U-Pass Here To Stay At Shuttle Service Expense

According to the latest story in the Daily 49er, our highly praised U-Pass program may be here to stay at the expense of our current off-campus shuttle service.

The Daily 49er reports that in order to help pay for the U-Pass program, the off-campus shuttle service (that runs a similar course to that of LB Transit Route 171) will need to be discontinued after this semester.

News of shuttle service discontinuation has been met with mixed feelings.

"I think that the U-pass has caused over crowding on some buses, however I recently rode the off-campus shuttle and it was extremely crowded as well." said Fashion Merchandising major Rachel Dickinson. "I understand that the cost of having both is hard to manage, but I wish they could figure out a a way to have both still. I think a lot of students depend on those shuttles."

While the current off-campus shuttle service will say its final goodbyes this semester, plans for a new shuttle service for students living at the Residential Learning College, formerly the site of Brooks College, are underway.

Photo by David J. Nelson

Link to original story here: http://www.daily49er.com/news/u-pass-program-likely-to-continue-with-off-campus-shuttles-as-a-sacrifice-1.1737269

Funding Sought For Future 405 Problem

According to a story in the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Councilman Patrick O'Donnell is seeking an additional "Umbrella funding package" to alleviate future impacts the planned 405 freeway reconfiguration project is sure to bring.

Funds, according to O'Donnell, are primarily for traffic law enforcement, impacts on roads, signage, street lights and other impacts expected from the closure.

Among the many things that will aggravate drivers that frequent the 405 will be the one-year closure of the 7th Street westbound entrance, as well as the eastbound entrance sometime in mid 2010.

Planned detour streets during construction will be Westminster boulevard, Seal Beach boulevard, and Palo Verde Avenue - which runs just a few blocks up from the CSULB campus. O'Donnell has criticized plans for the Palo Verde detour route on more than one occasion.

In a statement he made to the Long Beach Press-Telegram, O'Donnell made his point clear,"On any day of the week, Palo Verde is a parking lot."

According to plans for the detour route, detour traffic from the 405 is expected to aggravate traffic created by CSULB, further enforcing O'Donnell's point.

So to all who frequent Palo Verde Avenue, you have been warned.

Original story can be found here http://www.presstelegram.com/search/ci_12222424?IADID=Search-www.presstelegram.com-www.presstelegram.com

Photograph provided by: http://www.longbeach.gov/District4/

7th Street Bridge Closure More Cause For Concern

After a closer inspection by City of Long Beach Traffic Engineer Dave Roseman, all does not seem well with the planned 7th Street bridge closure as well as its detour routes.

According to the story in the LBReport website, Roseman anticipates drivers will likely take a different route than anticipated by Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA).

In an open letter to OCTA's Niall Barrett, Roseman expressed these concerns, siting several possible detour options as well as the impact these might have on surrounding streets. One street exit sited as a possible place of concern is none other than the 405 freeway exit on Bellflower Boulevard, only a few blocks up the street from the CSULB campus.

Will this have a greater impact than anticipated on our campus traffic for the next semesters to come? Hard to say, but if numbers mean anything, a projected 20% of traffic is expected to populate Bellflower Boulevard while another 30% is anticipated on Palo Verde Avenue after the closure is implemented.

This could mean a harder time getting to class for some time to come. Better get that car out early and beat the traffic before it beats you.

Story found on http://www.lbreport.com/news/apr09/wcclb2.htm

Images provided by OCTA at http://www.octa.net/westcounty.aspx

The New Price For A Ticket

While we are all busy worrying about where we were heading for spring break, a new parking bail schedule took effect on campus.

The simple mechanics of it all is this, what used to cost about $40 to pay off a simple citation for missing a valid parking permit (which has unfortunately occurred on more than one occasion) has now been bumped up to $45. The same goes for most citations or violations listed on the bail schedule, except for the occasional few that go beyond $100 limit (e.g. a stolen permit violation was priced at $250, now it's been raised to $255).

So why the raise? The answer is simple, as best illustrated by University Police Parking Field Operations Manager Alan Moore.

"The fee is in response to Senate Bill 1407, which has us raising our violation fees almost $10 more per ticket in order to comply with the states' need for revenue, which in turn pays for prisons as well as other state own facilities."

Well now you know. Keep on that permit until the end of the semester, unless you want to add another $45 to what you paid in total for the year.

List of new fees found on http://daf.csulb.edu/offices/ppfm/parking/bail-schedule.html