Blog Entries of Note...

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From Streetsblog San Francisoco:

Caltrain Will Boost Bicycle Capacity But It’s Still Not Enough

Caltrain like many other systems including UTA is having issues with the number of bicycles that are trying to use the service.

Columbus and Its Mall: This Marriage Can’t Be Saved

Has our love affair with the malls come to an end and what can be done with these big spaces like the moribund Cottonwood Mall project?

Living a Car-Free Life

Story of a couple from San Francisco living a car free life.

From the California High Speed Rail Blog:

Lindbergh Field HSR Station Plans Emerge

Project to incorporate a new terminal at the San Diego airport that will have direct access to the San Diego light rail system, Amtrak and the high speed rail lines.

From the Xing Columbus Blog:

Cleveland to Build Ohio’s First Bike Station

Nice article about bike stations which we should soon have at Central Station.

From the Transit Miami Blog:

Sprawl is Dead, says Obama

Big talk, but will it lead to any action?

From the Overhead Wire blog:

Sunday Backlog Links

Some great comments about transit in Los Angeles plus other aritcles that you may find interesting.

Three Projects is Waaay Too Many

Apparently the mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina (a city I once lived while working in NASCAR) thinks that working towards three transit projects at once is too much. I guess he would think were positively wacko here in Utah...

Imagine This Story Times Millions

My question is, there is so many property rights advocates coming out of the woodwork especially in Denver because of light rail construction, did these people say anything when people were losing their homes to the interstate highway system?

From Streetsblog LA:

Community Plan for Boyle Heights a Test of Planning’s Promise

Los Angeles City planning has stated it plans to work with neighborhoods to create plans that the citizens want. The new Boyle Heights plan will put that promise to the test.

From Biking in LA: The Pedestrian Free Crosswalk

Pedestrians are banned from a Westwood intersection despite the presence of pedestrian signals. Planning at its finest to improve the life of the automobile.

From Streetsblog:

An Attempt to Create Empathy in Drivers

Will signs make drivers think about pedestrians more?

Streetfilms: A Conversation With Congressman Earl Blumenauer

Interview with the very vocal pro transit and bicycling Earl Blumenauer out of Portland, Oreogn.

From the Sprawled Out Blog:

Kid-friendly senior housing proposed - JSOnline

Most senior developments are designed as being anti-children. However, a growing number of older people are having to raise thier grand children due to various reasons so a development in Milwaukee will be designed for those raising their grandkids.

From the Seattle Transit Blog:

New Zipcar office and city partnership are big steps in company’s effort to expand

Car sharing is being expanded in Seattle but we are still waiting for it in Salt Lake City. Plus it would be nice if it was a locally owned company.

From the RT Rider Blog:

Stimulating transit

Senate approves money for transit projects.

From the Jacksonville Transit Blog:

JACKSONVILLE AND FLORIDA BLOW THE STIMULUS

Florida will not be getting any stimulus money for transit.

Interesting Blog Posts from the Week...

Image via WikipediaHere is some of the interesting blog posts from around the transit blog world that caught my attention this week.

First off from Track 29 which is by a Washington DC resident, we have this one about the proposed gutting of transit funds for more highway funding:

Call Me Confused (But Not Surprised)

I already mentioned about the President's proposal and this blog talks a little more about the whole thing.

From Light Rail Photos comes some photos about the opening of the Gold Line in Los Angeles on its 5th Anniversary

Pasadena Gold Line opening

The Gold Line was built along the right of way of the former Santa Fe railroad that saw such famous trains as the Super Chief which was also referred to as the "train of the stars". I grew up not far from this line and during my high school years lived in a house whose back yard bordered this line.

Here is an off beat entry from the Transit Sleuth in Portland about the why the concept of Fare Free is a bad idea:

Hot Chicks on the MAX, TriMet Makes a Play...

Once again from California comes this entry from the Transbay Blog out of San Francisco talking about California's Complete Streets Proposal:

Complete Streets Act to Hit the State Senate Floor

Think we will ever see this in Utah? I won't hold my breath unless their is a rapture and people do start voting for the person instead of the political party in this state.

Curitiba is often used by BRT advocates as their nirvana example (I will talk about this more in the future) but here is a post from the Overhead Wire about their LRT plan:

Replay 5.21.07: Curitiba Transport Chief Throws BRT Under the Bus

Streetsblog Los Angeles has a couple of postings of interesting:

Plan for LA’s Central Park Showing at 7th and Fig

This is a proposal to cap the freeway that runs to the west of downtown Los Angeles. Seattle did this with a portion of Interstate 5 near downtown Seattle. Now if they had only put Interstate 15 in a trench like most rebuilt freeways through downtown Salt Lake because this same thing could have been done in Salt Lake, but its too late now.

Next there is this posting about Representative Earl Blumenauer's bill that would help transit agencies that are being hurt by the big diesel prices.

House Bill Makes Connection Between Transit Funding and Gas Price Relief

Blumenauer has been a big proponent of effective transit development and is a regular speaker at Railvolution and other similar programs.

One of the things I like about this bill is that there is a provision to boost housing near highways plus incentives for transit riders, cyclists, telecommuters and carpoolers.

Previously I have talked about the problems with the requirments for new schools that almost force students to be either bussed or driven to school or drive themselves in the case of High Schools. The Smart Growth Around America Blog has an entry talking about more about this and issues such as diesel prices is having on busing:

It all hinges on a key phrase: “If it’s possible.”

As the blog points out, it is great to encourage kids to walk to school but new schools are being built that makes that next to impossible.

That's it for the ones that stood out this week.