At their board meeting today, our fair city's transit agency has once again delayed a decision on its Long Range Transportation Plan, i.e. cementing the projects that will receive funding and priority in the coming years. While this doesn't mean the Subway to the Sea or the Downtown Connector (see image) aren't happening, the delay translates to a longer wait for a firm commitment on those projects. I Will Ride, a blog advocating for the Gold Line Foothill Extension, was at the board meeting and tweets, "Basically the delay of the LRTP vote has been a lack of discussion of the highway plans. Metro staff taking heat for planning/schedule." Streetsblog also tweeted: "And the vote for a two-month delay's result [on LRTP] is... another two month extension! Only [LA County supervisor and no-fan-of-the-subway-to-the sea Mike Antonovich] voted no. [LA County supervisor] Zev [Yaroslavsky] and [Metro Board chair] O'Connor abstained." Metro did decide at today's meeting that high-speed rail is a good thing, and released a statement saying just that. Um, great (they didn't support it before?). Their press release says construction on the LA to SF line could begin in 2012. In other news, Metro approved opening carpool lanes on the 10 and 110 freeways to solo motorists willing to pay a toll, reports the Los Angeles Times: "The charges will range from 25 cents per mile when traffic is light to $1.40 per mile during rush hours." Opening date: December 2010.
· IWillRide [twitter]
· lastreetsblog [twitter]
· Metro Moves to Support High-Speed Rail [Metro]
· Metro Approves Solo Drivers for Toll Lanes [LA Times]
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