Damien Newton
Recent Posts
CA Parking Reform Bill Shot Down by Assembly Committee
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With the clock ticking, a state bill that would have banned parking minimums near transit nodes in certain circumstances was pulled from the July 3 California Senate Governance and Finance Committee agenda, shooting down major statewide parking reform efforts for at least another year. A.B. 904, a bill which was praised by parking policy guru and UCLA professor Donald Shoup, appears […]
Battle Lines Drawn in High-Speed Rail Vote
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Later this week, the plan to build a High Speed Rail line connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco faces a crucial vote in the California legislature. Governor Jerry Brown asked lawmakers to release $2.7 billion of the $6 billion in bonds passed by California voters in 2008 for High Speed Rail. Combined with $3.3 billion […]
Advocates to Boxer: Save Funds for Safe Streets, Don’t Let House Gut NEPA
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(Note: Much of this story comes from “Making Lawmakers Answer for Pedestrian Deaths in Their Districts” that appeared on Streetsblog Capitol Hill yesterday.) No matter how you count it, California is a dangerous place for pedestrians. A recent report by Transportation for America showed that nearly 7,000 pedestrians were killed in California’s streets between 2001 […]
Tell Your State Senator to “Give Me 3” This Thursday
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Senate Bill 1464, the three-foot bike passing bill proposed by California Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), heads back to the Senate on Thursday, May 24 after sailing through committee last week. Buoyed by a strong campaign by the California Bike Coalition (CBC) and TransForm, thousands of supporters have already written letters to their senators urging them to pass the bill. […]
Take 2: As PA Gives Cyclists 4, CA’s “Give Me 3” Heads Back to Committee
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State Senator Alan Lowenthal’s “Give Me 3″ legislation, S.B. 1464, is going back to the Senate Housing and Transportation Committee on April 17. The bill would require drivers to give cyclists a three foot passing berth when overtaking them. I say “going back” because nearly identical legislation, S.B. 910, was passed by both houses of the […]
It’s Take Two for the “Give Me 3″ State Bicycle Passing Law
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On October 7th, Governor Jerry Brown shocked the California cycling community and snubbed Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and bill sponsor Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) when he vetoed Senate Bill 910, a proposed law that would have required motorists to give cyclists a three foot buffer when passing. However, proponents of the “Give Me 3″ bill are […]
¡Viva CicLAvia!
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After sponsoring two Streetfilms of the first two CicLAvias, Los Angeles’ version of the open streets festival based on Bogota’s Ciclovia, Los Angeles Streetsblog faced a dilemma: How can we continue to cover the event that draws over a hundred thousand Angelenos to the streets? The Answer: Make a Streetfilm that was accessible to Southern […]
CA Attorney General Joins Suit Against San Diego’s Flawed “Transit Plan”
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When the San Diego Association of Governments passed its regional transportation plan, which will direct transportation spending in the region for decades, the agency hailed the plan as a national model. This was the first plan passed that followed the standards of SB 375, the California environmental law that set greenhouse gas reduction targets based on […]
The High Speed Rail Debate Moves to the New York Times
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The New York Times yesterday published a series of six opinion pieces debating the merits of the $90 billion High-Speed Rail plan that would connect Los Angeles to San Francisco. Attacks have intensified on the “bullet train” rail project in recent weeks, focused mainly on the projects gigantic $90 billion budget and a recent audit that called funding for […]
CA Cyclists Urge Senator Boxer to Remove Bicycling Restriction From Bill
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Regardless of how one feels about the new funding formulas proposed in the bill, there is no doubt that a provision in the MAP-21 highway authorization bill entitled “bicycle safety” would dramatically change cyclists’ rights to the road and would force many cyclists to either break the law or put themselves in unsafe situations. The language in […]
Breaking News: Governor Brown Sides with AAA and CHP, Vetoes SB 910
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SB 910 Veto Message Supporting vague driving standards that endanger California’s cyclists is no longer a partisan issue. S.B. 910, which would have mandated a three foot passing cushion when drivers pass cyclists at speeds over 15 miles per hour was universally supported by Democrats in the Assembly and Senate. But that didn’t stop Governor […]
Lance Armstrong, L.A.’s Mayor Push Brown on S.B. 910
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Bicycling superstar Lance Armstrong and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa have joined forces again. Their target: Governor Jerry Brown. Their message: sign S.B. 910, the state’s three foot passing law that would protect cyclists from drivers who pass too close and too fast. “Gov. Brown can help make our roads safer for everyone by making […]