The nation’s surface transportation infrastructure includes the critical highways, bridges, railroads, and transit systems that enable people and goods to access the markets, services, and inputs of production essential to America’s economic vitality. For many years, the nation’s surface transportation…
Movin’ On Up To Incomplete Streets: “Ultimate Traffic Relief” Through The 1946 Elevated Sidewalks Proposal For Los Angeles
How do you solve traffic congestion downtown? By removing pedestrians, of course! In our never-ending quest to collect, organize and provide access to Los Angeles’ historic traffic proposals, we have repeatedly run into some eye-popping proposals worthy of a…
How Local Politics Shape Federal Policy: Business, Power, And The Environment In Twentieth-Century Los Angeles
A notable new title about Los Angeles’ struggles with oil drilling, air pollution, flooding, and water and power supplies exposes the clout business has had over government. In How Local Politics Shape Federal Policy: Business, Power, And The Environment In…
Streetcar In The Sea Update: More About The 1950s “Transit Reefs” Of Los Angeles
Back in May, we wrote about old Los Angeles Transit Lines streetcars being dumped off the coast of Redondo Beach to create artificial reefs. That post was inspired by photo essays in the New York Times and other publications published…
60 Years Ago This Week: Los Angeles Gets Its First Publicly-Governed Transportation Planning Agency
A few days ago, we marked an important milestone in Los Angeles’ transit and transportation history. The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (LAMTA) was formed as the city’s first publicly-run transit planning agency by the State of California on July 24, 1951. Sometimes referred…