MetroRiderLA

Metro has posted its proposed June 2007 service changes for all five service sectors. These are the proposed changes for the South Bay service sector, which includes five route cancellations, several route augmentations and a possible new blue express line.

The public hearing is 9:30 a.m. February 9 at the Carson Community Center, 801 Carson St., Carson. It is accessible by Metro Express lines 446/447, Torrance Transit Line 3 and all Carson Circuit buses.

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Metro has posted its proposed June 2007 service changes for all five service sectors. These are the proposed changes for the Westside/Central service sector, which includes a new Rapid bus line, new supplemental express Rapid service, two route cancellations and route length augmentations.

The public hearing is 5 p.m. Valentine’s Day, February 14 at the La Cienega Tennis Center, 325 S. La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills. It is accessible by Metro Rapid lines 705 and 720, Express line 550, Limited line 305, and Metro local lines 20/21, 28/328 and 105. (more…)

Steve Lopez’s column in the Los Angeles Times recently wrote a piece about mega-civil engineering contractor Tutor-Saliba.

Tutor-Saliba is one of the most prominent construction firms in the world, and it is responsible (or irresponsible) in building our Metro Rail system, as well as other Southern Projects including Coliseum restoration, LAX, water treatment, UCLA’s Santa Monica and Westwood hospitals, and the San Diego Convention Center.

For a firm with the ability to win so many nine-plus-digit contracts, Tutor-Saliba almost always gets into trouble with its clients.

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Photo by ricemaru via Flickr.

While perusing the internet I happened upon an interesting article over at LAist about a new GPS system Metro is trying to put into place so riders can track how much longer it will be for their specific bus to arrive. Currently it is only working for Metro Rapid’s and the Orange line, but here’s hoping that if this “trial” process works it will be implemented into all Metro buses and rails. LAist did a nice test run of the system so check out their results. Since I’ve gone to the site I’ve been doing the same though I’ve not been able to test the cell phone updates. This has been a dream of MetroRiderLA’s for sometime now and this huge step is making us smile quite a bit. Again, lets hope it’s done correctly and not half assed (like many of Metro’s projects). And I agree with LAist when they suggest an outside company do the work.

I imagine sitting on my first bus and checking my next bus to see how long it will be ‘til it gets to my transfer point. Will I make it!? If the rapid is so far off, should I just hop on the local? It’s arriving after all. Or should I just walk. How many times have you decided you’d just walk, giving up on your bus’ failure once again, and seven minutes later your bus goes flying by? Well if it hasn’t happened yet, don’t worry, it will. With this we can avoid that drastic mistake. Or perhaps you’re sitting at a restaurant or bar and you can check your phone quickly to see if you have time for one more drink or can you hit the bathroom real quick before you go? I could go on and on. The advantages are endless (I know the two examples seem mundane, but just think about it). Lets just hope the time it takes for this to get implemented isn’t.

Some items from our neighbors to the south.

The North County Times wrote on the major transit improvements expected to be completed this year. In November, the toll/transit/carpool lanes in the 15 freeway will be completed. After that, North County Transit District plans on opening the Sprinter between Oceanside and Escondido.

Even sooner, San Diego County is getting its own 511 system. The Bay Area has it already. This utilizes modern communications and technology to deliver both road and transit information, through telephone by dialing 511 and through maps and information online.

Another cool online resource — and I thank Fredcamino for forwarding this to me — is Better Trolley. A rider of the San Diego Trolley created helpful maps and information for new and existing riders. It’s a very good resource for a very good rail system.

The Orange County Transportation Authority has something useful for customers. Destination Deals shows a list of stores throughout the county that have partnered with OCTA for discounts. It can be sorted by location and business type. Alas, unlike MetroRiderLA’s Yelpcasts, no bus or train information is provided to the establishments.

A guide can be mailed as well.

In other news, OCTA’s meeting agenda for January 8 is pondering doubling the OC Express bus fares to $2.50 from its present $1.25 promotional fare, with monthly passes for $86. The changes would take effect January 22. This affects lines 757 (Santa Ana-Pomona) and 758 (Irvine-Chino).