Angelenos Against Gridlock congratulates Eric Garcetti on being elected the next Mayor of Los Angeles. We look forward to working with the Garcetti administration in helping move forward Los Angeles towards its full potential.
Zev Yaroslavsky’s blog has a great story about the crushing crowds on the Orange Line. Click the headline above to read the story.
If we might add some reactions:
It’s a real reminder of the limitations of BRT and of non-grade separated transit lines.
Los Angeles tries to get away with bus rapid transit lines, and lower capacity, sometimes non-grade separated light rail (think of all the accidents and delays they cause for the Blue/Expo lines), leaving heavy rail just for the the Red/Purple line, while many other cities around the world choose roomy, faster heavy rail subways.
We could not be more thrilled with the interest around the city, nation, and even the world in our Faster 405 Campaign, supported by Elon Musk. For the latest press highlights from Good Morning America, Bloomberg, the UK Telegraph, TechCrunch, and more, visit our Faster405.com site.
Given the scale of Los Angeles’ infamous gridlock challenges, and the need to fight for both short-term and long-term solutions, there’s so much to do. Like what you’ve read in the press this week? Donate to support our efforts. Thanks!
Some are asking what the 405 delays mean for future Metro construction. Do the 405 highway delays mean we shouldn’t support future Metro subway construction? Absolutely not.
We’re as strong as ever in our belief that the solution for LA’s mobility crisis is a fully built-out rail system. That requires much more Metro rail construction, not scaling back. Can lessons be learned from the highway delays to avoid rail construction delays? Sure — but that’s not a reason not to proceed with what’s required to get LA moving. (It may be a reason why watchdog groups — like ours — continue to be needed, but let’s not lose sight of the main point: LA needs a huge amount of rail construction.)
LA is far behind the rest of the world. These slides show just how far behind we are. (Click the full screen button at bottom right to enlarge the slides.)
![Visit Faster405.com for links to & our reactions to the LA Times article & chat on the 405 delays.
Visit our Faster405.com site for full coverage relating to today’s Los Angeles Times article & live chat. There, we have links to read the Los Angeles Times article and participate in the live chat on the 405 delays and on our efforts to push back, and we’ve posted our reflections on the pace thus far.
From the LA Times’ live chat announcement:
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has formally acknowledged the completion of the widening of the Sepulveda Pass on the 405 Freeway will be delayed at least 13 months.
Projected date for completion is now mid-2014. A variety of problems caused the delay — notably the requirement to move dozens of utility lines under Sepulveda Boulevard.
Join us at 9 a.m. [Thursday, 4/25/13] as we discuss the project and its latest delays with Times reporter Martha Groves.
Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind PayPal and Tesla electric vehicles, jokes he can shoot one of his SpaceX rockets into space way faster than he can commute on the 405 Freeway from Bel-Air to the Hawthorne factory where those rockets are made.
“It varies from bad to horrendous,” he said of the ongoing project to add a carpool lane to the busy road through the Sepulveda Pass.
Musk is backing a group called Angelenos Against Gridlock [that’s us!], which wonders why elected officials are not making a bigger deal of the delay.
Interested in following further developments? If you haven’t already signed up for our mailing list, please do so using the signup form at right.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/9e79476ad67c9b4e849ac63bcb50db56/tumblr_mlsz5lLJca1qk2ppbo1_500.gif)
Visit Faster405.com for links to & our reactions to the LA Times article & chat on the 405 delays.
Visit our Faster405.com site for full coverage relating to today’s Los Angeles Times article & live chat. There, we have links to read the Los Angeles Times article and participate in the live chat on the 405 delays and on our efforts to push back, and we’ve posted our reflections on the pace thus far.
From the LA Times’ live chat announcement:
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has formally acknowledged the completion of the widening of the Sepulveda Pass on the 405 Freeway will be delayed at least 13 months.
Projected date for completion is now mid-2014. A variety of problems caused the delay — notably the requirement to move dozens of utility lines under Sepulveda Boulevard.
Join us at 9 a.m. [Thursday, 4/25/13] as we discuss the project and its latest delays with Times reporter Martha Groves.
Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind PayPal and Tesla electric vehicles, jokes he can shoot one of his SpaceX rockets into space way faster than he can commute on the 405 Freeway from Bel-Air to the Hawthorne factory where those rockets are made.
“It varies from bad to horrendous,” he said of the ongoing project to add a carpool lane to the busy road through the Sepulveda Pass.
Musk is backing a group called Angelenos Against Gridlock [that’s us!], which wonders why elected officials are not making a bigger deal of the delay.
Interested in following further developments? If you haven’t already signed up for our mailing list, please do so using the signup form at right.
Cast your vote for more transit before it’s too late!
Have you voted for Angelenos Against Gridlock yet in the LA2050 Challenge? If not, the deadline is fast approaching (Wed, noon). Click here to vote (or to learn more) now! (Use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox if you have trouble, and be sure to click the email confirmation link after you vote.) We need your vote to succeed — it’s going to be VERY close!
Also, don’t miss our Q&A on Reddit going on now!
And thanks to Patch, The Source, and Streetsblog LA for covering our LA2050 project.
Governor Jerry brown spoke to reporters today traveling on his delegation to China, bemoaning the slow pace of progress in California, versus the incredible pace of construction in China.
“We sit around and mope. And process. And navel gaze,” said the governor about the political environment back home. “And the rest of the world is moving at mach speed. So when we go back, we’ll emulate some of that.”
Read more in reporter John Myers’ piece: http://www.news10.net/news/california/article/240458/430/Brown-rides-praises-China-bullet-train
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Vote for us in the LA2050 Challenge!
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Credits: The background photo of gridlock is from Atwater Village Newbie’s Flickr set.
