Mayor Outlines "Plan B" To Push Through Transit Improvements in L.A.

Yesterday, we brought you the City Planning Department's take on what L.A.'s public agencies are doing to maximize the investment in transportation made by the voters of Los Angeles County in approving Measure R. Today we provide the Mayor's plans.

Over the past year, much of Mayor Villaraigosa's transit-related efforts have been aimed at convincing the Federal Government to provide the means necessary to ramp up implementation of the projects funded through Measure R. First dubbed the 30/10 initiative, and renamed "America Fast Forward" after a nationwide roll-out, the prospects for Federal buy-in are murky. So the Mayor has developed multiple "Plan B" options to leverage the expected tax revenues.

As Damien Newton writes, "Besides the pursuit of federal dollars, there is also the possibility of asking L.A. County voters to tax themselves again and working with equity firms in China to finance the projects."

"As the clock is ticking on Villaraigosa's term, which ends in June of next year, there's clearly a lot of work to do to see the Mayor's transit vision become reality in a near-term timeline. And as if these three ideas weren't enough to pursue, Leon hints that there could be another surprise proposal come our way."