I'm in the Westside Extension study report

Earlier this month, one of my SPA school classmates told me that I was actually pictured on page 16 of the Westside Extension study's alternatives analysis report. In the picture below, I'm photographed signing into the first Westwood meeting. Darn cool. And if you want to read the whole report, click here.

Subway to the Sea study approved, moves onto environmental review

Some good news: Metro's Board of Directors has voted to move the Westside Extension project (code: Subway to the Sea, or Westwood at least) to the Draft EIR/EIS stage. The Wilshire Subway is still alive!!!

This occurred on Thursday morning, when yours truly delivered nearly 300 signatures collected primarily by Misha and Bob, the co-founders of Bruins for Traffic Relief, directly to the Board members themselves.

The Board also voted to proceed with several other transit projects, including the Regional Connector Transit Corridor Study in Downtown L.A., and; the Eastside Transit Corridor Phase 2 Study in the eastern portion of L.A.

According to a Metro press release, the Board approved two alternatives for further environmental review and preliminary engineering: a Metro Purple Line extension via Wilshire Boulevard and another that also includes a spur from the Metro Red Line in Hollywood via Santa Monica Boulevard.

True Costs of Driving

in 1990 dollars
from Mark Delucchi. Total Cost of Motor-Vehicle Use, ACCESS #08, Spring 1996

Planners should consider all costs when making decisions. Additionally, with political pressure to lower taxes and increase services, the total costs of motor-vehicle operation shift from being borne by private individuals to society as a whole, and the total costs increase. All, especially politicians, should be cognizant of the political implications of their actions.

Why I think you should vote yes on R

Hi Friends,

Many of you know I'm a strong supporter of Measure R. Many of you know that I'm working on my MBA in Finance and my MA in Transportation Planning at UCLA, so I've taken a dozen graduate-level classes on issues related to Measure R. I'm convinced that Measure R is vital to ensuring the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of Los Angeles. With all of the political noise we've been subjected to in the past few months, I wanted to make sure that you are aware of Los Angeles County Measure R before Election Day. I also hope to convince you to vote yes on Measure R to get Los Angeles moving again.

Each section has a heading written in the form of that question. If you're wondering the answer to the question, read the section. If not, skip it. Measure R is about making living in and traveling around Los Angeles more efficient, so there's no reason to waste time reading what you already know... Measure R needs a 2/3rd yes vote to pass, and right now, it's polling at around 2/3rds. I wouldn't waste your time with this email if I didn't think your vote mattered.

What is Measure R?
Measure R is a one-half cent sales tax increase that will provide a projected $40 billion to fund transportation projects to increase mobility around Los Angeles County as part of Los Angeles's Long Range Transportation Plan. The plan targets the most congested areas of Los Angeles County with smart, location-appropriate capacity expansions. In many areas, this means adding lanes, synchronizing traffic signals, or reengineering intersections to improve traffic flow. In some areas, this means adding bus service and constructing light rail. In the Wilshire Corridor, this means expanding the subway network. In many areas, a combination of street improvements and transit capacity expansion will get Los Angeles moving.

Here's the ballot language:

TRAFFIC RELIEF. RAIL EXTENSIONS. REDUCE FOREIGN OIL DEPENDENCE. To: Synchronize traffic signals; Repair potholes; Extend light rail with airport connections; Improve freeway traffic flow (5, 10, 14, 60, 101, 110, 138, 210, 405, 605, 710); Keep senior/student/disabled fares low; Provide clean–fuel buses; Expand subway/Metrolink/bus service; Dedicate millions for community traffic relief; Shall Los Angeles County's sales tax increase one–half cent for 30 years with independent audits, public review of expenditures, all locally controlled?

According to the Texas Transportation Institute, Los Angeles is #1 in the United States in traffic congestion, time spent in traffic, and wasted gas. In 2005, congestion cost Los Angeles $9.3 billion in lost time and fuel, or about $1,400 per resident. The average of $25 per resident invested by Measure R won't eliminate congestion in Los Angeles, but it will significantly improve mobility and access to opportunities across the region and provide a substantial return on public investment.

Measure R is a County Measure at the "bottom of the ballot" (after elected officials and state propositions) for Los Angeles County voters. Find out where you're voting tomorrow and see a sample ballot at http://.lavote.net/locator

Isn't the Eastside of the County and the San Gabriel Valley getting the short end of the stick?

Measure R provides funding for Metro's Long Range Plan, which was developed during a two year, very public, multi-stakeholder process aimed at getting Los Angeles moving again. This plan prioritizes funding of transit projects with high ridership potential, such as the Wilshire Subway (which will carry at least 180,000 people per day) and are sure shots for federal funding matches. The pet project of the Eastern County and the San Gabriel Valley is the Gold Line extension to Claremont, which is projected to attract fewer than 20,000 daily riders. The gold line extension will not necessarily be competitive for matching federal funds, nevertheless Measure R provides around $700M for the project. East County politicians who oppose Measure R fail to realize that it will not get them their Gold Line extension any sooner, as this project has been prioritized lower on Metro's Long Range Plan. Some of them are hoping voter rejection of Measure R will force Metro to change the long range plan, a process which will take at least five years while Los Angeles continues to suffer in traffic, and is unlikely to move their pet projects up on the list. Encouraging their constituents to vote against Measure R is especially damaging because LA County doesn't have uncommitted funds available to move forward on any of these projects without Measure R. This means that a No Vote on Measure R delays all of the projects in the Long Range Plan until at least 2015.

The Westside of Los Angeles will receive about 124% of the county-wide per capita funding that measure R will provide and much of this, $4.5B, or 11% of Measure R funds will go towards the Wilshire Subway. A $4.5B federal match will provide the $9B needed to build the subway to Westwood. What was billed as the "subway to the sea" had to be scaled back in order to fund projects elsewhere in LA County.

By contrast, the San Gabriel Valley is projected to receive only 84% of the county-wide per capita funding Measure R will provide. However, the system-wide improvements will open access to more opportunities throughout Los Angeles and create stronger links to existing transportation alternatives (Metrolink, Gold Line) that have been previously financed by Los Angeles County taxpayers. If every region received an equal return of funds, Measure R would presumably do wonders to placate politicians, but less to alleviate congestion in Los Angeles.

Isn't a sales tax regressive? Won't Measure R hurt the poor?
An across-the-board sales tax is regressive. Measure R is not an across-the-board sales tax increase because rent, utilities, services, and food are not taxed in Los Angeles County and make up a high proportion of a low-income family's expenses. Low income families, especially those without access to an automobile, stand to contribute less than $25 per capita and benefit a great deal from the increased transportation funding that Measure R will provide.

Why does Measure R call for a sales tax? Shouldn't investment in infrastructure be financed by bond measures?
Ideally, an increase in property taxes or a bond measure would be used to finance Measure R, which will provide benefits that will be captured by increases in real estate prices. However, in California, Proposition 13 has long limited property tax funding (and choked many local governments and school systems) and makes funding Metro's long range plan through a property tax assessment impossible.

A bond measure would be a great way to provide funding while hiding the costs to residents. However, bond funding has been raided by the state in the past to cover budget shortfalls, resulting in no money for the programs the bonds were supposed to fund.

A sales tax increase allows Los Angeles County to maintain local control and accountability for funds and allows Los Angeles to pay for improvements as it goes rather than taking on debt and later scrambling to find funds to cover payments.

What's this I hear about you dressing up as a Pirate and shouting "AYE on RRRRRR" at passersby on a street corner in Westwood?
http://losangelestransportation.blogspot.com/2008/11/transportation-headlines-for-monday.html
Scroll down to the pictures. One benefit of being the photographer is that you never show up in any of the pictures J

Best, and Good Luck at the polls tomorrow!

The Purple Line must have express trains

if LACMTA is learning anything from the 920, it should be that people prefer fewer stops. Ridership will be proportional to the perceived benefit taking subway versus status quo transportation. That benefit increases when trips take less time. Trips take less time when there are fewer stops.

How to show your love for the subway

1) Join Metro's Westside Subway Extension Facebook group. (Really!)
2) Are you a blogger? Download this jpeg and post it in your blog template.
3) Attend update meetings of the Westside Subway Extension - and make public comments!
4) Get your geek on

Other ideas

• Bumper stickers (for bikes and bags, silly): I'd rather be riding the subway 

• Mug: Decorated with the Wilshire Subway
• Testimonials on this page
• Check out this Flickr feed
• Add this blog to your blog reader

(A working list of) very important links

Politico Fans of the subway
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
3rd District LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Westside Subway Extension on Facebook
MoveLA
Subway to the Sea Coalition
FAST (Fixing Angelenos Stuck in Traffic)
Building LA's Future
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
American Lung Association (LA Chapter)

Blogger Friends of the Subway

• Misha Silin
• Brigham Yen
• Darrell Clark

About The LA Subway Blog

Welcome to the LA Subway Blog by Juan Matute.

Disclosure: Anything said or done here is definitely of my own accord and by no means reflects any opinion taken by my employers.

Back to the fun stuff:
My goal is to turn the LA Subway Blog into the informal online home for the Westside Subway Extension. I also like to talk about the things that also happened along the way to the Wilshire Subway. (This page is definitely a work in progress!)

Here, you'll find (eventually):

• Subway Timeline
  
• Subway History
• Subway Documents