Newly inaugurated President Barack Obama’s pledge of large-scale investment in U.S. infrastructure and Los Angeles County’s passage last November of Measure R—a tax measure that promises to provide up to $40 billion for transit-related projects over the next 30 years—have prompted an open ideas competition sponsored by the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) and The Architect’s Newspaper.

The competition brief invites architects, engineers, urban planners, and students to propose projects that “rethink the relationship between transit systems, public space, and urban redevelopment.” Entrants are asked to work within the parameters of the L.A. legislation, focusing on “specific rail extension projects” and “larger-scale, inter-related transit planning challenges.”

The jury will include: Thom Mayne, founder of Morphosis Architects; Aspet Davidian, director, project engineering facilities, LA Metro; Neil Denari, UCLA professor and principal of Neil M. Denari Architects; Gail Goldberg, planning director for the City of Los Angeles; Roland Genik, urban planner and designer, Exposition Line; and Eric Owen Moss, SCI-Arc director and founder of Eric Owen Moss Architects. In addition, the jury will include transit engineers from Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, developers, and local civic leaders.

Submissions are due March 13, with winners being announced on March 21 at SCI-Arc.

For information, visit the SciArc Web site.