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ChineseObservatory shuttle is teh suck
[tags]los angeles, griffith observatory, la weekly[/tags]
The Griffith Observatory: You can’t get up here from down there unless you hike or take a shuttle bus.
Credit: Dave Bullock (eecue) (Creative Commons license)
LA Weekly tore into the Griffith Observatory’s arrangement of keeping cars down in the flats and forcing patrons to pay $8 for a shuttle bus — each way — that has been taking as much as an hour to make the climb.
Writer David Ferrell has been chronicling horror stories from first- and last-time users of this busing arrangement. One rider paid $32 total for a family excursion. An LA Weekly editor made the hike up, but wanted to take the bus down at night. She couldn’t, and she found her car ticketed and locked up for the night in the Greek Theatre lot.
The city may look to scrap the shuttle bus deal entirely. It has already canceled the Hollywood & Highland shuttle, so there’s no access from the Metro Red Line. The only stop now is near the zoo, and the only transit connection is the … urk … contract-operated Line 96.
An historical note to make here: there was public bus service up to the Observatory before it was closed for renovations. LADOT operated Line 203 from the Observatory, down Vermont Avenue to as far as Beverly Boulevard. And yes, local riders can ride on Vermont without having to go to Griffith Park, and they enjoyed a low 75 cent fare. It was one of a very few local bus lines LADOT operated, so it charged the fare of the RTD at the time the line was taken over, and not a quarter like the DASH. The route exists today as the Los Feliz DASH, but it no longer goes to the Observatory.
Discussion
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Please keep discussions civil: exercise Troll Controll.
While you’re up at Griffith walk around and count the number of parking places available. Now count the number of people. Figure that at least 2 people per car, and possibly 4 are up there, and you’ll quickly see that the number of cars would swamp the available parking by several magnitudes. THEN there really WOULD be some bitching, and not just by frustrated observatory visitors. The nearby neighborhoods insisted on having a solution to increased traffic on their streets; so much so that at least one homeowner’s association is rumored to have considered a lawsuit to shut down GO entirely if something wasn’t done about traffic. It’s hardly fair to blame the observatory for this.
From what I understand, the shuttle project was always planned to be temporary, and would be scaled back or dropped as soon as the first year or so’s opening traffic and demand slacked back.
yes there are horror stories, you will always get them when there is a n attraction in a place where access is limited. Perhaps they should have built something like the Getty museum has; but that would have required permissions from the Los Feliz neighbors, not to mention endless hearings, etc. (which may have delayed the 5-year project).
People are always so quick to ascribe evil to things when they don’t get their way; just once consider what the city may have already considered and dropped because of cost, legislation, regulations and time issues.
I didn’t mind the *idea* of the shuttles so much (the Observatory, and Griffith Park in general needs to be more transit accessible than it is anyway….)
But those prices, argh. $8 regular and $4 children/seniors….that was my main problem with the whole mess. Maybe if the shuttle were free (along with paid parking) or perhaps a buck per head, it might have been better received…
They need to bring back the 203. Obviously there is a demand for it, and maybe they can make some arrangement for people to park at Kaiser on weekends. It would directly re connect the Red Line to the observatory.
I find it really pathetic that there’s no public transit route up to the various venues/amenities of Griffith Park. Sad that one of the “largest urban parks” in the US is left so unaccessible to the urbanites.
There are some who say the Griffith Observatory shuttle is just a sneaky way for the city to make people pay to get into Griffith Park.
I don’t claim to be an expert, but I’ve heard that the park’s charter forbids admission fees. By using the shuttle, the city has figured out a way around that.
I’m sure the shuttle is as much a way around admissions fees than anything else… at those rates, you have to think they’re making money on the venture. Having said that, I’m not a long-time resident, so I don’t feel like it’s my place to jump in on that. Other public parks and institutions have been hit with immense costs and respond with creative solutions (concession licenses, etc.).
Having said that, now I regret not going to the Observatory before they moved the shuttle. Taking the red line downtown only to crawl up to Los Feliz on the #96 is silly. I agree that they should also arrange a Vermont/Sunset shuttle, even if it’s less frequent or the like.
My one frustration in LA is the lack of green space (oh, how I miss Bethesda Terrace or the Boston Common), and it’s definitely sad that the biggest and most developed green space in LA is completely inaccessible. Being in a wheelchair. hiking up the hill from Sunset, or even Franklin, is the definition of impractical. I know about Kenneth Hahn, but that’s pretty thoroughly out of the way for K-Town/Downtown/Hollywood residents.
I hope that in the next schedule revision, Metro or LADOT consider running a supplemental service. Perhaps some letter-writing is in order.
Col. Griffith Jenkins Griffith is rolling over in his grave. Bring back el 203 ahorrita!
You’ll note that right now you aren’t even allowed to walk up to the Griffith Observatory. The 48 hour advance reservations from the Greek Theater has been “closed indeindefinitely“.
You are allowed to walk up, you don’t need reservations for walking up to the observatory, right from the Griffith Observatory website:
Trails to the Observatory from Boy Scout Road and Fern Dell are open. Both Vermont Canyon and Western Canyon Roads are open to cyclists. The Charlie Turner Trail (up to Mount Hollywood) and trails in Vermont and Royce Canyons are conditionally open, subject to closure by the Department due to weather, safety, or restoration work.
That doesn’t mean you’ll get in, though. The information on the website is horribly unclear. Does that mean that they would turn you away if you don’t have a reservation? When it first opened, everyone needed a reservation, including walkers and bikers.
Everything I’ve heard/seen says that you can just walk up without any reservation (doesn’t mean you will necessarily be able to see the show, but you can go to the Observatory). Last time I went, I didn’t seen anything preventing someone from just walking in.
Not so fast, Matthew.
http://www.griffithobservatory.org/contactfiles/pressrelease20061003.html
In response to the overwhelming number of projected visitors to the Observatory, a temporary visitor access program has been implemented, featuring a timed-entry and shuttle reservation system that will prevent long waits and overcrowding. In addition, 48 hours in advance, a limited number of timed-entry reservations will become available for hikers and cyclists who want to visit the Observatory.
“We know the reopening of Griffith Observatory will be of huge interest to the public, and so we’ve taken temporary steps to accommodate the demand in a way that will ensure a tremendous visitor experience yet still maintain normal traffic flows in and out of surrounding neighborhoods,” says Jon Kirk Mukri, General Manager, Los Angeles Department of Recreations and Parks. “This effort includes a significant advertising campaign that is already underway throughout the Southland to inform potential visitors that now they must plan their visit in advance because entrance to the Observatory will be ‘By Reservation Only.’”
During the months after reopening, there will be absolutely no drive-up access to the Observatory permitted. Everyone must have a timed-entry reservation to be admitted to the Observatory.
It is the 48 hour access pass for hikers and cyclists that has been “closed indefinitely”. Thus, at least officially, the Griffith Observatory is closed to entry for hikers and cyclists, although they are certainly permitted to hike to the observatory itself, they may not be permitted access.
That was interesting, I just called them to check one way or the other, and initially she said a reservation was required, and to follow the link on the website. I tried it while on the phone with her, and as noticed, nothing came up. She tried it, saw the same thing, agreed it wasn’t working, and said to just come up without a reservation and that it shouldn’t be an issue.
I am not going to risk hiking a couple of miles and not be able to get to the observatory, though. They need to be a lot more clearer to the public if that is really the case (which is contra to all the media the last 12 months).
I made the timed-entry reservation a week in advance. Due to an illness, I couldn’t make it that day. I called to find out if I can visit another day & they said all sales are final. It has to be used that day & time. Needless to say, I think it’s ridiculous! Recommendation: Make the reservation at the last minute.