in Downtown, where many of the city's light rail and subway lines have terminal points, not all the lines intersect. To make getting from one line to another easier, Metro has just approved plans for a connecting line. Thursday, The Metro Board of Directors certified the Final Environmental Impact Statement/Report for the Regional Connector Transit Corridor Project. more ›

The sale of a deserted 14-acre property on the industrial 800 block of North Coronado could produce funds for other local parks, according to NBC LA. Councilwoman Jan Perry supports the property's sale over building a park. more ›

Federal legislation known as the "Dream Act" was introduced in 2003, but failed to pass last year. However, in California, our state's own "Dream Act" for college students is making its way through its legislative hurdles successfully. Yesterday the state Assembly approved AB 130 (nicknamed the "Dream Act") by a vote of 51-21; the bill is sponsored by Los Angeles Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D). more ›

The long-awaited Downtown Streetcar project is one step closer to reality thanks to Friday's City Council vote to approve funding for the transit endeavor, according to ABC7. Backed by AEG, who have their finger implanted mightily in the pie that is urban Los Angeles, the system would "serve a four-mile area including Bunker Hill, the Music Center, historic Broadway, L.A. Live and the L.A. Convention Center." more ›

With a decisive focus on the massive I-405 corridor, a transit project back by The Transit Coalition and The Regenerative Communities Project was presented yesterday during a joint House-Senate hearing in Los Angeles on transportation, and the 30/10 plan to implement several transit projects in the region as expediently as possible. more ›

With their funding on the chopping block under Governor Jerry Brown's proposed state budget, State Controller John Chiang has announced his auditors were beginning reviews of 18 redevelopment agencies (RDA) across the state in an effort to obtain facts on how RDA funds are used and the extent to which they comply with laws governing their activities. more ›

They couldn't make it as a Culver City brick-and-mortar, and two years later, Meltdown Etc. is trying for a grilled cheese-y comeback as a truck--only they are struggling to make it to their own launch. Eater LA reports that the Grilled Cheese Truck could have some competition from the Meltdown Truck, except they still need funding. "Mobi Munch (responsible for the Ludo Truck) has agreed to run operations, but founder Ryan Afromsky still needs $25,000 to start the engine." The gas line is in the form of fan pledges made via Kickstarter.com. They've made nearly $3k in a week, but...that's not enough cheese. Would you fund Meltdown Etc? more ›

Over 200 of the country's mayors met with President Obama and Vice President Biden behind closed doors in Washington DC today to discuss the economic climate and the pressing issue of job creation. more ›

Governor Jerry Brown's proposed budget includes the elimination of the agency that is home to Community Redevelopment Agencies in the state, which is what spurred the LA CRA to quickly approve allocation of $885 million for projects around the city last Friday. This week, the Los Angeles City Council put the move on hold, reports blogdowntown, however the projects the CRA plans to pursue represent hundreds of efforts all over the city. more ›

Sorry, Wisconsin and Ohio! If you don't want those federal funds for high-speed rail (HSR) projects, well, California will be more than happy to those bucks off your hands. Today Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced he will redirect about $1.2 billion to the states who have large HSR projects, including California, according to Time. Our state, along with Florida, will get the lion's share of the funds, up to $624 million to the Golden State alone. more ›

Westwood condo-dwellers who object to converting lanes on busy Wilshire Boulevard into Metro Rapid bus-only lanes twice daily during rush hour periods insist a one mile segment of the proposed 8.7 mile stretch be exempted. Now the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority says that exemption won't render the project ineligible to receive federal aid for bus rapid transit endeavors, according to LA Now. more ›

The conversion of the Ambassador Hotel site to a Los Angeles Unified School District mega-campus is almost complete, as the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools preps to welcome students for the first time ever next month. more ›

It was, indeed, a race, and once again California's public schools aren't among the winners. more ›

The latest audit from City Controller Wendy Greuel examine $203 million worth of contracts for services, which are supposed to happen when outside entities can provide a "necessary service that City employees can’t provide and if it is more cost-effective to do so," according to the Controller's office. more ›

Just minutes ago President Obama boarded his flight to depart Los Angeles after his brief visit to take part in a fundraiser dinner for the DNC and Senator Barbara Boxer's re-election campaign. On the tarmac were City Council President Eric Garcetti and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the latter of which took one last opportunity to ask the President to speed up funding for Los Angeles' 30/10 transit project, which would bring more ›

Among the 44 communities to receive health program funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is Los Angeles County. A pair of $16 million grants will go towards programs addressing obesity, physical activity, nutrition, tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke, public health officials announced today. more ›

It's not that one side is not planning to save or even increase public transit funding, it's that they are cutting it and disagree by how much, according to the LA Times. In his budget plan, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed eliminating public transit funding via the state's voter-approved gasoline tax and then replacing it with a new tax to help solve the state's budget crisis. In the end, drivers would pay about 5-cents less per gallon at the pump. more ›

Even though the Mayor was just in Washington D.C., he's going back this week to ask for an advance on money. A lot of it. Thanks to Measure R, the voter-approved sales tax hike, L.A. County is looking at some $30 billion in dedicated transit funds over the next 30 years. So why not ask the feds for a loan upfront so we can start now? Other city issues will also be worked on. This is part of the annual Access D.C. trip where 200 business leaders and several city councilmembers head to the capitol. more ›

Thanks to the state, which eliminated 100%--about $82 million--of funds for AIDS programs last summer, addressing HIV prevention, testing, counseling and education has become a tougher battle to fight at the local level. more ›

As Los Angeles faces a $212-million budget shortfall and depleting reserves, the rain went ahead monkeyed around with Mulholland drive, causing erosion and forcing officials to close a one-mile portion of the scenic artery on February 7th. The price tag to fix the 10 by 35-foot washed out section was over a half million, but who's going to pony up the money?The road sat closed until it was figured out. more ›

A controversial resolution supporting federal funding of a $30 million, nearly 2-mile bike path north of Santa Monica was approved today by the L.A. City Council... more ›

When the Obama Administration yesterday released the list of transit projects set for federal funding, Los Angeles was missing. Hartford Connecticut and Oakland received funds for bus rapid transit. San Francisco got some dough for a subway. Other rail funding went to Hawaii, Minnesota and Colorado. Even San Bernardino and Riverside were funded for projects (see the full list here). more ›

That's the question Alex Thompson at Westside Bikeside is asking. A proposal by two Los Angeles councilmembers seeks $30 million in federal money to extend the Marvin Braude Bike Path--the 19 mile beach bicycle path between the South Bay and near the Santa Monica-L.A. border--by two more miles to the north. For Thompson, this is a questionable priority. more ›

A Chinese bank is has agreed to loan $7 billion to help build a high speed train between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, according to the Las Vegas Sun, via Curbed LA. That's great, but there are hurdles, including the fact that the line was not funded in the latest round of stimulus money, in which California received $2.25 billion. However, if it does become a reality, Las Vegas will truly become L.A.'s far flung suburb. But, hey, Chinese bankers, what about some funding for the subway to the sea? Huh? more ›

The Obama Administration this week made changes to how applications to the federal government's major transportation grant program, New Starts, will be evaluated. For Los Angeles, this could be a game changing move. more ›

After the Governor tried to raid public transit funds and was stopped by the courts, he's after the money again, but with a different shell game. As pointed out by Damien Newton at Streestblog LA, the LA Times reports that "the governor would eliminate the sales tax on gas and, at the same time, impose a new per-gallon excise tax. Drivers would pay about 5 cents less per gallon at the pump. The excise tax would not be subject to voter-approved spending requirements for public transit." Ouch. more ›

The $1.1 trillion Transportation and Urban Development Appropriations Bill has been signed by President Barack Obama and that means some funds are headed to Southern California. Some of that money includes funding for Metrolink. $1.637 million in Congressionally-directed spending was approved for Metrolink rail safety. More specifically: more ›

A big false alarm was rung late last week in the form of who was getting money for high speed rail projects around the country. Among the awardees was California, which requested around $4.5 billion for segments include Anaheim to Los Angeles. The source of the rumor was Florida Rep. John Mica who reportedly said his state was one of four to receive a sum of the $8 billion along with California, Texas and the Chicagoland area. more ›

In a figurative spanking, an internal state legal opinion in early October said that state parks employees were sheltering $60 million purely for projects that benefited dirt bikes, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and snowmobiles. The money comes from a fuel tax that is earmarked for off-highway vehicular recreation, but environmental advocates say this money can also go towards unpaved road maintenance throughout the entire state park system, according to a California Legislative Counsel opinion. more ›

Earlier this fall, the House of Representatives allocated $4 billion for High Speed Rail in the 2010 transportation bill. Then along came the Senate with a proposal to cut that to $1.2 billion. That changed yesterday. more ›