MTA Cuts Back Late Night Rail Service

Note:  This was posted in error.  Read about it here.

Last weekend, on a trip down the Red Line to Union Station in search of Metro materials for this blog, I came across a Metro pamphlet inconspicuously placed amongst rail and bus timetables near the main entrance of the Gateway Center, MTA’s headquarters. This classy grey trifold brochure (#05-2245tr) was entitled “Late Night Metro Rail Schedule Adjustments” with the subheadline, “Effective June 26″. Ignorantly, I grabbed at it with excitement, hoping to read about the addition of truly late night service to our train system. I’ve always been disappointed with the current “late night” service with last trains departing around 12:30am. Seems hardly suitable for a “world-class” city like Los Angeles, a metropolitan area with 16 million people who work and play at all hours of the day. Digression aside, I picked up the pamphlet and began to read,

“Metro Rail will be adjusting its schedules for late night service on some lines to better meet passenger demand.”

To better meet passenger demand? Yes! The Metro riders of LA have spoken and we have been heard! But then I continued to read,

“Generally, trains will stop running approximately one hour earlier at night. See details inside.”

My heart sunk. Surely this had to be a typographical error, it wouldn’t be the first time Metro literature or signage wasn’t sufficiently proofed. What customers in their right mind would demand LESS service? I opened to pamphlet hoping to find out it had just been a careless error.

Unfortunately, I did not find that. What I found were revised late night schedules for all the trains, each stopping about an hour earlier. I checked MTA’s website, but could not find anything about this. This, combined with the spinster nature of the pamphlet tells me that they are trying to quietly implement these changes. The Metro Red Line blog has an article from May 12th that talks of these cuts in service. They offer a link to a LA Times article archived on The Transit Coalition’s website that also covers the story from May.

So there you have it. Starting June 26th, Metro’s already pathetic “late night” rail service will be rendered even more pathetic. At least you’ll be able to get home in time to watch Hollywood’s own Jimmy Kimmel. Just don’t expect to enjoy Hollywood’s growing nightlife scene, easily accessible by the Red Line, because you’re going to have to go home just as the party is beginning.

If you’re not happy with this, heed the advice of the Metro Red Line blog and e-mail the entire MTA board or contact them by phone or fax and let them know what you think.

Here are a few more articles:

• The Transit Coalition: URGENT ALERT: Span-of-Service Hours Cuts Hit Metro Rail Users
• LA Times Letter: Fewer Trains Mean More Traffic Headaches
• The Daily New OpEd: Angelenos ride trains in Paris — why not here?

Thanks to the Metro Ride Line blog for those links.

[tags]mta,red line, blue line, green line, gold line, service cuts[/tags]