Planning for a Sorely Needed Subway

Bio: Jody Feerst Litvak serves as Community Relations Director for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Currently her most visible work involves leading the outreach for the Westside extension of the Metro Purple Line Subway aka “Subway to the Sea”). She also works on outreach for Metro on a variety of other projects and programs on the Westside and throughout the County including the current effort to develop a Master Plan for Los Angeles' historic Union Station. Among other things, she has worked on the successful effort to win environmental approval for the Wilshire bus lane, approval for a new bus operating division, and planning and implementation of transportation plans for the 2000 Democratic Convention. She originally joined one of the Metro’s predecessor agencies, the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, in 1990. She has previously worked as the agency’s Manager of Government Relations and Manager of the Congestion Management Program. Ms. Litvak currently serves on the Board of the Westside Urban Forum, including a 3 year stint as Vice President of Programs. She represents Metro on the Steering Committee for the annual UCLA Land Use, Transportation & Environment Symposium. She has served on three occasions as an evaluator for the Ford Foundation/Harvard University Innovations in American Government competition.

Education: Master of Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University AB, Political Science, University of California, Berkeley

Key Publications: Best Practices for Transportation Agency Use of Social Media, Contributor, Publication anticipated for summer 2013

Past Assignments: - Transportation Research Board, 2013, Social Media & the NEPA Process - Harvard Kennedy School, 2012, Measure R and the Politics of Los Angeles Transportation Planning - Harvard Kennedy School, City Week, 2011, Measure R & Los Angeles' Transportation Transformation - Rail~Volution, 2009, New Media/New Tools

Bio: Mr. Payton is a Principal at Torti Gallas and Partners, Inc. where he created and directs the 20-person West Coast office in Los Angeles. Before arriving in California, he co-directed Torti Gallas’s Urban Design efforts in their Silver Spring, Maryland office. Often called upon to work on politically sensitive sites, including multi-ethnic or racially diverse neighborhoods, Mr. Payton has led over 50 community design charrettes and participated in over 100. In every case, the effort is to engage the community with an understanding of both the reality of the present and possibilities for the future. Mr. Payton’s urban design efforts have been honored nationally with AIA Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design in 2002 and 2003, an AIA Housing Committee Award in 2004, and several Charter Awards from the Congress for the New Urbanism including one in 2012 for Wyvernwood a 70 acre redevelopment in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles. His plan for the revitalization of Coast Highway in Oceanside, CA won a State of California APA award. Mr. Payton is currently working on TOD planning for the Westside Extension of the Purple Line along Wilshire Blvd in L.A., and a new Downtown plan for Santa Monica to enhance its walkablility and to accommodate a new light rail station. While at Torti Gallas he has been a Knight Fellow in Community Building at the University of Miami. Prior to joining the firm he served as a faculty member at The Catholic University of America, The University of Virginia, Rice University and Washington University in St. Louis

Education: Master of Architecture, Syracuse University Bachelor of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon University

Key Publications: "Designing New Transit Systems using a Transect-Based Model" in Proceedings of the ICE-Urban Design and Panning, September 28, 2012 with Amber Hawkes "Negotiating the Challenges of Transit-Oriented Development" in Land Development, a publication of NAHB, Summer, 2010 "Seeking Urban Parking Solutions," in Places, April, 2006 with Brian O'Looney

Other Publications: "The Metropolis versus the City" chapter in forthcoming anthology entitled Landscape Urbanism and its Discontents (Andres Duany and Emily Talen, editors) expected April 2013 "The Machine in the Garden City: Patrick Geddes Plan for Tel Aviv," in Planning Perspectives, Volume 10, Issue 4, 1995

Past Assignments: Mr. Payton is a frequent speaker at the Congress for the New Urbanism, the American Institute of Architects, the National Association of Home Builders and the American Planning Association, and the Urban Land Institute, among others.

Bio: Steve Crosley is a Associate in Fehr & Peers' San Francisco office and his primary focus is in transit planning for public and private sector clients. He is one of the lead members of Fehr & Peers Transit Group. During his career, he has been involved in a wide range of transit modes, from bus to streetcar to heavy rail. One of his key areas of expertise is transit operations planning performing existing route evaluations and preparing service modification recommendations as well as service design for new routes. Recently completed studies include the Irvine iShuttle Expansion Plan, Fresno-Sequoia/Kings Canyon Shuttle Service Plan, and Colorado Esplanade Bus Rerouting Study (Santa Monica). He is currently providing consultant support to Caltrain on their Modernization Program and by managing a San Jose area capacity study. His involvement in the Westside Subway Extension Project included the Purpose & Need, ground transportation impact assessment, and station area analysis. When not planning transit, Steve is watching his San Francisco Giants, cooking, or traveling, preferably somewhere with high speed rail.

Education: M.A., Urban Planning, University of California Los Angeles B.A., Economics, University of California Berkeley

Bio: Deputy Executive Officer for Transit Corridor Development at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (21 years). Previously worked in the private sector for (Victor) Gruen Associates, Los Angeles and Phoenix (11years) and Anderson Notter Finegold, Boston (1 year). Currently serving as Lead Planner for the Los Angeles Metro Purple Line Westside Subway Extension.

Education: Masters in City and Regional Planning and Bachelor of Architecture degrees from Pratt Institute, New York City. Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from the State University of New York at Old Westbury.

Key Publications: Five published papers including: "The Los Angeles Metro Green Line; Why Are People Riding the Line to Nowhere?", Transportation Research Board, 2006; "Public/Private Transit Infrastructure Investment in Japan & Hong Kong," National Academy of Sciences and Eno Transportation Foundation, 1999

Past Assignments: Speaker at conferences including Transportation Research Board, RailVolution, Association of Environmental Professionals and National Transit Institute.