Public Transit

Hot damn! I reported on WiFi Rail back in July 2008 for NPR. Well done! From WiFi Rail‘s press release: Service on BART is scheduled to begin on selected segments during 2009. Four downtown San Francisco stations and some segments of the tunnels are already fully functional, and have been providing premium service free to subscribers for the past year. “We are thrilled to showcase our technology in the network designed for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system,…

SF Chronicle: But [Stephanie Reyes, senior policy advocate with San Francisco’s Greenbelt Alliance] and other advocates acknowledge that the importance of SB375, signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in late September, lies as much in the tone it sets as in what it will accomplish, which remains unclear. Essentially the law, which will take years to implement, uses incentives and requirements to encourage local governments and builders to concentrate growth in urban areas or close to public transportation hubs…

LA Times: In a surprising and ambitious move, local transportation officials said Tuesday that they would pursue planning for two subway lines to the Westside, with one train along Wilshire Boulevard and a shorter leg partially following Santa Monica Boulevard before diving south to meet the Wilshire line. Of course, the effort is still hypothetical, and Los Angeles still needs the money to build the multibillion-dollar rail line. But officials are showing unusual bravura for a project that looked to…

So after reading about how even stubbornly car-driving Angelenos are finally making the switch to public transit, I thought that maybe I could attend my Friday 7 pm show at the Glasshouse in Pomona by taking some sort of public transit out there. After all, it’s two blocks from the Pomona Transit Center/Amtrak station. Ok, so how would this work? Ride Metro Rapid 704( DOWNTOWN LA – UNION STA) heading east From: SANTA MONICA BL/26TH ST(SW corner) Lv: 03:57PM To:…

LA Times: Much of the opposition to Villaraigosa’s plan emanates from the Pico-Robertson area, a heavily Jewish enclave that features a mix of auto body shops, dental offices, bakeries by the dozen, Israeli and Persian markets, Thai eateries, Catholic churches, synagogues and Chinese restaurants, including a kosher place with mezuzas on the doorways. The elements of this urban hodgepodge have set aside any cultural and ethnic differences to battle City Hall with a united front. “The opposition is across the…

On his blog, Daniel Hernandez notes that there have been a couple really neat proposals for a proper subway system for LA. The first one, designed by Numan Parada, would put a subway stop at 26th and Wilshire, about 2 blocks from my parents’ house. It would take two transfers to get there from LAX, which would be freakin’ sweet. The second one would put a stop at 23rd and Santa Monica Blvd., about 6-7 blocks from my parents’ house,…

Los Angeles Times; August 27, 2006: But experts say the biggest culprit in rush-hour traffic snags is a boom in Westside commercial development that has lured and created jobs. Job growth has transformed the area into the region’s premiere commercial hub, second only to downtown Los Angeles in the number of jobs. Each day, workers pour into office buildings lining busy corridors such as Wilshire Boulevard, the burgeoning towers of Century City and the rows of Santa Monica office parks…