The Fake Angeleno

Freakonomics Blog Tackles L.A. Transportation Issues

How am I always the last to know about these things?  The NYT's Freakonomics blog has been running a great series of L.A. transportation-themed posts by U.C.L.A. doctoral student and longtime Angeleno Eric Morris.

In his most recent "Los Angeles Transportation Fact and Fiction" entry, Morris writes:

In the last posts, we learned that Los Angeles is not a poster child for sprawl, that the air has gotten a lot cleaner, and that the freeway network is surprisingly small given the region’s enormous population. What about the charge that Los Angeles’s mass-transit system is underdeveloped and inadequate?

By U.S. standards, that’s false.

Of course, Morris goes onto admit: "I can’t look you in the eye and tell you the car is not king in Los Angeles. It is. Our transit share is quite small: a bit under 2 percent."  

Turns out that as far as mass transit share goes, L.A. puts Kansas City and Milwaukee to shame but lags behind San Francisco's surprisingly-low 5% and New York's country-best-but-still-kind-of-pathetic 10%. 

LINK: [Freakonomics on L.A. Transit Fact and Fiction]

NYC Taxi Seen in Culver City

I had to do a triple take Saturday when I saw this current-model New York City Taxi parked in the Starbucks/Bally's/CVS parking lot on Overland and Washington.  Unfortunately, I couldn't locate the owner.  I'd love to get the backstory... 

 

Revenge of the Electric Car: Here Now and Coming Soon

Angeleno Chris Paine, director of "Who Killed the Electric Car," has just bought himself one of the first 100 Tesla Roadster electric sports cars.  He calls his new vehicle "America’s first ground-up design pure electric sports car since the EV1 ."

$100,000 well spent?  Probably!  Paine says he sold some stocks (that have since tanked big time) to pay for the roadster up front.

It also looks like he's making a new documentary film as well -- Revenge of the Electric Car.  Couldn't be more timely...

You can read all about the new film and the new car at Paine's website and blog.

LINK: [Revenge of the Electric Car]

LA Streets Blog

I just stumbled across a very useful (and great looking) blog... I was sucked in by a detailed post about the possibility of a citywide bike sharing program -- similar to Paris and Washington D.C. -- here in Los Angeles.

The L.A. Streetsblog is part of the Livable Streets network of city blogs.  The mother organization's mission statement aims at "re-envisioning our cities, reversing decades of automobile-dominated planning and policy to create healthier, more sustainable urban environments, better prepared to meet the challenges of the new century."

If Livable Streets' urban overhaul plans are as well-designed and informative as their blog about sustainable L.A. livability, then this is an organization to keep an eye on.

LINK: [L.A. Streetsblog]

L.A. Driving Observation: The Cell Phone 'Low Hold'

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed the development of a curious phenomenon since California's July 1 ban of hand-held cell phone communication while driving?  I'm talking about the driver's side 'low hold.' 

You look over at your fellow motorist, and he or she seems to be exhibiting the classic signs of budding insanity: Incessant talking with eye contact aimed squarely below the horizon...  Then, you realize this seeming nutjob is merely reiterating the evening's grocery list with the wife.  He's got his cell on speaker phone and is holding it below window level so as to avoid any harassment from the law. 

Brilliant.  That's got to be safe...

I should know, I started employing the 'low hold' myself last week and very nearly rear-ended a very expensive luxury sedan.   Which begs the question: Does hating the concept of the cell phone earpiece now make me like the motorcyclist who abhors the idea of a helmet? And has anybody else noticed the 'low hold' menacing the roads?