Five green transportation options that future beholds for us

http://www.ecofriend.com/five-green-transportation-options-that-future-beholds-for-us.html

February 2014

Time has come for people to start recognizing the importance of non fossil fuel modes of transportation. We have to think beyond vested corporate interests and start adapting alternative ways of eco-friendly traveling. We will now look at some of the futuristic green transportation options which if brought into mainstream will reduce our dependency on fossil fuel and will be environment friendly.




Solar Boat:

Turanor or Sun’s power has been launched in Germany and is the solar boat made out of carbon, is very light weight and makes use of electric motorization. Most notably, it took just fourteen months to make this unique boat. For maximizing energy density as well as power, the solar boat uses six blocks of lithium ion batteries. The solar panels are spread in an area of 5,380 square feet on the boat.





Airbus Transparent:

This plane is being developed by Airbus, which will have transparent cabin walls and is expected to be fully ready by 2050. Many of the appliances on board the plane will be powered by body heat of passengers. New power generation technology is being used which will lower fuel consumption as well as emissions. The cabins are made from plant fibers, which are completely recyclable and can be made as per any custom shape. As part of energy harvesting, the seats of the airbus will harness the body energy of passenger and combine with sources, such as solar panels, to provide energy for gadgets and appliances in the cabin.



e-Scooter:



For urban city lifestyle, it is the perfect vehicle. Created by BMW, the e-scooter, named Motorrad, runs on electricity. The e-scooter can travel for about seventy miles with single charge and two people can sit on it. It is also good for highway driving with its all-electric drive.


Water Powered Cab:

Launched by one Japanese company known as Genepax, this water-powered vehicle can work on any type of water, whether it is tap water or lake water. The car uses energy generator that is able to spilt water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen and the car runs on hydrogen. This is called the water fuel cell and uses membrane electrode assembly for splitting oxygen and hydrogen with the help of chemical reactions.



Tesla Car:

This is another electric car, which becomes more efficient after the first drive. Designed and manufactured by Tesla Motor Company, which specializes in creation of electric cars, the car can be charged from electricity from any grid, be it a grid using renewable energy only.

Summary:

New technologies are allowing us to look into options that can replace conventional fossil fuel driven transportation. These vehicles are eco friendly, as they use solar, electrical and other types of energy sources.

On Valentine’s Day Metro is pleased to present…Speed Dating on the Red Line!

http://thesource.metro.net/2014/02/07/on-valentines-day-metro-is-pleased-to-present-speed-dating-on-the-red-line/

By Steve Hymon, February 7, 2014

A look at proposed bus service changes that would better connect the San Fernando Valley and the Westside

http://thesource.metro.net/2014/02/10/a-look-at-proposed-bus-service-changes-that-would-better-connect-the-san-fernando-valley-and-the-westside/

By Steve Hymon, February 10, 2014

As some of you already know, Metro’s Service Councils this month are holding public hearings on proposed bus service changes to take effect in June.

The above staff report details all the changes, including maps of proposed bus routes.

Perhaps the most interesting changes proposed involve bus routes in the San Fernando Valley, including:

•The creation of a new 588 bus that would operate at peak hours that would run between Westwood and Nordhoff Street, mostly along the 405 freeway and Van Nuys Boulevard. This new line still requires funding.

Click above to see larger.

•Extending the 734 Rapid Bus to Westwood via Sepulveda Boulevard, thereby creating a bus line that would run from Sylmar to Westwood.

Click above to see larger.

•Combining the 741 and 761 Rapid Bus lines to create a U-shaped Rapid Bus line in the Valley that would run between

Click above to see larger.

Of course, better connecting the Valley and the Los Angeles basin has long been a challenge for mass transit in Los Angeles County, owing to the barrier that is the Santa Monica Mountains. The Red Line does run between North Hollywood and Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, but that doesn’t really help connect the Valley to the Westside.

Metrolink also offers two commuter rail lines between the Valley and downtown L.A., but that has two sets of challenges: 1) expense and frequency of service, and; 2) also no service to the Westside.
One of the projects designated for Measure R funding is the Sepulveda Pass Transit Corridor, which aims to connect the Valley and Westside, with a study area that runs from Sylmar all the way to Los Angeles International Airport. A rail tunnel is among the options identified during early studies although that will need more than the $1 billion supplied by Measure R. Also being considered is a public-private partnership to supply more funding.

In the meantime, Metro is trying to find the best way to connect the Valley to the Westside via bus service. The 588 proposal is interesting because it would take advantage of the new northbound HOV lane that is being built on the 405 as part of the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project that is scheduled for completion this summer. Metro’s current 761 Rapid Bus doesn’t use the freeway — it only runs along Sepulveda Boulevard.

The SFV Service Council held a public hearing to receive public comments on these proposed bus service modifications last Wednesday, as well as a hearing at the Metro Gateway Building on Saturday.

A total of 26 people provided comments. There will be three more public hearings held this week; tonight at the San Gabriel Valley Service Council in El Monte at 6 p.m., Westside/Central in Beverly Hills at 5 p.m. on Wednesday (Feb. 12) and Gateway Cities in Huntington Park at 6 p.m on Thursday (Feb. 13). More on meeting locations here.

Please check the metro.net for details on the location and public transit options. Interested persons can also provide their comments on these proposed changes thru Friday, February 14 via Metro Customer Relations. The Metro Board of Directors are scheduled to consider the changes later this spring.

Asian air pollution to impact U.S. farming

http://southwestfarmpress.com/management/asian-air-pollution-impact-us-farming

Peggy Drouet: Our Los Angeles County Metro seems to be first in line in aiding and abetting China's pollution of the world, i.e., by enlarging the 710 South Freeway to handle all the trucks needed to move the Chinese goods that are coming into our ports and by considering an SR-710 tunnel to speed up delivery of these goods. Many articles are now being written about how China's pollution is negatively affecting the world's weather. A very serious issue.

 The number of world cities and countries that are highly air-polluted now is staggering. China's air pollution is a separate issue as it is now believed to be the cause of much of our climate change and the cause of the intensity of the recent cyclone in the Philippines. The list goes on. China's air pollution is blowing into our area already and it is due mainly to the pollution from Chinese factories making all those goods coming into our ports, which Metro is breaking its back to accommodate by adding more pollution to our area. A vicious air-pollution circle.

By Logan Hawkes, February 10, 2014

It wasn't that many years back that farmers and ranchers only needed to be concerned about the environmental conditions of their particular area or region, like what did the weather have in store for their crops, the quality and condition of their soil and water resources, potential problems associated with erosion, the potential for flooding and similar issues.

But as time passed and civilization and industry encroached on traditional farming regions, other environmental concerns began to surface. Streams, rivers and reservoirs became endangered by industrial waste materials, runoffs from urban refuge sites surfaced and soon the farming community began thinking on a wider scale about the health of the environment and its overall impact on agriculture.

Meteorologists not optimistic about Southwest weather prospects.

 

In modern times we know and understand that the health of the entire planet is important to agricultural operations. Air quality, soil contaminants and water resource pollution can and does affect how we grow crops and conduct the business of agriculture. The health of our atmosphere, oceans and waterways also affects other aspects of our lives and influences human health and our overall ability to successfully grow and sustain life.

These concerns prompted researchers at the Texas A&M Department of Atmospheric Sciences and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to collaborate in developing preliminary climate models in an effort to determine the global impact of recent and extreme Asian air pollution on the global community.

 

For more information on crops and weather, please check out Southwest Farm Press Daily and receive the latest news right to your inbox.

 

Their initial model results serve as an early warning for not only the agriculture community but also the world-at-large and points to potential for serious changes in global air circulations and weather patterns that could affect the quality of life in the 21st century.

Researchers Yuan Wang, a former doctoral student at Texas A&M who now works at the JPL in Pasadena, California, along with Texas A&M atmospheric sciences professors Renyi Zhang and R. Saravanan, had their findings published in the current issue of Nature Communications.

Using data collected about aerosols and meteorology over the past 30 years and results from climate models developed for the study, researchers have found that air pollution over Asia—much of it coming from China—is indeed impacting global air circulations at a potentially alarming rate.

"The models clearly show that pollution originating from Asia has an impact on the upper atmosphere and it appears to make storms or cyclones even stronger," Zhang explains in the published report.

“This pollution affects cloud formations, precipitation, storm intensity and other factors and eventually impacts climate. Most likely, pollution from Asia can have important consequences on the weather pattern here over North America.”

According to the study report, China's booming economy during the last 30 years has led to the construction of a comprehensive manufacturing infrastructure, the expansion of industrial and power plants, and other facilities that produce an abundant volume of air pollutants. Once released into the atmosphere, these pollutant particles affect cloud formations and weather systems worldwide.
Adding to the problem is the increase in coal burning and car emissions, major sources of pollution in China and other countries around the world.

Researchers say air pollution levels in Chinese cities like Beijing, for example, are often more than 100 times higher than acceptable limits set by World Health Organization standards.

Zhang points to other studies that indicate lung cancer rates have increased by as much as 400 percent in the most affected areas of China. He also says the Chinese government has pledged to toughen pollution standards and to commit sufficient financial resources to attack the problem, but warns progress could be slow as global demand continues to increase for more manufactured goods from the Far East.

More study needed

Researchers say additional climate models and more studies are needed to further evaluate the problems and potential impact of extreme air pollution and their impact on cloud formation and global air circulations to determine the negative impact to the planet's delicate ecosystem.

As far as the concerns of U.S farmers, researchers suggest being well informed and eventually to become active in helping to promote more responsible management of resources that will play a key role in solving pollution problems worldwide.

The study was funded by grants from NASA, Texas A&M's Supercomputing facilities and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China.

Webinar: Re-thinking the Urban Freeway

Thursday, February 20, 2014, 11:00 AM Pacific (2:00 PM Eastern)

Location: Webinar

Across the country, urban freeways are at the end of their design lives, and communities are wrestling with the question of how to deal with them. States and cities have the opportunity to re-think, remove, or re-purpose urban freeway space, which can address environmental and social justice harm and result in significant local economic and social benefits. This webinar considers best practices and solutions for aging freeways that states and cities can look towards to help mitigate freeway impacts and secure a healthy and more prosperous future for the communities these roadways travel through.

To register for this Webinar use this link:

http://www.ssti.us/Events/re-thinking-the-urban-freeway/?goback=.gde_1961663_member_5836917556228665346

Gov’s Report to Caltrans: Get Out of the Way of Protected Bike Lanes

http://sf.streetsblog.org/2014/01/31/govs-report-to-caltrans-get-out-of-the-way-of-protected-bike-lanes/

By Aaron Bialick, January 31, 2014

Caltrans needs to stop focusing so much on moving cars and let cities build safer street designs with protected bike lanes, says a new report commissioned by Governor Jerry Brown and CA Transportation Secretary Brian Kelly.

SF’s parking-protected bike lanes on John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park are technically illegal, according to Caltrans. 

The report [PDF] calls out Caltrans’ “archaic” practices when it comes to imposing outdated, automobile-centric design standards on city streets in California, and says the department should reform its “culture of risk aversion and even fear,” which often prevents local city planners from implementing modern designs for bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly streets.

When agencies like the SF Municipal Transportation Agency want to implement protected bike lanes, they must take a legal risk since Caltrans hasn’t approved such designs, and design exceptions require “a painful and time-consuming process,” says the report, produced by the State Smart Transportation Initiative.

“Caltrans’ peculiar standards on bicycle facilities even pertain to locally owned streets, precluding some active transportation initiatives,” the report says. “The agency and department should support, or propose if no bill is forthcoming, legislation to end the archaic practice of imposing state rules on local streets for bicycle facilities.”

In a statement, TransForm said the report “offers a refreshingly candid and detailed critique, and more importantly points to a host of critical reforms.”

“The report recommends the direction come ‘from the top down and outside in,’ to avoid the long-standing status quo at Caltrans where bottom-up planning via staff just leads to ‘the culture endorsing itself,’” said TransForm.

Stuart Cohen, TransForm’s executive director and a member of Secretary Kelly’s CA Transportation Infrastructure Priorities workgroup, said that “this is not the first report slamming Caltrans” but that the critical difference comes from the ”tremendous leadership” of Governor Brown and Kelly, who commissioned the review.

“We asked for an honest assessment because we are committed to modernizing Caltrans and improving transportation for all Californians,” Kelly said in a statement.

Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty issued a statement saying that “we see this as a tremendous opportunity to reassess our priorities and improve our performance.”

“We have some internal reforms already underway so we can hit the ground running,” he said.

Although Caltrans has issued reports acknowledging the need to re-calibrate its approach to favor non-automotive travel in cities, implementing the culture change has proven to be easier said than done. The report notes that “one senior staff member… told us that bicycle and pedestrian facilities are not part of Caltrans’ mission.”

“Most of the recommendations are not simple check-the-box action items, but calls for hard work of collaborating, rethinking and establishing a new course,” said SSTI reviewers.

Seleta Reynolds, section leader for the SFMTA’s Livable Streets Division, told People for Bikes it’s about time that Caltrans adapt to the transportation practices of the 21st century. “When Caltrans first put in the requirement that cities follow their Highway Design Manual for bikeways, even on local streets, it was for good reason,” she said. “The state of the practice around designing for bikes was just developing, and it was a reliable way to make sure that people wouldn’t build sub-standard facilities. These days, though, that need no longer exists.”

So far, the SFMTA has taken some bold steps in challenging Caltrans standards with protected bike lanes, as CA Bike Coalition Executive Director Dave Snyder told the SF Bay Guardian yesterday. “San Francisco is technically breaking the law because they have the best traffic engineers in the state and a good City Attorney’s Office and they know they can defend it in court if they have to,” Snyder said. ”Most places in the state won’t do that.”

CalBike is backing Assemblymember Phil Ting’s AB 1193, ”which would legalize and set design standards for cycletracks,” according to the Bay Guardian. The bill cleared the Assembly on Wednesday and next goes to the Senate.

The SSTI report recommends some initial steps for Caltrans to get out of the way of municipalities who want to implement modern designs:

• Caltrans should relinquish oversight of bike facilities on locally owned streets.
• Caltrans should give designers the option of using NACTO urban design standards in metro areas. (The SFMTA formally adopted the NACTO guide as a reference manual last week.)
• Caltrans should generally rethink its approach to facilities in metro areas and town centers.

California’s state DOT, the report says, needs to realize that the approach to designing highways doesn’t make any sense in cities:

Caltrans grew up with the idea it was moving travelers between cities, but now most of its facilities provide access between local destinations … The policies and standards in metro areas and towns should be very different than those for facilities in low-density rural areas; where the latter may legitimately focus on speed and throughput of motor vehicles (though not to the extent that they induce new travel and low-density development), the former should put pedestrian, bicyclist and livability concerns before auto-mobility. Narrower lanes, slower speeds, and pedestrian amenities should all be the default.

SR 710 North EIR/EIS SOAC Meeting

From Sylvia Plummer, February 10, 2014

We need people to attend the Metro  Stakeholders Outreach Advisory Committee (TAC) Meeting.  This will probably be the last meeting before the Draft EIR comes out.  The meeting is open to the Public.  

Thursday, February 20, 2014 at 7:30 am- 9:30 am

Metro Headquarters

One Gateway

Heritage Conference Room, 13th Floor

Los Angeles,  90012

The preliminary meeting agenda is the same as the one used for the TAC meeting, which is attached.  

Meetings are open to the public.  To gain access to the meeting you must sign in at the Information Desk on the third floor as "public".  

Parking available under Metro Headquarters:  $6

You can also take the Gold Line to the end of the line at Union Station.

Metro Headquarters is next to Union Station.

To view the preliminary meeting agenda: 

http://www.slideshare.net/peggydrouet/sr-710-north-eir-eis-tac-mtg-14draft-agenda-feb-2014?utm_source=slideshow&utm_medium=ssemail&utm_campaign=post_upload

SR 710 North EIR/EIS TAC Meeting

From Sylvia Plummer, 10, 2014

We need people to attend the Metro Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Meeting.  This will probably be the last meeting before the Draft EIR comes out.  The meeting is open to the Public.  

Wednesday, February 19, 2014 at 1 PM

Metro Headquarters

One Gateway

Plaza View Conference Room, 4th Floor

Los Angeles,  90012

The preliminary meeting agenda is attached. 

Please email me if you plan to attend.  Also let me know if you would like to carpool.  

Meetings are open to the public.  To gain access to the meeting you must sign in at the Information Desk on the third floor as "public".  

Parking available under Metro Headquarters:  $6

You can also take the Gold Line to the end of the line at Union Station.

Metro Headquarters is next to Union Station. 

To view the preliminary meeting agenda: 

http://www.slideshare.net/peggydrouet/sr-710-north-eir-eis-tac-mtg-14draft-agenda-feb-2014?utm_source=slideshow&utm_medium=ssemail&utm_campaign=post_upload

A Vision for the Next Los Angeles: Transportation Equity and Just Growth

http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/la-in-motion/a-vision-for-the-next-los-angeles-transportation-equity-and-just-growth.html

By Manuel Pastor, February 10, 2014

 

KCET Departures is partnering with the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at the University of Southern California on a series of articles -- which we call L.A. in Motion -- exploring what transportation equity means for Los Angeles and its residents.

If you ask people -- including Angelenos -- about Los Angeles, a range of images immediately come to mind: our car culture, our suburban sprawl, and our stark divisions by race and income -- that are now characterizing the rest of America.

But is that old version of Los Angeles really who we are now?

The fact is that the next Los Angeles is being remade before our eyes -- and while there is much to be done, there is a lot that is going right. We are in the midst of a reinvention of sorts: from sprawl to community development, from car dependence to transit orientation, from rising inequality to a growing commitment to equity and inclusion.

Indeed, Los Angeles has been a place for innovation around matters of equity for some time, particularly in the field of transportation. We successfully insisted on better bus service, pioneered clean trucking and shipping at our ports, and have even taxed ourselves to expand our transit network.


Seeing the New in Los Angeles 

Consider our massive investments in rail and bus, and the fact that young people are increasingly embracing mass transit. Consider the shift of development activity from the ex-urbs to neighborhoods bordering our central city (such as Echo Park and Koreatown), as well as the boom of residential living in downtown L.A.

Consider the way in which community-based groups have risen to articulate their concerns, positioning L.A. as a national leader in social-movement organizing. Think about the way in which immigrant integration has been mainstreamed and school discipline policies have been challenged (i.e. curbing truancy tickets).

And reflect on the multicultural mix that is now producing new art and music (rather than riots and rebellions), as well as the multifaceted efforts to ameliorate income disparities through community benefits agreements, living wages, and so much more.

In short, L.A.'s organizers, advocates, government agencies, funders, and civic leaders are starting to transform our region into a model of a more equitable and sustainable world. Shedding the weight of old misconceptions about Los Angeles means creating a new vision for ourselves -- an aspirational, inspirational, and achievable one -- toward a more inclusive, more socially connected, more economically vibrant region.

A Vision for Equity in Transportation

To do this, "The Next Los Angeles," as coined by Robert Gottlieb's book, will need to celebrate the rich cultural and racial diversity that has made L.A. a world-class city for innovation and economic vitality, while also recognizing that the majority of residents who make this possible come from low and moderate-income households.

Transportation is a key part of this new vision. All Angelenos -- including those without access to cars -- deserve more affordable, responsive, and safer transportation choices -- be it through walking, biking, or transit. And transit can be key for what we call "just growth" -- blending growth and equity concerns in ways that maximize environmental sustainability, job creation, and community development.

According to the Southern California Association of Governments, our region is expected to grow by 4 million people by 2035, leading to more demands for housing, jobs, education, and adequate transportation options. This, and the state-mandated Sustainable Communities Strategy, makes it imperative for us to find a common language and understanding of why equity in transportation matters to the future growth and sustainability of our region.

We at the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at USC are committed to sparking new conversations that bring together the usual and not-so-usual suspects. And we think that one way to do this is to focus on what we call "Just Growth."

What's Just Growth? 

What does "Just Growth" mean? To some extent, it's a play on the idea that some folks think that growth alone -- just growth -- will solve our economic problems. What we have found -- and it's echoed in studies by the Cleveland Federal Reserve -- is that sustainable growth requires attention to fairness.

In fact, the new research suggests that places with less inequality have more resilient and robust economies. Regions that work toward equity have stronger and more resilient economic growth -- for everyone. Social inclusion is the key to prosperity, and should not just be an afterthought.

In our recent report, "An Agenda for Equity: A Framework for Building a Just Transportation System in Los Angeles County," we apply this "Just Growth" framework to transportation. We suggest that transportation equity means putting people first, and transportation equity is one of the best examples of "Just Growth."

Indeed, transportation is a sort of "just growth sweet spot" -- it connects people to jobs, generates transit-oriented housing development, affects our overall health and environments, among other things. This is especially true as massive investments to the tune of $40 billion dollars in transportation build-out are planned for the next 30 years ahead.

Where Are We Now? Transit and Demography in L.A.
 
Other findings from our research at USC PERE show that immigrants and low-income communities of color disproportionately miss out on the benefits of regional transportation investments. At the same time, they disproportionately suffer from the burdens of transportation infrastructure, like pollution from cars on highways. The images below illustrate the demographic data underscoring the factors at play in our region.

Our regional population growth will be coming from the Latino population (Figure 1). Figure 2 shows that while ridership declines as income rises, even at the highest income bands Blacks and Latino immigrants have some of the highest rates of transit use. Certain segments of the growing Asian population are also transit dependent, particularly lower-income Filipino immigrants and the Chinese and Vietnamese populations near downtown L.A.

As the era of mass immigration ends (the share of the foreign-born has been on the decline in Los Angeles for the past several years), the fact that U.S.-born Latinos in higher income bands have very low rates of ridership is concerning for those worried about pollution associated with driving. It is also startling that the use of public transit by non-Hispanic whites remains so low at every point on the income spectrum. The upshot is that we should work to serve the willing: We should build a transit system that emphasizes keeping these riders riding even as we continue trying to lure current drivers from their cars.

Where Are We Now? Transit and Jobs in L.A.

A diverse transportation network is especially important for those without cars, which includes 19 percent of Black, 17 percent of Latino, 9 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander, and 8 percent of non-Hispanic white, households. Figure 3 shows the spatial relationship between households without cars and where people of color live: There are concentrations of carlessness particularly near downtown Los Angeles, in East Los Angeles, and near economic engines like Pasadena, Glendale, Santa Monica, and Long Beach. The crosshatch on the map shows areas that fall in the top 5th quintile of people of color -- in L.A., this means that 96 percent or more of residents in these areas are people of color, and so carless communities are overwhelmingly communities of color.

Figure 4 shows that we may not be doing such a good job at providing those communities the benefits of transit; as the map shows, there is a correlation between where residents of color are concentrated and higher travel times.

In that light, Figure 5 is perhaps not surprising, but it is pretty worrisome: It shows the spatial mismatch between affordable housing and low-wage jobs and suggests why transit is especially important to these communities. This disproportionately impacts people of color as they tend to have the highest rates of working poverty -- especially Latinos at 12 percent. So, transportation is most used by and most needed by people of color, with the racial dimension sometimes superseding income (Bullard, Johnson, and Torres 2004; Bullard and Johnson 1997.) The implication: Transportation equity for just growth will need to consider outcomes by race, not just income -- not to mention jobs and housing.

A Vision for Los Angeles Leading the Way in Transportation Equity

So that's where we're at now -- we are on the edge of a new Los Angeles, but we need to figure out how to address a transit-dependent population that often lives far from available jobs, is disproportionately low-income and people of color, and is increasingly threatened by the gentrification and displacement that new transit development can bring.

In this series, we will be exploring with KCET Departures what transportation equity means for Los Angeles. So details to come, but three things seem to us to be clear.

The first: this will require a new framework and a new conversation. Advocates, academics, and civic leaders will need to understand that addressing equity is not a "do-good" activity that happens after the main planning is done; in fact, infusing equity into our planning (transportation and otherwise) will lead to a stronger and more sustainable region for everyone.

The second: many of the gains thus far have been, in large part, due to advocates for those less advantaged in either our transportation system or our economy, who have organized their communities to articulate and argue for an agenda that would be more inclusive. Comprehensive planning has been part of the mix, but so has the nitty-gritty of mobilizing constituencies, developing ideas, and offering new and better policy solutions.

The third: what happens in Los Angeles will not stay in Los Angeles. After all, Los Angeles has long been "America fast forward." We became majority people of color a decade before the rest of the state -- and California crossed that threshold in 1999 while the U.S. is slated to do in 2043.
We also saw early on the growing chasms of the income divide and the rise of the working poverty, issues now plaguing the rest of the country.

But we're also starting to get there first in terms of community organizing, new civic conversations, and strategies for inclusive prosperity. This can be seen in the growing number of sectors joining the debate about transit (ranging from housing advocates to public health professionals to bus riders to developers and more).

There will be challenges, of course -- finding regional consensus, implementing what we mean by equity, keeping hard fought coalitions together, among other things. But we are optimistic about the road -- or, shall we say, bike path -- ahead. With a vision for just growth as the lodestar and transportation equity as one of the pillars, Los Angeles may just once again show America its -- in this case, hopeful -- future.
__________
Other resources:
Reconnecting America's Los Angeles Equity Atlas 

 
Endnotes:

Bullard, Robert D., and Glenn Johnson, ed. 1997. "Just Transportation: Dismantling Race and Class Barriers to Mobility." New Society Publishers.


Bullard, Robert D., Glenn Johnson, and Angel Torres, ed. 2004. "Highway Robbery: Transportation Racism and New Routes to Equity." Cambridge, MA: South End Press.

Quick, change the channel! Al Jazeera is talking about the environment again

http://grist.org/news/quick-change-the-channel-al-jazeera-is-talking-about-the-environment-again/

By John Upton, February 10, 2014

Mainstream American news networks don’t care about climate change. When they’re not ignoring humanity’s greatest crisis, they’re inviting pundits onto their programs to spread climate misinformation.

But here comes a Qatari government-owned broadcaster to the rescue. Al Jazeera America launched in August 2013 after purchasing Al Gore’s Current TV, and now it has a team of 800 employees with headquarters in New York. Right away it dove into climate coverage, and six months later it’s still going strong on the environmental beat.

The Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media reports:

Al Jazeera America is betting on a serious approach to news. It’s a peculiar species in the cable news landscape. Nonpartisan reporting and a fair dose of old-school shoe-leather journalism comprise the majority of the new network’s 14-hour a day news programming.

Donald Trump’s rants about a climate conspiracy have received no mention at all on Al Jazeera America. Nor has the network featured countless “think tank” pundits raving about their belief that wintry weather in one year and one place or another refutes global warming. … Instead, Al Jazeera America offers original reporting on the environment from a growing team of correspondents on the ground.

One environment newscast, for instance, detailed how green energy demand in Europe is threatening Louisiana forests. In another show, the network reported on demonstrators who set fire to a highway and defied a court injunction protesting against a Texas-based company’s fracking efforts.

And, after the recent West Virginia chemical spill into thousands of residents’ drinking water supplies, the network reported from an array of angles.

Maybe TV doesn’t have to be a vast wasteland — if it reports on the vast wasteland our planet is becoming.

Source

• Can ‘Unbiased, Fact-Based, In-Depth’ Environmental News Compete?, The Yale Forum on Climate Change & The Media

The Week in Livable Streets Events

 http://la.streetsblog.org/2014/02/10/the-week-in-livable-streets-events-130/

By Damien Newton, February 10, 2014

 This is a packed week, which isn’t surprising because next week will be less than exciting. There’s something for everyone. : sidewalk repair, progressive road changes, Santa Monica, Bicycle rides and commuter festivals and even a discussion of Metro’s proposed fare changes.

• Today – The City Council begins debate of different proposals to increase the rate of sidewalk repair and reconstruction in the city. One proposal explores “P3″ options the other proposes to end city fees associated with allowing owners to repair and construct sidewalks in front of their property. The meeting starts at 2:15 in City Hall. Joe will have more on these proposals later this morning. Read the agenda, here.
•  
• Tuesday – The Santa Monica City Council will consider and hopefully approve plans for the Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway, what could be one of the most progressive complete streets in the county. The plan isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty darned good, and of course there are forces concerned about reducing car traffic on what is supposed to be a local street. I highlighted some of the best arguments made for the project, at Santa Monica Next.
•  
• Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday – The Santa Monica Big Blue Bus holds a series of community meetings to discuss how one of the country’s best mid-sized transit fleets will adjust when the new kid on the block, The Expo Line, rolls into town in two years. It’s good to see someone looking ahead. Tyler has a full preview at Santa Monica Next.
•  
• Wednesday – The Los Angeles City Council Transportation Committee meets to discuss taxis, “downgrading” a road to reflect reduced car traffic and a yet-to-be-announced plan to modernize the road design on a Lincoln Blvd. Bridge. You can read the agenda (minus the bridge) here. The meeting starts at 2 at City Hall.
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• Wednesday -LACBC is partnering with Laemmle’s NoHo 7 to screen the 1979 cycling classic Breaking Away! Breaking Away tells the story about a bicycle enthusiast in a small college town spending his post-high school summer trying to sort out his future, while chasing after the girl of his dreams, and training for the two biggest races of his life. Proceeds benefit the LACBC. Get all the details, here.
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• Saturday – The East Side Riders Bike Club, with C.I.C.L.E., invites you on a community bicycle ride to explore the changes in Watts on the “Ride 4 Love.” This expedition, open to all cyclists, will make three stops including visiting Watts community projects (such as the Mudtown Farms, a future community garden site), housing developments, and the iconic and beloved Watts Towers. Learn more about the ride, here.
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• Saturday – The Southern California Transit Advocates host a special meeting to discuss the proposed fare changes from Metro at  pm at Angelus Plaza. This is the first public forum (outside of Metro Board meetings) where the changes are being discussed. Get the details, here.
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• Sunday – It’s the first annual Bicycle Commuter Festival! We’ve written about this event before (and probably will again…). You can read our preview here, or the calendar listing here.
• Monday – In celebration of President’s Day, Streetsblog L.A. will not be publishing.
•  
• Mark Your Calendars! On February 25, LongBeachize is hosting a mayoral forum for the top four candidates for mayor. On March 15, Streetsblog L.A. is holding a party celebrating the Streetsie win of Paul Backstrom.

Political cover? Bertha's contractors hire lobbyist & former deputy mayor

Seattle Tunnel Partners, the contractor for Seattle's deep-bore tunnel, has hired a well-known Seattle lobbyist. 

 http://crosscut.com/2014/02/07/transportation/118664/political-cover-berthas-contractors-hire-lobbyist-/

By Matt Fikse-Verkerk, February 7, 2014


 

The beleaguered design-build contractor for Seattle's deep bore tunnel project, Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP), last month quietly retained former Deputy Mayor and tunnel proponent Tim Ceis' consulting firm, Ceis Bayne East Strategic. The firm was hired January 16th in the midst of a major crisis that has enveloped the deep bore tunnel project since early December 2013.

"Bertha," the world's largest tunnel boring machine (TBM), has been stalled out for two months beneath downtown Seattle as a result of technical problems of unknown scale. Today the Washington State Department of Transportation announced that main bearing seals on the machine had failed, and that investigations by the prime contractor have not determined whether the main bearing itself — the central component of a large-scale TBM — will require extensive, costly repair or total replacement.
Either way, the machine is certain to need major structural work in order to resume tunneling, according to sources inside the project.

STP's retention of Ceis' firm was confirmed by firm principal Emelie East, who declined to characterize what the lobbying shop will do for the tunnel contractor, adding that Ceis is "on point" for handling the client relationship. The firm's website describes its services as implementing "comprehensive strategies employing coordinated messaging, advocacy and tactical partnerships to achieve client objectives."

Ceis is a longtime local political operative and was closely involved with the project during its inception. He served eight years as Deputy Mayor under former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and also as Chief of Staff to former King County Executive Ron Sims, both of whom were supporters and promoters of the tunnel project. His firm biography cites "replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct" as one of the "Major achievements under his direction."

Contractor STP has been under fire from several sides as the current crisis has burgeoned. WSDOT has put the firm on watch, sending a letter raising multiple technical and operational concerns and convening outside tunnel experts to provide independent oversight to the contractor's actions. An STP spokesperson declined to comment today, referring all calls back to WSDOT.

Bertha's latest problem? She broke the seal

The contractor on Seattle's deep bore tunnel says they've found another issue with the boring machine, which has been nearly-idle for 2-months. Cost? Time delay? Who can say? 

 http://crosscut.com/2014/02/07/transportation/118665/bertha-problems-tunnel-seattle-wsdot-seal/

By Bill Lucia, February 7, 2014

 
 Looking into the Highway 99 tunnel from the "launch pit."

Bertha’s got a busted bearing seal, Washington State Department of Transportation officials said on Tuesday. The massive boring machine digging the Highway 99 tunnel has now been at a near-standstill under downtown Seattle for two months.

The seal protects the machine’s main bearing, which allows its 57.5-foot wide “cutter-head” to turn. Seattle Tunnel Partners, the contractor digging the tunnel, idled the machine on Dec. 7 after it encountered unusual resistance and heat-sensors showed high readings. During the investigation that followed the stoppage, workers discovered that Bertha’s cutter-head “spokes” were clogged with soil. The contractor moved the machine forward about 4-feet last week and sensors again indicated it was running hot. In the days that followed, workers discovered the damaged seal.

WSDOT could not offer specifics on the amount of money or time that would be required to fix the seal, or whether the machine’s main bearing might have been damaged by grit. Program Administrator, Todd Trepanier, did say that it was possible to replace the seal either with the machine in place, or by digging it up. Based on the terms of the project’s “design-build” contract, that decision, he said, is up to the contractor.

“The investigation associated with the main bearing is still ongoing,” Trepanier said.

The main bearing assembly for the one-of-a-kind boring machine cost $5,178,397, according to project budget documents.

There are a variety of factors that could explain why the machine’s cutter-head spokes were jammed with dirt, Trepanier said, including soil-type, additives injected into the mined soil and the machine’s speed. “These are constantly changed and modified,” Trepanier said. "It’s a very sophisticated issue.”

The nearly $90 million machine, still technically belongs to its manufacturer, Hitachi Zosen Corp. The project contract was structured so that the company would maintain ownership of Bertha until 200 six-and-a-half foot concrete tunnel liner rings were in place. At that point, ownership would be transferred to Seattle Tunnel Partners, which is a joint venture between Dragados-USA and Tutor Perini.

After the machine moved forward last week, crews installed the 149^th ring. Hitachi Zosen Corp. representatives, Trepanier said, are onsite, working with Seattle Tunnel Partners.

The machine currently sits 60-feet below South Main Street, about 1,000-feet along the roughly 9,000-foot planned tunnel path. Bertha is scheduled to emerge in South Lake Union in late 2014. A four-lane highway inside the tunnel is set to open by the end of 2015. In a conference call with reporters today, Trepanier said Seattle Tunnel Partners had not yet given any indication that the roadway would not be completed on time.

Cities where no one wants to drive

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/02/08/10-cities-where-no-one-wants-to-drive/5278221/

By Alexander E.M. Hess and Thomas C. Frohlich, February 8, 2014

For many Americans, there's no escaping the stressful rush hour drive — but not for everybody. Many choose not to own a car. In fact, according to a recent report, more than 9% of U.S. households did not have a car in 2012, a higher figure than five years ago. In 21 of the nation's 30 largest cities, households were also less likely to have a vehicle than just five years earlier.

According to a study by Michael Sivak, a research professor at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, the growth in households without a vehicle provides evidence that Americans are less dependent on cars than in the past. Sivak's research also indicates that, per capita, Americans own fewer vehicles, drive fewer miles, and consume less fuel. While the number of households without a car rose nationwide, from 8.7% in 2007 to 9.2% in 2012, figures by city differ dramatically. In San Jose, just 5.8% of households did not have a car. In New York, 56.5% of households did not have a car.

According to Sivak's report, "The proportion of households without a vehicle is likely influenced by a variety of factors," including public transportation quality, urban layout, weather, and fuel costs." Adie Tomer, associate fellow at the Brookings Institution, agreed that, per capita, Americans have been driving less, and that this is due to "a huge confluence of factors."

One of the major factors Sivak identified as potentially contributing to peaking motorization is an increase in the use of public transportation. In fact, in large cities where Americans were least likely to have a car, the percentage of workers who commuted via public transportation was especially high, according to 2012 figures published by the U.S. Census Bureau. Residents of New York, Boston, and Washington, where people are least likely to have a car, were all among the most likely Americans to take public transportation to work.

 According to Tomer, public transportation often serves as a substitute for driving, especially if the transit system is good. A good public transit system makes a city's resources more accessible. Residents ask "Can I get to work in 30 minutes if I wanted to move to that part of town? How many grocery stores are within 10 minutes?" Tomer said.

Sivak also noted the role played by good public transportation in his report. "The five cities with the highest proportions of households without a vehicle were all among the top five cities in a recent ranking of the quality of public transportation," citing to a 2012 rank of public transit by Walk Score, a company that measures walkability in cities.

Tomer noted that, in addition to quality transit service, the layout of a city matters as well. Cities where businesses, residences, and people are more tightly-packed lead to congestion on roads, making it harder to get around by car. Based on figures from a Census report, five of the cities where households are least likely to have a car are also located in some of the nation's 10 most densely populated metro areas.

 While a densely populated city can be congested, it can also make the city easier to walk around. According to Sivak's report, walkability are among the factors that can influence households to avoid buying a vehicle. Walk Score constructed one measure of walkability by considering distance to amenities as well as pedestrian friendliness. Most of the cities where households were least likely to have a vehicle also had among the top 10 walk scores in the nation.

Based on an analysis of "Has Motorization in the U.S. Peaked?" from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, 24/7 Wall St. identified the major U.S. cities where the fewest households had a vehicle in 2012. The report relied on figures originally produced by the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Also from the survey, we considered household vehicle figures for 2007, as well as commuting data from 2012. We also reviewed Census data on population, using July 2012 figures, as well as population-weighted density, based on a 2010 Census Special Report "Patterns of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Population Change: 2000 to 2010." We used qualitative scores on the quality of walking, public transportation, and biking in cities from Walk Score, and figures from the Brookings Institution on transit coverage by metro area for 2010. Brookings considers anyone living within 3/4ths of a mile from a transit stop to be "served."

These are the cities where no one wants to drive.


1. New York City
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 56.5%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 55.9% (the most)
> Transit score: 81.2 (the best)
> Population: 8,336,697 (the largest)

Nearly 90% of New York metro area residents were served by public transportation, more than all but a handful of other places in the U.S. More than 56% of New York City households did not own a car, the most of any city in the nation. This figure was up from 2007, when 54% of New York households did not have a car. In all, New Yorkers were more likely than residents of any other city to take public transportation to work, and no city received higher scores for walkability or transit. The city continues to invest in public transportation, including extensions to the city's subway system, a new subway transit hub in downtown Manhattan, and improving accessibility for Long Island Rail Road commuters.

2. Washington, D.C.
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 37.9%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 38.6% (4th most)
> Transit score: 70.4 (4th best)
> Population: 619,020 (24th largest)

Nearly 38% of households in Washington, D.C. did not have a car in 2012, one of the highest percentages in the U.S. Additionally, more than 60% of working residents chose not to drive to work, one of the highest rates in the nation. The city received some of the highest marks from Walk Score for walkability, public transit, and biking in the area. As of 2010, 82.5% of the Washington, D.C. metro area's population was served by a transit system. This figure may rise once the first section of the Washington Metro's Silver Line opens, scheduled for later this year.

3. Boston
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 36.9%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 34.6% (5th most)
> Transit score: 74.8 (3rd best)
> Population: 628,335 (21st largest)

Boston commuters were more likely to walk to work than those in any other major city. More than 15% did so in 2012. The city's public transportation also offers excellent alternatives to driving, according to Walk Score, which rated Boston's transportation infrastructure third best in the country. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), also known as the T, recently announced the completion of train arrival information systems at all 53 of its heavy rail stations in the city, one of the first cities in the country to do so.


4. Philadelphia
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 32.6%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 26.0% (12th most)
> Transit score: 67.0 (5th best)
> Population: 1,538,567 (5th largest)

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) maintains rail, trolley, and bus routes throughout the Philadelphia region, including more than 100 bus stations. There are four public transit systems in addition to SEPTA connecting residents to their destinations in the Philadelphia metro area. The city was among the top six urban areas for its walkability, overall transit quality, and bikeability.

5. San Francisco
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 31.4%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 33.1% (6th most)
> Transit score: 80.5 (2nd best)
> Population: 814,233 (14th largest)

San Francisco's transit system was rated higher than all but one other city by Walk Score. The city also scored higher than nearly all other urban areas for its biking and for its walkability. City residents were taking advantage of these opportunities as of 2012, with over 55% choosing not to commuting to work by car, more than all but a handful of U.S. cities. San Francisco, which is well within commuting distance of Silicon Valley, also pioneered a controversial program permitting companies such as Google and Apple to use public bus stops for their private shuttles.

6. Baltimore, MD
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 31.2%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 19.2% (23rd most)
> Transit score: 56.9 (10th best)
> Population: 620,216 (26th largest)

The percentage of Baltimore households without a car rose from 29.3% in 2007 to 31.2% in 2012. One reason may be the quality of walking routes and public transportation in the city; Baltimore received some of the top marks in the nation for both walking and public transportation. The Maryland Transit Administration operates a number of services, including commuter buses and trains, as well as a more-than 15 mile-long subway. In 2012, more than 19% of commuters took public transportation to work, one of the higher percentages in the nation. There are also plans to build a new light-rail system, called the Red Line.


7. Chicago, IL
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 27.9%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 26.3% (11th most)
> Transit score: 65.3 (6th best)
> Population: 2,705,248 (3rd largest)

Overall, more than 40% of Chicago residents did not use their own vehicle to commute in 2012, more than in most U.S. cities. To get to work, more than one in four residents used public transportation, more than in all but a few cities. Many others chose to walk to work — city residents were more likely to walk than Americans nationwide. According to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, public transportation is essential to the economic development of the city. In a speech last year, the mayor cited numerous renovations and projects aimed at strengthening the public transportation infrastructure.


8. Detroit, MI
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 26.2%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 9.4% (69th most)
> Transit score: n/a
> Population: 706,201 (18th largest)

Just 21.2% of Detroit households did not have a vehicle in 2007. By 2012, that figure jumped to more than 26%. Residents’ especially low incomes may be one reason for the high percentage of households without a car; the city’s median household income was just $23,600, or well less than half the U.S. median of over $51,000. Detroit had, by far, the lowest walk score of any city where so few households had a car. According to a 2011 analysis by the Brookings Institution, just 59.7% of working-age residents in the Detroit metro area were served by transit systems, lower than more than half of the metro areas reviewed. One public transportation system, the Detroit People Mover, is little-used and extremely expensive to maintain.


9. Milwaukee , WI
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 19.9%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 8.6% (75th highest)
> Transit score: 48.8 (18th best)
> Population: 598,916 (30th highest)

While nearly 20% of households in Milwaukee did not have a car as of 2012, many residents still depend on vehicles. That year, 10.8% of residents carpooled to work, higher than the 8.6% who got to work using public transportation. For Milwaukee residents who do elect to use public transportation, the Milwaukee County Transit System provides regular bus service. According to its website, more than 85% of county residents live within walking distance of a bus route. The system also provides a “freeway flyer” bus service that provides transportation from the city’s suburbs to downtown Milwaukee.

 10. Seattle, WA
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 16.6%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 19.7% (21st most)
> Transit score: 57.3 (9th best)
> Population: 621,897 (22nd largest)

While just one in 20 people nationwide used public transit to commute to work in 2012, nearly one in five in Seattle did so, more than in most cities. Last year, contractors began building a 1.7 mile tunnel in Seattle last year to replace the damaged SR 99 highway running through the city. The $1.44 billion project is intended to expand public space along the city’s waterfront. Seattle is also one of a few cities that uses streetcars, and was one of the nation’s top cities for public transit, according to Walk Score. One in five workers used public transportation to get to work in 2012, higher than most U.S. cities.