MetroRiderLA

Ahh, the audacity of hope… for a car-free future.

Last week, Metro released to the public their Draft Long Range Transportation Plan. The LRTP is a document that looks to assess and address the transportation needs of the Los Angeles area for the next 25 years.  A quarter of a century is a pretty big number, it’s hard to say if I’ll still be blogging when I’m 52, but if I am I’ll be able to link back to this post and review how the plan was implemented.

The next 40 days are crucial for the next 25 years, since Metro is allowing public comment on their plan until April 25th.   In order to encourage people to get involved, Metro has launched the Barrack Obama inspired “Imagine” campaign, in which Metro asks people to imagine a better future.  Yes we can!

The Imagine campaign may be Metro’s best marketing campaign yet.  It’s certainly the most complete.  The LRTP document[PDF] itself is beautifully designed, with inspiring photography that spans pages and equally inspiring copy.  The website is bold, colorful, easy to navigate, and interactive.  There’s even what I believe to be a Metro first… a blog! The blog even accepts comments.  There’s also a full on advertising assault, with billboards and posters promoting the Imagine campaign popping up all over the city.

Such audacity!

Join the conversation about the Long Range Transportation Plan in the new MetroRiderLA Forum.

In a stunning attempt to steal MetroRiderLA’s thunder as the coolest transit blog in town, East Coast transplant and Street Heat blogger Damien Newton has brought Streetsblog to Los Angeles.  Yes, Streetsblog LA is open and accepting comments.  Streetsblog has done an amazing job covering what they call the “streets renaissance” in New York City with daily coverage that is unmatched.  Here’s what Damien has to say about Streetsblog LA:

“Streetsblog seeks to cover the news about life on L.A.’s streets in a way that emphasizes that our roads are a public good, not a means to moving as many cars through a community as quickly as possible.  L.A.’s transportation planning has revolved around its car culture for decades, but now that a streets revolution is coming, Streetsblog will be here to chronicle it all.”

Sounds excellent. I say the more transit oriented blogs in L.A., the better.

A screenshot of the Headway blog, your portal to transit’s future.

A blog I’ve recently come to discover and enjoy, thanks in part to a recent interview with our very own Wad about his work on SoCalTIP, is Joe Hughes’s Headway blog. In many ways Headway has a similar mission to MetroRiderLA: improving transit through individual action. Headway smartly recognizes that attempting to navigate the massive political and monetary roadblocks in order to improve transit can often be difficult and fruitless, but that passionate individuals have the power to bypass the political machine and facilitate their own improvements without the bureaucracy. With the proliferation of the web this philosophy is more relevant than ever. Headway references sites like Seattle Bus Monster, Train Check, and events like the Toronto Transit Camp as evidence of the D.I.Y. transit movement at work. Joe himself has been involved in the third-party game, working on sites like Google Transit and buskarma, in addition to Headway.

The blog itself has been around for a year on this day (Happy Blog Birthday!) and has logged in over 40 posts in that time. Google Maps mash-ups, GPS hacks, and iPhone hints are just a few of the topics Headway looks at. Headway also offers it’s own innovation, the Headway Wiki, a user editable index of transit agencies, cities, software, and third-party sites. As of today there were 81 third-party transit sites listed.

Headway has really created an inspirational resource for all those interested in fixing transit but who don’t feel like waiting 5, 10, 15, or more years for the agencies to make a difference. Check it out and see if you’re inspired.