Agenda for Tuesday October 13th Meeting

Tomorrow will be the October Green L.A. Transportation Work Group meeting. It happens every month at 2pm on the second Tuesday of the month. Note the new location – the Califonia Endowment.

Tuesday, October 13th 2009 2pm-4pm
at the California Endowment, 1000 N. Alameda Street, LA 90012
Meeting room on 2nd Floor – at Community Partners

Green L.A. Coalition encourages attendees to use transit, bike or walk to the meeting. The site is one block north of Union Station, with convenient access via Metro Red and Gold Lines and numerous bus lines. If bicycling or driving, parking is available on-site.

Agenda Items

1. Campaign Updates
- Wilshire Bus-Only Lanes
- Complete/Living Streets
- In-Lieu Parking
- City Measure R Funding for Bike/Ped
- How do we want to follow-up on SB 375?

2. Working Group Business
- Revisit Workplan Priorities
- Select New Co-Chairs (discussion, likely to be decision in November)

3. Announcements

Green L.A. Coalition encourages attendees to use transit, bike or walk to the event. The site is one block north of Union Station, with convenient acess via Metro Red and Gold Lines and numerous bus lines. If bicycling or driving, parking is available onsite.

Living Streets Tenets

by Jen Petersen

In July, a GLATWG Complete Streets subgroup met to discuss how to move towards Los Angeles-specific implementation of the State of California’s Complete Streets Act of 2007/8. We decided that the first and most crucial step in this direction would be to define what we wanted ‘Complete Streets’ to mean, and to look like, given the contemporary state of streets in LA. And so we fashioned a list of tenets for what we dubbed Living Streets –because we wanted to specify that we don’t aim to complete our streets, which would imply that an objective completeness is possible–but to bring them alive, and invite them to a dynamic role in the life of our city.

The key proposition behind our tenets for Living Streets, is that by focusing on the basic mobility needs of people, rather than cars, we can make more efficient use of our City, retraining our streets as a healthy circulatory system for us, and begin to remedy some of the uninviting characteristics of life in Los Angeles. In other words, if we reapportion our abundant street space for people-scaled urban needs for closeness, beauty, and safety, we will pave the way for better residential and business development patterns that support high quality residential and commercial life.

Our ‘10 Tenets for Living Streets’ follow.

10 Tenets for Living Streets Los Angeles

Overarching, supra-tenet:

**Our streets prioritize people, not automobiles**

1.) Living streets integrate income equity into their design and function.

2.) Living Streets are designed for people of all ages and physical abilities whether they walk, bicycle, ride transit, or drive.

3.) Living Streets integrate connectivity and traffic calming with pedestrian-oriented site and building design to create safe and inviting places.

4.) Living Streets connect people through:
* everyday interaction
* shared responsibility to street design and planning.

5.) Living Streets strengthen and enhance neighborhoods.

6.) Living Streets encourage active and healthy lifestyles.

7.) Living Streets integrate green management and conservation of water, energy, and plant life.

8.) Living Streets are inviting places–with engaging architecture, street furniture, landscaping, and public art.

9.) Living Streets foster healthy commerce.

10.) Living streets vary in character by neighborhood, density and function.

(Created by Aurisha, Deborah, Dorothy, Jen, Ryan on August 5, 2009)

Wilshire Bus-Only Lanes Sign-On Letter

Wilshire Bus-Only Lane Project Map - from Metro Website - Click for 2-page Metro Fact Sheet with Detailed Map

Since the Fall of 2006, before I got involved with the Green L.A. Transportation Working Group, GLATWG has had among its top three goals the following: (from our 2006 publication A Green Los Angeles)

Reccomendation: Increase bus-only lanes
Immediately begin planning implementation of more peak-hour bus-only lanes.

The Bus Riders Union has lead the campaign for the city of Los Angeles’ Wilshire Boulevard bus-0nly lanes, and many GLATWG members have testified in favor of these lanes at public hearing. The Wilshire project is funded, and currently undergoing environmental review. Readers can find out more about the project at Metro’s website and at this recent article at L.A. StreetsBlog.

The project as currently planned and funded will run on Wilshire Boulevard from Valencia Street (in Pico Union) to Centinela (the L.A. – Santa Monica border), though does not include the stretch of Wilshire through the city of Beverly Hills. The neighborhoods traversed are represented by Los Angeles City Councilmembers (from East to West)  Ed Reyes, Herb Wesson, Tom LaBonge, Paul Koretz, and Bill Rosendahl.

Green L.A. Transportation Work Group recently generated the following sign-on letter in which our participants expressed our bus-only lane project support to newly-elected Councilmember Paul Koretz:

8 September 2009

Honorable Councilmember Paul Koretz
200 North Spring Street, Room 440
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Re: Wilshire Boulevard Bus-Only Lane Project

Dear Councilmember Koretz:

Thank you for your strong record of environmental leadership at the city of West Hollywood, and in the State Legislature. We look forward to working with you to make progress on environmental issues in the city of Los Angeles.

The undersigned Green Los Angeles Coalition members listed below wish to express our support for the implementation of the city’s planned and funded bus only lanes for Wilshire Boulevard. The Green L.A. Coalition is a broad coalition of environmental justice and environmental groups working to make Los Angeles more equitable and more sustainable for all its residents.

The Wilshire Bus-Only Lane project is important as a visible example of the city’s commitment to green transportation. This project will help the city to expand mobility options, to set precedent for more complete living streets, to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollution, and to improve public health.  The Wilshire Bus-Only Lanes broaden the range of transportation options, including supporting multimodal trips combining walking and bicycling with transit.

Please exercise your environmental leadership to ensure that this project continues to make progress, and to see that it is implemented in a timely manner.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Joe Linton
Green L.A. Transportation Working Group Co-Chair
Urban and Environmental Policy Institute

Colleen Callahan
Manager of Air Quality Policy and Advocacy
American Lung Association in California

Jennifer Klausner
Executive Director
Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition

Deborah Murphy
Los Angeles Walks, Founder
City of Los Angeles Pedestrian Advisory Committee, Chair

Francisca Porchas
Lead Organizer Clean Air Campaign
Bus Riders Union

Bart Reed
Executive Director
Transit Coalition

Martin Schlageter
Campaign Director
Coalition for Clean Air

Sentayehu G Silassie
Board President
Los Angeles Taxi Workers Alliance

Ryan Snyder
RSA Associates

Erin Steva
Transportation Advocate
CALPIRG

Denny Zane
Executive Director
Move L.A.*

*title/organization is for identification purposes only

 cc: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, LADOT General Manager Rita Robinson, Los Angeles City Councilmembers LaBonge, Reyes, Rosendahl, and Wesson

Agenda for Tuesday September 8th Meeting

Green LA Transportation Work Group (GLATWG) meets the second Tuesday of each month from 2pm-4pm. The next meeting will be Tuesday September 8th at the offices of the Coalition for Clean Air at 811 W. 7th Street, Suite 1100, LA 90017. Located above the Metro Red/Blue Line 7th Street Station.

Draft Agenda:

1. Report-Back Jaime de la Vega Meeting
2. Wilshire Bus-Ony Lanes
3. Living Streets Next Steps
4. Metro Long Range Transportation Plan, including issues with Measure R Local Return funding for ped/bike/bus
5. Taxicab update (To be confirmed)
6. Parking report
7. Check-in on GLATWG workplan (To be confirmed)

Parking Day is Friday September 18th

At the August 2009 Green L.A. Transportation Work Group meeting, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition’s Alexis Lantz announced Park(ing) Day Los Angeles will take place on Friday September 18th. Park(ing) Day is an annual event spectacle where dozens of teams build temporary mini-parks in parking spaces all over the world. It’s a fun event, and also a good way to advance local dialogs on the lack of open space, the use of public space, the need for living streets, and the myriad of issues related to parking.

The above flier is available here, and lots more information at the Park(ing) Day L.A. website.

Upcoming Proposals that Could Lower Thresholds for Passing Ballot Measures for Transportation Funding

At the August meeting of the Green L.A. Transportation Work Group, Move L.A.’s Denny Zane presented briefly about a proposed 2010 ballot measure that would make it easier for voters to approve transit funding. Move L.A. is part of a fledgling effort so-far called the Coalition to Protect Local Vital Services. It’s a statewide effort to initiate and pass a ballot proposition that would lower the percentage of votes needed to pass local funding initiatives.

Since the passage of California’s Proposition 13 in 1978,  a two-thirds supermajority is required to pass ballot propositions that raise taxes. This 2/3rds requirement applies to statewide and local ballot measures. For example, Measure R, last year’s county-wide sales tax for transportation funding, barely passed with  67.9% of the vote. The 2/3rds requirement has caused govermental funding for… well… vital local services to dwindle over time. It impacts not only transportation funding, but also education, healthcare, and many many other governmental programs. It also contributes to volatility in govermental budgets which swing from surpluses in boom years to deficits today. 

In 2000, California voters passed Prop 39 which lowered the threshold to 55% for passage of school bond funding. The new proposed not-yet-named not-yet-finalized ballot proposition, targeted for fall 2010, would lower the threshold to 55% for other local ballot funding measures. This would include transportation initiatives (like Measure R), as well as school operations and maintenance, libraries, stormwater, police, parks, etc.

So far, the Coalition to Protect Vital Local Services has been energized  by polling that shows that Californians are frustrated with the difficulties of funding services via a gridlocked dysfunctional state government, hence there is support for allowing local municipalities to more easily raise their own funds. The polling, conducted by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin and Associates,  is summarized in this memo and this presentation. If you’re interested in getting involved in this 55% initiative, contact Move L.A. locally. GLATWG will try to make more information available as we find it.

There’s also a broader multi-year effort to organize and mobilize to undo even more provisions of Prop 13. It’s part of a statewide effort called the California Alliance, which includes the Los Angeles organization SCOPE, whose organizer I heard about it from. I expect to share more on this campaign, too, as it emerges.

National Infrastructure Bank Proposal and Sign-On Letter

At our August Green L.A. Transportation Work Group meeting, Executive Director of Move L.A. Denny Zane made a presentation about the proposed National Infrastructure Development Bank. This is a proposed federal bank that would be able to loan money to agencies at a reduced rate – allowing local dollars to be spent sooner and to go further. This could help transportation projects (locally especially those funded by Measure R) and ultimately could also be open to fronting other infrastructure dollars for things like stormwater, libraries, parks, etc.

Right now it’s a federal bill HR2521 the “National Infrastructure Development Bank Act of 2009″ introduced by Congressmember Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut. Reportedly soon to be introduced in the U.S. Senate, too. Locally, Metro endorsed it on June 23rd (It’s item 63 on page 20 here, but more helpful is their 3-page analysis of HR2521,) but, at least as of a few weeks ago, no Southern California legislators had signed on.

Denny circulated copies of this 5-page summary of the NIDBA bill. Move L.A. is requesting organizations to sign on to the letter below which will be copied to California’s senators and L.A.’s representatives. If your organization is intersted in signing on to this letter, please email dennyzane [at] movela.org

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro
3rd Congressional District
New Haven, Connecticut

Dear Congresswoman DeLauro:

The undersigned organizations deeply appreciate the strong leadership you have displayed in the development and introduction of HR 2521, a bill that would create a National Infrastructure Development Bank.  We endorse this bill and will encourage our members and our communities to support the bill as well. 

HR 2521 is landmark legislation that will play, we believe, a very significant role in our nation’s effort, and in the efforts of countless communities, to address significant deficiencies and remedy long term deterioration and decay in our nation’s transportation and other vital systems.
 
HR 2521 would fund and create a bank that would direct public and private dollars toward infrastructure projects of national or regional significance.  A similar proposal was included in the Obama Administration’s Budget released earlier this year.  Like the proposal in the Obama Budget, HR 2521 would capitalize the bank at a rate of $5 billion for five years and would provide the Bank with $250 billion in total subscribed capital and $625 billion in total loan making capability. 

We believe that a properly capitalized infrastructure bank as proposed in HR 2521 could be used to accelerate major transportation projects in Los Angeles County, and other communities, by providing loans secured by Measure R funds, a recently approved ½ cent sales tax increase for transportation projects approved by more than 2/3 of Los Angeles County voters last November.  Measure R will provide a revenue stream of up to $40 billion over 30 years, nearly 70% of which will be used for public transit infrastructure and operations.

NIDB  loans secured by Measure R funds could enable LA County to accelerate the development of many voter approved transit and highway projects, thereby reducing their development costs, creating good new jobs quickly, and jump starting economic recovery while energizing our efforts to reduce greenhouse gases.

The undersigned, therefore, endorse:

• H.R. 2521,  to create a National Infrastructure Development Bank as introduced by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)

Further, to enable this program to better fulfill its mission, we urge that:

• NIDB loans be available not only for project-specific applications, but also for multi-project infrastructure programs backed by broad-based revenue streams, e.g., locally approved taxes; and that,

• Congress authorize interest-forgiveness on NIDB loans for projects that significantly advance national economic development or environmental goals, such as zero-GHG-emission transit projects, like electric transit, powered by zero-emission renewable energy resources.

Thank you for your leadership and for your time and attention.

Sincerely

Denny Zane
Executive Director
Move LA  
  
CC: 
Senator Barbara Boxer
Senator Diane Feinstein 
Members, Los Angeles County Delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives

Taxi Workers Rally at L.A. City Hall

Taxi Drivers Rally!

I got a chance to drop by the Taxi Workers Alliance rally this morning at Los Angeles City Hall. The Taxi Workers are a participant in the Green L.A. Transportation Working Group (GLATWG.) A healthy transportation system includes a broad range of traveller choices, and taxis are one important option. Urbanist Gordon Price, in a talk in Los Angeles last year, stated that a resilient transportation system includes the possibility of taking a car and paying “by the trip” - including taxis and car-sharing.

The first thing I saw as I bicycled in was a ring of taxis slowly circling the block where city hall is located:

Taxi Procession Down First Street

Taxis had signs posted on them with slogans including “ALTO A LA FRANQUISIA DE ESCAVITUD” [stop the franchise slavery,] “WHY NO TRANSPARENCY?” and more. There were dozens of taxis stretching the entire circumference of the block. Taxi supporters were gathered on the south lawn, urging the drivers on. I pulled up and took my place in the supportive crowd. I caught up with city transportation commissioner and GLATWG advisor Malcolm Carson and Woodrow and Tammy from the Bus Riders Union (also a GLATWG participant – we nearly had a quorum – [note: we don't actually do the quorum thing yet at GLATWG... we probably should?])

The drivers circled a while, then parked, and held a rally on the steps of city hall. Among their demands are that they city end the system of “sweatshops on wheels,” and that the city issue medallions (permits to operate a cab) only to actual active full-time drivers.

I confess to not being completely up to speed on all these issues… but it does seem pretty clear to me that our city regulations (including things like dress codes for drivers) hinder our taxi system from being effective and equitable. There’s a lot more L.A. taxi issue information available in this 2006 report entitled Sweatshops on Wheels.

Unfortunately I had to leave early to get to a lunch meeting… but I was glad to add my voice briefly in support of these workers and their campaign.

Taxi Workers Alliance at the City Hall Steps

Letter to LADOT GM Rita Robinson regarding Reseda Bike Lane issues

Reseda Boulevard where the Bike Lanes currently end at Kittridge Street - from Bing Maps (North is to the left, Reseda Park is on the upper right, the L.A. River runs vertically through the middle) - (update 8/19/2009: this is where they appeared to end on the aerials in Bing Maps which may be slightly out of date... but when I biked there today, the ground truth is that they end a couple blocks north of this photo - at Vanowen Street.)

Here is a letter that I sent today to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) general manager Rita Robinson, and copied to the mayor and various councilmembers. Though I’ve identified myself as the co-chair of the Green L.A. Transportation Work Group (GLATWG,) this represents my opinion, not necessarily a consensus position decided by the entire GLATWG.

15 August 2009

Rita Robinson, General Manager
Los Angeles Department of Transportation
100 S. Main St., 10th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Dear Rita Robinson:

I want to bring to your attention what I think is a sad breach of the public trust made by your staff.

In June 2009, LADOT’s Paul Meshkin reported in writing to the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee (LABAC) that approved bicycle lanes on Reseda Boulevard had been canceled because LADOT’s West Valley District planned “peak hour lane usage in near future.” The written plan for peak hour lanes was subsequently confirmed in a July phone conversation between LABAC chair Glenn Bailey and LADOT’s Ken Firoozmand.

Subsequently, in July and August 2009, your staff, including Ken Firoozmand, Bruce Gilman, and Carolyn Jackson denied that LADOT had plans for peak hour lanes for Reseda Boulevard. These LADOT staff stated that the LADOT plan for peak lanes was a “rumor” and that it was “not propagated” by LADOT.

It doesn’t surprise me that LADOT would favor a peak lane plan that would increase capacity for cars, indeed this is LADOT’s job and what LADOT has historically successfully focused on. What surprises me is that LADOT staff lied. Governmental agencies depend on the trust of the public to make our city work. When LADOT staff deny something that LADOT staff have already put in writing, this duplicity damages the public trust and makes it difficult for all of us to work together in the future.

I urge you to work with your staff to be honest, clear and transparent and to rebuild the public trust that their actions have strained. I also urge you to immediately implement the long-delayed bike lanes on Reseda Boulevard.

Sincerely,

Joe Linton
Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee appointee for CD13
Green Los Angeles Transportation Working Group, Co-Chair
[street address], Los Angeles, CA 90004

Attachments: documentation of quotes herein.
cc: Mayor Villaraigosa, Councilmembers Garcetti, Rosendahl, Smith, and Zine

Attachments include:
1. LADOT’s June 2009 Bike Lane Projects Status - see item 8.
2. LAist’s August 13 2009 article: LADOT Says They’re Caught in Rumor Mill about Eliminating Bicycle Lanes

(FYI to blog readers: for some more background on this, see also L.A. Streetsblog and Biking in L.A.)

Agenda for Tuesday August 11th Meeting

Green L.A. Coalition Transportation Work Group meets later today (mark your calendars – we meet from 2pm-4pm the second Tuesday of each month):

Tuesday, August 11th
2PM
Coalition for Clean Air
(811 West 7th Street, Ste. 1100, LA 90017) (in Downtown Los Angeles, above Metro Red and Blue Lines’ 7th Street Station)
 
Revised Draft Agenda
 
1. Complete Streets (Update and Planning, 30 minutes)
2. Metro Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) Board Meeting Update (quick, 5 minutes)
3. Meeting with Deputy Mayor de la Vega (discussion, 15 minutes)
4. Bus Only Lane updates (Bus Riders Union, 20 minutes)
5. SB 375 – Beth Steckler/Climate Plan update (quick presentation, discussion 20 minutes)
6. Parking Policy (update, 5 minutes)
7. Park(ing) Day (quick discussion, 10 minutes)
8. National Infratsructure Bank (update, 5 minutes)