What will happen as gasoline prices steadily climb even higher? At $6 a gallon, Americans will begin embracing diesel engines. At $8, many airlines will shut down, leaving Southwest Airlines and JetBlue as the dominant domestic carriers. At $10 a gallon, we should…
Author: Kenn Bicknell
Union Station Is Born: The Story And Photos From The Citywide Fight Over A Central Rail Terminal
Happy Birthday to Los Angeles’ primary passenger rail facility, which celebrates its anniversary today. Union Station is not only a beautiful neighbor of ours here at Metro’s Gateway Headquarters, but a part of the family now as well. The anniversary…
Metro Library Becomes Part Of Transportation History In Contribution To The Henry Ford Museum Exhibit
The Henry Ford Museum has announced that a small piece of Metro’s Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library & Archive will be part a new permanent exhibit at their institution. The Henry Ford is a family-oriented educational complex in Dearborn Michigan. This National Historic…
Jumpstarting The Transit Space Race, Transit Climate Action Strategy & The Next 50 Years
If you’re looking for current information on the state of public transit projects across the United States, there might be no better resource than Jumpstarting The Transit Space Race, 2011: A Catalog And Analysis Of Planned And Proposed Transit Projects…
50 Years Ago, This Chick Promoted Easter Shopping Via Public Transit
We couldn’t resist sharing a look back at this newspaper advertisement from April, 1961. This chick with a change belt “posed” as a coach operator to promote taking the bus to get all your Easter shopping done. The ad was…
Future Stations Of The Past: Downtown’s 1968 “Metroport” & Express Service To LAX
After profiling past plans for both a subway and aerial station at Wilshire & La Brea earlier this month, we turn our attention to Los Angeles International Airport and efforts to transport passengers there from downtown more than 40 years ago.…
50 Years Ago This Week: The Story And Photos From The Last Day Of Red Car Service & First Day Of Bus Service To Long Beach
This past weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the last “Red Cars” running between Los Angeles and Long Beach. The Los Angeles Times ran an article a few days ago reprinting the April 8, 1961 story of how “Red Cars will…
“Creating Our Own Story”: How Metro Transportation Library & Archive Has Shared Collections And Information Since 1937
April 10-16 marks National Library Week! Every April, The American Library Association sponsors a week-long celebration of libraries. This year’s theme is “Create Your Own Story,” one that is quite fitting for us. As a library, we have always been challenged…
Future Stations Of The Past: 1980s Plans For A Wilshire / LaBrea Subway Stop & Overhead Metro Rail
This look back at plans for a Wilshire / La Brea Metro Rail station is the first in an occasional series focusing on “future stations of the past.” We want to begin sharing images and plans for stations already built, under future consideration, or off…
Recent Research: The Case For Business Investment In High-Speed Rail & A New Strategy For America’s Highways
APTA has released a new report titled The Case For Business Investment In High-Speed And Intercity Passenger Rail (9p. PDF). The overall growth in the U.S. rail passenger market growing at an impressive rate. Of the 35 light rail systems…