Metro ridership rebound, South L.A. bus lanes, and more

Startups’ Hyperloop dreams still distant, almost 10 years after Elon Musk paper "Elon Musk described a dazzling vision: a transit system that could hurl passengers between cities at nearly the speed of sound. His paper on the topic spurred a cohort of big-thinking entrepreneurs to try to create the futuristic transportation system that he called the hyperloop....But 10 years and hundreds of millions of dollars later, more than a half-dozen startups have tried to create the 760-mph superhighway and none has succeeded." (LA Times)

Culver City will pay $100,000 to study an extension of the Ballona Creek bike trail (Biking in LA)

A preview of the new Little Tokyo/Arts District Station (Metro - YouTube)

Metro ridership was up 12 percent in 2022 over prior year "There were 255 million boardings in 2022, surpassing the 227 million in 2021." (The Source)

Beach Streets returns with Gayborhood-to-DTLB event (yes, Pride party at Bixby Park included) "Tens of thousands of people have participated in the car-free events that allows bicyclists, skaters, walkers, and more to roam the streets safely—and this year, things are about to get more colorful." (Longbeachize)

MARCH 7: San Vicente Streetscape virtual meeting "The City of West Hollywood is working with a recognized landscape architecture firm !melk to develop a conceptual vision for a new 'shared street' that would allow for temporary, partial, or full closures on N. San Vicente Boulevard, account for transit needs, augment accessibility, upgrade traffic safety, and that would be designed as a micro-climate inspired ecosystem. This reimagined shared street would emphasize larger-scale outdoor gathering space, shading and green space, wildlife propagation, water resource management, and pedestrian-oriented design strategies in support of City-sponsored or otherwise approved programs and events, permitted activities, and organized or impromptu gatherings." (Wehoville)

Update on new Bus Priority Lanes planned for Florence Avenue in South L.A. "During the outreach process for the Florence Av Bus Priority Lanes Project, questions and concerns were received regarding the proposed one-hour No Parking extension during the morning and evening peak hours for the portion of the bus lanes within the city of Los Angeles from West Blvd. to Central Avenue. After weighing the benefits and tradeoffs, it was determined that the project would not pursue this extension. As a result, the bus priority lanes will operate from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. in the mornings and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the late afternoon and early evening." (The Source)

CicLAvia 43 Report: CiCOLDvia! "Just 84 days after the last one between Exposition Park and Watts, the 2023 CicLAvia season has begun with a return to Sherman Way on Sunday - a re-run of the 5-mile December 8, 2019 route from Reseda to Canoga Park. While that one was wet and mostly rain-dampened, CicLAvia Sunday got a nice day-long respite from our week-long winter storm which brought snow to our local mountains." (Militant Angeleno)