>> Transportation Freedom Day is when a median-income household’s earned enough money to pay for transportation for a year, as calculated by The California Public Interest Research Group. For the City of L.A., that day’s today; Santa Monica celebrated it March 9, while Koreatown’s day came and went Feb. 22. (via LAist)

Better public transit usually means earlier Transportation Freedom Days — which made me wonder why Orange County celebrated its day on March 5. The reason: Modeling transportation costs is complicated. Here’s the methodology.

>> L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa’s 30/10 plan seeks to fast track transit projects, building projects currently scheduled to take 30 years in 10 years — by getting money to build faster. Explains Metro’s The Source:

His 30/10 plan seeks to build a dozen transit projects in the next decade by supplementing the Measure R money with a federal loan guarantee or other finance mechanism. A loan would be paid back with Measure R revenues.

Here’s the 2-page document outlining the 30-10 plan and the projects included in it. The plan hasn’t been approved by the Metro Board yet, but all projects in the plan were approved by the Board in the Long Range Transportation Plan in October. According to LA Daily, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer is behind the plan. So is Treepeople founder Andy Lipkis, who often takes the bus.

>> As expected, a group called Neighbors for Smart Rail sued the Expo Construction Authority, claiming more environmental studies need to be done before proceeding with extending the Expo line from Culver City to Santa Monica. Streetsblog LA has the group’s full 26-page petition; the more Expo-friendly group Friends 4 Expo says the the lawsuit “seems broad-brush and unsubstantiated.” Expo Construction Authority’s responded with a statement, which basically says its environmental study’s just fine and the project will be defended. Earlier: Expo Line project rolls forward to connect Culver City to Santa Monica.

>> Bikeside LA’s mapped LAPD’s bike-car collision data! The blog only has a few preview pieces of the map up now, but invites you to visit next week for more. (via Metblogs LA)

>> In other bicycle news: A big group of Angelenos attempted to cycle up Fargo Street’s 33% incline. Many succeeded. Also, blocking bike lanes with cars and trash cans is illegal.

Image via calpirg.org

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