MetroRiderLA

Last Halloween the king of Los Angeles car-sharing and friend to many a MetroRider, Flexcar, announced that it would be merging with Boston based rival Zipcar, combining their powers like The Planeteers to form the Captain Planet* of car-sharing companies. Well, a little over two months later, Zipcar has arrived in L.A.

I received my stylish Zipcard in the mail today and activated my account which nabbed me $25 worth of free driving credit just for being an old Flexcar member. I’m eager to use up that credit as soon as possible, having been a Flexcar member for over a year the curiousity to see what’s new is overwhelming. Overall, I was very pleased with Flexcar, the system wasn’t flawless but the customer service was good and when the system worked (and it did the majority of the time) it was a breeze.

(more…)

Playin’ away those transit blues. (Image provided by openended via Flickr.)

Much like Bush’s troop surge, Metro musicians are in surge mode all over the red line’s stations and just like the troops they’re betting on anyone caring at all. But will there be enough of them to really make an impact on our future red line excursions?
(more…)

For some time I’ve been under the suspicion that bus drivers had a certain beef with bike riders boarding a bus, if not at least an annoyance for. There has never really been much indisputable evidence; I’ve never been slapped or spat upon or just plain passed (actually I have but I had no bike at the time). So without such hard evidence to prove my theory I figured it was just in my head. I make up a lot of things in my life. If I were to explain some of the neurosis in my head some might label me theoretically insane if not clinically. But I get by with boarding the bus as fast as I can and try to ignore the theoretical rays of hatred emitting from the bus driver’s eyes. Theoretical until last night that is.
(more…)

Proposition 91 is one of the odder measures on the ballot. The proponents have urged a “no” vote, and no one seems to know of any supporters. Thus, you get snarky blog entries and misinformed editorials stating that “no one is supporting the measure”. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and Proposition 91 is important to saving transportation funding.

The reason is that Proposition 1A had a loophole in it to permit the state Legislature to borrow money from transportation funding, as long as they pay it back in three years. In 2008-09, it appears that this will be the case and the County of Los Angeles will lose $61 million for roads and public transit in the unincorporated areas. “But”, one might say, “this is only for emergencies.” Well, Governor Schwarzenegger just declared an “emergency” over declining property tax revenues that we knew were going to happen a long time ago. “It’s a loan”, one could say, but unfortunately, counties and cities don’t have the same ability to issue bonds as the state does. Budget cuts to local transportation departments are going to be made, which means more potholes, worse sidewalks, and reduced transit. The problem with deferred maintenance is that waiting three years for the loans to be paid back could mean that roads need a higher degree of reconstruction, doubling or even tripling costs when a simple layer of asphalt could have done the job. People’s property values go down with poorer sidewalks. The ridership on transit doesn’t come back when the money comes back. You could go on.

Proposition 91 will permanently close the loophole and protect valuable transportation funding. The real reason that the proponents are opposed to it is the deal that was cut when Proposition 1A was placed on the ballot in 2006. By pushing up the issue, and agreeing to permit loans to be made, the proponents agreed to oppose the measure, and to use their space in the ballot book to write an opposition piece. But that doesn’t mean that us voters have to honor that deal.

For more information, please visit www.yeson91.net.

[tags]los angeles, mta, bus rapid transit, beverly hills[/tags]

Edited to fix musical reference.

Oh, the weather outside was frightful
but riding Olympic was mildly delightful
It was a bus and not a train
let it rain, let it rain, let it rain

Hey, it’s Christmas in a week. Let the rest of the year be reserved for prose. And juding by the groan-inducing coupling of words for this rendition of “Let it Snow”^3, it’ll be prose from now on.

This being the holiday season, Metro is no different from most of us. When it does not have the time or money to give everyone what they want, it re-gifts. In this case, it comes in a shiny red wrapper and a very big package.

Last week’s Line 328 is now Rapid Line 728. But hey, it’s the thought that counts.

(more…)

[tags]los angeles, mta, bus rapid transit, san gabriel valley, el monte, rosemead, monterey park, east los angeles[/tags]

Do not attempt to adjust your monitors. This is a real photo of Metro NABI #7637, in the mid-1990s livery, on one of its two new Rapid lines, 770. Remember how Metro promised Rapids to have every amenity of rail except the steel wheels and tracks? Seven years later, it can’t even produce the red buses.

And it’s not just on this trip. No 770 trip Monday afternoon had a red bus!

Besides Metro mailing its effort in, the trip leaving El Monte Station at 2:45 p.m. had a surly driver and very poor first-day ridership — only 28 passengers. This is a sad start to a fascinating line.

(more…)