Streetsblog's Joe Linton contrasts Measure R with Move LA's strawman proposal for Measure R 2, pointing out that while Measure R did not directly fund bike and pedestrian projects, 1) Measure R would dedicate 4%, 2) with an additional 3% set aside for first-mile/last-mile connections in the rail portion of the program, 3) plus the possibility that cities could use some of their local return money (15%) for bike/ped projects, and 4) that half of the 20% dedicated for highway improvements could be used for a "Grand Boulevards" program that would also help fund bike/ped projects.

And Joe lists the major new rail projects that Move LA and others have been considering, including:
*  converting the Orange Line BRT line to light rail
*  building a Sepulveda connector from Sylmar to LAX, paralleling the 405 freeway, including a "mega-project multi-deck bypass highway tunnel (with cars, buses, and trains) under the Sepulveda Pass"
*  extending the Green Line to Torrance and Long Beach
*  extending the Crenshaw Line to connect with the Red and Purple lines
*  extending rail from Union Station to Burbank's Bob Hope Airport
*  building a Glendale-Pasadena rail line
*  building the proposed West Santa Ana Branch Corridor from Union Station to the edge of Orange County
*  extending the Gold Line Eastside Extension to both South El Monte and Whittier
*  extending the Green Line to the Santa Fe Springs Metrolink station
*  extending the Gold Line Foothill Extension to Claremont and the edge of San Bernardino County

Read more on Streetsblog.

 

 

Move LA Executive Director Denny Zane told the LA Times he is concerned that a City of LA proposal for a half-cent sales tax to repair city streets will jeopardize support for a  proposal for a countywide sales tax increase for transportation projects. LA City Administrator Miguel Santana has said that a tax increase on the November ballot is the only way the city can afford to repair streets and sidewalks. But Denny worries it could undermine support for the countywide sales tax, likely to go on the ballot in 2016, which would require a 2/3 majority to pass.

"When you need a 2/3 vote," to pass a transportation measure, Denny told the Times, "you don't really start out with any margin for error." The Times story also quoted LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas, who said the transportation tax measure would offer greater regional benefits and also attract more federal funding than a city tax. "If you're trying to ask the question, where do you get the biggest bang for your buck, then the argument swings pretty forcefully toward" a higher countywide transit tax, he said.

Read more in the LA Times.

Hoping to garner voter and political support across Los Angeles County for a possible half-cent sales tax increase, wrote Laura Nelson in the LA Times, advocates gathered downtown on Friday to unveil a proposal for a 2016 ballot measure that could fund a range of new transit projects. Responsing to critics who complained the City of LA received the lion's share of transit projects from the half-cent sales tax increase approved by voters six years ago, elected officials including LA Mayor Eric Garcetti emphasized that revenue would benefit all parts of the county. "It will not simply be Mother Metro saying 'This is what you get,'" Metro Board of Directors Chair Diane Dubois, also a City Councilmember from the City of Lakewood, told the audience. Added Move LA Executive Director Denny Zane, "What we're doing here is trying to figure out what wins."

Read more in the LA Times.

Writer Laura Nelson wrote a second story about the Move LA's March 28 6th annual Transportation Conversation in the LA Times on Saturday, noting that the tax proposal under discussion could raise an estimated $90 billion over 45 years (the Measure R sales tax is expected to raise $36 billion over 30 years) and cost the average resident 25-30 cents a day. While the Metro Board has not yet decided whether to put a measure on the ballot the extra tax money could be used to build a light rail link to Burbank's Bob Hope Airport, convert the Orange Line BRT to rail, and extend the Green Line through South Bay cities to connect to the Blue Line in Long Beach. "What we're doing here is trying to figure out what wins," Move LA Executive Director Denny Zane told the audience of 550.

Read more in the LA Times.

At the San Gabriel Valley Transportation Forum in the City of Industry last week, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti vowed to work alongside other cities to raise more money for transportation, adding he wants to be a better mayor for the entire region. "The City of LA is the 800-pound gorilla that everyone loves to hate," he said. "I want to say those days are over."

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune noted that political leaders are looking to the mayor, who sits on the Metro board where he has tremendous influence, to pave the way for a new sales tax measure for transportation. "They've [Metro board members] made no decision but it is an issue for discussion," Metro CEO Art Leahy told the Tribune. "It is 2 1/2 years off; we'll have to wait and see how it looks."

The Tribune also noted that funding for an extension of the Gold Line from Azusa to Claremont has not materialized yet, but that the Metro Gold Line Foothill Construction Authority is moving ahead on engineering and designs in order to be "shovel-ready" if a sales tax initiative passes.

Read Steve Scauzillo's story in the SGV Tribune.

Steve Hymon notes that while the Metro Board has yet to decide whether to put an extension of the existing Measure R sales tax for transportation on the ballot or whether it should be an additional sales tax measure, board members who attended Move LA's conference voiced their support for one or the other — probably in 2016:
* LA Mayor Eric Garcetti said he was open to the idea, and prioritized a rail connection to LAX;
* Metro Board Chair and Lakewood City Councilmember Diane DuBois said she's willing to put a measure on the ballot and let the voters of LA County decide, but urged full consideration of the impact of increased taxation on the business climate in the county;
* LA City Councilmember and Metro Boardmember Mike Bonin supported the idea of a new sales tax, prioritized funding the LAX Connect idea of connecting riders to the airport via a People Mover, and indicated he would have preferred to see a transit project built up the 405 instead of the current road improvement project;
* LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas also indicated his support for another ballot measure, noting that it's time to extend the Crenshaw/LAX Line north to the Purple Line subway so riders can reach Westside destinations.

Read more about what they said on the Source.
 

 

LA City Councilmember Mike Bonin, who sits on the LA Metro Board and chairs the LA City Council's Transportation Committee, tells the Planning Report that we are on the verge of creating "an entirely new transportation system" from a single-mode city (the car) to a truly multimodal system that will integrate rail with bus, car, bicycles and pedestrians.

I think we dramatically jumpstarted that process with Measure R . . . and can solidify those steps and turn them into a successful leap forward with Measure R2 . . . to give us an opportunity to accelerate some of the projects that are already in the pipeline and add the ones needed to complete LA's transit revolution.

And he notes that the Expo Line, which is only half completed, already has exceeded ridership projections and, "On average more people ride Expo every day than there are cars on the 10 freeway during rush hour."

Read MORE in the Planning Report.

 

In addition to the TIFIA loan program and the America Fast Forward bond program — the 2 financing strategies that would allow us to realize the "30-10" plan to build all new rail projects within a decade — there's $100 million for the Westside Subway Extension and $100 million for the Regional Connector in President Obama's FY 14-15 budget. That's in addition to the $670 million federal New Starts Full Funding Grant Agreement for the Regional Connector. LA is on a roll (should Congress agree with the President . . . ).

Read Mayor Garcetti's press release here.

SPUR, the nonprofit that has helped shape growth in the Bay Area over the past century, has released an agenda for change stressing the importance of density and affordability. We include it here in part because it does a really good job of making the case that affordability is important to everyone — not just lower income residents: "The high cost of housing in the Bay Area is a direct threat to everything that makes this place great," notes the report. "If current trends continue, and more and more parts of the region become unaffordable to people with modest resources, we will lose our diversity, our artists, our activists, our innovators — in short, our culture. Parents will have to work so much they won’t be able to spend time with their kids. Young people will have to move somewhere else after college. We cannot keep the wonderful, uniquely open culture of the Bay
Area intact for new generations unless we find a way to bring down the cost of housing."

We should take note of SPUR's agenda for change here in Greater LA. The report is HERE.

Just saw this amazing map of the U.S. showing that in no state can a minimum wage worker afford a 2-bedroom unit at fair market rent (the amount a property would command if it were available) working a standard 40-hour work week — without paying more than 30% of income. I found it on Shane Phillips "Better Institutions" blog (www.betterinstitutions.com — see previous blog post as well). This map is from the National Low Income Housing Coalition's "Out of Reach 2013" report. Phillips notes that many minimum wage workers don't need a 2-bedroom unit, or are sharing it with a partner or roommate. Still, the point is that if you are poor in America and have a family, housing costs probably leave you with little money for food, transportation and health care. See a bigger version of the map on the NLIHC website here.