MetroRiderLA

Our esteemed governor re-elect just donned his hard hat in celebration of another successful California currency bonfire.  Thanks to the dedicated sales-tax sacrifice of Orange County consumers coupled with prop 1B the bonfire was able to efficiently burn $550 million dollars!  But from the ashes arose something ginormous and to quote  schwarzenegger “spectacular”:  A glistening black phenix in the form of 2 new lanes on the Garden Grove 22 Freeway!  The new lanes will allow drivers to shave a whopping 15-20 minutes from their commute.

The project was implemented with a new style of public works development called “design-build” where the same contractor designs and builds the project allowing construction to begin before the design is complete.  Thankfully rail construction hasn’t been able to grasp this concept and is woefully behind, which makes me wonder, is it really even worth including in the transportation bill at all?  Why are we throwing away $4 billion dollars on this silly rail idea when we can add it to the $11.3 billion slated for highway/road improvement for a grand total of $15.3 billion!  And really, there’s no good reason to not skim another billion from those absurd earthquake safety improvements and $2.2 billion slated to retrofit and replace school buses.  After those simple number moves highway and local road improvements would have grand total of $18.5 billion, almost enough to build of the freeway of all our dreams: a double-decker interstate 101!

Though I feel I should leave this post up to some other MetroRider’s that have been taking Metro for years longer than I have and therefore have had to deal with the BRU’s pet project throughout, I also wanted to make sure this was up. And since I’m not doing much at work today, there’s no better way to spend the day than relax and take in a grand future of the MTA now that the debilitating Consent Decree has been lifted. And though there’s a laundry list of things we could all bash the MTA for, I’ve decided to take a day off and smile, naively thinking everything’s gonna be all right. And since this news is just about everywhere I’ll keep this short and sweet, like I hope the Decree’s departure will be.

Image Courtesy of CBS2.COM

Terrible news. According to the LAFD News & Information Blog, an Orange Line Metro Liner bus collided with delivery truck that ran a red light today at Woodman Ave. and Oxnard St. Apparently 17 out of the 125 people on the bus were injured. Most injuries were minor, but the blog reports that one passenger suffered “serious” injuries. CBS2.COM has a video of the aftermath here.

Unfortunately, for those have followed the Orange Line, we know that this is not the first time an accident has happened. This is unfortunate, because the Orange Line has been been steadily gaining popularity since its inception (and initial string of accidents) and this frightening event might stifle the popularity a bit.

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Thought your favorite band was the coolest and most socially correct? Well check this out: Not only are the Secret Machines playing a show in San Diego this week to benefit the hardest hit regions in Dafur, but early next week they will be playing a show at Union Station to raise awareness of public transportation here in LA. There will also be a special DJ set by Shepard Fairley and a photography exhibit by Mark The Coberasnake featuring people riding public transportation. Here’s the catch - you can’t come by car. The 8:00pm show requires a valid incoming Metro to get in. And they’ll apparently be checking to make sure you didn’t park at Union Station and buy a Red Line ticket once there. Ok, so when we said free, we really meant $1.25. But hey, a cool band in a cool building.

Secret Machines
Tuesday, October 24^th
7:30pm @ Union Station
Valid Metro Ticket required for admission

http://www.thetransitcoalition.us/newspdf/ttc20061017c.pdf
www.myspace.com/secretmachines

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Thought your favorite band was the coolest and most socially correct? Well check this out: Not only are the Secret Machines playing a show in San Diego this week to benefit the hardest hit regions in Dafur, but early next week they will be playing a show at Union Station to raise awareness of public transportation here in LA. There will also be a special DJ set by Shepard Fairley and a photography exhibit by Mark The Coberasnake featuring people riding public transportation. Here’s the catch - you can’t come by car. The 8:00pm show requires a valid incoming Metro ticket to get in. And they’ll apparently be checking to make sure you didn’t park at Union Station and buy a Red Line ticket once there. Ok, so when we said free, we really meant $1.25. But hey, a cool band in a cool building. You can’t really go wrong.
Secret Machines
Tuesday, October 24^th
7:30pm @ Union Station
Valid Metro Ticket required for admission

http://www.thetransitcoalition.us/newspdf/ttc20061017c.pdf
www.myspace.com/secretmachines

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Ahh Los Angeles… the smog-ridden cultural and transit wasteland. At least that’s what they’d like us to believe. But MetroRiders know better, and we’ve found that one of the best ways to experience the “cultural” side of Los Angeles is by never setting foot in a personal automoblie… those just lead us to parking lots and pricey valets. Why not hop on LA’s most scenic rail line, the Gold Line, and experience some of LA County’s finest art in one of its finest (and transit centered) cities: Pasadena.

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