MetroRiderLA

• Union Pacific doesn’t want high speed rail in California, cites safety concerns.
• City Beat interviews transit sales tax advocate Mike Feuer.
• It’s time, once and for all, for America to get serious about public transportation.
• The Amalgamated Transit Union wants fuel costs for transit agencies to be subsidized by the Federal government.
• A deeper look at the fight for the Expo Line.

Image courtesy of igetrad.

• Los Angeles has a small carbon footprint compared to other American cities… with some caveats.
• Another day, another story about Americans trading in their car keys for bus passes because of rising gas prices.
• It’s not over until it’s under… City Beat looks at the Expo Line’s arduous battle.
• Libertarian think tank wants an end to long range transportation planning because it creates congestion.
• Airports across the country are creating rail links to ease mobility woes.
• ABC7 looks at a local phenomenon with national implications, Angelenos giving up their cars for mass transit.

Image courtesy of alistairmcmillan.

• Presidential candidate McCain proposes giving the gas tax a summer vacation as a way to stimulate the economy.
• Tired of that Expo Line Phase I drama?  Why not build Phase II first?
• A new lengthy, detailed, and highly informative article has been posted over on Metro’s Imagine Blog.  Read it now for shocking information about the future Westside subway.
• Advocates continue to try and get the Green Line to LAX.

• Metroblogging wants to get L.A. transit on the fast track. Do you?
• StreetHeatLA goes the to Valley Service Cuts Hearings and comes back with a report. People want their buses!
• After 34 years of car addiction, one man finally kicks the habit.
• Fix Expo release its statement on the Expo Line Farmdale Vote, which is happening today.

Friends 4 Expo joins us to offer its position on the controversially Expo Line grade crossing safety issue.

Bumper-to-bumper traffic between downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica is a front-page issue. The Expo Line can help significantly, and soon.

Friends 4 Expo Transit is the grassroots group of volunteers who have been supporting the Expo Line, some for over 18 years. Our motto, “Connecting Neighbors” reflects members from Los Angeles, Culver City, Santa Monica, and across the region.

We support the state-of-the-art safety measures proposed by the Expo Authority for an at-grade crossing at Farmdale Avenue by Dorsey High School — which exceed even the Gold Line standard, by including pedestrian gates, crossing guards, and trains slowing during the time that students cross — and urge the Expo Board to move forward with the current California Public Utilities Commission application and resolve the issue as soon as possible.

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Damien Goodmon, transit advocate and founder of FixExpo.org, presents a series of articles defending his position on the controversy surrounding the Metro Exposition Line. The thoughts presented in this series are those of Damien Goodmon and Fix Expo and do not necessarily reflect the views of MetroRiderLA, its contributors, and/or readers.

The Expo Line controversy: At-grade rail. Dorsey HS. LAUSD. CPUC. Environmental racism. Fix Expo. Expo Communities United. And Damien Goodmon.

Many still don’t understand how or why I became the driver of the entity most critical of Los Angeles’ newest light rail line. And so for the next couple of weeks, I’ll write the Exposing Expo series, with the belief that by bringing to light the many interactions, information and uncovered documents, more can get a clearer picture of the 600 pound guerilla that is the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority, an agent of MTA.

Because the process, fellow transit advocates, is very revealing and rather interesting. Indeed, what has become a tenacious brawl, began rather innocently and with the best of opinions of Expo staff.

“Work with staff,” I was told.

“Just ask questions and they’ll be honestly evaluated and fully answered,” I was led to believe.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

What will be illustrated is an arrogant and willfully ignorant Expo Board that continues to downplay the safety issues, mounting public pressure and pending legal actions that if unaddressed will derail the largest public works project in their districts.

What will be revealed is an unethical and snide Expo staff acting defensively and immorally under the crisis of transparency.

What will be exposed are actions of people who claim they’re transit advocates, which are more in line with that of agency apologists and public relations front men.

I will never disclose the contents of private conversations, and I legally can’t mention anything discussed in mediation, but pretty much everything public will be made available for the world to see.

Important questions will be answered, such as:
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