News from Santa Monica.
Yesterday’s monthly Metro Board of Directors meeting saw the chair transition from L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti to L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. Incoming Chair Ridley-Thomas expounded on his priorities for the current fiscal year. The July board meeting did not feature…
Today, in Santa Monica, Metro began testing Expo Line trains running under their own power, though we will have to wait until next week before we see trains pulling into the 4th Street station, according to officials. “Project staff said…
Last month, after a fairly lengthy debate, the Metro Board of Directors approved an $11 million contract to bring bike-share to downtown Los Angeles. Though there is a lot of interest in bike-share on the Metro board, there’s not a…
Another moderate-sized mixed-use housing project is wending its way through Santa Monica’s development agreement (DA) process this week, stopping at the Planning Commission on Wednesday for consideration. The 64-unit (six-story) apartment building with ground floor retail — proposed at 1451…
Elected officials, labor leaders, and Metro’s CEO assembled this morning to call on Congress to pass a long-term transportation bill. In order to highlight the ways that transportation infrastructure funding benefits communities, the press event showcased the bluff top construction site for the…
The dust is settling from the recent zoning ordinance update and downzoning amendments to the city’s Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE). It will take some time to really understand the impact of the decision to eliminate the possibility of…
2015 is an exciting time for transportation innovation in Los Angeles. We have a rapidly-expanding frequent transit and bicycle network. Technological innovation has already brought us reliable point-to-point mobility for passengers, real-time transit arrival and traffic incident information, and even…
Santa Monica Next sat down to talk with Rick Cole, who took the reins as Santa Monica’s city manager on June 29 after leaving his post at L.A. City Hall as deputy mayor in charge of budget and innovation. The Pasadena…
Santa Monica Next sat down to talk with Rick Cole, who took the reins as Santa Monica’s city manager on June 29 after leaving his post at L.A. City Hall as deputy mayor in charge of budget and innovation. The Pasadena…
Santa Monica Next sat down to talk with Rick Cole, who took the reins as Santa Monica’s city manager on June 29 after leaving his post at L.A. City Hall as deputy mayor in charge of budget and innovation. The Pasadena…
Big Blue Bus real-time arrival information has been available on smartphone apps for a couple weeks. Now, the local transit agency’s real-time arrival information is available on NextBus, a web-based real-time transit info aggregator. “We at Big Blue Bus are…
Opponents of Santa Monica Airport are celebrating today after a 30-year agreement between the city and the Federal Aviation Administration expired last night at midnight, which they hope will mean the conversion of about 12 acres not currently used for…
Our sister site Streetsblog Los Angeles has coverage of yesterday’s press event celebrating the Metro Expo Line nearing completion. Expo Phase II construction is over 90 percent completed, and, if all goes as planned, passenger service should arrive in Santa…
(Note: This post podcast will appear Monday on Streetsblog California as part of our weekly podcast #DamienTalks) Good Data, it’s the Holy Grail of transportation reform advocates. Today, #DamienTalks with Richard McKinnon, the head of Safe Streets Santa Monica and a…
(Note: This story originally appeared in Streetsblog Los Angeles) This morning, the Metro Board of Directors approved its $11 million contract with Bicycle Transit Systems to install and operate a pilot downtown L.A. bike-share system. The downtown system is expected…
