The ongoing feud between truckers and environmentalists in San Pedro Bay is heating up as a critical vote by port harbor commissioners nears.
The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports plan to vote next month no specific date has been set on a controversial program aimed at reducing emissions from the 16,000 trucks that serve the port complex. But the Clean Trucks Program, as it is known, has rankled many of the 1,300 trucking companies operating out of the ports, who fear they will be put out of business by what they fear will be expensive and onerous requirements.
“We don’t know what the variables are going to cost,” said Michael Lightman, president of Long Beach-based Great Freight Inc., adding that it could “wreak havoc” on port trucking. Lightman helped start Harbor Truckers for a Sustainable Future, a coalition of trucking companies who oppose the ports’ plan. The California Trucking Association, meanwhile, has distributed a petition to truckers who oppose the plan.
But the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports, an association of more than 30 environmental, labor and immigrant-rights groups, claimed last week that some of the truckers who signed the petition were pressured to do so. The coalition has distributed its own petition, collecting more than 11,000 signatures from community members, environmentalists and truck drivers in support of the plan.
The ports had planned to vote on the program in July, but pushed back the vote by 60 days in an attempt to work out some kinks. The program, if approved, would go into effect in January.
Bus for a Buck
A European transportation giant is trying to help Angelenos get around a little easier for a little less.
Megabus.com, a subsidiary of $2.8 billion United Kingdom-based Stagecoach Group PLC, last week launched daily passenger bus service from Los Angeles to six regional cities.
But the company differentiates itself from other bus services by offering a limited number of seats on every trip for just $1. And no, this is not some promotional offer every trip has at least one $1 seat available.
“It’s not a gimmick and it’s not just an initial offer,” said Dale Moser, chief operating officer of Megabus.com. “If you’re one of the first few booking a seat far enough in advance you have a good chance at getting that $1 offer.”
Moser said the prices would climb incrementally as the departure date nears and the bus fills up, so the $1 tickets could become $3 or $5 or more depending on when tickets are booked. Many prices will be on par with those offered by Greyhound Lines Inc., a subsidiary of Naperville, Ill.-based Laidlaw International Inc.
The company will offer a total of 15 trips to and from Los Angeles each day, Moser said. The company hopes to establish L.A. as a West Coast hub for its U.S. network of passenger bus operations, which will now include more than 20 cities across the Midwest and West Coast.
Megabus.com was started in Scotland four years ago and launched its U.S. operations with service from Chicago in March 2006.
Port Names Directors
The administration of the Port of Long Beach was infused with some new blood this past week.
Gary Cardamone, a 25-year veteran of port construction, was named by the Board of Harbor Commissioners to the newly created position of director of construction management. Lisa Marin, meanwhile, who is the former chief human resources officer for the District of Columbia, was named director of human resources for the port.
Cardamone will oversee construction operations for the port’s $200 capital improvement program, which includes several ongoing projects, like improvements to the Pier G terminal leased to Long Beach-based International Transportation Service Inc.
“Gary is a recognized, national leader in the construction management field,” Executive Director Richard Steinke said in a release. “We’re very pleased to have him in a position of greater responsibility at the Port of Long Beach.”
The new position was created to make construction operations more efficient. The move comes as the port is expanding several divisions, including the environmental and engineering divisions, said port spokesman Art Wong.
Marin, who has worked in human resources for more than 20 years, will oversee hiring and training programs for the port’s 380 employees. She replaces Toni Whitesell, who retired last year.
A Friendlier Pump
Concerns about possible $4-a-gallon gas seem like a distant memory now.
The average price of a gallon of regular self-serve gas in Los Angeles dropped to $3 last week for the first time since early March. The price is 7 cents lower than the previous week and down 23 cents from the same time last year, according to the Energy Information Administration’s weekly survey.
The national average for a gallon of regular is $2.87.
Gasoline inventories have increased recently after a number of oil refineries came back online following maintenance work. Los Angeles’ prices are the lowest in more than four months a not uncommon midsummer dip but are expected to creep back up around Labor Day.
A gallon of diesel, meanwhile, costs an average of $3.15 in California. The national average is $2.88.
The West Coast has the highest gasoline and diesel prices in the nation.
Staff reporter Richard Clough can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 251, or at
[email protected]
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