News from Santa Monica.
It has been less than two weeks since real-time arrival information for Big Blue Bus became available online and on certain smartphone apps. And the good news keeps coming. At the Big Blue Bus General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) service site,…
Santa Monica’s new bike share system is expected to launch a pilot in a matter of weeks and the full system, with 500 bikes and 75 stations, will roll out by the end of this year. In the meantime, Santa…
Santa Monica Next Editor Jason Islas contributed to this report, which originally appeared in Streetsblog Los Angeles. As expected, at yesterday’s meeting the Metro Planning and Programming Committee approved the contract for the first phase of Metro bike share. The…
Photos are circulating on Facebook and Ipernity of an Expo Line test train reaching the City of Santa Monica this morning. It is the first time in many, many years that trains have passed down these tracks. Passenger trains last used…
Big Blue Bus commuters, rejoice! The days of standing in the middle of the street and squinting in hopes that you might see a blue spot on the horizon are over. Since June 5, real-time arrival information has been available on…
Though it is still very early in the process, the Planning Commission Wednesday recommended moving forward with negotiations for the Plaza at Santa Monica project, slated for city-owned land in the heart of Downtown. While the Planning Commission voted 4-to-1…
News broke this week that Metro will soon vote on a bike share vendor for the agency’s “Countywide Bikeshare” system, which will start with a 1000-bike pilot program in Downtown L.A. But that has some leaders concerned in Santa Monica,…
The city of Santa Monica and the Chamber of Commerce are hosting a “Hack the Beach” meetup this Saturday, where the city will formally open up new datasets to the public, including real-time bus arrival information. Saturday’s event, at the Main Branch…
The Plaza at Santa Monica could to be one of the most striking new buildings built in the bayside city — or possibly even in all of L.A. County — in decades. But first, it has a much more public…
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include quotes from Santa Monica and Los Angeles officials. L.A. Deputy Mayor Rick Cole, an outspoken proponent of equity and sustainability in local government and planning and self-described progressive Catholic, will take…
Less than a month after the Santa Monica City Council narrowly voted to remove the option of building 4- to 5-story apartments or condos on Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards, Mayor Kevin McKeown wants to vote on whether to further…
Editor’s note: This post originally appeared in Los Angeles Streetsblog on May 18. Last week, in a short article celebrating that LADOT was beginning its portion of the bikeway that will run parallel to the Expo Line in West L.A.,…
We sat down to talk to Ethan Elkind, author of Railtown: The Fight for the Los Angeles Metro Rail and the Future of the City, about California’s housing crisis, the need for growth around L.A. County’s transit system, and how Santa Monica, his…
Update: The City of Santa Monica will offer counseling for those affected by the fatal crash. Drop in hours are this week (May 11-15) from 3 to 5 p.m. Support services are organized by the City of Santa Monica and local mental…
The Santa Monica City Council narrowly voted Tuesday to make it harder to build more housing along the city’s commercial boulevards. The 4 to 3 vote Tuesday night upheld the recommendation narrowly approved by the Council on April 15 to remove…
