MetroRiderLA

• Looks like I’m not the only person into pegging car-culture conservatives as closet socialists! Check out this great article exposing the “Soviet Style Social Engineering” of the American car culture.
• Amtrak funding to increase by 28%, let’s hope they use that money wisely.
• Metro Citizens Advisory Council to hold a presentation with Metro about the transportation sales tax measure.
• Solar-powered GPS-enabled signs with next bus information could make the bus experience a whole lot nicer.
• Transit returns to Dodger Stadium next month, with game-day shuttles linking the stadium with Union Station.
• Riverside residents are getting stoked for the new Metrolink extension to Perris Valley.
• The grass is always greener on the other side: a Chicagoan dreams of a Los Angeles caliber transit system for her city.

I was hoping to be the first to break this momentous event, but alas that wiley Militant Angeleno beat me to it.

At long last, Metro has implemented train arrival time information to its flashy “new” (actually, they’ve been around for nearly a year now) transit passenger information system (TPIS) displays.  The previously previously pretty but shallow (perhaps they were trying to live up to the Los Angeles stereotype?) displays now offer some depth by providing information that is of actual use to riders rather than no-brainer safety notices.  The arrival times of the next trains are now displayed under the name of their respective destinations.  This simple bit of information, absent for so long for God-only-knows why, is sure to make a lot of MetroRiders very happy. The looks of amazement from the people on the platform at 7th Street Metro Center this morning confirmed that.

So is it all we’ve hoped for and more?  Well, for Los Angeles MetroRiders acustomed to nothing, the information is certainly an achievement.  But upon closer inspection some flaws are revealed.  I spoke to a friend yesterday about the next train information, and he observed that the trains seemed to arrive a minute earlier than the time on the display.  The Militant’s findings also come to this conclusion.  My personal experience today revealed the same thing, which can only mean that the times displayed are not “live” but simply the scheduled time.  While this is a step-up from having to refer to the paper schedule, it doesn’t really use the technology to its fullest extent, and will surely leave people bewildered when the actual train arrival times don’t match the displayed times.

The Militant also noted that, coincidentally, the next train information is displayed in Military Time while the current time is displayed using a 12-hour clock.  I couldn’t confirm this since I was on the platform in the morning, but obviously the clocks for a train for civilians should be set to the standard clock that civilians are used to.  The Militant also contends that the information is not presented in what is not necessarily the most user-friendly way.  He would prefer to see a countdown clock (as in “Next Train in 5 minutes“) rather than a time-based clock.  I tend to agree.

One other issue I noticed is that the information for all tracks is presented on all the screens, which leaves things unnecessarily confusing for noobs.  If I’m waiting for the Union Station bound train on Track 2, why do I need to see the ETA’s of the North Hollywood and Wilshire/Western bound trains on the other track, and vice versa.  Furthermore, as the next train approaches it should be highlighted on the display, which would be especially helpful in solving the classic “is this the North Hollywood or Wilshire/Western train?” conundrum.

Complaints aside, this is a huge step forward for Metro and an invaluable addition for MetroRiders.  The previous lack of information in our Metro stations showed a lack of respect for riders, their schedules, and their desire to know when the hell they can expect their ride to come.  By providing this information, and thus respect to their customers, Metro has successfully improved their service and will have a much easier time attracting and keeping new riders while retaining the old.  Nice job!

More pix after the jump.

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• The illusion of control: in a car you’ve got control, in a bus you don’t. Or is that really the case?
• Angelenos dump the pump with gusto. Not hard with gas prices over $4/gallon.
• In Orange County, 10,000 people downloaded a free transit pass offered by OCTA for Dump the Pump Day.
• Metrolink hits 50,000 riders on Tueday, its highest single day ridership EVAR.
• A freeway is completed and traffic increases.

Image courtesy of alburn.binkley.

• Giving up everything for gas: more and more people are cutting out “non-essential” items like coffee, dining out, and vacations so they can afford the cost of gasoline, an “essential” item. Me? I’m eating out more than ever.
• The shocking truth about exurbia in the age of $4/gallon gasoline: “My fuel costs are more than my mortgage is by a couple hundred bucks”
• The brilliance of our national transportation system exposed: as gas prices rise, people are driving a lot less, which means less gas taxes are collected, which means money for infrastructure improvements and alternate modes is scarce.  Brillz. Faulkers.
• Megabus alternative? California Shuttle Bus to offer rides from L.A. to San Fran starting at $5.
• Grade separate Malibu!  Apparently the idyllic beach city is #1 in traffic fatalities and injuries.

• Millennials and Baby Boomers join forces in forgoing the suburbs for the many ammenities of urban life.  Hey Gen X, you suck!
• Hey ladies, despite conventional wisdom, cars aren’t the safest way to travel.
• A journey on America’s “oddball novelty”, Amtrak, presents a compelling look at the failure of American passenger rail.
• The Gold Line Foothill extension is exactly the kind of transit Los Angeles doesn’t need.
• Lusting for cars from the seat on a bus.  Car advertisements get heavy rotation on TransitTV.
• Pam is back! Join the Metro Interactive chat today at noon to discuss “beautiful rides, such as the Metro Line 2 bus down Sunset Boulevard”.

Image courtesy of Marco Siguenza.

• Average white guy goes Metro, doesn’t like it, shares some ideas on how to improve the system.
• A new report shows that Los Angeles has the worst traffic congestion. Woot.
• It’s Dump the Pump Week, or, Save a Whole Buncha Money Week.
• Gas prices get peeps onto public transit, even in places like Durham, North Carolina.
• Anecdotal evidence proves that high gas prices are thinning out traffic in L.A.