This evening’s the first of this round of the Subway to the Sea meetings — and I’m here live blogging it!

6:29 pm: The first half hour of the 2-hour meeting’s an “Open House” where people just hang out and look at posterboards with meeting-related info — So I got here just 9 or so mins ago.

6:33 pm: Metro’s Jody Litvak’s getting things started — and letting the audience know the presentation she’ll be giving will be on the Metro website — hopefully by later tonight.

6:34 pm: Lighting problems. I blog in darkness.

6:35 pm: Lights fixed, sort of. Jody’s giving background info on other Metro rail projects and on this Westside effort.

6:40 pm: On a slide about public involvement to date: “Over 800 comments received in all forms” — including email, via website, mail, etc. Is that it?

6:43 pm: Jody’s going through all the options that were on the table during the last round of meetings.

6:48 pm: Jody’s now going through the options that’re still on the table now:

Alternative 1:

Alternative 11:

6:49 pm: Metro’s David Meager’s going over why the options that got eliminated got eliminated. BRT basically was out because it didn’t have as much speed or capacity as rail. Then it was about picking the best line down Wilshire and Santa Monica.

6:55 pm: Metro anticipates 272,000 daily boardings with Alt 1 down Wilshire, or 292,500 daily boardings for Alt 11 with both lines. Those projections are for the year 2030.

6:57 pm: A few mins ago, another Metro person came by and gave me a CD plus a press kit. Will try to upload better images of presentation –

6:59 pm: Alt 1’s expected to save 48,000 hrs of travel time savings per day. Alt 11’s expected to save 58,000. David: “It’s really a reflection of how slow travel is today.”

7:02 pm: $6.1 billion is the price tag for Alt 1 — or $475 million per mile. Alt 11’s $510 million per mile.

7:05 pm: Should we or should we not have parking at the subway stops? David says it’s up for debate. If you have parking, it ups the costs….

7:06 pm: David’s saying that the Subway to the Sea isn’t just a “westside project”: “Most of the people who’re going to benefit are the people who are getting to jobs on the westside.”

7:11 pm: Jody’s back to say we’ve got funding probs, but that the half cent sales tax increase — if passed — could be used to build a segment of the subway. If tax doesn’t pass, building the subway will take longer — and cost more.

7:18 pm: Jody’s going over remaining issues that need to be resolved from now on — station locations, alignments between locations, federal funding, etc. We’re running late; Q&A was supposed to start at 7:15.

7:20 pm: The next step: Metro will take recommendations to the county board before the end of this year. We’re still looking at 33 more months of studies and such before subway construction begins — then it’ll take about 7 years to finish building the thing.

7:22 pm: “We’re at a 1060, 1070 today,” says Jody. The numbers refer to Westside Extension’s Facebook friends.

7:23 pm: About 80-90 people have showed up for the meeting. Public comments are about to begin; all who want to speak get 2 mins.

7:26 pm: Guy at the mic’s exhorting the crowd on the importance of passing Measure R — the half cent sales tax increase.

7:28 pm: Guy 2’s saying he wants Alt 11, sans parking in the Wilshire corridor. I’m with you, dude.

7:31 pm: Jody on whether the half cent tax money could be siphoned off for other use: “This money is guaranteed for public transit in LA County.” However, the money could be used for projects other than the Subway to the Sea.

7:32 pm: Computer’s flashing low battery light; pre-meeting drink I had at Bodega’s wearing off. Heading home –

Update: Measure R’s officially going to be on the Nov. 4 ballot — letting LA County residents decide whether or not they’re willing to pay an extra half cent sales tax to help fund the Subway to the Sea and other projects.

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