MetroRiderLA

Photo by Alan Weeks and uploaded by Metro Library and Archive on Flickr; used with a Creative Commons license

You, at least more than two-thirds of you, voted for a tax to expand public transit. Most of them come at the last 15 years of the Measure R period. What’s the first 15 years? Attending meetings and seeing maps, diagrams and harangues on what could be.

It also means MetroRiderLA will post yet another meeting post, though longtime MetroReaders know we are much more.

Here’s something to do tonight. The Expo Line Construction Authority conducts a community meeting tonight in West Adams for an update on Phase 1, which may or may not open next year — and likely to Crenshaw Boulevard first and then to Culver City. Find out more by going at 6:30 tonight to Holman United Methodist Church, 3320 W. Adams Blvd. Transit access: Metro lines 37, 38, 209, 210 and 710; and LADOT DASH Midtown.

Thursday, the sparks are sure to fly and Las Vegas bookies have placed odds at 3 to 1 that something may get accomplished at Metro’s monthly meeting, where the board must vote on the long-range transportation plan. How long range? A vote Thursday affects spending for the next 40 years. Curbed LA lists some of the major items, including the subway extension, the regional connector, and the Foothill Gold Line extension. Of course, the reason for odds is that Metro may decide to punt again. That, or Metro may spend hours arguing over what color the Expo Line ought to be. The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. It’s at Union Station. By now we trust MetroReaders to know what buses and trains to take here.

And both tonight and tomorrow, Metro is also asking what ought to be done with the Harbor Subdivision. All options are considered: bus rapid transit, light rail, Metrolink service, or an express train between Union Station and LAX. Tonight’s meeting at 6 is at the Jackie Robinson Academy Auditorium, 2750 Pine Ave., Long Beach. Thursday’s meeting, also at 6 p.m., is at the Miriam Matthews Branch Library, 2205 Florence Ave., Hyde Park.

Transit access to the Long Beach meeting: Metro Blue Line and Long Beach Transit lines 51-52, 101-103 and 181-182
Transit access to the Hyde Park meeting: Metro lines 111, 207, 209, 210, 710, 711 and 757

Again, computer problems rear their ugly heads. Now, my router has prevented me from working from home. So I’ll make this short and marginally relevant. This has put the concluding installment of the MOS-5 Purple Line Census profile on hold for a few days.

No MetroRiderized post for this, but Metro has a series of Regional Connector (the second subway through downtown L.A.) meetings in November. Three of them are in downtown L.A. One of them is in Pasadena.

Portland’s TriMet added its new Green Line to its light rail network. It opened Saturday.
Photo by Adron B. Hall / Transit Sleuth

It was never easier being green that this weekend. Two cities opened two new light rail lines — both of them happen to be their respective systems’ Green Lines — on the same day. Portland and Dallas both opened extensions this past weekend. And earlier in the summer, Seattle opened the first leg of its Link light rail line.

So when does L.A. get to join in on the party? For the Gold Line extension to East L.A., we don’t know. The construction is complete, but the line south of Union Station must first go through “stress tests,” then six weeks of simulated revenue service without passengers. We are already in September, and the chances are dwindling that the Gold Line extension may still open by the end of the year.

That’s not even the bad news. The bad news is for Expo Line riders. The line, already 50 weeks behind schedule, now will not open until 2011, the Los Angeles Times reports. Only part of it was because of the grade-crossing controversy near Foshay Middle School and Dorsey High. The other problems stem from sewer repair at La Brea Avenue and bridge work near National Boulevard and Ballona Creek.

It’ll be a long while before we could report on light rail parties like the ones in Portland and Dallas. Here’s selected blog coverage from Portland’s Green Line opening festivities:

• Seattle Transit Blog: Portland’s Green Line: The 5th [sic] line in the saga
• Transit Sleuth: The Green Line arrives in Portland
• The Transport Politic: Portland’s new light rail line is welcome news, but it’s not routed as it should be

And Dallas:

• Pegasus News: DART’s Green Line signals a new era for possibilities
• The Transport Politic: First phase of new Green Line expands service to south Dallas

The Expo Line is coming, but it may be in 2011. The bus service changes below are suggested to help both bus and rail riders.
Photo by Alan Weeks and uploaded by Metro Library and Archive on Flickr; used with a Creative Commons license

MetroReaders, we have arrived at the third and final installment of the Expo Line Transit Service interface proposals. Thank you to all of those who have read and participated in the discussions of the other two proposals for Culver CityBus and Big Blue Bus. Metro, as the operator of the Expo Line and the largest bus system in the county, has a lot to go ahead. The line’s opening date may be some time in 2011, with Phase 2 to Santa Monica another four years after that.

Phase 2 is at the centerpiece for the initial segment of the Expo Line, as you will see below. One of the most important suggestions of the bus lines proposed is … wait for it … a Phase 2 Gold Line emulator.

You are probably reading this and rolling your eyes. One criticism I am expecting is: “You want this to end up like Line 632’s rise and fall?” That is the last thing I want. Here’s the difference. The Expo Emulator would be planned along with regular service, not put together on the fly. Second, it is going to last for at least four years, so it has some time to build a ridership base. Third, it would emulate the path of Expo Phase II but follow a slightly different path. Fourth, the Expo Emulator is a pre-emptive solution to what is bound to be a major Expo Line problem: What to do about all those passengers transferring from Expo and heading west, particularly on Line 33/333 — on which ridership is extremely heavy now, and unable to handle a swarm of passengers hoping to transfer when the rail line opens.

The other proposal also suggests the turnover of some Metro services to Santa Monica or Culver City. These are only requests to see if the munis are willing or capable of taking on additional service. Both the blue and green buses can operate services about 10 percent cheaper than Metro, according to figures on the National Transit Database. This is especially helpful for low-performing, high-cost lines. Some of the Metro lines proposed for municipal turnover include 4, 30/31, 35, 38 and 534.

There are also some service improvements suggested for the Westside that do not tie in directly with the Expo Line, but would be helpful to plan for them concurrently. I have also reposted some of the route changes that would affect the Expo Line TSIP routes mentioned before in the Eastside Gold Line TSIP. I can’t cut and paste routes from one map to the other, but I can add the original route proposals here as a refresher.

Compare the existing Metro system map with the changes proposed on the Google Map. As a reminder, these proposals are not official by any agency and are not endorsed by them. Also, please send in any comments you may have by the end of the month by posting them on this board or including your name in an e-mail. All suggestions will be forwarded to the respective agencies’ planners.

The table of changes and rationales follows the jump.

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Photo by Yours Truly; posted in the MetroRiderLA Flickr pool

Welcome back to the second installment in the Transit Service Interface Proposal for the Expo Line. Part 1 focused on changes for Culver CityBus. Part 2 focuses on the transit system everybody loves, Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus. When the Expo Line opens, there will be more of the periwinkle buses to love.

Santa Monica’s proposals would not grow the system as much as the line changes posited for Culver City. Some changes are included here to be concurrent with the first phase of Expo, even though the lines themselves would not connect with the train until it is extended to Santa Monica. Most of the changes that do connect with the Expo Line would focus more activity around the western end of the line.

This signals the end of the forced transfer at Crackton. It also means a concerted effort to get a one-seat ride along Pico Boulevard, ending almost 50 years of dumbassery, by merging Big Blue Bus Line 7 with Metro lines 30/31. For the other services, they would be rerouted to originate at the Expo Line. The Expo Line would also allow for a single transfer bus connection to such important Westside destinations as Century City, UCLA, the Westside Pavilion and Santa Monica College.

Santa Monica would offer nearly 20 lines, but with service levels closely approximating what is available now. You can see what the service looks like now on its existing system map. As a reminder, these proposals are not official by any agency and are not endorsed by them.

The table of changes follows the jump.

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Photo by Scott Page, uploaded by Metro Library and Archive on Flickr; used with a Creative Commons License

Welcome back to the latest installment in the Open Source Transit series. Our previous series focused on bus service changes that allow for better connections to the Eastside Gold Line. The purpose of Open Source Transit is twofold: It lets riders start the discussion in how services should be shaped around our travel patterns. It is also a learning experience for riders, as we learn how and why transit agencies support or reject service changes.

The new installment is much narrower in scope yet still critical in importance. This three-part series focuses on improved bus connections to Phase 1 of the Expo Line. The three proposals in this series involve Big Blue Bus, Metro and the agency presented here, Culver CityBus.

This is the present PDF system map of Culver CityBus. The changes that are suggested for all the routes in the Transit Service Interface Proposal can be viewed in this Google Map. If you have any comments on the routing changes presented here, leave them in the comments or send them via e-mail. Please leave your name. Comments will be given to Culver CityBus to support or rebut the plans made here.

In a nutshell, Culver CityBus has the potential to become a much bigger player in Los Angeles transit. It will be thrust in this role anyway, as it will see an influx of ridership when the Expo Line opens and has been operational for a while. The more modest changes involve relocating the services from the “West Los Angeles Transit Center,” that depressing bus stop and layover area beneath Interstate 10, to Culver Junction. The more ambitious changes involve green buses taking over the orange buses operated by Metro. A couple of the changes will not connect with the Expo Line, but are added here because it would make sense to restructure services at the same time.

As a reminder, these proposals are not official by any agency and are not endorsed by them. The table of changes and rationales follows the jump.

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