Photo by aharvey2k via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr As of this morning, here's the latest on road closures and public transit routes affected by the Sesnon and Marek Fires (things can change, if they do, they should be updated at (800) 439-2909): If You're Driving: Following Streets are Closed Topanga Canyon Boulevard northbound at Chatsworth Avenue De Soto Avenue northbound at Rinaldi Street Corbin Avenue northbound at Porter Ranch Drive Mason Avenue northbound......

If you're traveling into, out of or through areas affected by the Sesnon or Marek Fire, here's the latest as of a 3:15 p.m. update sent out by the Mayor's Office. The more current info is updated at (800) 439-2909. Below are roadway and public transit updates: If You're Driving Sesnon Bl closed west of Balboa and in both directions between Porter Ranch Dr. and Tampa Avenue Jollete St and Neon PL are streets are......

A conceptualized regional connector map | Download the full size here (.pdf) Imagine a day when the Gold Line Eastside Extension to East LA and the Expo Line to Culver City are completed (2009 and 2010, respectively). But if you're traveling from Culver City to Little Tokyo, you'll have to take the Expo Line to the Red Line to the Gold Line. Headache, right? That's what Metro's Regional Connector project is seeking to fix.......

Metrolink is using Twitter to update their service. The latest: "Ventura Co. Line to be shut down in the Chatsworth area due to heavy smoke in tunnel area. More details to follow." UPDATE: Metrolink has some bus bridge alternatives, but depending on where you are and where you're going, you'll need to see their specific details.......

Major one-up for Measure R, the proposed half-cent sales tax increase that would go towards transportation projects. The LA Times says it's bad timing with the current economy, but now is the time, despite what the naysayers claim. "The official opposition to Measure R comes mainly from politicians from far-flung parts of the county who claim that they wouldn't get their fair share of the tax money; they tend to favor a regional distribution scheme......

Have you ever noticed that Google Maps displays Metro Subway and Light Rail stations but not Orange Line ones, even though the buway pretty much acts like train on rubber wheels (yeah, cheesy description). We posed that question to Google and a spokesperson quickly responded saying those stations would be marked on the map if Metro joined the Google Transit program. "The icons you're seeing for LA Metro stations are actually from a separate source......

In a scathing editorial, the Long Beach Press-Telegram is telling people to vote no on Measure R, the LA County ballot initiative that will raise the sales tax one half-cent in order to raise $40 billion over 30 years for transportation projects. Complaining that Southeastern LA County will not get much, if any, of the funding (did they even speak up like the San Gabriel Valley did?) and focusing their attention on West LA commuters......

LA Now is reporting that interviews with witnesses of last month's deadly Metrolink-Union Pacific train crash have shed light on findings in opposition of the National Transportation Safety Board--and the color of that light just happens to be green. Three observers, including the Metrolink Chatsworth station security guard, claim "that a final, crucial railroad signal was green as the commuter line's engineer headed toward the collision point." Evidence gathered in the NTSB's preliminary investigation indicate......

It's a weekend packed with festivals and sporting events that are sure to take a toll on traffic. The LA Times reminds us that things could get pretty snarled up on the roads around town: "USC plays Oregon at the Coliseum at 5 p.m.; the Cubs are at the Dodgers at 7 p.m.; Washington State plays UCLA at the Rose Bowl at 7:15 p.m.; and singer Neil Diamond performs at Staples Center at 8 p.m."......

As expected, the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles voted to give $5 million towards a 3.4 mile downtown streetcar route. But there is still a long way to go as the project is expected to cost $90 million with up to half of the funding possibly coming from the private sector. Earlier this week, LA City Councilman Jose Huizar said that he intends on riding the streetcar in 2014.......

Using Google Transit, a trip from Union Station to Chatsworth on a Metrolink Train Last week, vowing to help make NYC transit less complicated, New York City and Google officially launched Google Transit's ability to help people navigate the city. So it got us thinking. If New York City has it and Chicago has it in addition to Orange County, San Diego, Burbank, Irvine, Metrolink Trains and Thousand Oaks, when will Metro, Los Angeles'......

Metro has been looking into connecting the Blue, Gold and future Expo Lines for some time now. Currently, if you want to go to Long Beach from Pasadena, you take the Gold to the Red to the Blue. With the regional connector, imagine taking just one train from start to finish. While Metro has not posted the next group of meetings yet, Little Tokyo UnBlogged has the info for two meetings later this month. Plans......

You can download this map here (.pdf) Metro just completed a set of meetings with the community regarding a transit study area they're calling the Harbor Subdivision. Like the Westside Extension process, everything is on the table from light rail to rapid buses to doing nothing (well, except a subway). If a rail line were to actually be put in, you're looking at connections with the Blue Line, Green Line and possibly the Crenshaw......

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa speaks at news conference where he unveiled his new housing plan (AP Photo/Nick Ut) Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced today an ambitious $5 billion plan, called Housing that Works, to build 20,000 affordable units. “This City’s economic success and vitality depend on our ability to plan for a future of sustainability and stability in our housing market,” Villaraigosa said. “This plan lays the building blocks of housing our middle class......

For those who have been following Assembly Bill 2321, you can take a breath of relief. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill into law yesterday afternoon, allowing Metro to place a half-cent sales tax increase proposal on this November's ballot. It will take a 2/3rds vote to pass and if it does, it could raise $30-40 billion in funding for transportation projects over the next 30 years. On the ballot, it is known as Measure......

Photo of Pilgrimage Bridge via Historic Bridges of the United States Recently there was a brief news item on LAist (and some ensuing traffic headaches) about some construction materials spilling onto the 101 Hollywood Freeway near the Pilgrimage Bridge. Sure, most of us have driven through the Cahuenga Pass on the freeway or northbound on Cahuenga or southbound on Highland and have passed the Bridge, or we've crossed it--maybe en route to the Bowl......

Reverend Donald Ashman, who "leads a small congregation at the Anglican Church of Our Saviour on the Westside of Los Angeles, where he has been for a quarter of a century [and] teaches Latin and world history at Hoover High School in Glendale," was on board Metrolink Train 111 on Friday, September 12th at 4:23 p.m. when it crashed head-on into a Union Pacific Freight Train. Despite his own back injuries sustained in the......

In one sense, you know congestion pricing if you've ever traveled northbound on the 15 freeway in northern San Diego County or the 91 in Orange County and used the express lanes where pricing is variable depending on the time of day you drive it. LA County's transit agency, Metro, received "$210 million dollars from the federal government to experiment with a road pricing plan on the I-10 and I-110," writes Damien Newton of......

There's only 120 taxis operating in Burbank, but twenty of them have been hybrids since May. Cities across that nation have already started programs (NYC plans to have all 13,000 taxis to be hybrid in 5 years) but Los Angeles is a little behind with its 2,303 fleet. "We're researching the issue very carefully. We want to do it right," said Tom Drischler, taxicab administrator for Los Angeles, to the LA Times in the Burbank......

A Metrolink train collided head on with a freight train in Chatsworth just before 4:30 this afternoon, causing one of the cars on the Metrolink train to turn over on its side. The train was heading west at the time. According to a live report on KCBS there are 20-25 people who are injured, and of them 10 are critically injured and 3 require extrication. Emergency personnel are on the scene right now.......

Photo by sesshin via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Travel + Leisure came out with their America's Favorite City 2008 guide with lists shows how visitors and residents voted. For visitors (and well, residents), we came in last for--no big surprises here--traffic. And well, we also hit the bottom of the list for public transportation and pedestrian friendliness. And maybe we can blame these woes on our friendliness and intelligence, both of which ranked......

Political consultant Ace Smith, who has worked for Mayor Villaraigosa and ran Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign in several states including California, has been hired to run the campaign for Measure R, which will raise LA County's sales tax by a half-penny to pay for transportation projects if passed by voters in November. Steve Hymon at LA Times' Bottleneck Blog did a mini-interview with Smith. "What will the campaign look like?" he asked. "I think the......

For a larger view of the route image, click here The city's Department of Transportation (LADOT) begins operation a new DASH bus route that will serve the Central City East area of Downtown. From 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., the new DASH Central City East route will serve Little Tokyo, the Toy District, the Arts District and the Flower District. The new DASH route also offers riders the ability to connect with other DASH routes......

For about a year Metro has been meeting with the public over the Westside Extension Project (they have a Facebook group too), usually dubbed as the "Subway to the Sea." In the Fall of 2007 Metro met with the public to talk about initial conceptual designs. Metro planners came back to the public in the Winter with 17 options (or alternatives as they call them) which included light rail, aerial rail, bus rapid transit and......

With one more step to go until the half-cent sales tax increase proposal goes on the November ballot, Metro has launched an extensive website to inform the public what a "yes" vote would mean: "Measure R is a half-cent sales tax increase that will provide the local resources to finance new transportation projects and accelerate those already in the pipeline. Over 30 years, it is expected to generate $40 billion for countywide congestion relief......

San Fernando Business Journal writer Jason Schaff is a fan of the Orange Line, but with the gas prices and higher ridership, the "Valley's Shortcut" is no longer that desirable he says. "At the end of summer 2008 the buses are crowded all hours of the day. I will go to the office sometimes at 7 a.m. – they’re crowded. I’ll come home sometimes at 8 p.m. or later – they’re crowded. I stand up......

Even though it is Labor Day weekend and the state has entered into a historic period without a budget, good news came Sunday for public transportation advocates and well-wishers. AB2321, the bill that would allow Metro to put a half-cent sales tax increase on the November ballot that could raise $30-40 billion for transportation projects over the next 30 years, took another critical step: the state Assembly passed it. That means two more steps until......

For those of you following AB 2321, a state assembly bill that would allow Metro to put a proposed half-cent sales tax increase on November's ballot (they say it could raise $30-40 billion dollars over 30 years), it passed out of the state senate this afternoon, according to Steve Hymon at the Bottleneck Blog. That means there are three more steps to go for a large increase for public transit funding in Los Angeles: 1)......

Crossing the campus from your Econ lecture to your Geology lab can be a pain in the ass, especially when time is tight and you're navigating a sea of student bodies plugged into iPods and hunched over text messages. For some, the solution is as easy as the four wheels of a skateboard. But at Cal State Fullertion, if you're on wheels after October 6th, it's going to cost you. The campus has moved to......

In order to get the State Legislature to pass the budget, which was due by July 1st, Schwarzenegger threatened to veto any bill that came across his desk until it passed. But that meant he would have to veto bills that he supported like the bill to update the High Speed Rail proposition (SF to LA in under 3 hours) or his water bond bill. Then today he reversed course... for his pet bills, of......