MetroRiderLA

If you are pumped about California high-speed rail, there’s a group that’s just for you … especially if you are an architecture or planning professional.

RailLA is a group formed in partnership with the American Planning Association and the American Institute of Architects, and involves professions and average citizens to help build support for HSR.

On Tuesday night, James Rojas and Alan Hyunh led a community design charrette at The Exchange art gallery in downtown L.A. This is a sampling of some of the projects, and more photos are on Flickr. All photos are by Yours Truly.

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The route names, rationales for the changes and service frequencies are on the Google Map for this series. Click on a line and look.

This map covers route suggestions for services between the Santa Monica Mountains and the 10 Freeway. There are DASH proposals for East and Northeast Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley as well.

The route names, rationales for the changes and service frequencies are on the Google Map for this series. Click on a line and look.

Damn, I was supposed to post this for Tuesday. As I’ve said, the Google Maps problems are keeping me tied up, hence the lull in activity.

The first series may look familiar. These suggestions first appeared in February. It is a repost of suggestions for lines LADOT should consider as it plans to restructure service. These suggestions were originally for routes that would augment both the northeast and eastern Los Angeles segments of the Metro Gold Line. Remember …

the Gold Line Eastside Extension is opening Sunday.

While the opening is a time for revelry, the Eastside’s first rail service after almost a 50-year absence has an accessibility problem. The bus services are terribly thin on all stations but Soto Street and Atlantic Boulevard. LADOT should bulk up neighborhood connections within L.A. Originally, three lines have been proposed to serve eastern and Northeast L.A. One is included, but it is a new version of a Metro route that may be too busy to operate by DASH buses.

Before the presentation of the routes, I would like to gauge opinion as to what fare LADOT should charge for absorbing and operating citywide service outside of downtown L.A. Please answer the fare poll. Thanks.

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Photo by Fred Camino via Flickr. This and other photos can be seen on the MetroRiderLA Flickr pool.

First of all, my apologies to MetroReaders.

I had promised a quick and orderly turnaround for this Open Source Transit series, which covers how LADOT could refocus its DASH service in light of projected funding shortfalls. The problem: Open Source Transit does not lend itself to quick turnarounds. Alas, the posts here will show it.

Google Maps, which has a useful tool to draw lines on local roads, has been very buggy. Many times I have had to redraw routes all over because the lines would disappear for no apparent reason. Also, the line draw tool has a bad habit of shifting away from streets on its own. Third, drawing more than just a few routes has been a serious drain on memory. I didn’t see this problem when I had done the Transit Service Interface Proposals for the Eastside Gold Line and the Expo Line.

I have to push the schedule back for these releases. The revised schedule will be one DASH restructuring per week. This week, I will “start” with the Eastside. It is simply a repost of the route suggestions LADOT should consider to interface with the Gold Line. There are three routes, and I will repost the proposals in a new thread to open up new discussions.

I am also going to allow this to become truly Open Source Transit for you MetroReaders. Google Maps has a collaborate feature. If you wish to draw your own routes and have them included with these proposals, I can add you as a collaborator. Get a Google Maps account and then send us an e-mail.

Now then, we have a very busy week of transit ahead of us. L.A. is eagerly anticipating the opening of the Eastside Gold Line, with free rides this Sunday (and Sunday only). Orange County transit users, though, are in the fight of their lives. They have the unenviable task of stopping OCTA‘s bus service cuts that would take the county back to mid-1970s levels. We may have much to celebrate, but we should also help out Orange County riders in any way we can.

Back to the task at hand. The overarching theme is for LADOT, outside of downtown L.A., to run bus service in place of low-ridership Metro lines rather than duplicating portions of productive lines.

Wouldn’t this put LADOT into a deeper hole? That may weigh on planners and politicians’ minds. This edition of Open Source Transit, though, instead looks at the current DASH system as focusing too much money and energy to fill its buses by poaching Metro of its local ridership. If LADOT would be forced to cancel all DASH service, L.A. riders would still have Metro available. However, Metro is facing the same cuts, and it will go after its weakest performing routes first. If these disappear, riders who used these lines would have nothing in their place.

LADOT’s cheaper operations, roughly half the cost of Metro’s service, can help salvage lines and build a ridership base to sustain them. LADOT, and especially DASH, are also more liked among riders than Metro. People would be more willing to use these services.

So what are the next steps? The prologue suggests two steps LADOT should take in order to revamp its local shuttle services: 1)a rebranding away from the DASH name, and 2) a fare structure that would be higher than the 25 cents for most DASH buses now but lower than the $1.25 Metro cash fare.

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Photo by Fred Camino via Flickr. This and other photos can be seen on the MetroRiderLA Flickr pool.

MetroRiderLA has been quiet this week, save for Lennartz’s post on 50 Cent and the announcement that the New York Yankees won the World Series (of Transit) without even having to pitch its first ball.

The week has been spent finalizing the work for an extemporaneous contribution to Open Source Transit. Ever since LADOT put out the call that it will restructure its buses — for the worse — this led to the suggestion that DASH‘s saving grace might be to pick up Metro‘s sloppy seconds.

We’ll show you what that looks like, and it’s guaranteed safe for work. They will be divided into San Fernando Valley, central L.A. and South L.A./Harbor areas. The Eastside work was already done in the Gold Line Transit Service Interface Proposals. The Westside doesn’t get any proposals because even within L.A. city limits, there’s the tacit understanding that the area is Big Blue Bus‘ turf.

So come back next week and spread the word. Public participation is welcome and encouraged, and your comments will go to public officials.