MetroRiderLA

For Koreatown residents, the last few months have just been a Disaster. Yes, a Disaster. Capital D.

This Disaster comes about because of the bizarre amount of track work that needs to be done between MacArthur Park and Vermont/Beverly. On most weekday nights, a “diversion is in effect” on the Purple Line, one which diverts the Purple Line out of existence and turns it into a very heavy DASH shuttle. The usual Disaster involves running Red Line service like usual, while running The Subway Formerly Known as the Purple Line as a shuttle between Western and Vermont, stopping at the wrong platforms on the westbound segment.

The confusion this Disaster creates is somewhere between “unbelievable” and “insurmountable.” Sometimes, Metro announces the Disaster over the intercom. Sometimes, you can even understand the announcement. Sometimes, the Disaster is announced via the worthless LED screens. Sometimes, said announcement is even accurate - it regularly states that the Disaster will only occur on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, yet the Disaster occurs with regularity on Wednesday nights, including last night.

Inquiries as to what, precisely, brought this about have led nowhere. Metro appears disinclined to explain precisely what needs to be done in the Downtown segments of the subway which requires such a routing. Quite honestly, in the time that the Disaster has been going on, they could have built an underground five-star hotel between Westlake and Vermont.

Usually, not everybody understands what’s going on. Announcements are usually only in English, and often there are people who are, for example, not regular riders, or from out of town, and they invariably don’t understand the scale of the Disaster. Most nights I’ve been caught in the unflinching jaws of the Disaster, I’ve had to give detailed explanations to at least one person, and because it seems that Metro rank-and-file are not being told, precisely, what precipitated the Disaster, train drivers are themselves understandably becoming irritated, and their patience with questions has worn thin in recent weeks.

So, the question I therefore put to you. Does anyone have the slightest clue as to what’s going on?

My concern is that Metro is doing this because ridership east of Vermont may be low due to the relative lack of late-night attractions in Downtown. This may well be the case, and this may be a logical solution to the problem. However, they’re going to have to indicate a permanent diversion such as this on all maps, and they’re going to have to start using the correct platforms for westbound trains, because signage is only worth using if it is always accurate.

Can anyone shine some light on this issue? And for the love of God, can Metro start putting this on metro.net so that people can figure it out before they leave for the day? I’ve put in comments to Metro about this before, to have them apologize and assert that they will start putting the announcement on the website. Well, if anyone in the Taj Mahal is reading, I don’t see anything about the Disaster on the Rail Service Alerts page yet.

This won’t be a long-winded breakdown on my part about how this (the title above) is a false statement but instead I’ll quote a small bit from “How To Be Free” by Tom Hodgkinson below.

…the Austrian writer and philosopher  Ivan Illich once calculated that if you add up all the time you spend on the car, including the trips to the garage and the time spent earning the money to buy the fuel and maintain the vehicle, and divide by the number of miles you travel, then your average speed is 5 mph. You would be faster on a bicycle. 

If nothing else it’s a pretty good way to look at the myth that private automobiles are more convenient and faster than public transit or biking.

[tags]expo line, fixexpo.org, dorsey high school, mid city, metro, los angeles, light rail[/tags]

Damien Goodmon, dedicated transit advocate and founder of GetLaMoving.com and FixExpo.org, has come under fire recently from his fellow transit advocates for his FixExpo initiative that aims to increase the safety of the Expo Line through grade separation. There has been heated debate on MetroRiderLA as well as in the Transit Coalition’s forums as to the purpose and timing of FixExpo, with a number of advocates finding themselves (myself included) in opposition to the creator of the well known and much admired Metro “dream map”.

Agree or disagree, Damien is unquestionably passionate, informed, and dedicated to his ideals, and thus he has written an open letter to his fellow transit advocate explaining and defending his position on the Exposition Line.

You can read his letter in its entirety after the jump…

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So the LA Times is now reporting (whether by skillful reporting or by error is beyond me - can someone who has the time to attend these meetings tell me?) that instead of the “Purple Line,” LA is considering building the “Pink Line” first. (Pink line being shorthand for our prior discussions about a route that branched at H&H, went down to Santa Monica Boulevard by some fashion, and continued straight to Santa Monica).

Again, this is just my personal opinion, but I have to say, this is a pretty fantastically bad idea.

I very much like the idea of a “pink line” and think that it will help complete the circuit in the Westside; Expo, Purple, and Pink would, with the possible addition of a Sepulveda LRT, create a comprehensive rail system throughout Downtown and the Westside.

But I’m not at all convinced at the concept of building the “Pink Line” first. it’ll basically create a sideways “S” across the Westside; I’m not at all convinced that someone would want to go from Union Station, to Wilshire/Vermont, up into Los Feliz, over to Hollywood/Highland, only to cut back southwest again to Santa Monica. Anyone smarter than me want to calculate how long that would take? I would have to think over an hour. Starts to make the #920 or the Santa Monica #10 look attractive, and to people who drive now, won’t get many people out of their cars, aside from folks in WeHo, who clearly benefit.

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[tags]expo line, metro, los angeles, light rail[/tags]

Note: This post in no way reflects the views of all contributors, and certainly not the entire MetroRiderLA community. Aim all flames at me personally.

I have a great amount of respect for all of the other transit ideas and advocacy that Damien has. But I’m sorry to say - this Farmdale Avenue “issue” couldn’t be presented in a worse fashion or at a worse time.

Having said that, this isn’t even an issue. But let’s talk procedurally first and then substantively.

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[tags]metro, los angeles, transit, westside, westside extension[/tags]

All comments regarding the Westside Extension Transit Corridor must be submitted to Metro by November 1, 2007.  You can send comments (including digital audio and video files) by email to WestsideExtension@metro.net.  You can also used Metro’s web-based comment form to leave your input over the internet.  Comments can be left by phone by calling (213) 922-6934 and leaving a message.  Comments sent by mail must be postmarked by November 1 and be send to the following address:

David Mieger, Project Manager
Metro
One Gateway Plaza, MS 99-22-5
Los Angeles, CA  90012

Previous coverage:

•  Video Update on the Westside Extension
•  Community Meeting: Westside Extension
•  Westside Extension Transit Study Corridor Picture Report