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ChineseThat Age Old Question
Contributed by tykejohnson on November 30th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Which is slower? Traffic in Los Angeles when it’s raining or the Red, Blue, Green, Gold, and Orange Lines in any weather?
Discussion
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Please keep discussions civil: exercise Troll Controll.
Well I was on the 720 yesterday moving about 5 miles per hour or less the whole way, and then I got on the subway and it was so much better. Sitting on Wilshire through traffic in the rain is just frustrating. I only wish that the Purple Line went all the way to UCLA.
Some day it will. Some day it will.
Of course the BRU would tell you, “How racist of you not to want to sit on a plodding bus, crowded with everyone wet clothing and umbrellas, or stand in the rain waiting for a crowded wet bus.”
It’s still a hike from Wilshire/Westwood and the UCLA campus, but I need the exercise and this is where the UCLA shuttle can help a lot.
It is possible for a Green Line extension up the Sepulveda Pass to have spurred into Westwood to have a stop right at the heart of UCLA, similar to the hoped for spur into Century City on the Purple Line, which would eliminate much of that walk.
But hey, not speaking for anyone else I need the exercise. This however is a city where people drive from one end of the mini-mall to the other to avoid actually having to walk. “Nobody walks in L.A.” – Missing Persons. “Not true” – Dan W.
I find all Metro lines to be fast in all conditions. The only problem is that a transfer is usually always involved, which makes the commute longer.
Last evening, traffic on Van Nuys Blvd going north was bad south of Chase and Roscoe that the Local 233 I was in actually caught up to Rapid 761 (I just missed that Rapid at the Orange Line station and took the following Local instead); that is until we got to a more clearer part of Van Nuys north of chase and the 761 hauled off. Even with the inclimate weather, I still reached my stop in the same amount of time as bad traffic in dry weather. LAofA, transfers are the bane of public transportation. Coming out of the Red Line portal, I ran for the Orange Line bus only to see it go off; it took 8 minutes to get on another bus because there was a missed run (it’s 4 minute frequency at rush hour).
Oh yeah, I totally agree about transfers being a given. No problem. I was just reiterrating that Metro Rail is a fast option at all times. The only problem is, it doesn’t connect everybody with everything (i.e. downtown to Culver City). I think the topic is really ridiculous.
It would be nice if they had TIMED transfers, like they do with BART. My goodness, their system is so reliable. 22 minutes into Embarcadero from Berkeley, regardless of whether you take the direct train or the transfer at MacArthur. But I can understand that timed transfers would be much more difficult between any line and the Blue because of the Blue street running. Ideally, it would be nice to have timed transfers at 7th/Metro, Rosa Parks. And I don’t understand why it took Metro this long to finally put up some ETA signs on the Red Line stations… they’ve been on BART for decades now.
LAofAnaheim,
Not sure if you’re aware, but the Exposition Line, opening 2010, will be connecting downtown L.A. to Culver City. In 2012, the line is to be expanded into Santa Monica.
I’m optimistic that as L.A. and its incorporated cities delve more and more into sustainability as a core part of urban and transportation planning, and as more and more people adopt multi-modal traveling in the face of rising gas prices and increasingly congested roads, our public transit will eventually adapt and grow accordingly.
It has to start at a grass roots level though – people who bike to work have to convince their friends to do the same – people who ride Metro need to become vocal advocates amongst their peers.
As far as the current performance of Metro Rail – I agree it is plenty fast. Transfer points to bus lines, especially outside the core metropolitan area, are where the bottlenecks are.
Anh… I go to the Transit Coalition meetings, participate in many other boards, go to community events, etc… I know everything about Metro rail development. And, it’s not 2012 projected completion for the Santa Monica expansion, you are looking at 2015 by the last Metro board presentation (http://www.buildexpo.org/phase2_target_schedule.php).
For this topic, I was giving the comparison of today, of how difficult it is to get point-to-point b/c the lack of Metro rail & transfers. It’s not that speed of our Metro rail system has anything about making our commutes longer than cars. It’s, like where you pionted out, the bottlenecks.
Push for the Downtown Regional Connector! Could be on line by 2017…
And yes, the Red Line is really fast. Especially between Hollywood/Highland and Universal City. That’s a long space there and the trains get up to 70 mph. I’ve looked into the train driver’s compartment and seen the speedometer.
I’ve only riden the Red Lone a couple of times, and I’m told its the exception, but it compares favorably with rail lines in any other US City.
Don’t forget the speed of the Green Line. It runs faster than the El in Chicago, in which the whole line is modeled after.