Eastside Gold Line Transit Service Interface Proposal — Part 0: Preview

The Eastside Gold Line Transit Service Interface Proposal has been a work in progress for years. As the Eastside Gold Line nears its opening and Metro prepares to solicit input on how to reconfigure service, it’s about time MetroRiderLA pioneers a new venture in dialogue: Open Source Transit.

Keep in mind that the proposals in the next few days are only lines on a map drawn by a transit user. The goal of this Open Source Transit project is to simulate a mock route change proposal that is normally conducted by Metro and other transit agencies. This one attempts to simulate proposals for bus service changes to better interface with the opening of the Eastside Gold Line later this year.

This cannot be stressed enough: These are not official proposals and may not necessarily mesh with the goals of Metro or municipal carriers. These will not be ready in time for the Gold Line opening, but would still be relevant in the months after service.

The Transit Service Interface Proposal attempts to do two things:

1. First, it would educate us transit users in the operations, planning and funding processes of transit agencies. If anything manages to get adopted, all of us riders should consider it a victory. If nothing does, which will likely be the case, we could still learn a lot. Any feedback from the agencies will be published here.
2. Second, it gives us riders something to talk about and think about. We always assume that the problems we face as transit riders are because of the incompetence of the people entrusted to plan and run the service. Well, Open Source Transit would give the riders a slow but sure force to have a greater say in the service we would ride. This is done with greater sophistication, as it’s not an open-mic rant required by law, but taking the transit agencies’ methods for service and emulating them for serious consideration.

This first attempt affects the Eastside Gold Line. Several east-west and north-south bus lines would be reconfigured to either provide a direct transfer to the Gold Line, replace a service that would be rerouted, or proposed to be transferred to municipal carriers who may operate service at a lower cost.

The philosophy of the route changes is to provide Eastside riders with one fewer transfer by making east-west lines crosstown routes that run through and not end in downtown L.A., and to improve north-south bus service in East L.A. to offer better connections to the Eastside Gold Line.

A Google Map draws the route path of each line. Each line will have some details on what is being done and why. Over the next few days, tables will list the proposed changes for Los Angeles Department of Transportation’s DASH, Metro, Montebello Bus Lines and Norwalk Transit. Despite the detail given, what is not included is proposed service frequencies. All services are assumed to operate at their present service days and frequencies.

Also, since these service proposals will be submitted to agencies for their consideration, use this time to give feedback on what you would like or would not like, but please keep it civil. State why you support or oppose something, and if you want your comments submitted, leave your real name, city and e-mail address and they will be passed along. Leave general comments about this endeavor in this post.

A version for the Expo Line will be coming soon.

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boyle heights • DASH • east la • east los angeles • eastside gold line • gold line • LADOT • los angeles • metro • MetroRiderLA • montebello bus lines • norwalk transit • Open Source Transit