Do I smell something? Oh, well, it's just the taxpayer's money. And, after all, this is a critical project.

what was metro supposed to do? they were handcuffed by this douchebag who threatened to sue. The lawsuit would have cost metro 4 times as much as the settlement and would have delayed the project 2 years. dont blame metro, blame the guy who wanted to sue and cashout.

Park 101 Keeps the Ball in the Air


19 February 2012

By Bill Fulton

Read More: http://www.cp-dr.com/node/3132

Maybe LA's Commuters Are Finally Ready to Embrace Mass Transit


Feb 20, 2012

By Patrick Healy and Bill French

Read More: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/lo...139768063.html

OK; shame on your Mr. X for taking stupid people's money needed for useless projects. Or maybe it's the legal system (part of the govt.) or failure of MTA to obtain rights before begining construction?

A nice idea and I wholly suport it. Unfortunately, a couple of problems.

Not a word about funding.

Caltrans is the biggest hold-up, because they "own" the rights over the freeway and won't give any of them up ever? Thanks, Caltrans.

$50 says she didn't factor in depreciation from mileage or the cost of added maintenance. I bet she still won't realize transit would have been cheaper even when she's replacing her struts, tires and brakes for ~$2000.

i have zero idea what you are saying here. are you agreeing or disagreeing?

Amtrak expands bus service to Coachella Valley (Palm Springs Desert-Sun)
 

Amtrak expands bus service to Coachella Valley

February 21, 2012
Palm Springs Desert Sun


"Amtrak expanded its bus service between Fullerton, Riverside and the Coachella Valley, a Caltrans spokeswoman said today.

The Pacific Surfliner Thruway bus links the Fullerton Amtrak station to Palm Springs, Palm Desert, La Quinta, Indio, Cabazon and Riverside. The line started running Dec. 5, but Amtrak did not announce the bus link until it was sure all the kinks were worked out, Holly Vogel of Caltrans said..."

http://www.mydesert.com/article/2012...sey=nav%7Chead

How many times must you be told that this isn't a "useless" project? Why not do some research into the destinations this project would serve instead of simply relying on misleading ridership predictions and the flaws of Phase I? Last I checked ridership for the Orange line exceeded expectations. Why can't this project do the same?

Oh right, the majority of money HAS to go to the Purple Line extension. The truth is the the westside has nobody to blame but itself. Its local politicians have failed to be vocal and get involved in the planning of the subway, unlike their SGV counterparts. They LET the local NIMBYs have a voice and be a distraction... When was the last time you heard NIMBYs in the SGV complain about tye foothill extension?

Sorry, I'm can't expect that ridership will exceed expectations. In fact, I think that is impossible.

This is not a personal vendeta. It's just that it doesn't look like much of a priority compared to, say, Purple, Pink, a Vermont or Western project, the 405 corridor. This really is a pokey train through low-density, with no regional shopping or commercial centers in its path once you leave Pasadena.

But isn't it pretty much understood that this is a loser and was done for political purposes? Even so, further south in the SGV would have hit more people and business centers (say, El Monte, West Covina, Pomona).

I think its too early to conclude that. With Citrus College and APU in the vincinity, there's a great deal of potential, particularly for the terminus station. The former has a lot of low and mid income students already take the bus, and the latter has many students that can likely afford to drive, but ride their bikes instead (that's why foothill blvd's sidewalks were widened a couple years ago with a bike lane installed). :)

This is not a personal vendeta. It's just that it doesn't look like much of a priority compared to, say, Purple, Pink, a Vermont or Western project, the 405 corridor. This really is a pokey train through low-density, with no regional shopping or commercial centers in its path once you leave Pasadena.

Well the area around the monrovia station has a bit of potential to be a "mini" pasadena. And bus ridership on the 187 FT line during peak hours (along with bus arrival frequency at that time-15 minutes I believe) would seem to suggest that the demand is at least somewhat there, though I don't have the numbers as of now.

Of course it was partly political. The only other rail project in eastern LA county funded under Measure R is the Eastside Extension. Without the Foothill Extension, there's no way the measure would have made it past the voters, (as it is, the majority approval vote was narrow). And Indeed, I wanted to see the Silver Line included in the 2008 proposal, but alas, it was not meant to be. :(

IOW, including the Foothill Extension was a necessary sacrifice that people in say, in the vincinity of the Vermont Corridor, had to be willing to make in order for the rest of the county(as a whole) to gain a favorable view of transt. I think it means that if a Measure R2 is eventually proposed, it might have support in the SGV, even if there aren't any new rail projects in the area included under such a measure.

Metro pushes again for lockdown on fare evaders


February 24, 2012

By Ari Bloomekatz

Read More: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb...gates-20120224

Metro needs a thorough cleaning. I think I mentioned in one of these threads that I talked with a mid-level exec in MTA about 2 years ago and he said that non-payers were over 10 percent but that they had been told to claim it was lower because the gates and software weren't working right and had to wait for budget and rework. Meanwhile it appears that about 20 percent of the people have been walking in, which creates a culture of entitlement, allows derelicts and troublemakers in, makes statistics look too low, etc.

What exactly are the advantages of tolerating this?

TAP is such a joke.

I usually buy a monthly pass so I never tap the card when I enter metro stations because it is validated for the rest of the month. One time I was short on money so I only bought a weekly pass, but I had not realized I 'added value' and not 'added pass' so I assumed it worked like a monthly pass and I had been boarding the trains for a week without tapping. When I tapped to see if it had expired, it deducted credit for the first time and I still had 19.50 on it. A minor thing for me but for novice metro riders I can see how this would be confusing. Add to that they still issue paper passes and new riders see people using TAP cards and are trying to tap the turnstiles with their paper passes. And then the tap pads are inconsistent with their locations on platforms, depending on which line you're riding.

'A real roadmap,' as 832 miles in new bikeways come to Los Angeles County
 

This is good to see. I biked to work here in DC on Monday and at a time when gas is nearly (or perhaps more in CA) $4 per gallon, I used zero gallons of gas and didn't pay one cent to get to work.

'A real roadmap,' as 832 miles in new bikeways come to Los Angeles County

By Melissa Pamer
02/28/2012
LA Daily News

"More than 830 new miles of bikeways would be added to unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County -- including on curving roads through the Santa Monica Mountains -- under a plan approved by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Three years and dozens of public outreach meetings in the making, the County of Los Angeles Bicycle Master Plan is a guide for building bike paths, lanes and routes over the next 20 years.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said the plan would "give us a real road map -- no pun intended -- to take our bicycle planning and implementation to a new level...."

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_20066319?source=rss

Greater Greater Washington has a post comparing the Walk Scores surrounding the stations of various rail systems in metro areas in US. Los Angeles had the highest, with a Walk Score of 90.7, above New York, DC, and Boston.

Which city's rail system has the best Walk Score?
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/...st-walk-score/

Makes sense. The Red and Purple and different from the other lines. They are urban, not suburban. They are going to differ from the others in terms of likelihood of TOD, walkability, levels of ridership; in other words, in terms of need and importance to the city.

For L.A., How to Build an Airport Rail Connection That Makes Sense for Passengers?


March 9th, 2012

By Yonah Freemark

Read More: http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2...or-passengers/

PDF Routes: http://www.metro.net/projects_studie..._2012_0301.pdf




http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/w...Trade-Offs.png




http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/w...alignments.png

Crenshaw Line is one of the most complete wastes of money around. It was put in strictly for political purposes and wanders aimlessly through low-rise residential, industrial areas with multi-acre parking lots, and misses LAX to boot. Its northern terminal is at the least dense part of Wilshire, miles from either DT, Century City or the westside.

It is not too far along to change course; their just isn't any political will to do so.