The OC Register's Beach Blog points us to this video where a skateboarder takes on the 405 Freeway in the midst of traffic. It was filmed a few weeks ago on Go Skateboariding Day.......

Photo by Pro-Zak via Flickr It's 11:45 a.m. and City Council is in session getting ready to vote on an item supporting Metro's proposed half-cent sales tax for transportation projects. Their vote would also tell Metro which projects are priorities for the city, including the possibility of a downtown streetcar and getting the Green Line to actually hit LAX. Councilman Jose Huizar spoke up to get some clarification on projects within the city. "Is......

How do you fix the state budget? You take away money from two of the most important and already-lacking services in the state: transit and early education programs via voter approved set aside money for those type of projects. Not only that, money for local governments could be taken away too (that means less money to do the dirty work of the city and county such as hospitals). Of course, within his first hour of......

Three Metrolink Oceanside bound trains from San Bernardino were canceled early this morning after a "person or body" was hit by a freight train late last night. The investigation on this "man or body" lasted until around 6:00 a.m. when the train scheduled resumed service. 110 FREEWAY. Unfortunately, Caltrans didn't get the northbound 110 Freeway open until after last night's rush hour. It re-opened at 7:40, a little over 24-hours after problems were first reported.......

A sign near the intersection of Riverside Dr. and Fulton Ave. in Sherman Oaks. | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist Further investigation into reasons why a few spots around the city have signs prohibiting bicycle sidewalk riding shows that both Sherman Oaks locations were due to troubles caused by skateboarders. After pedestrians getting hit by boards, cars nearly hitting skaters falling into the street and customers being intimidated, Van Nuys Division LAPD officers requested a......

Workers with the California Department of Transportation assess the condition of a large sinkhole on the northbound 110 Freeway in South Pasadena. Crews continue to work filling in the hole that spread across the left and center northbound lanes. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) Caltrans' Jeanne Bonfilio called to give the latest update on the all-day closure of the Northbound 110 Freeway at Fair Oaks Blvd. She says the 15 foot (both in width and depth)......

Will Los Angeles start feeling more urban and navigable for pedestrians in downtown and Hollywood? Yesterday, the city council approved a 6-month pilot project to allow taxis more freedom of where to pick up and drop off customers. Basically, they just can't block bus stops, but handicap and red zones will be fair game. Blogdowntown reports one taxi driver's sigh of relief. We're just excited to be able to cruise from the Arts District to......

Photo by maxedaperture via Flickr Remember Walkscore, the website where you type in your address and the spit out a score rating the walkability of your neighborhood? Today, they released America's Most Walkable Neighborhoods and Los Angeles came out at #9. #9?!?! Well, it's not for the city as a whole, but rather for certain neighborhoods, specifically Mid City West, Downtown, Hollywood. Ahead one step of Los Angeles is Long Beach at number 8......

Photo by carlosfpardo via Flickr Last night, one of Los Angeles' best locally focused radio programs, Which Way, L.A.? focused in on the Mandeville Canyon "road rage" motorist vs. bicyclist incident among other bicycle issues around Los Angeles. LA City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, Patrick Brady of Felt Bicycles and the LA County Bike Coalition Planning and Policy Director, Dorothy Kieu Le joined Warren Olney to talk perspectives, laws and LA culture of cars and......

Although we nagged on Councilman Bill Rosendahl this morning, we had a candid chat with his office this morning afterwards. Things were overlooked and last night's meeting was not meant to be a secret, even if it was closed, they said. In an e-mail update on the meeting, among other things, sent out this afternoon (posted in full below), Rosendahl starts off his message with quite a nice vision: "I’d like to update you on......

The next step in moving on from the honor system to the gated system in LA's subways and some light rails was announced today. $16.1 million in transit security funding was awarded to Metro by the state towards implementation of the gating system. 379 fare gates will be installed within the next 18 to 24 months. "The gates are expected to reduce the need for civilian fare inspectors and sworn law enforcement will also be......

On Wednesday, the City Council will be voting on a six-month taxi cab pilot program for downtown and Hollywood. But the Department of Transportation has a concern, according to a report (.pdf) of theirs: "There is a possibility that during peak hours, key lanes of traffic could be impeded by taxi operations generated by the pilot program." LA Times Road Sage Steve Hymon translates: "They're scared silly of anything that may slow down some bloke......

Cyclists from around the City were looking forward to Councilman Bill Rosendahl's Community Forum scheduled for tonight and it was that significant citywide interest that may have been responsible for causing the Forum to be canceled. It was last Wednesday that Councilman Rosendahl called for the Forum in response to the significant outcry over the Mandeville Road Rage incident of July 4th that left two cyclists badly injured, the motorist facing multiple felony charges......

Photo by Egan Snow via Flickr After quickly championing the rights of vehicles and bicycles sharing the road in the aftermath of the Mandeville Canyon "road rage" incident, Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl has canceled this Monday's community town hall that he quickly put together last week (he even changed locations once to accommodate the expected large crowd comfortably). "At the request of the residents and of the cyclists who use Mandeville Canyon......

Think LA's relationship with underground rail transit began with the first tunnels blasted out to make way for the Red Line? Think again! LA's first subterranean transit system was a short stretch of tunneling dubbed the "Hollywood Subway," which moved its first passengers under the city in 1925 via electric interurban rail cars. Opening Day in Toluca Yard (end of the Hollywood Subway at 1st and Glendale); original source unkonwn, via California Trolleys The idea......

What High Speed Rail could look like in Burbank | Image by CHSR The California High-Speed Rail Authority announced the completion of the route yesterday. The project has been some 10 years in the making and this November, Proposition 1 (pdf) on the ballot will help determine the future of the project that would take passengers between San Francisco and Los Angeles in about 2 hours and 40 minutes by 2030. The last step......

The idea is already in Metro's long range plan, but it's not a priority. The Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. says it's only 3-miles and if connected to Burbank Airport and the Burbank Metrolink station (therefore, downtown Burbank), ridership would surely increase. Road Sage Steve Hymon questions what if the Green Line went all the way to the Norwalk Metrolink station (we'll add in, "how about LAX?").......

Photo by delera-photos via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Today, City Council President Eric Garcetti announced two motions he is putting forward. If you know the biking community, you know these two proposals came from Garcetti listening to the community as the problems/solutions here are often heard within the cycling community. From a Garcetti press release: Garcetti introduced a resolution to urge the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) to repeal its ban on......

Steve Hymon is reporting from the Metro Board meeting, the one that is pivotal for public transit's future in Los Angeles. It is also important for his "Subway to Sea" dream. "The big, big, big MTA meeting just entered its third hour, and Los Angeles Mayor and MTA board member Antonio Villaraigosa is still not here. Interesting." A call over to the Mayor's office and one representative told LAist "he sometimes goes late to that."......

Today is the regularly scheduled Metro Board meeting. But there's nothing regular about it. Two very important measures that could give long lasting positive changes to public transit are up for a vote: an increase of the county's sales tax to raise money for projects like the "Subway to the Sea" and the long range transportation plan which would give the region a vision to work towards. The sales tax increase, which has a lot......

Photo by Simon Shek via Flickr On Tuesday night at 5:23 p.m., a train heading towards the Valley got stuck between Hollywood and Universal City. For 80 minutes, one half of the tracks was out of service while Metro engineers tried to figure out what stopped the rush-hour train with around 400 passengers aboard. Metro officials called the situation "extremely rare," but reports from frequent riders say a 40-minute delay happened on Monday evening......

This guy is so sad. He paid $20 for parking and now can't afford to hit any music venues. | Photo by ClownBog via Flickr The Sunset Strip in West Hollywood is notoriously known for its high parking prices. As the Sunset Strip Music Festival approaches, we decided to see to test Sunset Strip business owner's claims of the myth of high priced parking. On a short drive down the famous boulevard, especially on......

As gas prices hit all-time highs, so is the Internal Revenue Service's mileage rate standard, which is currently 50.5 cents. Next Tuesday, it will be raised to 58.5 cents, a move that is usually saved for the Fall, but like with Hurricane Katrina when gas prices spiked, the IRS made a mid-year adjustment, which will last through the end of the year. Current gas prices in Los Angeles have been averaging out to a steady......

Metro put a press release this morning stating that a commissioned study shows 73% of LA County voters would pass the half-cent sales tax increase if the election were held today. To pass, it would need a two-thirds vote. But first, to get the increase on the ballot in November, it must be passed by Metro's Board this week as well as the State Senate.......

The proposed route from Union Station to Dodger Stadium | View Larger Map Come end of July, expect to see public transit hit Dodger stadium again after a 14-year hiatus (save for a small Friday night 2004 experiment that failed). A proposal is making it's way through city council this week and is expected to pass out of committee and the full council. The plan, for the last 32 home games starting July 25, is......

In the name of safety and a smoother ride, Caltrans is working on a is $7 million bridge deck resurfacing project. Therefore, that means some day and night time closures (pdf). Full and partial closures will occur Saturday through Monday nights and next Friday.......

Metrolink's ridership got a shot of adrenaline yesterday as ridership jumped to an all time high of 50,232 passengers -- a 15.6% increase since Tuesday for the regional commuter train service. Metro Rail has jumped 6% since last month (especially the gold line) and freeway traffic has dipped 1.5% since last year ("91.7 million miles traveled in March to 91.4 million in May"), reports the LA Times. For the last week, average gas prices in......

California Shuttle Bus, a self-proclaimed "upscale" transport connecting Los Angeles and the Bay Area, has announced a new $5 service for those of us who would like to get from LA to SF without the hassle of high gas prices and expensive airfares. The new prices take effect beginning next Monday; the shuttle company is also offering expanded hours and pick-up/drop-off services for certain Westside neighborhoods. From the press release: "We have noticed increasing......

Here's one way to celebrate the national do-not-use-gas holiday known as Dump the Pump: announce long-term cancellations for 13% of your LAX flights and blame high fuel costs. That's what Delta is reported to be doing in a move that has somewhat become a trend. And with that comes higher prices and less options for travel. The cuts affect nonstop routes to Boston, Hartford, Conn., and Columbus, Ohio, Mexico and Florida. Meanwhile, United announced increased......

Gold Line Photo by Fred Camino/MetroRiderLA and Metro Subway photo by Kwasi B. Next week, the Metro board will vote on two very important issues. One will put a half-cent sales tax increase, that would raise funds for public transit, on November's ballot. The other is the Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), a document guiding public transit in Los Angeles County for years to come. Gold Line advocates, who wish to see the line......