Transport

Appointed to the California Public Utilities Commission by Governor Jerry Brown in 2012 after serving on the California Energy Commission, Carla Peterman is an authority on energy policy in the state—which has long been a pioneering leader in developing sustainable energy practices and policy. She recently sat down with VerdeXchange News to talk about electric vehicle regulation and energy storage, among other topics. Peterman provides an optimistic perspective on both of these areas, taking into account market responses to CPUC regulations and initiatives that have already been adopted.

With state and federal transportation funding slow, Metro and Caltrans are embracing public-private partnerships to finance and accelerate planned infrastructure projects. Doug Failing, Metro’s Executive Director of Highway Programs, tells VX News about their Accelerated Regional Transportation Improvement (ARTI) program, a series of small projects through which the county transit agency plans to demonstrate its viability and desirableness as a partner with private enterprise. Failing outlines the specific focus of ARTI (including the I-710 gap between the 10 and 210, the high desert corridor from LA to San Bernardino, and the 710 freight corridor), the benefits of P3 funding, and what Metro and Caltrans expect to learn about project delivery under a P3 system.

Today’s Highway Trust Fund faces a steady decline in revenue as inflation and fuel-efficient vehicles render the Federal Gas Tax increasingly ineffectual. Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Oregon’s 3rd, is a career-long spokesperson for livable communities and multi-modal transit. Last session of Congress, he introduced a bill (HR6662) to direct the Department of the Treasury to study alternatives to the existing gas tax for raising federal highway funds. He advocates retiring the gas tax in favor of a new, cents-per-mile initiative. In the below interview with VerdeXchagne News, Congressman Blumenauer addresses the problems facing the gas tax, the politics surrounding it, and the advantages discovered by a distance-based pilot program in his home state.

VerdeXchange News is pleased to share the following remarks by former Santa Monica City Councilman, Mayor, and Move LA founder Denny Zane at the latter’s event, "Making the Most of MAP-21 in Los Angeles," in which he recasts disappointment with the failure of Measure J to pass last November as a call for more creative and collaborative thinking among transit advocates. Zane’s own suggestions include population-specific promotion of transit ridership, construction acceleration via a combination of federal loans and local investments, and reforming the 2/3rds voter threshold.