Every few years, Congress must come together and pass a massive transportation spending bill that lays out the nation’s priorities. The last such bill was signed into law by President Bush in 2005 and was due for renewal last year. Instead, the last bill has been extended while talk of [continue reading]
This landed in my email box recently and wanted to pass along because of the surge of interest in the last few years in making the area more hospitable to bicycles. It’s also a good chance to chew on the ear of Doug Failing, the former chief of the local [continue reading]
Metro employees often receive email alerts about key legislation that impacts the agency. This alert went out yesterday, concerning the proposed cuts to transit funding in the state budget. As debate over the budget continues, I thought this may be useful in helping you sort out some of the issues [continue reading]
Chapman University is hosting the day-long Southern California Transit Forum today. The agenda includes panel discussions of funding and high-speed rail issues, among others. Here’s the Forum’s web page that includes the agenda and links to live video from the event. Metro CEO Art Leahy and Metro Board member Richard [continue reading]
The Board of Directors of the Expo Line Construction Authority voted on Thursday evening to approve the final environmental impact report for the light rail line from Culver City to Santa Monica. The vote allows design and construction work of the line to go forward. The seven-mile, $1.5-billion line is [continue reading]
President Obama on Monday released his budget for fiscal year 2011, including his recommendations for transportation funding. The chart above, produced by Metro, shows how Obama officials want to dole out money from the federal New Starts program that helps local areas pay for big transit projects. The gist of [continue reading]
At 2 p.m. on Thursday at the County Hall of Administration in downtown Los Angeles, the second phase of the Expo Line light rail line faces a pivotal moment: the seven-member Board of Directors of the Expo Line Construction Authority are scheduled to vote to certify the final environmental impact [continue reading]
It seems that Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Board member Mark Ridley-Thomas wasn’t pleased to recently read in the Daily Journal that Metro has spent $32 million in legal costs to litigate a case against a contractor that involves the agency trying to recover $10 million. As a result, [continue reading]
Officials with the Gold Line Foothill Extension light rail project are aiming to break ground on the Pasadena-to-Azusa line this year and took a step forward last Thursday by announcing that they are seeking bids from construction firms to work on the project. Their plan is to break ground on [continue reading]
The U.S. Department of Transportation posted this map on the agency’s blog to describe the grants awarded last week to high-speed rail projects around the country by President Obama. California received $2.25 billion for its planned $43-billion high-speed rail line between Anaheim and San Francisco. The blog also has the [continue reading]
