Here's what we're reading this week:
UC Berkeley to State council: Talk of climate-focused transit empty as State prioritizes investment in automobility "After contracting with UC Berkeley—joined by UCLA and UC Davis as partners—the California Strategic Growth Council received its first draft of what has been a seven-month research endeavor examining California's transit goals versus its actual achievements—and the results are direct: While politicians talk up climate-centric transit, statewide policy, even at the local and regional levels, focus on and prioritize the single-use car over every other form of sustainable transit." (Longbeachize)
Backers of $670 million light-rail extension to Montclair eye state budget surplus "After being rejected this summer, proponents of extending the first LA Metro light-rail line into San Bernardino County are once again eyeing federal and state dollars to fill a funding gap....Builders of the L Line, formerly the Gold Line, as well as state legislators are buoyed by the news of a $31 billion state budget surplus next year, as announced on Wednesday, Nov. 17, by the state Legislative Analyst’s Office." (Daily Bulletin)
New bus and rail schedules start December 19 "Some bus stops will also be consolidated to improve bus travel times, while maintaining access to alternative stops." (The Source)
Los Angeles Is Gearing Up to Ban Wood-Frame Construction. Renters Will Soon Pay the Price. "Over the summer, the Los Angeles City Council Public Safety Committee approved a proposal to expand Fire District 1, an anachronistic planning overlay that would effectively ban wood-frame construction in much of the city. Superficially premised as a measure to improve fire safety, the motion has been heavily promoted by special interests in the concrete industry, who would heavily benefit from the prohibition. Yet as less partial observers have pointed out, the motion would significantly increase the cost of constructing housing in Los Angeles, to no clear fire safety benefit." (Pacific Research Institute)
Glendale’s homeless community lost access to showers during the pandemic. A nonprofit sees racism "At the core of the dispute was the city’s insistence that federal regulations required the program to verify that anyone asking to take a shower was actually homeless. Shower of Hope officials said that rule was almost impossible to fulfill and ran counter to the organization’s philosophy of helping anyone who needed it." (LA Times)
Sheriff Villanueva Is Opposing Metro’s Slow Moves Toward Transit Policing Reform "For the past year, Metro has been planning some reforms to its transit policing. Though much of these reforms are not even fleshed out, over the past week, new developments and old conflicts have come into clearer light. With a six-month extension on a policing contract before the board – and with opposition from a Metro advisory committee to renewing the existing contract – L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva went on the offensive, hosting a press conference and exaggeratedly sounding the alarm against 'carnage on the trains' and Metro’s 'woke culture.'" (Streetsblog LA)
