MetroRiderLA

• After a century long bender on oil, Americans are finally facing the inevitable hangover. Thank goodness I’m a teetotaler.
• People are driving less and less, which unfortunately means there’s a lot of people stranded in the suburbs.
• The Daily News reminds us that gas is only a small part of the overall costs of car ownership. And prices are going up.
• Charge market rate for street parking in Los Angeles?
• Private commuter rail may be coming to Seattle.

• Do people still hate TransitTV?  At least one guy does.
• What happens to a society built exclusively around the car when car-culture becomes too expensive to sustain?
• A law that makes it illegal to drive with a dog on your lap is actually a ruse to “force” people onto public transportation.  Bring your tin foil hat!
• Paris has weird incentives for expanding their transit system: improving overall mobility and redefining the quality of life of residents.  Bah. 
• Gas prices are driving people to mass transit everywhere, even in North County.
• The Westwood Flyaway going to give it a go for another year despite dismal ridership.
• Looking back on Bike Instead of Work Day.

Image courtesy of nathansnider.

• Is car culture reaching its threshold? Freakonomics ponders.
• D.I.Y. bicyclist punks determined to make L.A. bike friendly, politicians be damned.
• Peter Gordon vs. Bart Reed: the congestion pricing battle rages on.
• Economists, and Obama, know that a gas-tax holiday is a joke.
• Black chicks in L.A.: if you wanna get your hair did, eventually you’re going to have to bus it to South Central.  Here’s how.

The endless lights of a passing car dealership that can’t help but block out the sky. Photo courtesy of jon_zuckerman.

On a recent trip to some old stomping grounds in Louisville, Kentucky I had an epiphany. I was at the airport waiting for a friend to pick me up when a brand new, shiny green, Honda Civic pulled up. It was a nice car, as cars go—sunroof and all that jazz—but what really caught my attention was the temporary dealership license plate. In black and silver it read Sam Swope and I immediately became nostalgic. Why, I wasn’t sure, but I definitely knew I was back in Louisville for the name was as familiar to me as my friend’s who I’d be staying with.

I continued to wait and continued to ponder how crazy and all encompassing the car culture really is. I hadn’t need for convincing or anything, but to realize that a gigantic car dealership was as recognizable as Churchill Downs really blew me away. I then got to thinking about the other places I’ve lived or family has lived and tested if other such dealerships were locked in my memory like my first tree fort and kiss. Monroe, Ct – Dan Perkins, Tampa, Fl - Furman, Tallahassee, Fl - Proctor, Chicago, Il – Gillespie Motors, Ottawa, Il – Bill Walsh, Los Angeles, CA - Galpin Motors.

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Jeff Kenworthy, co-author of Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence and professor of Sustainable Cities at Curtin University (Australia), will be speaking tomorrow (Wed. April 30th) at noon in the Metro Board Room at One Gateway Plaza (the Taj Mahal).

This special talk is sponsored by the L.A. Eco-Village, CRSP Institute for Urban Ecovillages, Sierra Club, Beverly-Vermont Community Land Trust, and So.CA.TA.

He’ll bring us up to date on all the latest research on rail in the major cities of North America, Australia, Europe and Asia comparing high, median and low rail cities with respect to a variety of quality of life issues, competitiveness with cars, comparative urban form, and economics. Lots of inspiring pictures on how to do things differently in Los Angeles. The presentation will help us see that urban rail systems are a critical element in building effective multi-modal public transport systems that create a ‘virtuous circle’ in public transport and compete more successfully with the car.

The talk also shows that cities that are more rail-oriented tend to develop better qualitative features of the urban environment such as more livable, attractive and congenial people-oriented public spaces.

This sounds like a very interesting event for those interested in urban planning, automobile dependency, and the future of rail in Los Angeles.

Elsewhere:

• The Ten Myths About Automobile Dependency by Peter Newman & Jeff Kenworthy [PDF]

• “God, deliver us from these high gas prices,” Twyman said.
• L.A. transit doesn’t have what it takes to attract wi-fi service providers.
• Take a look at the Coachella Express and its temporary platform in Indio.
• OMG this traffic totally sux! A native Valley Girl speaks out against L.A.’s car-culture.
• Diehard Metrolink riders just want some basic amenities.
• Plan transit with the future in mind to avoid the mistakes of the past.
• Is congestion pricing a gift to the rich?