CSUN needs to improve public transportation options

Daily Sundial: "With tens of thousands of commuters traveling to CSUN, it is hard to believe that the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) does not have direct service from LA to campus."

The National Transit Coalition : CSUN Tiger Team: "Named for our passion for transit, the California State University Northridge student-intern chapter of the Transit Coalition tackles pressing mass-transit and mobility issues in the San Fernando Valley with never before seen ferocity. Utilizing community integration, technological prowess, and tiger-like strength  - the team is currently undertaking an ambitious study of Sylmar Metrolink,  Metro Lines 230 and 236 and its connectivity to surrounding regional centers for the people of Los Angeles. By May, a report detailing our recommendations  will be published for all future students, community leaders, advocacy groups, and the online community.  It is our belief that this report will spark an active, on-going discussion, ultimately leading to well-planned action."

Fares are for rationing, not revenue

Transit riders assail proposed Metro fare hike at public hearing - latimes.com: "During a packed and sometimes tense four-hour public hearing Saturday, Los Angeles County transportation officials heard a litany of complaints from transit riders who said a proposed Metro fare hike would strain the budgets of students and working-class families."

Yes, Manmade Global Warming Is Worsening California's Epic Drought

ThinkProgress: "California’s epic drought got even worse last week. The U.S. Drought Monitor reports that the area of California under moderate drought (or worse) rose from 94.6 percent of the state to a stunning 99.8 percent. The area under extreme or exceptional drought rose from 65.9 to 71.8 percent, encompassing the entire agriculture-rich Central Valley"

Californians walking, cycling and using public transportation doubles

Paso Robles Daily News: "Results from the California Household Travel Survey – the largest and most complex review of its kind – show that the percentage of California residents walking, biking, or using public transportation on a typical day has more than doubled since 2000."

Bus riders protest proposed transit system fare hikes

latimes.com: "The demonstration at the Western Avenue subway station, organized by the Bus Riders' Union, was a response to a proposal to boost bus and rail fares as much as 117% over the next eight years. Passenger advocates said the increases would be too great a burden on the system's most economically vulnerable riders, including seniors and the disabled.

"Public transit riders have already paid for the system before even getting on the bus," said Barbara Lott-Holland, co-chair of the riders' union. She was referring in part to more than $2 billion a year in Los Angeles County sales tax collections earmarked for construction and operation of the bus and rail system."

Bicyclists and pedestrians better than parking spaces for town center

Uptown Might Be Warming to Bike Infrastructure | Voice of San Diego: "But at the group’s Thursday meeting, business owners who supported the project outnumbered those who didn’t.

Jeff Motch, co-owner of Tiger! Tiger! in North Park, said pedestrian traffic  is more valuable to his operation than a few parking spots at his storefront.

“If there’s capacity for 300 people inside, why would I care about the three parking spots that are gone?” Motch said."

Autosprawl wastes energy. Takes from cornfields, and now from water supply.

An aerial photograph shows a large field of fracking sites in a north-western Colorado valley. It can take millions of gallons of fresh water to frack a single well. Photograph: Susan Heller/Getty images

Fracking is depleting water supplies in America's driest areas, report shows | Environment | theguardian.com: "America's oil and gas rush is depleting water supplies in the driest and most drought-prone areas of the country, from Texas to California, new research has found.

Of the nearly 40,000 oil and gas wells drilled since 2011, three-quarters were located in areas where water is scarce, and 55% were in areas experiencing drought, the report by the Ceres investor network found.

Fracking those wells used 97bn gallons of water, raising new concerns about unforeseen costs of America's energy rush."