Metro

Recently it was announced that the city of Inglewood would be the recipient of a $1 billion-dollar federal investment for the Inglewood Transit Connector project. In this exclusive VX News interview, Inglewood’s Mayor, James Butts, provides an update on Inglewood's 1.6-mile people mover project. Emphasizing the project's broader impact on the local and regional economy, given multiple international events already booked through 2029, Mayor Butts challenges the miss-perception of who will use mass transit, envisioning Inglewood as a globally attractive sports and entertainment capital. Reflecting on Inglewood's transformative & successful economic recovery, Mayor Butts also shares a vision for the city's 2030 legacy, highlighting generational wealth creation and renewed infrastructure investments.

After the success of Measure M, Steyer believes Los Angeles can be a model for financing public transportation and by proving how cities can address housing, environmental, and infrastructure challenges.

LA Metro's Jenna Hornstock (pictured) and Elizabeth Carvajal on perimeter improvements at Los Angeles Union Station.

Michael Kodama explains the West Santa Ana Branch Corridor "megaproject"—a proposed light rail connecting Downtown Los Angeles to Southeast L.A. County, which has endured the loss of manufacturing jobs alongside heavy industrial pollution and a dearth of mobility options.

Facing a dramatic cut in federal funding, VX News sat down with the head of Los Angeles' public transportation operation agency about the impacts to their ambitious flurry of rail projects.

At the “Transit Oriented Los Angeles 2015” conference hosted by Urban Land Institute-LA in December, VerdeXchange Chairman David Abel moderated a discussion between California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Jeff Morales and Metro CEO Phil Washington. Washington and Morales both emphasized their focus on the positive impacts transit build-out can produce for the communities it touches, if approached with care—and the steps they are taking to meet local needs and incorporate community feedback into plans that are expected to yield a transformative impact on the Southern California region as well as the entire state. They also discussed both the agency and authority’s efforts to protect and bolster local business as rail construction occurs.

Phillip Washington was appointed CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in March, coming west from Denver's Regional Transportation District. At the June meeting of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation Board of Governors, Washington explains five mega-trends in transportation, then articulates his goals for Metro in the context of these national shifts. He emphasizes the need for public-private partnerships in the context of shrinking federal funds for major infrastructure. VX presents an edited transcript of these remarks, with an introduction by LAEDC President and CEO Bill Allen.