MetroRiderLA

Trainjotting, a blog about commuting to and from Manhattan, posted a link to a website called StationStops that, among other things, provides HTML formatted schedules for the Metro-North Railroad. What does this have to do with Los Angeles transit? If you recall, one of my biggest gripes about the Metro website is that schedules (an nearly everything else) are provided only in the PDF format. For those who aren’t aware, PDF files require an external program for viewing and are made specifically for print, not the web. Because of this they are an obtrusive, annoying, and unwieldy way to share important information on the internet. Unfortunately, most transit agencies don’t seem to know squat about basic web usability guidelines, and thus PDF schedules are something of an industry standard. Apparently, the New York MTA adheres to this silly standard, and StationStops decided to take matters into their own hands and formated schedules for the Metro-North Railroad in easy to read/print/copy/paste HTML. The results speak for themselves. I invite you to compare the StationStops HTML schedule for the New Haven Line with the NYC MTA’s PDF schedule of the same line. Which one is easier to read?

Here at home, Metrolink smartly offers HTML schedules in addition to the traditional PDF ones, but they could learn a thing or two from StationStops clean and simple tables. Instead of trying to emulate the PDF tables, which must contend with the non interactive limitations of print, they should be customized for ease of use and interactivity on the web.

Metro, and all transit agencies, need to realize that PDF is reserved for high quality print applications, not web based tables. HTML was specifically created to present tabular information on the web, so it’s insane to present schedules in any other way. Schedules are some of the most important information a transit rider needs and thus should be presented in a way that’s easy to access, read, and print.

Links about PDF:

• PDF: Unfit for Human Consumption
• PDF’s are evil, lazy, slothful and sinful
• Facts and Opinions About PDF Accessibility
• When to use PDF

Photo courtesy of redpopaccidents.

Recently on MetroRiderLA we discussed the fare gates to come on most Metro Rail stations in the near future, as well as the TAP Card’s role in enabling fare gates.

The Metro Board, despite plenty of criticism from fellow Board member Richard Katz and testimony from transportation expert Richard Stanger, have continued to pursue their gating strategy, and have responded to some of the criticism regarding fare gates. They came up with a presentation to be shown to the Metro Board today responding to some of the criticisms. Here we deconstruct some of the myths that Metro staff uses to justify fare gates.

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This past Saturday, David Markland over at Metroblogging Los Angeles wrote a little post called “10 Ways to Improve L.A.’s Public Transportation System” that sparked big discussion. Among his ideas are the removal of all street parking from major roads, a county-wide $3/gallon gas tax, car pool lanes on surface streets, a ban on using wireless devices in cars, and taxing valets and parking services 50%. Not all of his ideas are quite so militant, others like making wi-fi and cell phone service available to transit users and allowing food and drink on transit are a bit more realistic. Inspired by his post, I have decided to make my own top 10 list, strictly from a transit user’s perspective. I’m not going to attacking funding or car culture or large scale infrastructure issues, just some basic things that I think Metro could do to make the current transit experience a lot friendlier. Feel free to add your own list in the comments.

1. Benches at every bus stop. And not those crappy plastic ones that are made out of garbage can material either. Those things make the city look ugly and aren’t particularly comfortable. Nice, stylish, comfortable benches please. And plenty of them. We know the bus isn’t going to be on time, so please give us a chance to rest our legs while we wait. Bus shelters would be even better, but I’m trying to be somewhat realistic.

The Good. Photo courtesy of Spacing Magazine.

The Bad. Photo courtesy of Fire Monkey Fish.

The Ugly. Photo courtesy of Fred Camino.

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From the LA Times:

The Federal Transit Administration announced today that it would award $23.3 million over the next two years to help fund bus lanes on a portion of Wilshire Boulevard through the heavily congested Westside.

The lanes will be used during the morning and evening rush hours and would stretch from the Santa Monica-Los Angeles boundary to Valencia Street, which is just west of downtown Los Angeles.

At which point our resident anti-rail ideologue promptly starts cheering. But wait, my dear ideologue friend…

The project does not include the part of Wilshire that traverses the city of Beverly Hills.

That funny noise you may hear is me banging my head on my desk. As basically anyone who has taken the 720 or 920 down Wilshire can tell you (and probably at a fairly high decibel level), at least as between the Pacific and Vermont, the part through Beverly Hills is by far the worst, by far the slowest, and, along with the 405, the source of the delays along Wilshire. Whether or not it’s the fault of BH or Century City is open for debate but irrelevant. The worst traffic along Wilshire is in BH, and if you don’t have them along for this project, then you’re wasting money. Bus-only lanes won’t solve the 405 on-ramp problem, and the lanes don’t go through BH, which is the 20-series’s choke point.

Metro, take your $3.7m, put it in the piggy bank, politely return Washington’s funds and either (a) shelve the project and build the subway, or (b) wait until you have Mayor Delshad along for the bus ride.

Friends 4 Expo joins us to offer its position on the controversially Expo Line grade crossing safety issue.

Bumper-to-bumper traffic between downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica is a front-page issue. The Expo Line can help significantly, and soon.

Friends 4 Expo Transit is the grassroots group of volunteers who have been supporting the Expo Line, some for over 18 years. Our motto, “Connecting Neighbors” reflects members from Los Angeles, Culver City, Santa Monica, and across the region.

We support the state-of-the-art safety measures proposed by the Expo Authority for an at-grade crossing at Farmdale Avenue by Dorsey High School — which exceed even the Gold Line standard, by including pedestrian gates, crossing guards, and trains slowing during the time that students cross — and urge the Expo Board to move forward with the current California Public Utilities Commission application and resolve the issue as soon as possible.

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Damien Goodmon, transit advocate and founder of FixExpo.org, presents a series of articles defending his position on the controversy surrounding the Metro Exposition Line. The thoughts presented in this series are those of Damien Goodmon and Fix Expo and do not necessarily reflect the views of MetroRiderLA, its contributors, and/or readers.

The Expo Line controversy: At-grade rail. Dorsey HS. LAUSD. CPUC. Environmental racism. Fix Expo. Expo Communities United. And Damien Goodmon.

Many still don’t understand how or why I became the driver of the entity most critical of Los Angeles’ newest light rail line. And so for the next couple of weeks, I’ll write the Exposing Expo series, with the belief that by bringing to light the many interactions, information and uncovered documents, more can get a clearer picture of the 600 pound guerilla that is the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority, an agent of MTA.

Because the process, fellow transit advocates, is very revealing and rather interesting. Indeed, what has become a tenacious brawl, began rather innocently and with the best of opinions of Expo staff.

“Work with staff,” I was told.

“Just ask questions and they’ll be honestly evaluated and fully answered,” I was led to believe.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

What will be illustrated is an arrogant and willfully ignorant Expo Board that continues to downplay the safety issues, mounting public pressure and pending legal actions that if unaddressed will derail the largest public works project in their districts.

What will be revealed is an unethical and snide Expo staff acting defensively and immorally under the crisis of transparency.

What will be exposed are actions of people who claim they’re transit advocates, which are more in line with that of agency apologists and public relations front men.

I will never disclose the contents of private conversations, and I legally can’t mention anything discussed in mediation, but pretty much everything public will be made available for the world to see.

Important questions will be answered, such as:
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