MetroRiderLA

I finally started taking transit to work, only a month after I promised. I’ve got a real hook-up at work. I paid only $41 for an EZ pass (normally $58) plus I get a credit of $2.75 everyday I take the bus to work. It takes about an hour riding the 30 to pico/rimpau then the santa monica 7 to Pico/Motor. I’m usually no condition to read in the morning so I take in a little Transit TV, which is where I saw something very very exciting:
Transit Date
It was a short commercial for a dating service the MTA is setting up, but is not yet active. I did a limited scour of the MTA site and found nothing, so part of this post is a call for information.
The other reason is to publically state I will sign up and test the Transit Date service for the benifit of readers and, well, myself.
I love tamales.

Please post any info

According to a July 21st article in the LA Times, Mayor Atonio Villaraigosa has proposed that MTA look into the costs involved involved in providing a fare free week of public transit to the Los Angeles public in order to promote the system, increase ridership, and improve air quality.  The larger goal it seems is to convert current automoblie users into transit riders, as is evidenced from Villaraigosa’s letter to MTA CEO Roger Snoble:

“With high gasoline prices and continuing air quality challenges in the region, there is a golden opportunity to further promote transit usage throughout Los Angeles County.” -from CBS2.com

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There’s another series of important service changes, this time in the San Gabriel Valley. Foothill Transit provides most of the local and express bus service in the region, and it has some key changes in store.

The biggest is replacing its most important route, Line 480, with what seems to be modeled on the Orange Line, a new service called Silver Streak. The page also lists the other route realignments and cancellations.

There are still meetings available throughout July and August. Foothill is also accepting comments by mail, snail mail and fax. Consult the page for meeting dates and addresses.

Metro has posted a list of service changes, that may go into effect as early as December 2006. Others, like some of the suggested Metro Rapid lines, may take longer to implement.

The Westside/Central service changes are not listed.

To sound off on any changes, visit one of the meeting sites listed. Written comments (mail, e-mail and fax) are also accepted and are made as part of the public record. The document has all the relevant addresses. 

Over at LAist there is a post stating the the Bus Riders Union (BRU) has been visiting various neighborhood councils trying to gain support for extending the consent decree which is due to expire this year. In a video interview posted in the article, BRU organizer Lisa Adler talks about MTA’s actions that led to the consent decree ruling:

“We were able to demonstrate that MTA was stealing bus funds that served a predominately black, latino, and asian population and using those funds to construct and operate a rail system that at the time was serving a predominately white or caucasian population.”

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An interesting piece on NPR regarding the future of American transit.
Listen here.