the list of cities suffering streetcar envy, courtesy of Portland, Ore.
Read on »
Hope you're having a good weekend, Bottleneckers. A few things that caught my eye recently...
The New Yorker had a wonderfully long story about Herrenknecht AG, the German firm that specializes in tunneling for highways, railroads and utilities. The firm is currently involved in some epic projects, including a tunnel under the Alps and some big digs in Barcelona for a subway expansion. There's also a local angle, as Herrenknecht AG dug the twin tunnels under Boyle Heights for the Gold Line expansion to the Eastside (one is shown above). Besides the engineering audacity involved in some of these projects, the article left me impressed with the willingness of some countries and cities to support infrastructure projects. Unfortunately only the abstract of the story is online at the New Yorker website, so try to beg the Sept. 15 issue off a friend.
If you're headed on a road trip to Arizona anytime soon, be warned: the state is going ahead with Gov. Janet Napolitano's plan to greatly expand the use of speed enforcement cameras. The deployment is rolling out, reports the Associated Press, and many of the cameras are installed in vehicles, so they can be moved around the state. Speed cameras have been rebuffed several times by the Legislature in California, but I suspect it's just a matter of time -- and a big enough deficit -- until someone here decides there's a mountain of revenue to be had.
Damien Newton, of Streetsblog Los Angeles, dropped by City Hall the other day to hear the City Council talk about implementing a bike sharing plan -- the kind that Councilwoman Wendy Greuel thought was neat at the Dems' convention in Denver. From the looks of things, nothing really happened other than a discussion. I covered City Hall for three years, and that's usually how it goes: pols meet, pols talk, pols adjourn meeting.
While on the subject of Mr. Newton, he did a fine post on the little-known fact that you need to license your bike to ride in both L.A. and Santa Monica -- and you can get ticketed if you don't have one. So, let me get this straight. In L.A., a city that has completely dropped the ball in so many ways when it comes to providing biking facilities, they're making people get licenses? I didn't know this and have now moved several city officials into the top 10 of my call list on Monday morning. I look forward to their explanation for this outrage.
Google Transit expanded to New York City, reports the NYT. We're still waiting for the MTA and Google to reach some type of peace accord here. Tick tick tick....
Washington state was the first to ban text messaging, but the Seattle P-I reports that just two tickets have been reported in Seattle courts. There's only been a few dozen on a statewide level. As for Californians like you and me -- the law that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed this past week takes effect Jan. 1. Put down your phones and do what we did in the old days and play with your radio instead.
--Steve Hymon
Freeway tear-downs?: I usually don't like lists, but I do think this one from the Congress for the New Urbanism is pretty good -- it's their top 10 lists of freeways that should be torn down to make way for more people-friendly streets. No L.A. freeway made the cut, however.
The top five:
1. Seattle , WA . – The Alaskan Way Viaduct (shown above)
2. Bronx , NY – Sheridan Expressway
3. Buffalo, NY – The Skyway and Route 5
4. New Haven, CT – Route 34
5. New Orleans, LA – Claiborne Expressway
Metrolink: The Board of Directors meets today in L.A. to consider the long list of safety recommendations offered to them by the MTA Board. On the list are adding a second engineer, installing anti-collision technology and possibly installing seatbelts. My colleague Jeff Gottlieb is covering the meeting; a full online story on yesterday's MTA meeting is on The Times' California page.
State budget: MTA CEO Roger Snoble said at yesterday's MTA meeting that the state budget cut about $130 million from transportation programs around L.A. County. Only $130 million? The boys and girls in the Leg must have been off their game this year.
Blog schedule: I'm off today, back Monday. Light posting in the meantime.
--Steve Hymon
photo: Cheryl Hatch / AP
Rail safety: The Metro (a.k.a. MTA) Board is set today to discuss a broad motion calling for several upgrades to Metrolink, including faster installation of anti-collision devices and an extra camera in the cab of locomotives. The U.S. House of Representatives also approved a rail safety bill Wednesday that requires anti-collision devices to be installed by 2015 and provides more than $12 billion in funding for Amtrak over the next five years.
Today in Measure R: The Coalition for Clean Air is the latest group to support the half-cent sales tax increase proposal in Los Angeles County. Of course, the election is still not official until Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs a bill, AB 2321, authorizing it.
Speaking of Measure R: The campaign for Measure R has set up shop in Century City and the website will soon debut, says Mather Martin, the campaign manager. The fundraising committee is called "Yes on Measure R Los Angeles" but no donations are yet showing on the Cal-Access website. Ace Smith, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's go-to guy on election strategy, is running the Measure R campaign, and Denny Zane, the former Santa Monica mayor who is exec director of the Subway-to-the-Sea Coalition, is also working for the campaign.
--Steve Hymon
Chrysler goes electric: The year 2010 is shaping up to be an interesting one on the clean car front. Chevrolet formally introduced its Volt electric car last week, indicating at least some of the plug-in electric cars will be on the market in two years. On Tuesday, Chrysler -- which has been silent on the issue of electric cars -- unveiled three of them (shown above) and said it will have one on the market by 2010, too. Funny what a little competition will do, eh? The vehicles have small gasoline engines that are used to generate more electricity to power the car. Chrysler, you may recall, is one of the companies seeking $25 billion in federal loans -- go ahead, call it a bailout -- to help create more efficient cars after years of producing gas guzzlers. The Times' Up to Speed blog has all the details.
Rail safety: The House and Senate have agreed on a compromise rail safety bill that would require railroads to install anti-braking devices by 2015 and would curtail the number of hours an engineer could work each month to 276 hours. The House may vote today. This month's Metrolink crash spurred action on the bill, which had been stalled.
On the subject of Metrolink: The Twitter updates the agency sends to commuters are fascinating -- it allows you to see how often the trains break down. And yesterday was not a good day. The early afternoon train to Ventura County was terminated in Burbank for mechanical reasons and a later train to O.C. was also canceled for similar reasons.
--Steve Hymon
photo: Chrysler
Streets are for bikes: Mexico City (above) has taken to closing one of its main thoroughfares on Sundays so cyclists can enjoy them. New York City closed Park Avenue for the same reason over the summer. Los Angeles? A big no show in that department. Surprised?
Lists are usually dumb: SustainLane released its list of sustainable cities recently. Portland, San Francisco and Seattle came in 1-2-3 and Los Angeles nabbed 28th and, of course, a lot of media folk covered it because, well, it's a list. And who finished in the two positions ahead of L.A.? San Diego and New Orleans, respectively. Hmm. One of those (hint: San Diego) won't expand its rinky-dink airport, sending everyone on a long drive to LAX, and for years has had to get a federal waiver from the Clean Water Act because its Point Loma sewage plant doesn't do secondary treatment of the nasty stuff before releasing it in the ocean. The other (hint: New Orleans) is increasingly vulnerable to flooding because of the eroding Mississippi River Delta, which helps protect it from storms.
Gas prices: The average price for a gallon of regular in California was down to $3.74 on Monday -- a big tumble from its price of $4.61 on June 19. The Chevron I've been watching in Pasadena is down to $3.799, a drop of 93 cents from in late June. Gas prices were about $3.20 for a gallon of regular this past winter when they started spiking, so there's still a ways to go before reaching the good ol' days of cheap gas.
--Steve Hymon
photo: Sarah Meghan Lee / For The Times
Positive train control systems: My colleague Dan Weikel takes a look at places where the anti-collision technology has been implemented and seems to be working. Metrolink officials say there isn't yet such a system that would work in Southern California. Here's an excerpt: "Positive train control is not a new concept, nor a new technology," said George Gavalla, the former head of the Federal Railroad Administration's safety office, where he worked from 1995 to 2004. "That accident would not have happened had they invested in a system that can detect a train going through a signal," he said, referring to Metrolink.
Francisco Oaxaca, a spokesman for Metrolink, said the only part of the agency's 388 miles of track that has automatic braking is a stretch in south Orange County that was equipped with the system by another railroad before Metrolink began operation in 1992. Oaxaca said Metrolink officials were not prepared Friday to say anything more about rail safety measures.
Signal synchronization: L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is set to unveil some traffic signal timing improvements at a news conference this morning. I'm going — to ask him about the Metrolink crash.
Measure R: With the state budget apparently settled, this could be the week that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs the state bill authorizing the Measure R half-cent sales tax hike election on Nov. 4 in L.A. County. If the bill isn't signed by the end of the month, the election is kaput. I spoke on Friday to Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), who sponsored the bill, AB 2321, and he said that he's spoken to the governor, is optimistic and has been speaking about the bill with community groups for a few weeks now. The groups, Feuer said, seem to support the sales tax hike.
— Steve Hymon
A few more links and thoughts from the world of transportation to make your Sunday complete....
There have been plenty of dire predictions that climate change will be tough on grizzly bears in the lower 48 -- and global warming has been blamed for shrinking the glaciers of Glacier National Park in northern Montana, reports the Associated Press. But a new DNA study (yes, the one that Sen. John McCain has mocked for its price tag) shows that the grizz population in northwest Montana may be at a 30-year high. Remember, the transportation sector is a giant contributor to the greenhouse gases released in the U.S. each year.
I've posted before that every city wants a streetcar -- including Los Angeles. Add Boise, Idaho, to the list -- one I hadn't heard before. The local CBS affiliate has the report. Even Ogden, Utah, is studying a streetcar, says the Deseret News. Ogden?
Chicago unveiled its new climate change plan and the Union of Concerned Scientists says it's the most aggressive plan of any major city, reported the NYT. Of course, it's a hard thing to measure. More solar panels, more alternative fuel stations, more fluorescent bulbs, improved building codes, etc., are all things being done in places here in fits and starts.
Until all those streetcars descend from the sky, we're still a nation of buses. In that spirit, the folks at UC Berkeley last week tested a bus that was guided on the streets of San Leandro by a series of magnets embedded in the road. The bus driver brakes and accelerates, but the steering is done by magnets. The engineers say the precise steering offered by the magnets will shave seconds -- maybe even minutes -- off bus trips.
Back in the real world, Angelenic takes a look at the new Gold Line platforms under construction in Little Tokyo. I drove over the 1st Street Bridge on Thursday and saw they've strung the overhead wires pretty much all the way to Alameda.
Here's an interesting interview on the Trillium Solutions blog with the top technology officials of the Portland, Ore., area's TriMet transit agency. They argue that the best thing is to make scheduling data easily available so that clever people -- including Google Transit -- can use it on clever applications. Of course, TriMet has long been a partner with Google Transit. The MTA here in L.A. County and Google Transit have been talking about getting together but thus far haven't hooked up. The losers? You and me.
Returning to the subject of grizzly bears, I doubt that anyone needs any reminders at this point that Alaska is a world unto itself, but here's a little ditty from the Associated Press about a guy who recently plowed into a grizzly bear that he says darted onto an Anchorage road at 4 a.m. The dude was fine; the 15-year-old bear had a broken leg and police killed it. It happened near a car dealership and RV park. This year 18 black bears and one grizzly have been killed in the city because people were defending either their lives or their property, authorities told the AP.
-- Steve Hymon
photo: United States Geological Survey
 I've been toying with different ways to provide links and roundups of all the things happening in the wide world of transportation and I think I've settled on a good approach: Each weekend, I'll provide a list of links to interesting stories from the transpo-sphere, sometimes with a little commentary.
These are links that I gathered up throughout the week. I had a couple of posts ready to go last weekend, but delayed publishing them due to the ongoing story about the Metrolink (which we will continue to cover vigorously). A few items may be a little dated, but I did find a few minutes during the week to update a bit.
Let's start in the Bay Area, where BART officials are considering using congestion pricing for rail commuters. The reason? So many people have been taking BART of late -- a new daily ridership record of 405,000 was set this week -- that officials hope that raising fares during the rush hours may spread crowds out to other parts of the day, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The obvious question: Can people really change their work hours because of this?
The presidential candidates both took the time to provide written answers to Sciencedebate2008.com on their views on a variety of scientific issues, including climate change. Both Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama agree that global warming is caused by human activities, both support cap-and-trade systems for carbon emissions and both want to invest in technology. Read it for yourself. Hopefully, climate change will be discussed during the upcoming debates, too. Andrew Revkin at the NYT's Dot Earth blog has links to others who have analyzed their answers.
My favorite pro football columnist is Gregg Easterbrook, who writes the Tuesday Morning Quarterback column for ESPN.com. Earlier this month, Easterbrook argued that the best way for the U.S. to lower its use of oil is to get the vehicles with the worst fuel efficiency off the road -- getting someone from an SUV that averages 15 miles per gallon into one that gets 20 mpg provides a greater net savings than having someone go from 30 mpg to 35 mpg. But Mr. Easterbrook hardly punted the issue and wrote more this past Tuesday, taking the automakers to task for trying to water down new fuel efficiency standards -- and the media for not covering them trying to do it.
Speaking of gas mileage, Chrysler officials say they'll get electric cars to the market much more quickly if Congress can see fit to lend U.S. auto companies $25 billion to $50 billion, the Detroit Free Press reports. Hey, why not? The feds seem to be shoveling money at other failed companies these days?
Here's one that grabbed the attention of opponents of speed-enforcement cameras: The driver of a photo-enforcement van was stopped on suspicion of DUI on his way to set up his cameras in Tempe, the Arizona Republic reports. The private firm that runs the cameras for the state says he's been fired. On another speed camera note, the City Council in Santa Fe, N.M., is thinking of bringing them to town by the end of the year, reports KRQE.
I'll post Part II of the week in transportation on Sunday morning.
-- Steve Hymon
Photo: Los Angeles Times
Measure R: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature reached a budget deal Thursday that could clear the way for the governor to start signing bills. There are a whole mess of them that affect transportation and driving. But the one that this blog has been watching is AB 2321, which would allow a half-cent sales tax increase proposal, called Measure R, to go to voters in Los Angeles County on Nov. 4. The money would go to mass transit and road improvements.
Cellphones in locomotives: The California Public Utilities Commission banned the use of phones by locomotive engineers Thursday in response to reports that Robert Sanchez, the Metrolink engineer, may have been using his in the moments leading up to last Friday's crash. The Federal Railroad Administration doesn't have a rule, but Metrolink had a "no using the cellphone" policy in place.
Now the question comes to enforcement. Who will be watching? What will the penalties be? The PUC says that state workers may be doing inspections and that it is considering setting up a toll-free phone number through which residents can report safety problems. I'm officially skeptical unless they come up with a rule that says something along the lines of "If we find a cellphone in the cab, you're banned from trains for life."
National Park(ing) day: This is the day of the year when people convert parking spaces into parks to make a statement that maybe every square inch of cities doesn't need to be covered in asphalt. Bottleneck is glad to accommodate anyone who wants to publish a photo of his or her newly spruced-up parking spot. Send 'em to the e-mail below.
-- Steve Hymon
Could be worse: If you thought the 101 and 110 were bad Thursday afternoon, it was worse on I-45 in Texas with residents fleeing Hurricane Ike. I want to know who the folks are driving in the other direction.
Hollywood nights: Is it just me or is Hollywood in the late night and early morning hours going from bad to worse in terms of driving? A red-light runner killed a taxi driver in a crash early Thursday, and earlier this summer two pedestrians were killed by a drunk driver. A lot of liquor is being consumed on a nightly basis in the area. Your thoughts, please, on the comment board.
Metrolink on Google Transit: The commuter rail service is one of a couple of dozen transit agencies whose schedules have been added to the Google map service. But the largest transportation agency in Southern California -- the MTA -- and Google Transit have yet to reach a deal.
91 traffic alert: Two bridge projects on the 91 Freeway -- at Green River Road and La Sierra -- will probably create serious delays Friday night through Sunday morning, Caltrans says. Detour if you can.
-- Steve Hymon
Photo: Kevin M. Cox / Associated Press
Cool new bridge: That's the recently completed middle span of a new bridge in Wuhan over the Yangtze River. China Daily says it sets four new records and that the 504-meter main span bests the Oresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden. Wikipedia says that the Oresund, with a 490 meter main span, is one of the longest in the world.
Paving project almost complete: In June, just when gas prices were spiking, the city of Los Angeles closed more than half of the parking lot at the Metrolink station in Northridge for a repaving project. That cost 180 parking spaces, leaving 140 for patrons. City officials told me Wednesday that the work should be done in the next six to eight weeks. As for the other half of the parking lot, you can breathe easy -- the city says it doesn't have money to repave it.
Late-night buses and subway: The Los Angeles City Council discussed a pair of motions on Wednesday that seem too logical to be true. One would extend subway hours later into the night during the holiday season, the other would keep the DASH buses running later on Friday nights in downtown. Private money is needed for both, and it's not secured yet. Eric Richardson at blogdowntown has been following this and has a recent post with more background.
--Steve Hymon
photo: D. Wong / EPA
Sequoias threatened?: Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey warn that climate change could make it harder for the giant trees to reproduce because their root systems don't work as well when it's warm, reports AP via Yahoo News. As recently as 2006, transportation was the leading sector in the U.S. when it comes to producing CO2 emissions (a prime greenhouse gas) so says the U.S. Energy Information Agency.
This very striking photo was taken in 2006 and shows a sequoia that had recently toppled in the Giant Sequoia National Monument. In this case, a conservationist alleged that an old clearcut made the tree vulnerable to wind.
Parking meter arrest: A man was arrested early Monday after L.A. County Sheriff's Deputies found three parking meters in his car. Poles and signs were still attached and the meters had coins in them. What sealed their case? The industrial sized pipe cutter, deputies found in the man's vehicle. The meters were from Santa Monica. Don't know about you, but I'm not feeling too sorry for the Republic. Full release from the Sheriff's Department after the jump. It's funny, in an unintentional way.
The worst tailgaters?: Denizens of the Garden State, so says Tom Vanderbilt on his "How We Drive" blog. He's the author of the critically-acclaimed book "Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and what it says about us)." Vanderbilt's observation is part of a longer entry on the problems cars and trucks have with one another on the freeway.
--Steve Hymon
photo: Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT
Read on »
Chevy Volt pics: Photos of the production version of the much
ballyhooed car leaked yesterday, showing a far different vehicle than
the prototype above at a car show in January in Detroit (no word yet if
babes are going to be an option). The pics, predictably, showed a far less sexy car
-- a basic, if somewhat futuristic, sedan. Then again, who cares. After
hedging its bets on gas guzzlers for the past decade, Chevy is hoping
to bring the Volt to market as soon as 2010. The car could run on electricity alone for 40 miles,
then switches to a small internal combustion engine that will recharge
the batteries. It seems a good thing for air quality if a lot of them
ever take the road, although it should be noted that much of the
electricity consumed by Southlanders comes from burning fossil fuels.
Dodgers Trolley: I had a post last week quoting a press
release from the Dodgers, who are saying that 1,500 people on average
are taking the new DASH bus to games. Eric Richardson at blogdowntown.com does the math and says it's more like 750 people per game and that the team was counting people traveling in both directions.
Man versus bus: I also posted recently about a copy editor at
The Times who couldn't get Metro (the MTA) to give him an accident
report (the agency says those reports aren't public documents) after he
and a bus collided, resulting in the loss of a sideview mirror on his
car. So the editor filed a claim against Metro in small claims court
and the agency -- ta-da! -- agreed to settle for $400 after saying their
own video shows it was the bus driver's fault. The lesson? "When you
get in an accident in the MTA, you need to get all the witnesses and
names," said Brad Hanson, the editor. "Otherwise they hold all the
cards."
--Steve Hymon
Photo: Carlos Osario / Associated Press
Good morning Bottleneckers. I'm back at the wheel of the blog and here are three quick hits to begin the work week.
Let the lawsuits begin: The cities of La Canada Flintridge and South Pasadena have filed a lawsuit against Metro, alleging that it committed $780 million in sales tax revenues to the 710 tunnel project without first doing an environmental review. Of course, the suit may be for naught if the sales tax (known as Measure R) doesn't make the ballot or makes it and loses. The Pasadena Star-News had a story Friday. This is a bit of an unusual suit, in that sales tax increases have been approved by voters around the country prior to environmental review of some projects. Another fun fact: The big reason that the $780 million was put in the spending plan was to try to pacify opposition from State Sen. Gil Cedillo, who held a key vote on the state bill allowing the sales tax.
More Measure R news: The Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. has taken a support position on the sales tax increase in Los Angeles County. Some elected officials -- primarily County Supervisor Mike Antonovich -- have complained that the sales tax wouldn't do near enough for the San Fernando Valley. As we reported here last week, AAA is also supporting the tax.
Gas prices: The average cost of a gallon of regular is now under $3.50 in three states (Delaware, Missouri and New Jersey) with several other states likely to drop under that threshold soon, says AAA. The price in California sits at $3.861 as of this morning, down from a high of $4.61 on June 19. That means it's about $11 and change cheaper to fill the Road Sage's Subaru now -- nice, but not the way to stop an addict.
-- Steve Hymon
Here are 10 recent stories on transportation or related subjects that caught me eye. Some are local, some aren't, but all have relevance in the Southland:
Something to look forward to? Presidential candidates causing traffic jams this fall on fund-raising trips to the Southland. LAObserved from Kevin Roderick's weekly KCRW radio gig.
Prominent group yanks support of N.Y. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver because he wouldn't allow Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan to go to a vote last year. N.Y. Daily News. Newsday editorial says much the same.
Scooters and motorcycles aren't as green as some say and those two-strokes are big polluters. EcoModder
Residents of Manchester, UK, get to vote in December whether to impose congestion pricing on themselves. Transport Briefing
Pasadena Star-News editorial says Villaraigosa failed to bring together consensus on sales tax and blame him for costing the Gold Line $324 million in federal funds. My note on that: the $324 million has neither been authorized or appropriated by Congress, but Gold Line could compete for those funds if MTA first provides $80 million in funding.
Cyclists starting to see some benefits from employers. Wired
Want to plug your car into electricity from clean-coal one day? Andrew Revkin runs the numbers on clean coal at NYT's Dot Earth blog. Bottom line: It all depends on what you mean by 'clean.'
U.S. EPA criticizes U.S. DOT over fuel economy standards for cars. Associated Press
School kids are crowding NYC's subway platforms again and Subwayblogger says the trick is figuring out which train door they're going to use and avoiding it.
The Gristmill does a roundup on Gov. Sarah Palin and her environmental policies. The word 'oil' appears often.
Finally, a big thank you to the Matthew Barrett and company at the Metro library who provide daily roundups of links. It's an invaluable service and transit-minded readers should check out their expansive website.
--Steve Hymon
Ahead of L.A.: I stumbled across this photo I shot a couple of weeks ago on a visit to San Francisco. It's the bike parking area at AT&T Park, where the Giants play. There's a bike lane in the street out front and the Muni train stops a few feet from the entrance gates on the left-field line. I didn't see the bike parking areas or light rail line on a recent visit to Dodger Stadium. Oh wait, this just in: There are none, because the stadium is up on a hill disconnected from the city it serves. But the Dodgers say that an average of more than 1,500 fans are taking the Dodger trolley bus to the game -- the DASH bus that the city of L.A. pays for because the Dodgers wouldn't chip in.
Pedestrian death: A suspected drunk driver struck and killed a pedestrian in Lincoln Heights on Wednesday. The LAPD had been following him for 10 minutes but hadn't tried to pull him over, my colleague Richard Winton reports.
Be a wonk: Sen. Barbara Boxer is in town today to hold a hearing at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's headquarters at 10 a.m. on what locals would like to see funded in next year's giant federal transportation bill. More info at yesterday's post.
Metro trumpets sales tax: Good eyes at both Curbed LA and LAist spotting the pages at the MTA's website devoted to the Measure R half-cent sales tax increase campaign. The agency isn't supposed to be directly involved in campaigning, and I suppose the following statement is within the rules -- but is it within the spirit of the rules?: "The Los Angeles region lags behind every major North American urban area in the development of a comprehensive mass transit system and that is costing jobs."
Improved intersection: L.A. Council President Eric Garcetti and Rep. Xavier Becerra are holding a news conference this a.m. to tout improvements at Western and Santa Monica, including left-turn lanes that can accommodate more cars.
New DASH line: The Central City East line debuts today, serving Little Tokyo and the Toy, Arts and Fashion districts.
Blog traffic alert: I'm off today and Friday, back at Bottleneck's steering wheel on Monday. There may be some light posting between now and then.
--Steve Hymon
photo: Steve Hymon / LAT
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What's in Wasilla?: So, with all the fuss over Gov. Sarah Palin, I decided I wanted to know what Wasilla, Alaska, looked like. Is it well-planned? What do the roads look like? She was mayor there for eight years. But when I tried to look at the satellite view of the city Google maps, everything north of the Parks Highway is blurry. Hmm. As for the south side of town, it resembles other parts of Alaska I've seen: houses on giant lots with cars and trucks sitting around.
Subway meetings: If Tuesday's announcement that Metro is going to possibly pursue building two -- not one! -- subway lines has you hopping for joy or hopping mad, you may want to attend one of the meetings the agency is holding on the project. They start tonight in Santa Monica. The full list is after the jump, here's Metro's subway page and the subway has a Facebook page too. Go to Facebook and search for Metro Westside Extension. The subway is up to 1,028 friends.
Come to daddy: The price of a gallon of regular gasoline finally fell Tuesday to $3.99 at the Chevron station in Pasadena that this blog has been tracking since early June. It's the first time the price has been less than $4 since June. Gold Line? What Gold Line?
-- Steve Hymon
Read on »
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
It's like watching syrup pour: Two bills that could affect commuters in Los Angeles County still haven't cleared the Legislature but must do so by Sunday. The first bill, AB 2321, would allow a half-cent sales tax increase proposal to go to voters on Nov. 4. The second bill, SB 1422, allows the county to go forward with its plan to convert the carpool lanes on parts of the 10 and 110 freeways to toll lanes.
Cycling a real estate consideration: A fine story this week in the Wall Street Journal on real estate agents across the U.S. who are emphasizing bicycling amenities near properties they are trying to sell. Some of the agents are even taking clients on bike tours of the neighborhood. Cities mentioned included New York; Portland, Ore.; Boulder, Colo.; Sacramento; Northampton, Mass.; and Ventnor, N.J.
Where are the hybrid minivans?: Grists' "Ask Umbra" feature tackles the question and sadly finds that the one hybrid minivan, the Toyota Estima, isn't sold in the U.S. but is sold in Japan, where moms can brag about getting 35 mph or better going to soccer matches. The Union of Concerned Scientists has even launched a petition drive for hybrid minivans to be sold here, but so far we've got nothing to show for it.
The awful traffic in that photo?: It's Bangkok, taken last Saturday. And, yes, Bangkok has a mass transit system -- the elevated Skytrain, which its operator describes as "lifting commuters above the chronic congestion, noise and pollution of the streets below."
--Steve Hymon
photo: Adam Oswell / Bloomberg News
Road Sage thinks it, it comes true! I joked in yesterday's morning roundup that the L.A. County Fair needs to figure out a way to deep-fry Diet Coke. Turns out that the Indiana State Fair this year featured deep fried Pepsi: fried funnel cake dough injected with Pepsi. Shaun Newton, a reader and L.A. native, alerted me to this development. He said customers get eight Pepsi balls to an order, although only one is required to induce diabetic shock. He ultimately ate six and lived to tell about it. A reporter with the Indianapolis Star also has a video on YouTube. "Tastes kind of like donuts," says one boy in the report.
Suing the MTA: I had a short post last week about the Metropolitan Transportation Authority refusing to release its internal accident reports to the general public because they could result in more lawsuits. Well, my colleague who tried to get a report after losing his side-view mirror in a crash with a bus has now filed suit in small claims court, hoping to recover $345 for the mirror and $90 in court costs. He hopes to get the report by subpoenaing it. "If this is how they want to play the game, I'm happy to oblige," says my colleague. Until the case is resolved, he asked me not to mention his name to avoid the appearance he's using his connection with The Times to get a new mirror.
Congestion pricing: The state bill, SB 1422, that would allow the carpool lanes on parts of the 10 and 110 freeways (and potentially the 210), cleared the Assembly's transportation committee late Monday and will need to be passed by the full Assembly this week. It has already been approved by the full Senate and an unofficial tally in the Assembly last week showed it had the votes there. My colleague Patrick McGreevy has a story in today's editions of The Times looking at the bill's chances of escaping Sacramento by week's end -- a deadline it needs to meet.
--Steve Hymon
photo: Shaun Newton
Go to the fair: It's hard not to appreciate this billboard for the L.A. County Fair, which I think perfectly captures the spirit of an event in which virtually every food item is fried. When someone figures out how to fry Diet Coke, please call me first. I'm from Ohio, after all.
Hybrid tax credits: A very helpful article in the Orlando Sentinel explain which federal tax credits are still available for which vehicles. The Prius' tax credits are long gone, but you can still get a $2,350 credit for the Nissan Altima — if you can find an available car. Sentinel auto editor Steven Cole Smith also points out that SUV hybrids are getting the tax credits, while many vehicles with much better fuel mileage are not.
How the L.A. subway came to be: Transition, a transportation planning journal, has a long piece by freelancer Josh Stephens on the current subway system and its potential expansion. Stephens looks at federal funding trends and finds that money for subways is in short supply, although the potential Wilshire addition meets with an obscure federal funding calculation on cost per passenger hours saved.
— Steve Hymon
Photo credit: Idealogy Advertising
Eco-driving!
You may have seen those big ads in the past few days promoting
"eco-driving" from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter. The ads link to a website, EcoDriving USA, that offers tips on improving fuel mileage. Tips include reducing idling and checking your tire pressure monthly.
The EcoDriving website, by the way, is paid for by the Alliance of Auto Manufacturers, which just last year fought higher fuel efficiency standards that Congress imposed for new vehicles.
Sierra climate change
The Sacramento Bee runs the second part of its ongoing series on how climate change may be impacting the Sierra high county. Sunday's article looked at how the shrinking range of the alpine chipmunk. As for the above photo, that's Blue Lake in the Eastern Sierra.
In today's editions
My colleague Ralph Vartabedian has the story of a man who can't remember anything about the accident he caused in 1995 that killed three on PCH. On a lighter note, an Amtrak train ran out of fuel on its way to San Diego on Sunday night, causing a two-hour delay. Officials say it's an unusual occurrence.
-- Steve Hymon
Photo credit: Steve Hymon / Los Angeles Times
It's not a truck strike
The photo came yesterday from Valencia, Spain, where the trucks were participating in a load test for a new bridge expected to open next summer.
Gas headed south of $4?
 The average price of a gallon of regular in California fell to $4.018 yesterday, according to AAA. The price has been falling by about one cent a day and is already below $4 at many locales. Unfortunately, Pasadena isn't one of them -- I took this pic yesterday at the Chevron I've been tracking. The $4.179 price for regular is a four-cent dip since Monday.
710 closure tonight
The southbound 710 from Valley Boulevard to the 10 is scheduled to be closed between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. Friday for a TV-show shoot. The California Film Commission says it's likely that the shoot, for the CW program "Valentine," will be done before 4 a.m. Details at yesterday's post.
Next time your car gets hit by a bus...
Get an accident report. A colleague of mine recently had one of his side-view mirrors chopped off by a Metro bus. Later, when he sought Metro's accident report to give to his insurance company, the agency denied him the report.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Marc Littman said internal accident reports are considered confidential. Therefore, the agency wouldn't provide the report even if someone submitted a public records request.
"If someone submits a public records request for the accident reports, Metro will deny it because it could end up in litigation," Littman wrote in an e-mail. "If a report had been filed by the claimant, then they can get a copy of what they submitted; otherwise, they’d have to get a court subpoena."
Bottom line: If you get into an accident with a bus -- the MTA's or anyone else's -- get a police report, if possible.
On the subject of buses
The eagle eyes at LAist blog -- which this blog considers essential reading -- caught this recent release from the Big Blue Bus touting its new rapid service between downtown Santa Monica and the Rimpau Transit Center via Pico Boulevard. Click here for the Big Blue release.
Sales tax update
The state Senate may take up AB 2321 today. That's the bill that
would authorize a half-cent sales tax increase in Los Angeles County
for mass transit and road projects. It's expected to pass and then be
returned to the Assembly for reapproval.
Blog update
I'm off work today and Friday. There will be light posting until I return Monday. And what would I like in my e-mail in box Monday? URLs for all the many neighborhood blogs across the Southland that deal with traffic and planning.
Recent Bottleneck posts that may titillate you
Metro picks subway route but isn't telling the world -- yet
The man stalling San Francisco's bike plan
Transportation lessons, courtesy of Portland, Ore.
Is gas cheaper now than in 1960?
Congestion pricing proponents say tolls don't harm the poor
Commuting pattern maps
--Steve Hymon
top photo: Manuel Bruque / EPA
bottom photo: Steve Hymon / LAT
Lane markings? They mean something?
This photo was taken Tuesday in New Delhi on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway/parking lot. I like how the middle lane is actually accommodating two lanes of traffic.
Betty Pleasant doesn't like Expo Line
Pleasant, the longtime and plain-spoken columnist for the Wave in South L.A., recently penned a column about the controversy over the Expo Line running at-grade through South L.A. Here's an excerpt from the first graph, when Pleasant is still warming up:
"The fight is against racism so blatant, so pervasive, so institutionalized that the old constitutionally outlawed bigotry concept of 'separate but equal' pales in comparison. MTA’s plans for South L.A. smacks of Jim Crow, and its tactics are reminiscent of those used by Southern segregationists to divide and conquer blacks during the civil rights struggles of the 1960s and ’70s."
On the same subject, the Expo Line Construction Authority's board met Monday and declined to take action on the proposal discussed in mediation with community groups last week. That means it's full speed ahead to Public Utilities Commission hearings tentatively scheduled for early September over the two remaining crossings still not approved by the state.
McCain visits oil rig, Obama doesn't
 Presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain visited a Chevron drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday and criticized his rival Sen. Barack Obama for not supporting more offshore drilling. The Obama campaign called McCain's visit a stunt. Associated Press via Google News.
Villaraigosa: "I accept the challenge"
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appeared on my colleague Patt Morrison's radio show on KPCC yesterday and talked about the ongoing effort to get a half-cent sales tax on the November ballot to pay for more mass transit and road improvements.
"We can't complain about traffic, get into our single-passenger automobile and not make the investments we need to address the congestion we have in this region," he said. "For 50 years we really weren't investing in public transit the way that we should. It's only been in the last 20 years that we've started this effort and we're so behind when you think of other big cities. Not only in this country, but the world."
The mayor said he would likely do the bulk of the fundraising and agreed with Morrison that if the sales tax fails, he'll probably have to shoulder much of the blame. "I accept the challenge," he said.
Morrison, too, asked him about the difficulty putting the sales tax proposal together and she singled out state Sen. Gil Cedillo's demand for help for the 710 tunnel project. The mayor responded that there were lots of demands from lots of legislators and some accommodations were made. Still, Villaraigosa said, the spending plan, he believes, is basically pork-free.
Sales tax bill status
AB 2321, the state bill to authorize the sales tax vote, is in the queue to be heard by the state Senate, possibly later this week. Then it must go back to the Assembly for reapproval and be shipped to the desk of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger by Aug. 31.
Texting, drinking and driving a lethal combo
A 16-year-old girl who died in a single-car crash this spring in San Bernardino County was drunk, with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15, and was also text-messaging at the time she lost control on the 10 Freeway at 2:30 a.m. The mother tells the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin she had previously warned her daughter not to text and drive.
If you're a parent and reading this, please walk away from the computer and remind your teens that they will be grounded for life if they touch that cellphone while driving.
Skid row gets a DASH line
As do Central City East and Little Tokyo. The downtown blog Angelenic has much better details than the city's DASH website. Surprised?
Peak oil resource
If you're inclined to believe that the world is one day going to run out of oil, the Huffington Post put together this helpful list of all the peak oil resources on the web. Bottom line: Your guess is as good as mine.
Recent Bottleneck posts to send to all your friends
Academics say congestion pricing doesn't hurt the poor
Maps of commuting patterns in Los Angeles County
top photo: Gurinder Osan / AP
bottom photo: Mary Altaffer / AP
Here's a post-lunch spin through the transpo-sphere, courtesy of Google news alerts:
An elderly couple received a $40 ticket in the mail after a speed enforcement camera clocked them allegedly going 100 mph on a residential street in suburban Montgomery County, Md. The couple say they were going less than the speed limit in their barn burner of a car, a Toyota Echo. Police say the camera malfunctioned and they should have caught the error before mailing the ticket. Washington Post.
 On the other hand, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (at right) is looking to put 108 speed enforcement cameras on state highways. The $75 tickets would help pay for more state troopers. Arlington Daily Record. My two cents: Our neighbor Arizona has gone this route (the above photo shows a camera on the 101 freeway in Scottsdale) and it's likely more states will as they seek additional revenue to patch budget holes. However, a bill to allow the city of Beverly Hills to start a test program using the cameras on residential streets died in the Legislature this year, as it has twice previously.
Even with gas prices sinking, there's lots of news on the hybrid front. Toyota says all models will have hybrid engines by 2020, Ford says it's going to double production of hybrids next year, and Honda says it's going to produce a model to compete with the Prius -- and be cheaper, reports the Wall Street Journal.
If you think the idea of turning the carpool lane here into toll lanes on two freeways has caused a stink, think again. Or read the British papers. The U.K. government is planning to test different congestion pricing technologies that can be used to charge motorists fees. Many residents fear that it's the beginning of a national pay-as-you-drive road pricing plan, but the government says hold on to your crumpets and that it's just a test. Manchester Evening News.
At a time when many agencies are trying to cope with crowds or have to cut service, the SEPTA transit system serving the Greater Philly area is expanding some service and the Philadelphia Inquirer has mostly kind words. And, get this: In Montreal, the local commuter rail service just announced it's buying 20 new locomotives to go with the 160 rail cars it committed to purchasing in December. Quebec is trying to increase mass transit use by 8% by 2012, reports the Montreal Gazette.
-- Steve Hymon
Photo (top): Mark Henle / Arizona Republic
Photo (bottom): M. Spencer Green / Associated Press
 The difference between China and L.A.
In China, you can watch sports in the subway. Here? It's just in the last few weeks that the televisions in the subway began showing the time the next train is leaving. I say let's raise the bar and get the train timetables and a little Monday Night Football.
MWD completes tunnel under mountains
The four-mile tunnel under the San Bernardino Mountains is for water and it took the Metropolitan Water District almost five years to finish. I mention it here because various tunnels in the Southland are still on the table, including the proposed subway extension, a tunnel under South Pasadena for the 710 Freeway and another under the Santa Ana Mountains to better connect the O.C. and Riverside County.
This tunnel took longer than expected. "It was some tough going and there were definitely some geologic issues to work through," MWD spokesman Bob Muir said. "We had some geologic studies, but until you get in there, you really don't know [what you're dealing with exactly] until you start digging."
Not all tunnel projects here take as long. The twin 1.8-mile tunnels under Boyle Heights for the extension of the Gold Line took less than a year to complete.
Other Gold Line project has sales tax issue
An interesting news release showed up from the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority: They surveyed 700 Gold Line passengers who parked at the Sierra Madre Villa station in Pasadena and found that about half drove from points east in the San Gabriel Valley.
The authority's point was that there's demand to extend the line to Claremont, as they want to do. However, the authority's board still doesn't back the sales tax that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is trying to get placed on the Nov. 4 ballot to pay for more mass transit. The board prefers that the MTA give them $80 million in seed money to help attract federal funding.
Their position puts them in a bit of a spot. If the board doesn't back the sales tax and voters approve it, will they not take the $758 million that the MTA spending plan designates for the project? And if the sales tax doesn't pass, and the authority campaigns against it, will the MTA board reward the authority with the $80 million?
Think about it.
What about the bus?
 I swung by the Americana at Brand yesterday, wanting to see what the big Rick Caruso development in downtown Glendale looks like. Short answer: kind of like the Grove, another Caruso project, but with a bigger lawn, housing and a kind of cramped parking garage.
And, like the Grove, the mall pretty much faces inward and only on one side does it interact in a meaningful way with the actual streets of downtown Glendale. Oh well. That's how it's done in L.A. On the plus side, it's much more charming than the old Glendale Galleria across the street.
I also picked up a fat packet of literature for the luxury condos being sold at the Excelsior. Two bedroom, two-and-a-half bath units start at about $542,000. The packet also points out that residents have access to valet parking and the concierge can hook them up with taxis, limos and car service.
Um ... they left something out. The Rapid Bus stops right up the street! Hey concierge -- where's my bus pass?
Reader has issue with LA Weekly
I ran a short item yesterday about a recent story in the Weekly on the half-cent sales tax increase proposal in Los Angeles County. A reader e-mailed and took issue with the story, saying it wrongly stated that the costs will skyrocket on the projects.
The reader may have a point. I checked with the MTA and, in fact, agency spokesman Marc Littman said that three recent rail projects that the agency built were built on time and under budget: the third leg of the subway, the Orange Line busway and the Gold Line east extension, which may open as early as next summer.
"This assumption that everything we touch is going to go over budget is just not true," Littman said.
Mayor talks sales tax with Patt Morrison
L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be talking about the proposed half-cent sales tax, among other issues, with my colleague Patt Morrison on her radio show on KPCC at 1 p.m.
--Steve Hymon
top photo: Wu Hong / EPA
bottom photo: Steve Hymon / LAT
Take the Olympic lane!
If I spoke Chinese, I'd love to be in one of those cars to ask Beijing residents what they think of the special Olympic lane on one of their local freeways.
Metrolink ridership up
The commuter rail service averaged 48,289 riders on weekdays in July, which is a new record and a 16% increase over July 2007 (not July 2008 as stated earlier). "Ridership usually picks up in September each year, so it will be interesting to see what happens this year because we're in unchartered territory," said Denise Tyrrell, a Metrolink spokeswoman.
Regular readers know my theory: If gas prices keep falling, people will go back to driving. Then again, maybe now that new commuters have had some time aboard the train, they'll find it beats their old commutes.
Presidential candidates don't talk traffic
Pastor Rick Warren had serious face-time with both the presumptive nominees of the two major political parties right here in the Southland on Saturday but didn't ask them what they would do about traffic and federal transportation funding. C'mon, Pastor -- bring the heat next time!
The closest either Sen. John McCain or Sen. Barack Obama got to the issue was when McCain said "we've got to drill now and we've got to drill here" and added that the U.S. needed to look to alternative energy sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and wean itself from foreign oil.
Fair enough, but you may also want to check out Thomas Friedman's recent column in the NYT about McCain missing a key vote -- missing it eight times, that is -- on a federal program to encourage more renewable energy.
UPDATE, 10:10 a.m.: In the earlier version of this post, I overlooked Obama's closing comments on Saturday that there will be a "price to pay" in transitioning to different sources of energy.
German politicians do silly things too
 For reasons unexplained by the Associated Press, Wolfgang Clement, the former minister of economic affairs, arrived for a press conference earlier this month on his bike.
Bottleneck Blog therefore must issue this challenge: a free Los Angeles Times pen (a $2 value) to the first Southland politician who arrives to a news conference on a unicycle. I know there's a certain Council president out there who's thinking about it.
Airlines reducing flights to LAX
Several foreign airlines are cutting the number of flights to LAX due to lower demand and the bad economy, reports my colleagues Peter Pae and Dan Weikel in today's edition. Among those cutting are Air India, Thai Airways, Cathay Pacific, Aer Lingus and Malaysia Airlines.
Sales tax pushback
I've been remiss in not providing a link to Max Taves' story in the LA Weekly about emerging opposition to the half-cent sales tax increase in Los Angeles County. The tax, if it makes it to the ballot and is approved, would raise $30 billion to $40 billion for mass transit and road projects, proponents say.
In particular, Taves wrote of opposition from the San Fernando Valley and the Bus Riders Union and pointed out that this may be one of those rare times that the BRU and the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. agree. Taves also wrote: But, in fact, all dollar figures are strictly preliminary. If Metro’s history is any guide, costs will skyrocket almost from the moment the money flows, and Metro will eliminate many improvements that its leaders, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, are now promising to voters.
Even if you don't agree with that statement, I do think that's exactly why some people are opposing the sales tax proposal. They simply do not believe in the spending plan adopted by the Metro Board (also known as the MTA Board).
Links to a pair of recent Bottleneck Blog posts you may find ultra-gripping
What can Portland teach Los Angeles about cycling and streetcars?
U.S. road deaths down, but motorcycling fatalities increase
--Steve Hymon
Photos: Top, Orestis Panagiotou / European Pressphoto Agency. Bottom, Volker Hartmann / AFP/Getty Images
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Continuing this weekend's tour around transportation-related issues....
