Subject: Transportation

• Airport? Terminal!

  August 24, 2000

• New Poll Takes Its Toll

  A public opinion survey released this fine Wednesday morning shows that 73% of Californians are opposed to extending a toll road through San Onofre State Beach. Last September, the Transportation Corridor Agencies commissioned their annual public opinion poll on how much we all love toll roads. Their plan to extend the 241 toll road through the heart of SOSB depends upon their claim that people think it's a good idea. "Their numbers never resonated with us, based on thousands of conversations w

  March 1, 2006

• 35th Senate Race - A Road to Nowhere?

  Diane Harkey and Tom Harman are both running for the 35th District Senate seat. Harkey is the Republican's Republican, toeing the party line in her Dana Pointed way, while Harman has the misfortune of being a from-all-appearances honest politician in Huntington Beach (unlikely enough) as well as a fairly weak environmental voting record, versus the Republican-preferred nonexistent environmental voting record. Power to the people, as long as those people drive bulldozers... Still, it's not up to

  April 6, 2006

• The Quota System (Friendly Skies Edition)

  Everyone's heard stories, always officially denied, that you're more likely to get a traffic ticket near the end of month because the cops have a set quota of tickets they need to write each month. According to KMGH, the ABC affiliate in Denver, your traffic misery may be following you into the skies, with potentially nastier consequences than a fine. You could be on a secret government database or watch list for simply taking a picture on an airplane. Some federal air marshals say they're repor

  July 26, 2006

• Bates: Fishy

  If only it were a smile contest... I thought the Transportation Corridor Agencies were getting desperate when I saw their ads on cable. But now it looks like they're going so far as to cobble together campaign mailers for supporters. I say this because Pat Bate's latest mailer, which uses TCA endorsements, graphics and basic formatting, looks like it could have come straight from the toll road agencies. It lists her supporters from the Senate and Assembly Transportation Committees, OCTA, and bo

  October 10, 2006

• Mimi's Influence Cafe

  Assemblywoman Mimi Walters (R-73, 241, 133) is a class act. And like any act, she can be yours if you can afford the hiring fee. Just ask Big Tobacco. Hell, just ask Rancho Mission Viejo; she's really going the extra mile for them. Sixteen miles actually—the length of the proposed Foothill-South toll road extension. Let's warm up with tobacco. RJ Reynolds and Phillip Morris are both opposing Proposition 86, the Tobacco Tax initiative. It would add $2.60 of additional excise tax per pack, d

  October 17, 2006

• Freeway far from free

  Good Friday is traditionally a day for Christians to reflect on the nature of sacrifice, so perhaps it's only fitting that today is the day that the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) expects you to begin to dig deeper into your wallet to use the 91 Freeway.  The toll for traveling eastward on the Express Lanes will be hitting a new high from 4-5pm on Fridays-- $9.50-- starting this afternoon.  Those heading westward (ho!) will hit their new peak price-- $4.05-- during 7-8am

  April 6, 2007

• New poll shows mixed bag on 241 toll extension

  Photo by Craig Coppola/Courtesy Surfrider. A poll released this morning shows that OC voters are generally in favor of more toll roads, but not when they go through protected state parks. The poll, which was financed by the California State Parks Foundation, asked 400 voters from each of the county's five supervisorial districts several questions in hopes of measuring opinions about toll roads and, in particular, a proposed extension of the 241 Toll Road through San Onofre State Park

  October 2, 2007

• 241 Toll Road Delayed Indefinitely

  The 241 Foothill-South Toll Road extension that would have run through San Onofre State Park endangering wild life and costing tax payers $10 million, has been delayed indefinitely, according to Congressman Ken Calvert. In the Congressman's words, "thanks to Reps. Susan Davis and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), a toll road project that has been years in the making has been set back indefinitely." Read Calvert's press release in its entirety here. Congress still has to approve the bill and President

  December 17, 2007

• The Fix is In (Santa Ana Edition)

  Remember my post yesterday, where I theorized out loud about how SanTana councilmember Carlos Bustamante could greatly benefit if Cordoba Corporation (headed by major contributor and fellow Santa Ana Business Bank director George Pla) ever got a contract with the city to develop a mass transit system? It's already happened--and what's more, they're actively trying to influence SanTana's transit strategy. On October 15 last year, the SanTana City Council held a special work study regarding the c

  January 11, 2008

• Obey My Jowls!

  Below is a video of Ken Calvert on his support of the 241 Toll Road. Nevermind that his reputation is on the line. Nevermind that he worked to garner earmarks (see Of Pork and Ken, Feb. 16 2006) so that taxpayer money could be spent on "environmental studies" for the toll roads - millions upon millions of taxpayer dollars, despite the Transportation Corridor Agencies' continual assurances that no taxpayer money will go to the CONSTRUCTION of the toll road - a legally defensible claim. But, just

  January 19, 2008

• A River Runs Beneath It

  January 20, 2000

• More Noise on Noise

  February 17, 2000

• Toll Road "Bailout" Request Blasted

  Groups that have banded together to fight the 241 toll road extension through San Onofre State Park today accused the private agencies that operate Orange County's financially troubled network of toll roads of seeking a $1.1 billion federal bailout. The Transportation Corridor Systems (TCS) -- a joint powers agency created in 2003 by the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency, which operates State Route 73, and the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency, which runs State Rout

  October 16, 2008

• Art Leahy Leaves OCTA for LA Metro: Good Riddance

  News item: Art Leahy, who has led the Orange County Transportation Authority for eight years, accepted an offer to head Los Angeles County's Metro - a transit agency with a $3.4 billion budget. (Courtesy of the Orange County Register) Be careful what you wish for, LA ... *The NOAA, which has jurisdiction because the project falls within a state-federal partnership known as the Coastal Zone Management Act, also said the TCA would be limited to one representative. But besides TCA Chief Execut

  March 6, 2009

• Interesting Op-Ed Pieces on FBI Informant, Toll Roads

  In "Breach of Trust: FBI Wants It Both Ways," the editorial board of UC Irvine's New University student newspaper takes issue with the indictment of a Muslim resident of Tustin and the use of a controversial government informant. (Background is here and here.) The case is bound to have a chilling effect, according to the editorial.This incident is alarming to the American Muslim community in Orange County, who had been working hard to establish and maintain good relations with the FBI, according

  March 10, 2009

• [Aural Reports] Nightlife Maven Sean Francis' Need for Speed Led Him to Create Spare the Air Fest

  August 28, 2008

• They Didn't Pave Paradise: The top 10 reasons why the Foothill South Toll Road extension failed

  February 14, 2008

• Why Weyrich?

  August 26, 1999

• A Measure of Titanic Proportions

  Green groups weigh Measure M support

  November 2, 2006

• Not So Fast

  September 21, 2006

• Shameless

  May 25, 2006

• Hooray for OCTA?

  July 28, 2005

• Next Stop: Immobility

  An A to Z Guide to Surviving the Death/Pause/Sunshine of the CenterLine

  February 17, 2005

• Battle of the Boondoggles!

  January 27, 2005

• Center Bind

  December 9, 2004

• Kill the Cougar

  June 10, 2004

• Fear Factor

  August 21, 2003

• Track Record

  August 7, 2003

• They Have A Dream

  July 10, 2003

• Steven Hatfill's Big Idea

  September 5, 2002

• Perp Walks

  August 15, 2002

• Train in Vein

  May 30, 2002

• Spin Recycle

  November 8, 2001

• Bleccccccccccch!

  September 20, 2001

• No News Is News

  March 15, 2001

• LA Hex

  May 25, 2000

• Lie the Friendly Skies

  March 2, 2000

• 50 Reasons to Hate the Proposed El Toro International Airport

  February 3, 2000

• Highway Robbery - Toll Roads

  January 20, 2000

• Derailed

  September 9, 1999

• Letters

  September 9, 1999

• Disneyland Stops Here

  April 8, 1999

• Singing to the Chorus

  March 11, 1999

• Crossing Guard

  March 4, 1999

• The Year in the 24/7 Noise-Makin', Pollution-Spewin', Air-Tragedy-Waiting-to-Happen El Toro Internat

  January 7, 1999

• SeatGuru Lobbies for More Airline Loos

  SeatGuru.com is pooh-poohing the airline industry over "a going concern": customers having to wait in line for restrooms at 30,000 feet.  The online resource for air travelers calls this "bladder abuse." "Airlines with too few bathrooms per passenger create frustrating lines that are a real safety concern," says SeatGuru founder Matt Daimler in his bold call for regulation.

  September 15, 2009

• Transit Activists to Pitch Ways to Save OCTA Bus Routes

  ​More than 60 people got up and spoke at Monday's board meeting for the Orange County Transit Authority. Pacific Progressive has the run-down: It was a diverse group of people telling OCTA how detrimental further cuts to the OC bus system would be.It's a sticky issue. Facing a steep decline in sales tax revenues and budget cuts from the state legislature, some form of public transportation cutbacks would seem inevitable. OCTA already slashed 233,000 hours of bus service, and is now considering

  October 27, 2009

• OCTA Committee Recommends Slightly Less Painful Bus Cuts--For Now

  WikicommonsBye bye buses.​County Supervisor Patricia Bates may have said it best today: "You can't send these people off a cliff, in a bus."The remark came amidst some low-heat sparring between her and Tustin Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Amante at this morning's meeting of the OCTA Finance and Administration committee. They were talking, of course, about how much they should recommend that the OCTA board of directors cut bus service in response to a budget shortfall.The recommendation that came out of

  October 28, 2009

• Settlement Would Have Toll Roads Forgiving $40 Million in Fines, Doling Out $1.4 Million to Drivers

  Facebook.com/TheTollRoads"Thank you, please come again."​Were it not for being stuck in traffic, this Time Winder would have had this yesterday like the Los Angeles Times did, but Orange County's toll road agencies would forgive $40 million in fines and pay $1.4 million to drivers who claim they were charged excessive penalties, according to a proposed court settlement.

  November 3, 2009