Metro Board Takes Step Toward Putting New Transportation Sales Tax on November Ballot

The Metro Board of Directors today took a step toward putting a new local half cent sales tax measure on the November ballot. The Board asked Metro staff to report back in June with a comprehensive package of specific street and highway improvements and public transit projects that could be funded by a new transportation sales tax in Los Angeles County.

The report also would include options for accelerating the schedule of new rail and bus projects already in the pipeline if a tax is approved by voters, a list of short-term transportation improvements that could ease traffic, and a draft ordinance.

In June the Metro Board will consider requesting that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors put a new half cent sales tax for transportation on the November ballot. The discussion will coincide with the Metro Board’s review of the agency’s draft Long Range Transportation Plan that looks ahead to the year 2030 and addresses mobility improvements necessary to deal with another 2 million people living in the county and exponential growth in truck and rail traffic moving cargo from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

While the draft plan identifies funds for transit operations and dozens of new highway and transit projects, there is a significant funding shortfall. There is no funding for critical Tier 1 projects such as the Westside subway extension, the Foothill Metro Gold Line Extension, a downtown regional connector, 710 Freeway gap closure, and other transportation projects.

For more information on Metro’s draft Long Range Transportation Plan, go to http://www.metro.net/projects_studies/lrtp.htm.

Faced with mounting traffic congestion, a number of community and business organizations and local government have expressed support for putting a new local sales tax for transportation on the ballot including the City of Los Angeles, CALPIRG, Environment California, Los Angeles Business Council, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and the Valley Industry & Commerce Association.

A Subway in Your Future?

Many of you have imagined a subway extension through the Westside. Various transportation improvements have been proposed for this area as far back as the 1920s.

Before a subway extension or any other project can be built in the dense, congested Westside area, it must go through an environmental analysis and be incorporated into the funded element of the Long Range Transportation Plan. Among other things, this ensures that a project is eligible to compete for federal funds. To accomplish the first goal, Metro began the Westside Extension Transit Corridor Study in fall 2007.

The study is evaluating a range of options, including a possible subway extension. For more information, go to metro.net/westside. The 2008 Draft Long Range Transportation Plan ranks a possible Westside subway extension high in the list of Tier 1 Strategic Unfunded projects. Currently, the Plan does not anticipate sufficient funding to move any projects in this category into the funded section of the plan. The scarcity of funds for vital projects has spurred state legislators to draft bills that may come before voters in the November 2008 election to increase local funding to bring these projects to fruition.

Metro wants to know what you imagine. Tell us what you think of LA County’s transportation future by clicking the COMMENTS link below.

Report from the Third Long Range Transportation Plan Community Meeting

Approximately 25 people attended the third of the seven planned community meetings on the 2008 Draft Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) Thursday, April 3 at 6 p.m. in Carson.

Cara Rice, City of Carson transportation manager, suggested some ideas for funding transportation projects. Approximately 10 people provided verbal comments. Many of the comments dealt with support for expanding rail to serve more areas in the South Bay, San Pedro and Long Beach.

Several people voiced support for connecting the Green Line to LAX. Other speakers suggested ways to relieve goods movement-related traffic at the ports and on the regions' freeways. Suggestions included extending the Green Line to the east, improving mobility between Los Angeles and Orange counties, augmenting customer service, adjusting the Metro fare structure and improving transit options and travel times in the South Bay region.

The next LRTP Community Meeting is scheduled for April 8 in Rosemead.

Metro wants to know what you imagine. Tell us what you think of LA County’s transportation future by clicking the COMMENTS link below.

CALPIRG Reports California Public Transit Removes 800,000 Cars Off State Roads

From a March 6, 2008 CALPIRG news release:

“The recent spike in gas prices is just one of many compelling reasons why convenient, fast, and reliable bus and rail service need to be expanded throughout our cities,” said Emily Rusch, Transportation Advocate with CALPIRG Education Fund. “Let’s face it: the era of cheap oil is over.”

Many experts predict that gas prices will exceed $4 a gallon in southern California in the coming weeks and months. Thanks to public transit, California saved more than 486 million gallons of oil, roughly equivalent to taking more than 800,000 cars off the road. That has made California far less dependent on oil than we otherwise would be, and has made consumers less susceptible to gas price spikes. In fact, the report estimates that existing public transit results in more than $1.2 billion dollars in gasoline cost savings annually for consumers.

A few highlights from California:

• The Bay Area’s BART system is the third best system in the country in oil savings, behind only MTA in New York and Washington D.C.’s Metro. BART cut the Bay Area’s oil use by 199 million gallons.
• The Los Angeles Metro bus system is the number one bus system in the country in oil savings, cutting Los Angeles’ oil use by more than 56 million gallons.
• Stockton and Bakersfield were recognized as having the most oil savings from public transit out of all urbanized areas with populations under 500,000.

Reduced oil dependence and insulation from gas price spikes aren’t the only benefits. California has also committed to reducing our global warming pollution by 25% by 2020, a commitment that will be difficult to reach unless we reduce our dependence on cars. Public transit prevents almost 3.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution annually.

The CALPIRG Education Fund report also found that every dollar invested in public transit reaps more than two dollars in benefits. Last year the California state legislature cut more than $1.26 billion from public transit agencies to balance the state budget.

“California’s budget was balanced last year with unacceptably high cuts to public transit agencies,” said Rusch. “We’re calling on Governor Schwarzenegger to ensure public transit gets its fair share of funding this year, so that we can invest in local transit and reduce California’s dependence on oil.”

Metro wants to know what you imagine. Tell us what you think of LA County’s transportation future by clicking the COMMENTS link below.