U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood often doesn’t mince words — as people who attended last month’s town hall meeting with him at Metro headquarters already know. So when airline officials complained to him recently about so much federal money going to high-speed rail — which they view as potential competition [continue reading]
A reminder: Bus service will replace Blue Line service between the Washington station and 7th/Metro Center in downtown Los Angeles this weekend due to work constructing the junction of Blue Line and Expo Line tracks. Work begins at 9 p.m. tonight and will continue until early Monday. Blue Line patrons [continue reading]
The local transit agency in Las Vegas has no interest in helping the bankrupt, privately-operated monorail system that is supposed to get people up and down The Strip but, as critics have often noted, operates largely out of view of the public. The agency proposes to build a bus rapid [continue reading]
Now you can follow Amtrak on Twitter and find out what’s up with our nation’s passenger rail service in 140 character snippets. Amtrak joins a growing number of transportation providers (Metro included) that are embracing social media as a way to connect with customers. Like most large organizations hopping on [continue reading]
It’s no secret that train platforms built in the middle of freeways are not exactly quiet places. Neon Tommy has a smart story about attempts to provide some relief to patrons of the Gold Line, which has three stations parked in the middle of an extremely busy stretch of the [continue reading]
The Infrastructurist offers up a list of the 10 most expensive transit projects in the U.S. over the past decade — although the website reserves judgment on whether the cost was worth it. Not surprisingly, all of them are rail lines. The Red Line subway clocked in at No. 5 [continue reading]
The Boston Globe has an opinion piece that calls for the end of the anti-urban bias in national politics. For those who doubt such a thing exists, one only has to look at national subsidies of highways, homeownership and suburban school system – all of which lure families out of [continue reading]
The headline of the LA Weekly story is certainly provocative: “Black Lung Lofts.” The story focuses on whether residential housing should be built adjacent to freeways in Los Angeles despite studies that have shown that poor air quality near the roads impacts childrens’ health. As the headline indicates, the Weekly [continue reading]
I received an interesting email from Browne Molyneux of the Bus Bench blog this afternoon. I thought Browne asked me a perfectly appropriate question, given that I work for a mass transit agency. I, however, disagreed with how she asked it. Here’s her email: Greetings Steve, Writing a post about [continue reading]
Streetsblog LA has a report on the LADOT DASH service change hearings made neccessary because – surprise, surprise – LADOT is facing a major budgetary shortfall. The blog reports that feedback has largely echoed the results of a recent Metro customer survey: riders would rather face fare hikes than service cuts. [continue reading]
