US Transportation Research Board
Transportation futurist, designer and member of the US Transportation Research Board; adjunct professor of transportation design at College for Creative Studies in Detroit
PROFILE
Dan Sturges
Guest
FROM Dan Sturges
Design and Architecture
Expo Line and Hyperloop The long-awaited Expo Line extension to Santa Monica opens this weekend. It’s the culmination of 20 years of work by activists, legislators and transportation planners and engineers, and promises a 45-minute ride between downtown LA and downtown Santa Monica. But what’s the next step once you get to station? Santa Monica’s Mobility Manager explains. While many Angelenos are revving up for the first train to the beach in over 60 years, some transit dreamers are working on a vehicle that would leave light rail in the dust. Last week the LA company Hyperloop One conducted a test of the concept for rapid travel initiated by Tesla founder Elon Musk. It involves propelling passengers in pods through a vacuum tube at a speed of about 600 miles per hour and would cut travel time between LA and San Francisco to a half hour. So while we’re celebrating the extension of the Expo Line, should we be focused on newer transit technology? Is the future of a travel a marriage of the public and private sector?
Which Way, L.A.?
LA to Las Vegas… by Rail? Since 2007, a company called XpressWest has been pushing for a bullet train from Los Angeles to Las Vegas along Interstate 15. It hasn't been able to raise money from private sources or get a loan from Washington. Now it's proposing a new, somewhat longer, route, making the trip by way of Palmdale, and a group of Chinese companies has come up with $100 million.
Which Way, L.A.?
Metro Considers a "People Mover" from Crenshaw to LAX Today, Metro decided to consider the cost and usefulness of a “people mover” running to LAX from a new station on the Crenshaw line. It’s not the first time the plan has been discussed, but it seems to be picking up some momentum.
Recommended
To the Point
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.