L.A. Metro Area Transit: What's Next?

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Originally Posted by MTA

new light rail vehicle manufactured by Kinkisharyo being delivered to Metro’s Division 22 in Lawndale that serves the Green Line.

Above are some great pics of the light rail car leaving the assembly facility in Palmdale, California and beginning its journey south.

http://thesource.metro.net/2015/01/2...e-high-desert/

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New Union Station Bus Platform to Begin Construction in April

http://buildinglosangeles.blogspot.c...-to-begin.html

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Originally Posted by LAT

California to spend $20 million on building part of 'hydrogen highway'

The California Energy Commission reports that it's spending $20 million to build nearly half of the approximately 100 stations needed to give a driver of a hydrogen car enough range to travel freely through most parts of the Golden State.

So far, only about 10 stations are operational, mostly in the Los Angeles and the San Francisco areas, servicing only a couple of hundred hydrogen-powered cars running statewide. Stations are open in Burbank, Fountain Valley, Irvine, the Harbor City neighborhood of L.A., Newport Beach and Torrance.

Starting in October with a new fuel station in the city of Coalinga, near Interstate 5 in the San Joaquin Valley, hydrogen cars will be able to get from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Such vehicles can go about 300 miles on a fill up.

The current goal, said Energy Commissioner Janea A. Scott, "is to match the number of stations to the number of cars coming in," and then let the market take over.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...223-story.html

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Report: Closing the 710 Freeway gap would take years and cost billions

In a 2,260-page draft environmental report, the California Department of Transportation and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority examined four construction options they say could address the congestion and health issues that stem from the 710’s abrupt ending on a surface street in Alhambra. The freeway is a favored route for truckers shuttling between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and distribution centers in central Los Angeles County.

"This area is widely considered to have an incomplete transportation infrastructure," Metro spokesman Paul Gonzales told the Los Angeles Times. "The way it affects the region is part of this study -- what it means for traffic, what it means for mobility, what it means for air pollution. We closely associate the 710 with a handful of specific cities, but it’s connected to the whole region."

A 4.9-mile tunnel would be the longest in California, and almost as long as downtown Boston's 5.1-mile Big Dig tunnel. Under either option, drivers could be charged a toll and trucks could be barred from the tunnels, the report said.

A 12-mile rapid bus route would link Huntington Drive in San Marino to Whittier Boulevard in Montebello, according to the environmental analysis. Buses would have some dedicated lanes, and could run every 10 minutes during peak hours. Adding the bus routes would cost $241 million and take about two years.

A 7.5-mile light-rail line would cost $2.4 billion and would add seven stops to Los Angeles County’s growing rail system, the report said, connecting the Gold Line’s Fillmore Station in Pasadena with the East L.A. Civic Center stop. The route would run underground through Pasadena and South Pasadena, then run on elevated tracks through Monterey Park and East Los Angeles. Construction would take about six years.

Caltrans and Metro are accepting comments from the public until July 6. The Metro board of directors will choose a final option for the project sometime in 2016, Gonzales said.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...306-story.html

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TRANSPORTATION: Rail link from L.A. to Coachella Valley explored

A longtime idea to expand passenger rail service to the Coachella Valley and the San Gorgonio Pass is picking up speed.

A comprehensive study is underway, with a pair of meetings recently held in Banning and Palm Desert to present the project and get feedback from the public.

“For years, there’s been other – I’d say much lower level, much less complex studies done about the feasibility,” said John Standiford, deputy executive director of the Riverside County Transportation Commission, or RCTC. “This is the first time we’ve really gone forward and done something that hopefully will lead to an actual, full-blown EIR (environmental impact report) – a real project where we can compete for funding.”

Still, planning is in the early stages. It would be several years before the expanded passenger rail service would be operational. And funding would have to be secured. It is estimated the project could cost $150 million to $200 million.

http://www.pe.com/articles/rail-7618...coachella.html

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Originally Posted by LAT

Metro could expand subway service to the downtown L.A. Arts District

As part of a suite of rail projects slated for a rail maintenance yard along Santa Fe Avenue, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is considering adding one or two Arts District subway stations on the banks of the Los Angeles River, according to a Metro staff report. If the plans were approved, Red and Purple Line trains would stop at least once to the south of Union Station.

Possible sites for Santa Fe Avenue stations include 6th Street and 4th Street, near the One Santa Fe apartments, according to a rough graphic included with the report.

The rise of the Arts District as a commercial and residential hub is one reason Metro is considering the additional stations, said David Mieger, the agency's executive officer for transit corridor planning. The arrival of condos, restaurants and hipsters in an area once reserved for warehouses and factories is putting the neighborhood's sparse transportation infrastructure to the test.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...316-story.html

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Diamond Bar councilman to promote 57/60 Freeway interchange project in Washington

Diamond Bar Councilman Jimmy Lin is a man on a mission. Lin is traveling to Washington, D.C., next week to lobby Congress for the 57/60 interchange improvement project.

“I’m going to talk to our senators and congressmen about supporting our efforts to relieve the traffic congestion at this dangerous interchange,” Lin said.

The new councilman will promote the $256 million project to realign the freeways at the so-called Diamond Bar crunch. Lin wants congress to include it in the next highway bill it considers.

http://www.sgvtribune.com/general-ne...-in-washington

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Groundbreaking for Lost Hills Interchange Project in Calabasas

Metro Board Member Ara Najarian today joined officials from the city of Calabasas to commemorate the start of work for the Lost Hills Interchange Project at Lost Hills Road and the 101 in Calabasas.

The $25 million project is fully funded by Measure R and will take about 18 months to complete. The work entails widening the Lost Hills Road overpass to five lanes, adding bike lanes in both directions and a new sidewalk, installing sound walls and redesigning the 101 on/off ramp to improve traffic flow.

http://thesource.metro.net/2015/03/2...-in-calabasas/

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Santa Monica-area residents brace for California Incline construction

In a region known for romanticizing its roads, the California Incline in Santa Monica has long been a beloved landmark.

The road, which connects the beach with the bluffs, affords spectacular coastal views that have made it a subject of postcards and tourist photos for more than a century. The ramp has remained a constant in the beachside city from the days of horse-drawn buggies.

But time has taken its toll.

Now, after years of delays, the incline is finally about to get a $20-million renovation that will dramatically improve the road but also cause traffic headaches.

Construction workers on April 20 will begin the task of demolishing and rebuilding the incline, which descends from Ocean Avenue to Pacific Coast Highway.

The project — which will require the full shutdown of the link used by 15,000 vehicles daily as well as the closure of a northbound lane of PCH — is expected to take about 13 months. Planned detours for northbound and southbound travelers will add several minutes of driving time.

Santa Monica also recently began building an esplanade along Colorado Avenue that will run from the new Expo Line station at 4th Street to Ocean Avenue.

No one is challenging the necessity of the incline project, the cost of which will be covered mostly by federal funds.

According to the project website, the new bridge, a concrete slab structure supported by piles, will be 52 feet wide, beating the existing incline by 51/2 feet. It will feature a wider sidewalk and bicycle lanes. As part of the project, adjacent bluffs will be stabilized.

http://www.latimes.com/local/westsid...323-story.html

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Firm working on Elon Musk's Hyperloop leases space in L.A.'s Arts District

A company behind the futuristic, high-speed transportation system fantasized by Tesla and SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk has leased warehouse space in downtown Los Angeles and is rapidly adding new workers to a staff of 20 full-time employees.

Musk's imaginary Hyperloop would use vacuum tubes to transport freight and passengers at speeds of 750 mph, racing from Los Angeles to San Francisco in half an hour. Until recently, it's been little more than an idea.

Now Hyperloop Technologies Inc., one company working on the project, has taken up residence for Hyperloop World Headquarters in a 6,500-square-foot industrial space in a gentrifying section of the Arts District.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...325-story.html

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605-10 freeway interchange improvements coming to a close

A massive overhead ramp that will fix one of the Los Angeles County’s most dangerous interchanges could open this fall, but the headaches of construction on the 10 Freeway will continue for years.

When Caltrans finishes the long-awaited fly-over ramp linking the southbound 605 to the eastbound 10, it will still be several more years before completion of a widening project that adds a carpool lane out to the 57 Freeway in Pomona.

http://www.sgvtribune.com/general-ne...ce=most_viewed

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• Video Link
Longest segment of Wilshire peak hour bus lanes to open on Wednesday
http://thesource.metro.net/2015/04/0...-on-wednesday/

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MID-COUNTY PARKWAY: Crucial step this week for proposed freeway
The parkway would be a 16-mile, six-lane freeway from I-215 in Perris to the 79 in San Jacinto. It would cost more than $1 billion.
http://www.pe.com/articles/project-7...portation.html

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Santa Ana’s Streetcar Project Has Inside Track
http://voiceofoc.org/2015/04/santa-a...-inside-track/

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Most at first 710 Freeway gap hearing favor building tunnel

MONTEREY PARK >> At the first public hearing on closing the 4.5-mile 710 Freeway gap since the release of a key environmental report, most speakers on Saturday favored building a tunnel and vehemently opposed a light-rail system.

“I live two blocks from where the 710 Freeway ends at Valley Boulevard and the traffic is horrendous there. I’m hoping the tunnel will go through and take cars off Alhambra streets,” testified Carol Jones, Alhambra resident.

Caltrans and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) spent four years at a cost of $40 million studying different ways to move traffic from one freeway stub — at Valley Boulevard in Alhambra — to the other near Del Mar Avenue in Pasadena, where the freeway would connect to the 210/134 interchange. The resulting Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement looks at five options: a no-build option; a traffic management system that would upgrade streets and sync traffic signals at local intersections to move traffic more quickly; a dedicated busway with high-frequency service and few stops; a 7.5-mile light-rail line that would stretch from East Los Angeles to Pasadena and a 6.3-mile freeway tunnel, of which 4.2 miles would be completely underground.

Of the 51 speakers, most thought continuing the freeway via a tunnel under El Sereno, Alhambra, South Pasadena and Pasadena would alleviate the most traffic — echoing the same conclusion contained in the 26,000-page EIR/EIS, released March 6.

“It is imperative we get this done. The best alternative is a dual-bore tunnel,” said David Thomas.

Brian Lewin said residents of southeast Los Angeles and the western San Gabriel Valley have suffered through heavier traffic on local streets for half a century due to a freeway that starts in Long Beach but ends abruptly in Alhambra. His mother was told her house in El Sereno would be taken for a freeway — that was in 1959, he said.

“This has gone incomplete for far too long. The only thing we need to do is finish this,” said Lewin, who lives in Rosemead.

Besides private citizens, local elected officials testified in favor of a tunnel.

“A tunnel improves the regional transportation system and you will also improve the air quality in the region,” said San Marino Mayor Eugene Sun.

Monterey Park City Councilwoman Teresa Real-Sebastian said extending the 710 is not just about Alhambra or South Pasadena but is a regional issue. “The 710 was never intended to end on Valley Boulevard; anyone who lives in any of these cities knows all that extra traffic spills onto our communities, where we work, where we play. The tunnel is the only option that will get mobility back on track,” she said.

http://www.sgvtribune.com/general-ne...uilding-tunnel

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Metro to study converting busy Orange Line busway to a rail line

The Orange Line has since become the busiest bus route in the Valley, carrying about 30,000 riders a day between Chatsworth, Warner Center and North Hollywood. That's a sign, advocates say, that it's finally time for the busway to become a rail line.

Such a conversion — including buying trains, building stations and laying track — would cost $1.2 billion to $1.7 billion and take two to three years to complete, according to a new report prepared for Metro and reviewed by The Times.

Metro's board of directors is scheduled to review the analysis this week.

http://www.latimes.com/local/countyg...414-story.html

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Metrolink will extend 91 line to south Perris

In its first major expansion since 1994, the Metrolink commuter railroad that serves Southern California is converting 24 miles of an old freight route to passenger service between Riverside and Perris.

The $248-million project will extend Metrolink's 91 Line to new stations in north Riverside, Moreno Valley, downtown Perris and south Perris.

After years of planning and a lawsuit that temporarily blocked the proposal, construction finally began in October 2013. Passenger service could begin as early as October, two months ahead of schedule, officials said.

http://www.latimes.com/local/califor...421-story.html

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RIVERSIDE: Rail project awarded $2.98 million grant
The Federal Railroad Administration has plans to provide daily Amtrak service between Los Angeles and the Coachella Valley.

A $2.98 million Federal Railroad Administration grant will support plans to provide daily Amtrak service between Los Angeles and the Coachella Valley.

Current passenger rail service is limited to three times a week, with one stop. The idea on the table is to provide at least one round trip per day, with a stop in the San Gorgonio Pass and two stops in the desert.

http://www.pe.com/articles/service-7...t-provide.html

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Five electric buses join Metro's fleet; more may be coming

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority continued down its greener path Thursday when five electric buses were delivered to transportation officials downtown.

Chinese automaker BYD manufactured the buses at its Lancaster plant. Between the plant and the company's downtown headquarters, BYD employs at least 160 people. Company Chairman Chuan Fu Wang said he hoped to hire more people if purchase orders continued.

Those orders may soon be coming.

Metro's initial contract calls for the agency to buy 20 more buses if the first five meet expectations.

Long Beach Transit has ordered 10 buses, with the option for 50 more.

"A few short years ago, we stood together to open BYD headquarters here in L.A. Look how far we have come," Wang said.

BYD and county transportation officials hope the buses will demonstrate how it's possible to have an electric fleet in metropolitan areas.

"We are finding a solution to pollution in our city," said Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, a Metro board member. "When you're behind one of these buses, you won't get asphyxiated like behind those other diesel belchers."

http://www.latimes.com/local/califor...501-story.html

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Metro poll suggests strong support for 2016 transportation tax hike

More than two-thirds of Los Angeles County residents support raising the countywide sales tax by half a cent to bring in about $120 billion for rail and highway projects, according to a new poll paid for by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The poll asked respondents whether they would approve a proposed ballot measure that would go before voters in 2016. The measure would seek to raise the overall sales tax rate to 9.5%, and it would extend Measure R, a half-cent tax approved by voters in 2008, beyond its current 2039 expiration date.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...507-story.html