Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne has announced a new year-long project titled “Reading L.A.” Each month, Hawthorne will be examining Los Angeles through the lens of classic writing in the fields of Southern California architecture and urbanism. He…
Category: L.A. Transit & Transportation History
L.A. Transit & Transportation History
Los Angeles’ First Diesel Buses: A Look Back At The Fleet & The 1943 Birth Of Smog
Today, the Los Angeles County Metrpolitan Transportation Authority retired its last diesel bus from its fleet of over 2,200 vehicles. This historic day marks Metro’s claim to be the first major transit agency in the world to operate only alternative-fuel…
Light Rail On Wilshire? Why, That Would Be Illegal!
The recent selection of a route alignment for the Westside Subway Extension, as well as the release of the Wilshire Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit final environmental impact report started us thinking about something we read aways back regarding Wilshire Boulevard.…
50th Anniversary Of L.A.’s "Metro Rail"…Say Whaaat?!: Celebrating The 1960 Birth Of Our Modern Rail System
In July, Metro and Los Angeles celebrated 20 years of Metro Rail. To commemorate the anniversary last month, we took a look back at both the history of service between Los Angeles and Long Beach (1902-1961) as well as the…
Demand-Based "Smart Parking": Watch How It Works
SFpark Overview from SFpark on Vimeo. You may have heard recent stories about San Francisco’s bold experiment with demand-based parking, a two-year pilot project that launched two weeks ago (see links to stories at end of this post). This new…
A.D.A. Turns 20: Transportation And The Americans With Disabilities Act
Image via Flickr While everyone was celebrating the 20th anniversary of rail in Los Angeles last week, another important anniversary was approaching without much fanfare: the Americans With Disabilities Act Of 1990. Twenty years ago today, the ADA was signed…
Transit Agency Cooperation In Mid-Century L.A. (Or Lack Thereof)…
How do we increase the appeal of public transit ridership in Los Angeles? Recent Los Angeles Times columns (here, here, and here) suggest that streamlining transfers and passes within and across agencies could go a long way to make transit…