The Present Expo Line Meets the Future
The Source posts a 20-second video of the existing track being welded to the second phase of Expo -- a six mile extension from Culver City to downtown Santa Monica that includes 7 stations.
James Fallow on HSR, One of Governor Brown's Major Ambitions
James Fallows, national correspondent for the Atlantic and one-time speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter (the youngest person ever to hold that job) is a fan of California's high-speed rail project, and his support for HSR is growing. His reasons range from the dynamic effect of big projects like the freeway system and like HSR to the many health and pollution benefits this alternative to air travel will bring.
In the Atlantic.
In the Atlantic.
4 Metro Rail Projects Now Officially Under Construction
. . . Ever since Metro gave its contractors a "notice to proceed" on building the Regional Connector, a 1.9-mile underground light rail line connecting the Gold Line to the Blue Line and Expo Line in downtown Los Angeles -- to open in 2020. It allows trains to run directly between Santa Monica and East LA on an east-west line and between Azusa and Long Beach on a north-south line.
More on The Source.
More on The Source.
Valley Could Get a Light Rail Line From Canoga Park to Chatsworth -- Or Not

Others, however -- in this case Annie Weinstock and Stephanie Lotshaw on Streetsblog -- argue that it would be better to just improve the Orange Line because light rail provides no real advantage. Read it here.
METROLINK ADDS SERVICE TO LA FROM RIVERSIDE
Metrolink is now providing weekend service from downtown Riverside to LA with stops in between at La Sierra, North Main Corona, West Corona, Fullerton, Buena Park and Norwalk!
More on The Source.
More on The Source.
Move LA on Page 1 of LA Times "Mobility" Supplement

* Completion of the rail line to LAX
* A tunnel and light rail line underneath the 405 freeway, connecting the San Fernando Valley to the Westside and to LAX
* A Grand Boulevards program that could fund renovation of "Main Streets" with more frequent transit, cleaner and safer bus stops with real-time info, streetscape improvements and landscaping, bike lanes and wide sidewalks, off-street parking, a mitigation program for small businesses, street resurfacing with cool pavement, signal synchronization, and incentives for mixed-use mixed-income residential developments
* Light rail extensions: The Foothill Extension to San Bernardino County, Eastside Gold Line to both Whittier and South El Monte, Crenshaw Line to Wilshire and then to Hollywood, Green Line to Torrance and possibly to the Blue Line and to the Norwalk Metrolink station, and the West Santa Ana Line from downtown LA to Cerritos
* Completion of the Wilshire Subway to Santa Monica
* Bike and pedestrian projects
* A modernization of Metrolink
* Deployment of zero- and near-zero-emission goods movement projects.
"Measure R has been a game-changer for LA," Denny wrote. "It's changed the way the nation views us and should change the way we view ourselves. We are now a success story, a county that's fixing its problems.
Why not be the community we aspire to be?" he asks. "We already have the best weather."
Check out Move LA in the Mobility supplement here. And check out the entire supplement here.
Nearly 78% of SoCal Landlords Plan to Hike Rents in Next 12 Months
These rent increases would come on top of steady gains in average rents over the past few years, suggesting that the recent sharp uptick in apartment construction is not slowing the increase in rents. The information is from a new survey by the national real estate brokerage firm of Marcus and Millichap; spokesman John Sebree says that the improving economy, faster-than-average population growth in the prime renter age group of 20 to 34, will continue to drive demand even though multi-family construction has returned to pre-recession levels -- because not enough new apartments are being built.
Read more in the LA Times.
Read more in the LA Times.
Metro Board Approves New Station to Bring People Into LAX

Read more on Metro's The Source.
Metro Board Approves $3.7M for 12 CicLAvia Type Events Around LA County

Read more on Metro's The Source.
Venerable Westside/SF Valley Institutions Unite Behind Proposed Measure R2
LAX, the Getty Museum, Leo Baeck Temple, Cal State Northridge and other venerable institutions dependent on the 405 freeway are banding together to press for a significant expansion of public transportation to provide an alternative to the always-congested 405. In an unprecedented show of solidarity representatives of dozens of institutions as well as LA Mayor Eric Garcetti gathered in the San Fernando Valley earlier this month to discuss a path forward -- likely to be drumming up support for a 2016 ballot measure to raise money for further expansion of the rail system, an initiative that some including Move LA are calling Measure R2. Leo Baeck, a member of the broad-based organizing network OneLA-IAF, first began organizing support for the expansion of public transit in 2012 following an extension outreach effort to better understand what mattered to the congregation.
Read more in The Jewish Journal.
Read more in The Jewish Journal.