2019 Mobility 21 Summit Sponsorships Will Sell Out!

Sponsorships are selling quickly for the 2019 Mobility 21 Summit on Friday, Sept. 27 at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, Calif. The Summit is the only place where you can mix and mingle with every transportation CEO in Southern California, policy makers and nationally-known transportation experts. Click here to view the sponsorship packages. 

Available sponsorships:
Titanium – $25,000 (SOLD OUT)
Platinum – $10,000 (2 left)
– Closing Session (1 left)
– VIP Reception (1 left)
Gold – $5,000 (2 left)
– Notebook (1 left)
– Golf Towel (1 left)
Copper – $2,500
Bronze – $1,000 (open to registered SBEs and non-profits only)

Registration Now Open!
Early bird registration is now open! Join more than 1,300 transportation stakeholders, industry leaders and elected officials at California’s largest one-day transportation event. Hurry, Early Bird registration ends Aug. 9!

Early Bird Registration: $295
Registration after Aug. 9: $395
Student/Military Personnel Registration: $175
Click here to register online!

Reduced Hotel Rate Reservations
Discount hotel rates are available to conference attendees! Click here to reserve your room now. Space is limited and the discount is only available until it’s sold out or Tuesday, Aug. 27.


Mobility 21 Advisory Board Member Spotlight:
Brad Kuhn
Partner
Nossaman LLP

Brad Kuhn is a partner at the law firm Nossaman LLP, where he serves as the Chair of the firm’s Eminent Domain and Valuation Practice Group. Brad is a nationally recognized leader in advising on all real property aspects of infrastructure and development projects. He provides a unique ability to prevent or resolve complex real estate and infrastructure disputes through strategic planning and project implementation. He is passionate about improving the quality of life in Southern California through new and innovative transportation opportunities.

Brad is actively involved in California’s transportation industry. In addition to serving on the Advisory Board for Mobility 21, he also serves as General Counsel to the International Right of Way Association (IRWA), overseeing the 10,000+ member, world-wide premier organization for right-of-way acquisition. He also participates on the Eminent Domain & Land Use Committee for the Transportation Research Board. In 2019, Brad was awarded the CRE® designation by the Counselors of Real Estate®, an international group of real estate professionals recognized as leading advisors in complex real property matters with approximately 1,000 members worldwide, of which only about 50 are practicing attorneys.

Some of the infrastructure projects Brad has actively worked on include City of Los Angeles / Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) Landside Access Modernization Project, LA Metro’s Purple Line Westside Subway Extension Project and LAX/Crenshaw Transit Corridor Project, the Exposition Light Rail Transit Project, SANDAG’s Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project, SBCTA’s sbX E-Street Corridor Bus Rapid Transit Project and Downtown Passenger Rail Project, and the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority’s Gold Line Extension Project. He also has overseen numerous other transportation and utility transmission projects.

Brad’s accomplishments have been profiled in numerous publications, including being named to the Daily Journal’s “Top 20 Under 40” list, a recognition given to the top 20 lawyers in California who are on the cutting edge of legal issues, and who are making an impact on changing an industry, region or society, and being chosen for individual recognition by Chambers & Partners, the guide to the world’s best lawyers. He also has been recognized as the Top Rated Lawyer in Land Use and Zoning by the American Lawyer. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California, and his juris doctorate from Chapman University School of Law. He lives in San Clemente with his wife Nicole, and their two sons, Preston (9) and Jack (6).


Mobility 21 Advisory Board Member Spotlight:
Lisa Maurath
Mobility Solutions Senior Vice President
Parsons Corporation

Lisa Maurath serves as the West Region Manager for Business Development for Parsons (NYSE: PSN), where she is responsible for the continued growth and development of their Mobility Solutions sector on the West Coast. This focus includes providing customer solutions in the transportation and water/wastewater markets.

“This is an exciting time in the mobility market as infrastructure owners and operators integrate smart solutions, and consumers embrace the benefits of improved mobility and safety,” said Maurath.

“Throughout the region, hundreds of thousands of drivers interact with Parsons’ solutions every day, including our dynamic tolling technology, Intelligent Networks® solutions, and the new decision support system that will be implemented for the I-405 Sepulveda Pass corridor. Commuters benefit from light rail options and positive train control. Travelers benefit from landside access improvements at Los Angeles International Airport; and the region benefits from the water infrastructure projects we manage” Maurath added. “Parsons began in Los Angeles and has been helping to develop its infrastructure for 75 years.”

Lisa has more than 30 years of experience in project and program management, business development and operations, project controls, construction management, engineering, and procurement in the infrastructure business.

Born and raised in the Boston area, she graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, and holds a certificate in business management from the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management.

In addition to serving on the advisory board of Mobility 21, she is also on the Dean’s Advisory Board for California State University, Los Angeles College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology.

Lisa is a member of the board of directors for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and is a past president for the Los Angeles chapter of the American Consulting Engineers Council. She also served on the board of directors for the national Women’s Transportation Seminar Foundation for six years.


HDR wants to thank our clients for collaborating with the Girl Scouts to encourage girls to consider careers in transportation and become girls of courage, confidence and character to make the world a better place.

Mobility 21 Summit Platinum Sponsor Spotlight:
HDR

HDR Partners with Clients to Teach
Young Women About Careers in Transportation

Workforce development is a key driver in our business. HDR has partnered with the Girl Scouts, WTS and our clients to expose more than 500 young women to careers in transportation in the last 18 months. The young women are a part of the Classroom to Career program developed by the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio exposing girls to STEM careers through job site visits and hands on learning opportunities. Caltrans, Omnitrans, San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, Victor Valley Transit Authority, Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority, City of Los Angeles and Southern California Regional Rail Authority opened their facilities for tours and mentoring opportunities. Women from these organizations also volunteered their time and discussed their careers and education.


Mobility 21 Summit Platinum Sponsor Spotlight:
Transportation Corridor Agencies

Orange County’s Toll Roads Switch to
FasTrak Sticker Transponders

The Transportation Corridor Agencies – operator of the 73, 133, 241 and 261 Toll Roads in Orange County – are introducing new tolling technology that will enable its 1.5 million accountholders to use all toll facilities in California while simplifying payment options.

Beginning this month, The Toll Roads’ FasTrak® accountholders will transition from hardcase transponders to a new sticker transponder that is small, durable and free. The thin, bandage-size transponder adheres to the inside of a vehicle’s windshield to collect tolls. All of California’s tolled bridges, lanes and roads, will begin transitioning to the technology in 2019.

In September 2019, all ExpressAccounts® will be renamed FasTrak accounts – the name of the account will change but the method of payment will remain the same. Existing ExpressAccount customers will receive FasTrak sticker transponders and benefit from all the perks of a FasTrak account. Currently, ExpressAccounts utilize photos of license plates to collect tolls and – unlike the FasTrak accounts – can only be used on Orange County’s Toll Roads. By the end of the year, they will have access to all toll facilities in the state. TCA will continue selling hardcase transponders with switches for use to self-declare carpool occupancy on express lanes throughout the state.

The Toll Roads are also launching a new discount program for frequent drivers with the rollout of the new transponder. When a prepaid FasTrak account accumulates $40 in tolls on The Toll Roads during a statement period, every toll accumulated on The Toll Roads the following statement period will be discounted by $1.

To learn more of sign up for FasTrak, visit thetollroads.com/sticker.


Stockholm Congestion Charging: In Stockholm, WSP has been the lead consultant for the development and implementation of one of the world’s first congestion charging efforts. The goal was to develop a pricing policy that would change user behavior and generate revenue to enable investment in transportation infrastructure improvements.

Mobility 21 Platinum Summit Sponsor Spotlight:
WSP USA

For over 130 years, WSP USA has been a global leader in transportation planning and engineering and a recognized force in innovation and cutting-edge mobility solutions. To that end, we are “pushing beyond the limits” on projects throughout the world relating to congestion pricing, public private partnerships (P3s) and monorail technology.

Globally, WSP is the preeminent firm for planning and developing congestion pricing strategies, working with over 23 state departments of transportations; 16 metropolitan planning organizations; and agencies in Sweden, Canada, the U.K., China and Vietnam to study and implement projects to relieve and right-price congestion. WSP has wide-ranging experience in the successful delivery of P3 projects and packages, including RTD’s Eagle (CO); VDOT’s Elizabeth River Tunnels (VA); LAX’s Automated People Mover; MDOT MTA’s Purple Line LRT (MD); and, MDOT’s I-75 I-75 Modernization Project (MI).

And while WSP still provides traditional planning and engineering services on significant projects such as LA Metro’s Purple Line and Regional Connector, Long Beach’s Gerald Desmond Bridge and a myriad of other projects in the region, we are also serving on teams throughout the world delivering monorail projects, including Chongquig Metro Phase I, Bangkok Yellow Line, the monorails in Seattle and at Newark Airport.

WSP is a global presence, but we are here to serve Southern California.

Learn more about what we do at wsp.com or contact our Southwest District Manager Vic Martinez at 714-564-2727.


New Presentation on Three Potential
Routes for L.A. River Path Project

Three Metro community meetings were held earlier this month to introduce three potential alternatives for the L.A. River Path Project, which aims to fill the eight-mile gap in the river path between Elysian Valley and Maywood.

The goal of this project is to close that gap with a safe and accessible path for walking, bicycling and rolling. Once connected, the path will create a continuous 32-mile path between San Fernando Valley and Long Beach. The project has $365 million in funding from Measure M and the hope is to begin construction by 2023 and have the path opened in the 2025-2027 timeframe, just in time for the Summer Olympics and Paralympics in 2028.

As you can see in the above presentation, there has been a lot of community input gathered over the past year that has helped shape the project, the access points, and the types of paths in the draft alignments.

From the community input received, staff evaluated what is technically feasible and how much the project’s budget can provide in the river corridor, which is constrained by railroad tracks, utilities, gas lines and development.

Overall, these draft alternatives identify a “core project,” the lines and access points in green. The lines and access points in light gray are “future opportunities,” meaning the design of the core project won’t preclude implementing any future opportunities that could be made possible down the line if/when additional funding is identified (for instance, please see the three access points north of Albion Park).

Let’s dive into these draft alternatives.

The majority of people polled in previous meetings and surveys preferred a top of bank/cantilever and an elevated path type. Compared to a bottom of channel path type, these options will be reliably open all year since they won’t be threatened by water in the river channel when it rains. While a bottom of channel alignment might better connect users to nature and the river, this option would have less access to amenities, like lighting and shade, and would have to be closed any time rain is forecasted.

In case you were wondering about how a path would go beneath and around utilities and bridges, this would be through an incised path. This path type is incised, or cut, into the side of the river channel. It would be open most of the time (except during heavy rains) and could accommodate lighting and other amenities.

As for access points, the presentation shows how each one was rated by the public. All three alternatives do the following:

  • They blend both east and west bank alignments that weave across the river to connect to access points that were most desired by the public.
  • They blend the three most desired path types: top of bank/cantilevered, elevated and incised.
  • They begin and end on the west bank to connect to existing paths north and south of the project area.
  • Due to their high favorability among the public and to enhance connectivity to important points including transit lines, LA State Historic Park, Union Station, Washington Boulevard near the Blue Line station, and the Bandini-Soto Triangle in Vernon.
  • In terms of meeting project goals such as equity, safety, and user experience, these alternatives score high.

With community meetings now complete, Metro staff will present the three alternatives to carry into the environmental study as well as a report of all the community input received to date to the Metro Board of Directors in Fall 2019. The scoping meetings kicking off the environmental clearance process are expected to begin after the Board’s decision. You can find more information about the project on the website here [hyperlink metro.net/lariverpath] or get in contact with the team at lariverpath@metro.net.

Here’s a recent video that explains the project: https://youtu.be/q_7CYlPKwus


Weigh in on Southern California’s
Transportation Future

Ideas or concerns about how the region will develop over the next 25 years? Join SCAG at an upcoming Connect SoCal workshop, or take the Connect SoCal survey! As part of the development of Connect SoCal, the 2020-2045 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy, SCAG is hosting a series of open-house-style workshops and soliciting input with an online survey tool. Participate to learn about how the region is anticipated to grow, understand the choices we have about where growth occurs and provide input on how to keep the region moving. Visit connectsocal.org to learn more about the Connect SoCal development process and follow the latest updates.


RCTC will add a new truck lane in both directions to Route 60 through the Riverside County “Badlands” area between Moreno Valley and Beaumont. Construction will begin June 10 and new lanes are expected to open in late 2021.

Construction Starts June 6 on
RCTC’s Route 60 Truck Lanes Project

Slow for the cone zone! Construction of the Riverside County Transportation Commission’s (RCTC) State Route 60 Truck Lanes Project will start June 10.

RCTC, in partnership with Caltrans, is widening 4.5 miles of Route 60 from Gilman Springs Road to 1.4 miles west of Jack Rabbit Trail within the “Badlands” area of unincorporated Riverside County. The project will add truck lanes in both directions and other features to enhance safety and reduce traffic congestion.

From late July to December 2019, one westbound lane on Route 60 will be closed within the project limits. The lane closure is needed to provide space for construction equipment and to ensure the safety of crews and travelers through the area.

During the six-month westbound lane closure, RCTC will operate Freeway Service Patrols to aid stranded drivers. Motorists are encouraged to use Interstate 10 as an alternate route. Nighttime lane closures will occur as needed throughout the 2.5-year project.

RCTC awarded a contract to Skanska USA Civil West to build the eastbound truck-climbing lane and westbound truck-descending lane and other features, including:

  • Widening the existing narrow shoulders to standard widths
  • Flattening roadway curves on the western end of the project to improve sight distance
  • Increasing the height of the median barrier by up to 10 inches
  • Constructing below-ground wildlife crossings and above-ground wildlife fencing

Funding for the $135 million project is provided by a combination of sources, including federal, state, and Measure A, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements in Riverside County.

RCTC reminds motorists to drive carefully through the construction zone, allow extra travel time and refer to posted Construction Updates and social media for project information.

For more information, visit rctc.org/60trucklanes or @60TruckLanes on social media.


The Orange County Transportation Authority and Caltrans are gathering public input on a plan that would prioritize what improvements could enhance transportation on Beach Boulevard, between La Habra and Huntington Beach. Photo courtesy of OCTA.

OCTA Gathering Public Input on
Transforming Beach Boulevard

The Orange County Transportation Authority and Caltrans are under way on a study that looks at how to best make improvements for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians on Beach Boulevard, between the cities of La Habra and Huntington Beach.

OCTA held a series of community events and conducted an online survey to gather input about existing conditions and to seek opinions about potential improvements such as enhanced pedestrian and bicycle paths, public transit options and improved signal synchronization.

Beach Boulevard is a major traffic corridor at the western edge of Orange County that runs about 21 miles between La Habra and the Pacific Ocean in Huntington Beach.

The boulevard includes major shopping and entertainment destinations, including Knott’s Berry Farm, Adventure City, Westridge Plaza, and Bella Terra shopping center.

People who travel Beach Boulevard for work, school or entertainment and those who live near the street have been encouraged to take a brief online survey on how they think the corridor could be improved for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.

The survey considers potential enhancements to transit such as bus-only lanes, expanded bus-service hours and additional transit options. It also considers potential infrastructure solutions such as widening the street, adding turn lanes, limiting the number of driveways, or adding pedestrian bridges.

Three community meetings also were held throughout May to present ideas to the public and gather opinions. Those meetings were held in Westminster, Anaheim and Huntington Beach.

The information will be used to help OCTA and Caltrans form the Beach Boulevard Corridor Study, which will be provided to local agencies along Beach Boulevard to guide local planning initiatives as future improvements are made.

The next for the study is to use the information gathered to determine what the priorities are for Beach Boulevard; the study is expected to go back to the OCTA board in September. Then, the public will have more opportunities to provide input.

The ultimate goal is to support future development to provide a seamless transportation corridor from Whittier Boulevard in La Habra to the coast.

For more information on the study, visit www.octa.net/BeachStudy