MetroRiderLA

Mayor Villaraigosa is going to start riding one of these to encourage others to do the same.

The Los Angeles blogosphere is abuzz today with news from the City Council hearing on creating a traffic relief plan for Los Angeles (after a “discovery” by Council Member Wendy Greuel that L.A. has been without a transportation plan for the last 20 years and none for the future).

CurbedLA has been listening in on the hearing, and has had regular updates throughout the day. They note that there’s been talk of land use, density, and the fact that there are no easy solutions. They also heard from a Portland planner who talked about the Portland Aerial Tram and apparently it’s being discussed a solution to traffic around Dodger Stadium.

Metroblogging Los Angeles snarked about the fact that the Mayor, in an attempt to show his dedication to public transportation, arrived late to the hearing because he rode the bus. According to KFI-AM the mayor among other things, wants to create incentives to use public transportation and thinks that it is the key to easing traffic. KTLA also looks at the mayor’s statements, including the possibility of backing a countywide half-cent sales tax to generate cash for public transit.

Downtown blogger Angelenic looks at the possible impacts of the traffic plan for Downtown. The blogger notes that diagonal pedestrian crossings are being considered, and could be useful in Downtown due to the increasing pedestrian traffic thanks to all the new development.

Bike activist ubrayj02, aka Brayj Against The Machine, notes the importance of the transportation hearing and offers his two cents from an bicyclists point of view. He also provides a link to a heated discussion of the issue on the Midnight Ridazz forum.